Josh = Five

Can that really be possible? Is my little guy actually going to kindergarten in the fall? It doesn't seem right (or fair) somehow.

Josh entered our lives in a big way (as in, a nine-pounds-nine-ounces kind of big way). As time went on, it seemed that his large size was some sort of foreshadowing to his large personality. Josh has always had energy. He was a wild and crazy toddler; always on the move, always bouncing, running, crashing, yelling. He was so different from our mild-mannered Emma and Ben that it took us awhile to figure him out. Once we did however, we grew to appreciate his passion. Now, at five years old, his outstanding characteristic is his generosity. When asked to share one of his grapes with Lydia he gives her six ("three for each hand..."). He often suggests that some object of his which is coveted by siblings "can be both of ours!" with genuine enthusiasm. He got a Gameboy for his birthday and over the next couple of days when I would have given him leave to be just a little selfish with it, Ben and Emma played it at least as much as he did. He is also full to overflowing with confidence, the boy does not know a stranger. We love every single thing about our Josh.

And so, we had a fun birthday with him. He requested a doughnut cake. "Doughnuts instead of a cake?" I asked hopefully (because that would be easy to make/buy). No, a cake that looks like a doughnut. With blue frosting. And sprinkles. Here's what we came up with.

I cut it out of a bigger rectangle cake. All that leftover cake was the perfect opportunity to try out making these Bakerella goodies:

They turned out super delicious and were a huge hit with the kids.

Emma and Ben made Josh this cool joshua tree shirt (ala various online tutorials, including this one). My only regret from our big trip out west a couple of years ago was that we never stopped along the side of the road between LA and Vegas to take a photo of Josh with one of the hundreds of joshua trees we passed along the way. Oh well, at least now he has a shirt.