The Boy Turns Eight!

Our boy turned eight on All Saint's Day.

Our birthday boy from birth to 7.5 years old

His birthday wish list involved very expensive items, so most of the family had to chip in to get him the Mindstorms Lego set he wanted.  He's been building and programming Lego robots ever since.

Another very special birthday gift he received was from his sister.

 

She began writing him a survival guide for turning eight this past summer.  The book is filled with practical tips gleaned from her own experiences as an 8-year-old. 

A sampling of tips from her survival guide include:

Tip 32: Your favorite book should always be the Bible, but Percy Jackson is a close 2nd. Don't read it until you are 10.

Tip 20: Mom, Dad, and I are always here for you. Come to us when you have a problem.

Tip 17: Never listen to your friends if they say a girl likes you.

Tip 11: Start a journal. It's good way to let your feelings go. Remember: Journals are for guys. Diaries are for girls.

Our daughter developed pneumonia the week  of his birthday, and we feared she would be too contagious for us to have the party, but thankfully, she got the antibiotic going in time for him to have a sleepover for his birthday, just as she had when she turned eight.

The party did not have an elaborate them like hers did back then for I am way too busy with teaching and other projects (and boys don't really care), but it did end up being Nerf themed (with a little Lego and Minecraft thrown in) in the end.

Orange cups, orange favors, and lots of orange food

 

I baked a cookie cake with orange butterscotch and chocolate morsels.  My husband made a delicious frosting from scratch and decorated the cookie cake to look like a Nerf target with Nerf darts stuck into the target.

I asked my husband to come up with some games and activities for the boys.  So, he turned the 2nd floor play room into Nerf replica of the shooting ranges Marines use in Afghanistan.  He hand crafted the targets to look like those in our son's favorite computer game, Minecraft.

Safety goggles on & planning his strategy

Birthday boy dives into position

Sniper action in prone position

Birthday boy wins the competition

Minecraft, Lego, and Sports Gifts

Group Pic

Birthday Boy and Band of Valiant Warriors

One of the boy's mothers stayed the entire time.  She helped me so much with food preparations and took the group photo of all of us.  Having her here was such a blessing as I had been wanting to get to know the parents of the boys in his class.  (Gift #791)  Another boy's parents stayed for a long time talking politics, faith, and education. I  thoroughly enjoyed that conversation as well and felt so encouraged to meet like-minded families with similar passion for crucial issues of the day. (Gift #792)

Of the three boys who stayed the night, two were quite homesick between 11pm-midnight, but thankfully, they all settled down and got some sleep before waking up at the crack of dawn wired and reckless ready to start a new day.   We thankfully survived our first boys' sleepover, and even better, I think our little guy has decided he needs down time after a party and will not be hosting any more sleepovers for a while.  Hallelujah!  (Gift #793)