3zekiel 6 Years Old

That is what I wrote, in bold black icing, on his cake board today! Then I realized I had the "E" backwards. So for today we are calling him "Three-zekiel".

Zekers is an odd child. I think that's what endears him to me - we are so much alike! About a month ago, I asked him what kind of theme he'd like for his birthday, to which he promptly replied, "Rock, Paper, Scissors." "Wait a second - you want a Rock Paper Scissors cake?" I sputtered. And that is exactly what he wanted.

After processing through his bizarre request, I finally came up with some ideas for the cake. And that's when he informed me he wanted a Henry and Mudge cake, to go with his favorite book series. And not just ANY Henry & Mudge design - it had to look like the cover of the very first book, complete with title and author's name.

It wasn't until a few days later, when he decided he'd like a giant squid cake, that I made an executive decision, and informed him that I'd be making a great white shark cake (I'd gotten the idea from the Family Fun website.) From now on, the kiddos will be choosing their birthday cakes from there - end of story! As it turned out, he loved his cake, and so did I, as it gave me an excuse to buy Swedish fish to go with the cake.

Since it IS his birthday today, I thought I'd share just a few of the things I love about my 6-year-old:

- He absolutely ADORES any kind of animal. He wants to be a zoo-keeper when he grow up.

- His love for animals is overshadowed only by his love for vanilla ice cream. Just plain old vanilla.

- He has read Happy Birthday Bad Kitty maybe upwards of 100 times - no exaggeration. I realized this is because he is alarmingly similar to the title character.

- He is so good with Karis and Malachi (when he's not annoying them to death). He often reads to them, or shows them how to play video & computer games. He's even trying to teach Karis to read - not too successfully, but it's sweet.

- Whenever I pack him a lunch he likes or make a favorite dinner, he gives me an extra kiss and hug at bedtime. I've earned up to 8 of them some nights.

- One of his favorite foods is carrots. I can't complain about that!

I love you Beef Man. Happy Birthday!!