The Lopez Family Blog: FIVE years old!!

Diego Tomas Lopez, is FIVE years old!! Wow, amazing. This child is such a precious gift from God. I'm not even quite sure what to write about him since I have about 10 minutes to write and probably 3 hours worth of things to say. He has always been a mellow guy, since the day he was born. He was a super easy baby and made 7 international trips by the time he was one since he was so easy to travel with (El Salvador twice, Canada twice, England twice and Mexico). He has a quiet spirit and is very reserved. He likes order, justice, peace, routine, but also loves to be hyper, wild and active. He can be just as active, hyper and crazy as a typical 5-year old, but more often than not, he is pensive and inquisitive. He loves, loves, loves his family and delights in spending time with all of us. He is passionate about soccer and plays every single day, whether inside or out. He loves to sing and recite memory verses and enjoys dancing and listening to music. If video games and TV were allowed in our house, he would definitely be hooked because he jumps at every chance he gets to play on friend's iphones. (We do watch videos and movies, but a limited amount). He is definitely the most handsome boy I know and I cannot wait to watch him develop into a charming young man. He is very smart and loves to learn new things. He is beyond just sounding out 3 letter words. He can now pick up a simple book and pretty much read through it. He can do all sorts of addition and subtraction and is learning about money. He loves to help out around the house, whether it's sorting laundry, sweeping the floor or cutting cucumbers. He has a great sense of humor and really loves to smile and laugh. He has some serious muscle tone and is quite strong. I am starting to ramble because I am running out of time and want to enjoy the bragging rights I have as the birthday boy's mom :)

Our greatest prayer for this incredible boy is that he will grow up to be a man of the Lord. We pray that he will walk with the Lord every day of his life and will not remember a time of not knowing Jesus. If it is God's will for him to be married, we pray he will marry a woman of God who will love him and respect him for who he is and the man God has created him to be. Dear Jesus, draw Diego to you and bless his path, may you be his saviour today and always.

Our new neighbor, Jamie, came over to help us make a home-made pinata on Tuesday afternoon. We dipped newspaper into a mixture of flour and water to make the paper mache and we just finished painting it today (Thursday). It's a soccer ball.

It took longer to dry than expected so we are going to hit it on Saturday with Tio Aldo.

Making silly faces before opening presents

He showed us how he can jump higher, run faster and reach higher now that he is 5

Putting the mark on the wall. He has grown 3 inches in the past year. Alexia has grown 4!

We let him create the agenda for the day, from breakfast to dinner and in between. The agenda went as follows: croissants and yogurt for breakfast, Jeronimo's mid-morning, Chik Fil A for lunch, bowling in the afternoon and presents, pizza and cake in the evening. We have always done parties in the past, but since most of his friends are in school now, we decided to make it a Family Fun Day. We invited Anjuli (she is homeschooled) and Bennett (his mom let him skip school for the day!) to join us for Jeronimo's and Chik Fil A and it was a blast! Ricardo and I were so pleased with how easy it all was with 5 kids. Lunch at Chik Fil A was a breeze because they were all so well behaved, sat quietly to eat their lunch and genuinely enjoyed the outing. What a blessing to be with well behaved children! After lunch we came home to do the pinata and then the kids went home. We met Aldo and Eliana at the bowling alley around 4pm and played one round. Diego and Alexia were very tired by that time, but had such a blast. Then we came home for pizza, cake and presents. Diego requested a strawberry cake so I made one from scratch and it was delicious. For presents he received a world globe from Grammie, a watch and adidas jacket from Mima and a set of soccer nets, adidas pants and t-shirts from us. He was thrilled!

Enjoying croissants bright and early

And the fun begins!

Alexia had a blast on this smaller slide

How big does he look here!?!?

Marco LOVED going down the slide!

Enjoying a game of air hockey

Ricardo tried to hang out and read a magazine, but Marco was determined to devour it. Check out the lil' lady. She wanted a break from the action and took this comfortable pose to hang with the boys.