Cinco de Mayo boy turns Eight

Last Friday was the beginning of Jonah's 8th Birthday celebration. We decided for the first time we'd have a party that was not at our house. Jonah was keen on the idea of seeing Spiderman 2 on opening night. So we rented the little birthday room that was already decorated and Jonah a his buddies went crazy over the video games while I made quesadillas. When they came back they devoured what I had made and took me seriously when I told them they needed to eat as many vegetables as they were old if they wanted popcorn, soda, and fruits snacks during the movie. I'm pretty sure their moms would have done the same.

Here they are watching the last person spend their tokens on the Spiderman video game:

The next day was Saturday and nothing outside of soccer happened. But, Caleb was away on a band trip, Liam was away on a camping trip which meant that for the first time this entire soccer season, meaning Fall and Spring, Jared and I got to go to both Gavin and Jonah's games and sit together to cheer them on. We didn't know what we were missing....it was so, so nice!!!

Sunday was a big day as Jonah has his interview to get baptized with Bishop Evans, our good friend. He was all decked out in a suit and tie and freshly clean.....Jared always does a good job with church preparation. They headed off and the rest of us joined them after I got the Ken Johnson tacos started for our  Cinco de Mayo meal. It was also the last Sunday Jonah didn't need to fast with the rest of us and he was not at all interested in starting that practice a month earlier. And who can blame him, really?

Once home, Caleb helped me make the angel food cake, Gavin prepped the strawberries, Jared put together the "chasers" and organized the gifts,  Liam did the dishes while I made the tortillas and started the 3 batches of cinnamon rolls for teacher appreciation week and to take some into Jonah's class. It was definitely not a day of rest after 8 hours in the kitchen, but Jonah's gratitude made it all worth it!

Then Monday May 5th finally rolled around and to make the day special I brought in cinnamon rolls for his class and even though I wouldn't let him out of his piano lesson, after dinner we did take a trip into town to pick out new shoes (the ones I bought were too big) and hit Sweet Frogs for frozen yogurt topped with candy. Jared and I find it disgusting, but there are two locations here in C-ville, so it's obviously a hit with some people, including my kids. Everyone else was off at orchestra rehearsal or soccer tryouts. So it was just the two of us which was nice as I love spending time with this boy. I love to listen to him chat in the car about all sorts of ideas. Right now he's always asking me if they have made a decision yet if having wild animals for pets should be legal or not. He'd read an article in National Geographic about people who keep wild animals for pets and the ethical, legal reason for either allowing it or banning the practice. If he could, he'd bring in all sorts of wild animals into his life for his pets. For now, his stufties will have to suffice.

Jonah at Eight:

1. You love animals more than most anything else. You love to carry around your stufties, arrange them in your bed, beg for me to bring ones down from the attic, bring them to school, and when friends come over at some point you play what you simply call "Stufties".

2. You are looking forward to being baptized this summer at the Harris family reunion. Being with cousins and grandparents is one of your favorite ways to spend a vacation.

3. You still love toast and if there is cookie butter the house that is your topping of choice. You are a pretty good eater with the exception of PBJ's, coconut and tomatoes. You just told me about the coconut and tomatoes as I couldn't think of anything other than the PBJ's. Funny to me as I never would have thought of either of those two foods.

4. You sleep on the top bunk with Gavin below and the two of you spend lots of time together because your both still in elementary school. You have one more year together before Gavin heads to middle school. If we don't have music or soccer after school, the two of you come home and usually head to your bedroom where you grab a book and just read for a bit. I think you like the peace of silence after a busy day at school. But soon after you head out to play on the tramp and will often be out there for an hour or more before coming in for music and homework.You are only 19 months apart so for the next 4 months I have and 8 and 9 year old.

5. You love to read How to Train your Dragon, American Chillers and Spirit Animals. You also read anything you can find about any kind of animal. You are trying to finish the Book of Mormon before you get baptized and you are making great progress.

6. You like to pretend you are a big-time fiddle player at some point during our violin practices and you also usually cry at some point as well. I'm really hoping that you move out of that sooner rather than later. It's usually when you are forced to read the music and not have someone play the piece for you or recall it from memory. Most of the time the violin pieces have been in your head for years from listening to the brothers, so when there is something new, it throws you for about 5-10 minutes, but boy are you mad and pouty during that time.

7. You are a good friend and never shy away from playing with someone new.

8. I think you share dads sense of adventure as you are the one most likely to talk about taking a trip somewhere on a plane or train or getting up early in the morning to get in the car to drive to a new place. I love this about you especially because it's not something you've learned, it's simply who you are.

9. You have the most infectious laugh and during your birthday dinner we all agreed that it was one of the things we all love about you. You are simply a happy child, full of life and curiosity and wonder.

10. You collect things: rocks, pieces of string, wood shavings, pine cones and you worry that I will thrown them away and sometimes I'm sorry, but I do. Wood shavings.....they are just messy. But, I keep the rocks on the kitchen window sill, and I dust around your pine cones.

I have always said that you are the boy who I have the hardest time watching grow up, because you are my marker of lasts: my last eight year old, the last the be baptized, the last one who will want to have collections of silly things like wood shavings, and the last to giggle with the freedom that comes with the innocence of childhood. Happy birthday, Jonah! I love you!!

 New scriptures from Grandma and Grandpa Harris:

A new Okapi stuftie from Gavin (named stripe):

A new big horned sheep from Liam (named lip after cousin Sol's sheep by the same name):

A new Penny Board from Caleb:

And finally a new photo from dad of a dinosaur and a boy....a random roadside art sculpture in South Dakota that Jared picked up from the artist at Portland's Saturdays market.

My gifts included new shoes (not shown) and this cake with a candelabra candle. I never dreamed I'd be out of regular candles.....Jared thought of this on the fly.