Jarem is 6!

Yesterday Jarem turned 6! It is a very busy week and we talked to Jarem about our schedule and gave him some options.  He decided to have a small family party on his birthday and then invite a few friends for a playdate next week. We asked Divya and Pramika to stay since they were here playing with the girls and Jarem really likes them. They are good to him. They always try to include him if they invite the girls over because he doesn't have any friends in the neighborhood and always feels bad when the girls leave and he doesn't have anyone to play with. In fact, one time last year he told me that Divya and Pramika were his best friends.

Our kids get to choose their favorite meal to have on their birthday.  Jarem wanted a combination.  So he got all of his favorites: Mac n cheese, baked beans, peanut butter and honey sandwiches, and ham/pineapple pizza.  He loved it!

The group: Alex wasn't there because there was a varsity game that night for soccer that he was required to attend but wasn't playing in.

Jarem knew what he wanted.  He wanted those Lofthouse frosted sugar cookies for his class (which I didn't get pictures of).  I found some with blue frosting.  When I brought his snack to school, he asked me if I had started making his monster truck cake yet.  I didn't even know he wanted a monster truck cake, so I got busy.  It turned out so cute!  He was very happy with it.  My favorite part of making it was softening 4 Starbursts and rolling them out for the windshield.

His stash...it was a crazy assortment of bags, Christmas wrapping paper, and the like, but he was happy.  He is holding one of two books that he got from Grandma and Grandpa Ricks.  He was excited about both, but especially this sticker book.  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!  He was also excited about his money for Grandma Cindi! Thanks Grandma Cindi!

The girls both got him sets of cars.  They scoped out what he wanted before we went to the store.

Jesikah always draws great cards for each of us on our birthdays.

Eric bought him 3 sets of Lego City vehicles.  He scoped those out first by finding the rectangular boxes.  He was very excited about those.  And within two days he had built them all.  Some of them completely by himself.  It is nice that he is getting to the point that he can build them on his own.

He loved this hotwheels racetrack...the girls have enjoyed it too.

Eric bought him Star Wars the Clone Wars sheets and comforter for his bed.  I wasn't very happy about it because I am not a fan of character bedding.  However, I was going to go with it just because I knew that Eric had that bedding when he was a boy and it was a sentimental thing for him.  Jarem really liked them, but unfortunately Eric got a twin instead of full size, and they didn't have another size.  So, I'll be taking them back.

Everyone helping him open this one

This is a car rug patterned after the Cars movie.  He really liked it.

As soon as the presents were opened, he and the girls were ready to play and build.  No one even wanted cake, so we didn't even have him blow out the candles until the following night.

Below, Jarem is blowing out his candles on Wednesday night before eating cake and ice cream



We are so happy to have Jarem in our family.  He is a loving and happy boy.  He has a fun sense of humor and a contagious laugh that can make everyone laugh.  He has little hand signs that he does to tell everyone that he loves them. He is a worrier, and is always so worried if Eric and I leave that we won't get home safely.  He wants to go everywhere with us.  He is currently very excited about reading and doing very well. He is a friend to everyone in the family and we are so grateful to have him in our family.