Eiriks 8th birthday

For Eirik, his 8th birthday could not come fast enough. The waiting has been excruciating for him. His expectations have been high and especially this week he has been under a lot of pressure. Turning 8 brings a lot of firsts. We have been preparing for his baptism. We have been making his first science project. He has Tae quan do belt testing this week. We bought all his scout stuff to become a cub scout. He finally got his pocketknife he has dreamed of for years. He has also been getting a lot of homework and his reading challenge has been demanding. It's exciting to see him grow up and shoulder all of these new reaponsibilities with grace and eagerness. Tonight we threw him a friend party. It was a blast. He had 8 guests, Jeffrey, Ian, Ben, Nate, Evan, Mary and his brothers. When they got here we gave them nets to catch frogs in our pond. Then we made leather mystery braided bracelets and we gave them their goodie bags. We made a campfire on the back porch and roasted hot dogs and s'mores. Then we gave them glow sticks and took them on a night hike. It was a gorgeous warm night, the only night of the week without rain. We saw crocus blooming on our walk. We always call them Eiriks flower because I told them they were blooming in our yard for the first time the day I brought him home from the hospital. After the hike we sang to eirik and he blew out candles and we had bites of key lime pie bars and opened presents. Then they went tot the tent to watch a movie in the tent with sleeping bags. It was 10 pm when all the boys went home and I snuggled Eirik to sleep in the tent. He felt very brave sleeping out there by himself. He said it was a perfect birthday party. He is wonderful. I am so proud of my Eirik.