Sullivan's "Hi, Five!" Birthday

My sweet Sully, You're FIVE!  Or, as you like to say: "A WHOLE HAND!"  My gosh, you're a cool kid.  I hope you never stop being your quirky and independent self.  You love to disappear into the art room for hours working on a masterpiece or go out in the back yard searching for "nature treasures" alone.  I smile at your quiet confidence and how comfortable you are with just being.  I think it's a tough quality to come by and I admire it in you.   

You've always had a distinctly different way of seeing the world and that has changed my view too. You notice details and nuances in everyday things that don't catch the eye of many.  The shape of clouds, the curve of a flower's stem, how a shadow's length changes as the day goes on.  You're quick to point out patterns in unexpected places or the blurry "watercolors" of a sunset.  You turn the veins of a leaf into a treasure map and items scavenged from the recycling bin into a rocket.   This unique perspective is so natural to you. 

Your heart unfolding to the all the things that keep it beating is a magical thing to witness.  You have found passion in life that is well beyond your years.  Or maybe youth is the best time to discover it.  I hope you always trust yourself enough to follow your own path.

So, as you were trying, trying with all your might to blow out those trick-candles on your birthday cake...

I was making my own wishes for you:

I wished that you'd continue to see beauty in the ordinary eb and flow of life

For the kind heart I see in you to stay firmly in place

I wished that you'd always find the courage to grow, but never change

Your dreams: follow them.  

Your intuition: listen to it.  

Stay bright, bold and funny.

I'm so proud to call you my son, Sullivan Michael.  

And my final wish is for you to someday know how fully I mean that from the deepest part of me.

My whole heart,

Momma

---And now, the party---

 When Sully and I started talking about him turning five he was always quick to point out that it was the same number  you needed for a "high five" or a "fist bump" (again with his interesting way of seeing things :)  

So we decided that should be his theme.

invite: front  //  back

 I love planning parties with the kids.  They get a budget, we search for decorations and party favors and we design the invitation together.  Sullivan really wanted a magician AND balloon animals so he had to cut back on the grand party-favor bags he was planning, but I think the "high five" hand clappers were a hit.

Making pizza!

His 5th year collecting books to donate.

MAGIC!

 Cake time.

 Last, but not least...Sully's birthday breakfast at home.  He's obsessed with penguins and wanted penguin EVERYTHING (and also a big bag of those party store poppers..such a funny kid)

muffins and green smoothies - his favorite.

Happy Fifth, Sully!