Birthday Excitement Building

We are within the one-month-zone now. Less than one month until Kyle and Owen’s 5th birthday. They’ve been talking about it here and there since about November, but now — now that it is getting so much closer — we’re hearing about it daily (often multiple times daily). Kyle and Owen love their birthday. And we celebrate it big-time each year (me using it as a great excuse to throw a great big bash). You know the excitement is really building over something when they start playing that thing out in various ways over and over and over during their days. And recently the boys have started in on that phase of the birthday-anticipation. In these photos they are “playing birthday” (as they call it), this time with the cake part of the birthday ritual (there are many variations on the birthday theme, believe me!). They were out in the back yard in their play shed and were so immersed in their play that they didn’t get the least bit distracted by me sitting right there snapping photos. Here they are, singing Happy Birthday to themselves, with the (sand and stick) “candle cake,” slicing the cake, serving the cake, eating the cake. They did this over and over, many times. I’m so glad that I can capture some of these moments in photos because they are just so precious. These kinds of perfect moments make up for all their shenanigans.