Birthday boy

We've been celebrating Elijah's 6th Birthday for weeks!  He had an early party with friends and family a couple of weeks ago, which was a ton of fun!  Here's the birthday boy with his cake ...

... a freshly baked banana cake filled with cream and bananas, dusted with cocoa powder and decorated in a 2 minute frenzy while the guests were outside taking turns to launch a rocket (a pump action toy from National Geographic).  I'd forgotten to look for the birthday candle box, but Elijah didn't seem worried.

We had another cake on his actual birthday, shared with new friends (a home schooling family from Darwin who are traveling in a caravan for over a year ... we met them at our church conference on the weekend).  How exciting to have them visit our home and hear about their adventures, which are just like the dream we're working towards!  I'm sure we could've talked for a week.

Here's Elijah on his new bike yesterday ... we took it out the front and he just jumped right on and took off!  Not even a wobble.  That was a cool moment!  He wasn't expecting a bike either, which made it even sweeter.

Since Pete was home I grabbed my bike and took Elijah for a spin down to the park.  Being mid-week, we had the place to ourselves, and went silly trying out the BMX jumps.  Pete helped Jasmine adjust Elijah's old bike to her liking (attaching her pink bell and doll carrier, and putting the training wheels back on).

It's been a GREAT couple of weeks celebrating this birthday.  Now we're swinging into action for Jasmine's 5th birthday, soon to be upon us.  Jasmine was born when Elijah was 1 year and 10 days old.  She's enjoyed making his birthday special, and I'm so glad for her that her turn is now here!

While I can't believe they're already 6 and almost 5, it's so incredibly wonderful to think about their lives so far, and to snuggle in the love we share.  Sure there's conflict and stubborn standoffs and selfishness, in all of us, but above all it's just TOO amazing, such a privilege to be their Mum.