My little guy turned 8 years old this month! He can legally ride in a car without a booster seat, like a fully formed human. We’ve been talking about baptism and letting him know he can decide to do that now. But we all would prefer to wait until he is fully vaccinated.

Just for fun, here’s a link to his 8 month blog post. Look at those cheeks! I’m happy to report he has been sleeping through the night for the past few years! Hurrah! Hmm, stubborn and wanders off to do his own thing? That hasn’t changed much. Now he’s a spacey kid and hard to snap to attention. He’ll look at you without hearing what you are saying, or wander off mid task with item in hand, completely forgetting what he was asked to do. He’s still smiley, funny, creative, and fun to be around!

He celebrated his birthday with a small outdoor party that was Minecraft themed. He started by having his best friend over for indoor video games – a treat he hasn’t been able to do in over a year! Of course they were masked and I opened all the windows and set up fans to blow fresh air around while they played. They loved it so much, they were a little dismayed when it was time to start the party outside!

Sam started with presents and snacks. Then they made Minecraft character keychains with perler beads.

There was an item matching game with cards hidden in the balloons.

Everyone got a couple turns with the pinata before Desi was let loose. He annihilated the creeper, as expected.

The kids hunted for little containers of ingredients to craft the birthday cake. I found little food items to represent the milk, eggs, wheat, and sugar, that you need to use in the game to craft a cake.

Cake time! Sam asked for a cake that looks like the one from the game. I think it turned out great! It was chocolate cake with strawberry buttercream. A little marshmallow fondant and squares of Fruit Roll-up were used for decoration. We employed the hygienic method for blowing out candles: using canned air.

A brewing thunderstorm ended the party right on time. Sam was feeling a little worn out from all the friends and eating too much junk food. He recuperated shortly and we opened his family presents.

That was all on Saturday before his birthday. Sunday was a quiet day at home. Monday the 13th was his actual birthday. I made him chocolate chip pancakes with peaches for breakfast before school.

That morning I left for GJ to help mom with her knee surgery. Sam had a good time at school and an indulgent time at home with the Ben and Jack. I hear there was pizza and video games, to no one’s surprise. He had a good birthday all around.