Busy Busy Birthday Week

We have had a busy birthday week here in the Sunshine State!

Big Bro is now six years old!

Hard to believe that six years have already flown by...

For his birthday, we did some birthday work for a couple days this week.
He started by opening his birthday box...the box contained his birth announcement, some photos of him as a baby, some notes about his first through fifth birthday, two birthday books, a birthday banner, a birthday bear from dear family friends, a mini globe, an orange (to fill in as the sun), and a note from Mommy to Big Bro.

We read the note from Mommy, the birth announcement, and the books together.
We talked about his various birthdays and about our family's birthday traditions:
Getting your first haircut on your first birthday, singing the "Stand Up, Sit Down" song after singing the regular "Happy Birthday" song, and getting to choose your favorite meal for your birthday.
Big Bro held a mini globe and walked six times around the sun (actually an orange) , held by Little Bro.
We did some math work as we talked about how much he had weighed and his length at birth (7 pounds, 3 ounces and 19.5 inches long) and compared his length and weight to the length and weight of common household items.
We also discussed how Big Bro was supposed to have been born on September 18th, but that when Mommy went to the hospital, the doctor and the nurses came in and said that the hospital did not have enough back-up generator power to do the surgery, due to Hurricane Isabel, so Mommy would have to go home and come back on another day.
We also talked about how Hurricane Isabel struck our home and big trees crashed through our roof, so shortly after coming home from the hospital, Mommy, Daddy, and Big Bro had to stay at a hotel and the hotel was without power, too, but at least the hotel had a roof!
We talked about how he was born in Virginia and found Virginia on our map.

We wrapped up the birthday work by talking about how blessed we felt that Big Bro made it through all of the struggles and what a true blessing from God he is to us.
Little Bro then shared what he likes best about his Big Bro:
"He is the bestest brother I have."
Little Bro also was so excited when Big Bro opened his presents and thanked us for giving presents to his brother...think he kind of gets that when Big Bro gets a gift, he will get to play with it, too.

Both boys started into playing with the Lego birthday sets and had a great time together.

The birthday celebration continued...Big Bro celebrated with his t-ball teammates by having a pizza and mini cupcakes treat.
Every child on the team gets a team ball at some point in the season, so Head Coach Kevin decided that this game ball should go to Big Bro, the Birthday Boy...making it a very fun night and another thing to add to Big Bro's birthday box!

Then, when Dear Hubby and I asked Big Bro what he wanted to do on his actual birthday, he said that he wanted to go to Disney's Hollywood Studios. We went and had a great time!
As we were leaving the park, Big Bro caught a lizard.
He was almost as excited about the lizard as he was about spending the day at Disney.
Big Bro showed Little Bro how to hold it, so they took turns and then, we did a good hand scrubbing afterward.

Today (9-25), after doing our early morning schoolwork, we met up with friends from our homeschooling co-op for Field Trip Friday. We had a nice time at the zoo on our field trip.
Today, we checked out all of the Asian and Australian animals.
Both boys loved the monkeys, the python, and the koala.

Now, for the weekend, we are spending time hanging out with "the Grands" (Dear Hubby's parents, nicknamed "the Grands" by Big Bro). The Grands are visiting us from South Carolina.
It is always nice to have them come for a visit.
The Grands added to Big Bro's ever growing collection of books.
We can't wait to start reading the ones they gave him, as they all look so interesting!
We went to a Japanese steakhouse for dinner and plan to go out and about for the weekend.

All in all, a great birthday week...

Happy sixth birthday, Big Bro! We love you!

We love you, too, Little Bro!
Thank you for being gracious and genuinely happy for your big brother.

You two really are, as you said, "the bestest brothers".