He's almost half of eighteen!

My beautiful boy turned 8 years old today. EIGHT! It is impossible to fathom that it has been that long since we had our first child. He is such a boy, and then such a little man. He is delightful inside and out. When we got his end-of-the-year report card, his teacher said that "he is my quiet leader". I already knew she was an outstanding teacher, but after that report it was confirmed that she really knew him. What a complex, wonderful treasure he is!

At dinner tonight, we all went around the table and described him in 3 words. The theme of our descriptions seemed to be that he is caring, smart and fun. We all described him basically the same way. Toot, a man of few words, simply said, "He treats me nice and plays with me whenever I want. And I love him." And then he hugged him tightly, his very favorite way to express his thoughts.

Jaybird always challenges me, but in a good way. He points me to Christ with his gentle reminders, questions and comments. He genuinely loves the Lord and his family and friends. I absolutely soak him up! He told me recently that he was too old for me to call him "pet" names. As I hesitantly agreed to comply, he stopped me and said, "Well, I guess you can call me one pet name. Pumpkin, I will keep that one." So, here's my pumpkin's special day:

Waking up to balloons, a banner, and a table full of presents. This is him at 7am every morning...fully dressed and morning chores done before he comes downstairs.

His birthday present requests, in a word...LEGO.

His daddy and brother took him to breakfast at Krispy Kreme. Dad forgot the camera, so he reenacted the meal for me. He got to choose all of his meals for the day.

We had 5 gifts for him and Mimi had 1 to open. He opened one at each meal, one between meals and one at bedtime. This was the first gift. We played THREE times. This is actually a great board game!

By mid-morning all of his cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents called. He felt very loved!

See that little birthday banner? It's funny how a little dollar investment makes a real difference! He loved all of the details. This gift was the new Indian* Jones Akator Temple Race game. We played once and didn't really quite get it. But just the fact that it was Indie made it exciting.
A family picture before lunch.
He chose Firehouse subs for lunch. When did he start eating this much? An 8" sub and chips in one sitting!
Toot and Lydie's gift, again Indian* Jones something or other!?

The kids fighting with a lego set piece. He got a lego King Arthur set. We built half of it this afternoon. We can never get enough Leg*s!

Mimi and Papa get the creative award. Mimi ordered Jaybird a hand-carved walking stick. It is really beautiful and perfect for our little hiker!

Dinner: Fuddrucker's for the burger and...

milkshake lover!

Two small appetites= one shared milkshake= adorable picture

There's Mimi with her boys!

Jaybird was in great distress over his birthday cake. He really wanted me to recreate the temple of doom, but also wanted a cookie cake. So Mimi came to the rescue and brought him a cookie cake for his actual birthday, and next week I will make the temple of doom cake for his party. What a marvelous day!