Bear Grylls Junior

I guess it's a good thing my kids have birthdays or this sad, little blog would be totally neglected.

Kaleb turned 6 last week!  How lucky we are to have this special boy in our family.  Just to give you a glimpse of his awesomeness, here's some of his birthday wish-list: (when I say some, I mean that it changed from day to day)

1. shovel
2. snail
3. mouse
4. mouse toys
5. cactus
6. camping stuff

Needless to say, I left Braydan in charge of getting him presents this year.

Kaleb woke up at 4am on his birthday, whispering excitedly, "Is it time to wake up yet?"  I tried not to sound grumpy when I replied, "go back to bed!"

I'm not sure if he did, but he didn't come back and get us until 7:30.  By then we we ready to give him his 6 kisses, hugs, spanks, pinches, and tickles. He wanted German pancakes with strawberries and buttermilk syrup for breakfast.  He was very disappointed that he still had to go to school.   For weeks he came close to tears every time he thought about getting "the birthday pencil at the office."  I guess at school you get a special pencil from the secretary, but you have to walk all the way there by yourself to get it. That wasn't an exciting prospect to Kaleb.  However, he came home happily carrying his pencil without too much trauma.

He got to open presents in the morning and Braydan did good.  I'm not sure a 6 year old needs a Marmot sleeping bag

and fancy backpacking backpack,

but Braydan reassured me that they would put them both to good use.

He also got beef jerkey (sticking with the camping theme), a cactus, (not sure how that fits),

headlamp, and cool camping utensils.   Kaleb is opposite of Eliza with clothes.  She is so excited when I get her anything.  He was almost offended that I got him "boring" clothes.

We picked him up at school and surprised him by taking him out to lunch at Chick-fil-A.  They got to play and then we went to the store so he could pick out a toy with money from Grandma.  On the very first toy isle he saw these

and that's all he wanted.  I made him walk down all the isles, look at legos and other toys, but he wasn't interested.

We picked up his friends Jace and Belma on the way home and they had a blast playing outside.

It was a beautiful day.  At one point, I looked out the window and Belma and Jace were swinging and jumping on the trampoline,

but Kaleb was crawling on his hands and knees with his net, searching for bugs.  He came in discouraged, "I looked for like 2 hours and I only found this dead rolly-polly bug!"

Braydan got home early and told him that he would do anything he wanted with him for an hour. He gave him lots of ideas: bike ride, legos, soccer, etc., but Kaleb wanted to clean the fish tank with him.  He loves his fish!  Any time he earns a little money, he wants to add to his collection.

Kaleb wanted "pepperoni pizza" for dinner and requested the Corsons to come over for cake and ice cream.

I stink at cakes (it's a fish if you can't tell)

They are too nice and got him a razor scooter!  He was shocked as much as I was.  He rides that thing all over the house now

At one point in the day he said, "my birthday wasn't as big as Lainie's."  I could tell he was a little disappointed, but I reminded him that he didn't want a big friend birthday.  I'm not sure what he envisioned, but by the end of the day he was tired and came crying to me, "I'm just sad cause I don't want my birthday to be over!"

He asked if he got to stay up later since he's 6 now.  Braydan told him, "yes, you can stay up until 8:31."  I'm pretty sure Kaleb hasn't learned about time yet in school because he responded with a big, "YES!!!"

Dear Kaleb!  You are the cutest little boy.  Last year was hard on you, but you are doing so much better in this "new Idaho State" as you like to call it.

It makes my heart happy to see you laughing and playing with new friends and learning so much at school.  Miss De Marco picked you to represent the class in the character assembly.

She said, "Kaleb demonstrates the character trait of respect each day in kindergarten.  His positive attitude and kind ways are truly remarkable.  Kaleb is respectful to all around him.  Thank you for all that you do, Kaleb!  You are amazing!"

Kaleb started piano in January and is doing so well!  I teach him a lesson every Thursday and we pretend like I'm someone else.  He calls me Miss Jessica and he even pretends to pays me fake money for the lesson.  It makes him giggle when I ask how his practice is going at home and other questions.  The rest of the days, Braydan sits with him to practice.  So far he loves it.

He loved his night skiing date with Braydan!  I'll have to post more about it later.


Some more things about him:

His favorite show is Man vs. Wild.  He wants to be a zoo keeper when he grows up.  It makes him happy when he has friends to play with.

Belma, his favorite buddy

It makes him sad "when he has nothing to do."  (those are dangerous words in this house!)  He loves baby Jane and is the cutest with her.  He loves to do crafts.  He likes to fight with Eliza (and occasionally play with her).  He loves to do tricks on the trampoline and just be outside exploring.

He loves to read and be read to. He loves playing games. His favorite is chutes and ladders.

Happy Birthday Kaleb!  We love you!