Cole's 6th

I picked up Cole from kindergarten one afternoon and told him I had some "homework" for him to do in preparation for his upcoming birthday. I put this worksheet on a clipboard for him to fill out while we drove around running errands. He was cracking me up as he kept saying, "Oh, mom! This homework is SOOOO easy!!!!"

 

So with that as my guide, we tried to make Cole's birthday as fun as possible.

Cole started off his birthday with a shower and then hunted for his presents around the house. 

After he opened his presents, we told him that he had to find one more...

a new scooter!!!

He went to school and donated a book to his class (since they can't bring in treats) for his birthday. The rest of the afternoon was spent counting down the minutes till Sand Hill and talking on the phone to family that called. Tyler took this picture because Cole had just answered the phone, "Geez! What now? You're the 100th person to call me today!!"

Since "Noodl,s" was on his list of birthday requests, I made our family's favorite "Noodle Bake" from Pioneer Woman--recipe HERE if you're interested. Technically it's called "Sour Cream Noodle Bake," but since there's only a 1/2 cup of sour cream in it, we think Noodle Bake is a more accurate name. It's a family favorite and is a great one to double and then give 1/2 away to a neighbor.

Back to the birthday boy...

Please notice his little Phineas toy (from Whitney) propped up eating his toy dinner too. Cole loved sporting his new birthday gear: red hat (from Annie) and Wolverine shirt (from Aunt Marlie).

After dinner we headed up to Sand Hill. Unfortunately, it had been foggy all day, so we didn't see the sunset. But we still loved the view of the ocean!

Tyler figured out how to use his camera's self-timer and make my hair look like a pixie cut:

We finished up Cole's birthday with cupcakes (not ice cream like he requested--oops!) at the top of the hill.

The week after Cole's birthday, we invited 9 friends of his from church/school to go to one of those trampoline/bounce house places to celebrate. I LOVED not having to entertain a herd of kids, and I loved seeing all those little 5/6 year-olds letting out all of their energy.

Unfortunately I didn't get too many pictures!

6 things that make our 6 year old Cole special:

1) His love of learning and books. He loves picking out the non-fiction books at the library and telling us facts about what he's read.

2) His talent for art. Cole goes through probably 1 spiral-bound/composition notebook every 2 weeks. And he draws on EVERY single page. Front and back. It's facinating to thumb through his pages and PAGES of art.

3) Cole has a sensitive heart. He's quick to comfort someone when they're hurt, quick to forgive, and quick to give hugs & kisses.

4) Cole enjoys his routine. He almost flipped out the other day when I told him that he had to buy lunch at school. He would prefer that I make his lunch every day which includes a PB + honey sandwich, an "apple cut-up", and a string cheese. I usually put another extra thing in there like a box of raisins, grapes, or "leaves" (raw spinach) so he can have a little bit of variety!

5) He loves video games, and he's pretty good at them too! Cole especially looks forward to the Wiikend when we let him play the Wii after his chores are done.

6) Cole is friendly to the core. He loves striking up conversations with strangers, holding girls' hands at class, and looking out for others. He even got the Friendship Award at school last week. GO COLE!! 

We love you, little man!