Judge For Yourself...

Today is my baby boy's birthday!  He is six today, but will tell you himself, not until later today.  I told him it's okay to celebrate early. ☺

Last night we were all about making cupcakes.  On second thought, we talked about being all about making cupcakes.  At the final hour, as I was getting everything going, he asked me what I was doing.  When I replied that I was making his cupcakes, he just said, "Cool!" and ran away.  Figures.  Two and a half hours, three cake mixes, nine eggs and one and one sixth cups of oil later, I turned off the oven and began frosting.  I made the first batch only to find smell the oil had gone rancid.  I guess I don't bake very often because the canola oil expired in two thousand and nine!  Um, yeah...don't bake with expired oil! {I never made it that far, luckily, or I would not have known it was bad and would have poisoned twenty eight students...or at least made them all poop their pants!}  Of course, with twenty eight kids in one classroom, I needed to make another two boxes of mix!  Oh well.  Such is life.

Since I only had one box of Funfetti {and that was thrown away} I had to make due with a box each of chocolate and vanilla.  It's a good thing I bought all three boxes last week to make trifles. {and only made one trifle}  And lucky me for having a weakness for all things glittery and fun.  And spray frosting.  {I like to stock up.  Even though I barely ever bake}  Otherwise I wouldn't have had enough to frost all the cupcakes.

 I didn't even bother mixing the original batter because the smell gave it away right away.  Drats!  The favorite flavor down the drain!

 I was so tired of baking cupcakes that once I began frosting them, I totally forgot which ones were still hot.  Uh, I hope they were still cute this morning.  I packed them away in their cute little home {cupcake carrier and Tupperware lidded veggie dish...for the four extra} and never looked at them this morning.  I figure what I don't know can't hurt me, right? {it'll just make me look foolish, say, to the teacher}

 I wanted to take Kyle's picture to show him how much he would change overnight.  I told his dad that in the morning, Kyle was going to stop sucking his thumb {again} and he'll have outgrown his mouthiness, his whining and his sarcasm.  I'm sure we'd all notice it by the morning picture, right?  Kyle's response was, "I said I'll try!"  I wasn't holding my breath.  I've had that same laundry list since his third birthday.  A girl can dream, right?

See if you can tell the difference.  Here's Kyle during his last waking moments at five...{you wouldn't have known otherwise so he held up his hands for you.  Or me.}

 Before I show the afters, let me preface by saying that we had an amazing day yesterday.  That boy was so charming.  I almost fell down the first time we spoke yesterday.  He was so sweet.  And he remained that way until school.  After having the nighttime convo about the change, I wasn't too surprised this morning to find that my Kyle is...Still. My. Kyle.  The mouthy one.  The whiny one.  The sarcastic one.  And he may have even put that ever-lovin' thumb in his mouth.  I reminded him of our great day the day before and he reminded me we had a good day one other time.  Point taken.  Then I made a point of explaining that two times in six years is not near enough.  But he's mine.  All mine.  And I do love him tons.

The Obvious-Six six...

 The Mixin'-Up-The-Math six...

 The I'm-A-Dork six...

 The Gangsta' six...

 And the I-Love-My-Mommy-So-Much-I'll-Just-Be-Cute-And-Smile-Like-She-Says six...

Gosh, doesn't he totally have Keith's eyes and chin?  I remember him coming out looking like a tiny Grandpa Stratton.  I was extremely thankful he didn't come out looking like a Monchichi.  Nothing personal, dear, but I figured for sure he was gonna look nothing like his blond haired, light eyed brothers and instead have dark eyes and dark hair...and lots of it!  Funny how things turn out, eh?

Kyle worked on a birthday wish list and I was able to pass many ideas along to family.  I, however, had to choose from the remaining ideas and there weren't many to choose from.  Very last minute, I settled on a couple of things.  One of them being a football hat.  That is Kyle's term.  Momma knows what that means.  It means Kyle wants a baseball hat to wear on the sidelines at the football game so he can look like the coaches.  You know, a football hat.  I found one yesterday at four thirty, stopped at the shop at four fifty, handed over my request and picked up the finished product today during lunch.

Pretty sweet, huh?  I'll bet even the real coaches will be jealous. ☺  I was so excited I sent a picture to Keith and asked him if I can give it to Kyle early, before we do gifts tonight, so he can wear it to Caleb's game today.  He'll be so stoked!

Happy birthday to my dear sweet baby.  With all the stress you bring to my daily life, I cannot imagine not being blessed with all of your wonderfulness.  I wouldn't choose to have a life any different than my very own.  Right now.  With you.♥ {and I'll look forward to wishing on my star again next year}