Eight Years Old

Annalise took it upon herself to show Justin his "Baby Book" this morning (she's mad because she doesn't have one yet so she revels in his). He spent some time looking back and enjoyed the stories for a while.

Our arrival at Cindy's

Reading Pookie's Card

Boogie Boarding at Sandy Point Beach


Mark eventually convinced Justin to get out of the water

They found a little boy to help them collect food for dinner

Setting the crabs free

Is it any surprise that I could not get a group shot?

Spaghetti Tacos

A Seaside Birthday

Opening Presents

June 2, 2010

Happy Birthday Justin!

I'm not sure where the time went because I could SWEAR that just yesterday you were, well, not eight! You were asking me for more juice, Tia, a Buzz Lightyear toy, or maybe even something so grown up as a cheeseburger. Today, those things are in the past and you're asking me for "spaghetti tacos" (discovered on iCarly), strings for your guitar (electric - inspired by Uncle Seth), a DSi XL, "DJ clothes", and a camera because you want to be a photographer. You're singing to Taylor Swift (all the boys are!), discussing politics with me, and you are popping your head into the house after school just long enough to tell me that you'll be at a friend's house. While I hate to see you grow up so fast, I love the kid that you are and I can't wait to see what the next year brings to your life. If I could describe you today, I'd use words like kind, caring, adventurous, raw, confident, active...very active..., and very brave.

Your birthday started off with a visit to our favorite spot here on the island since Dad headed to Florida. Cindy's. We took one present with us for you to open and Pookie got the honors. You opened the package, completely convinced that it was "just clothes," and you were very pleased to discover three "How to train your Dragon" books. That Pookie knows her books! After you finished your chocolate chip pancake, we headed to school to drop you off so that Annalise and I could head home to bake the "warm cookies" you requested for your class as well as the "chocolate cake with blue icing" you requested for your birthday dinner. I also had to do some food shopping because I did not have all of the ingredients I needed to make the Spaghetti Tacos with Meatballs that you requested for dinner! Much to my dismay, you are still watching iCarly and you discovered this little gem on that show. The directions were simple: "Mom, it's simple. You take spaghetti noodles and put them in a taco shell. Hard. Then you put sauce and meatballs on the top. Easy Peasy!"

At about 3:00, Leah came over to ride with us to school and the beach. We all came to Hathaway, dressed in beach gear, to drop cookies off for your class. Lucinda Landon was in the class autographing books and we completely stole her show - I felt very badly about that! You did not. You most certainly enjoyed handing out your cookies to your friends in class and they most certainly appreciated receiving them! You do manage to get yourself into some trouble at school but I am very happy with the way that the kids enjoy being around you all the time. Your stories are amazing, you're very excited about school, and you often steal the show with some random fact that you have learned from a book that amazes Mrs. Dufour. You are a creative and generous kid and I hope that spirit lives with you as you grow even older.

I took the girls to Cumberland Farms for an icee while we waited for the school day to end and then we picked you and Mark up so that we could all go to the beach. Wouldn't you know it...we were sweating to death in the parking lot at Hathaway but the fog rolled in the minute we hit Sandy Point Beach! A little fog never stopped you though! You and Mark boogy boarded for a while until the goose bumps and chattering teeth got annoying and then the two of you decided that you needed to collect food for dinner. (Did you forget you were having spaghetti tacos?). You collected a bucket full of mussels and crabs but Dad said you had to put the crabs back because they probably weren't safe. Thank God for that because I didn't think I could handle getting those little guys into a pot! (I have to admit, I called him for that because I suspected that's what he would say).

I finally got you guys off the beach and we went home to cook dinner, play with friends, and wait for Nana and Papa to arrive so that you could open presents. You guys ran around like crazy people playing tag for a while and eventually the dinner was ready. You "enjoyed" your dinner for about 15 seconds before you were all off again the way most 8 year old kids are. When Nana and Papa arrived, we sent everyone but Leah home and we opened presents. Unfortunately for Annie (who was in the emergency room with a smashed toe), but fortunately for us, we got to keep Leah around for the party because it would not have been the same without her! She even had so much fun that she decided to try her first sleepover. (She made it until 1:00am when she woke up scared and really wanting Mom...).

You're a very blessed child who got way too many presents! Your favorite from the family night was your camera. You worked on setting up shots and worked on getting the composition just right. You were not pleased when your shot of the candles burning on the mantle over the fire did not turn out right, but when I explained that it was a very tough shot to manage, you started working with the settings on your camera and became a real photographer. The shot did eventually come out and I'm impressed with the way you kept at it.

You were also very grown up when you opened your DS. We talked about how well you had done with the old DS (you held on to it for three years before losing it recently somewhere in the house) and how this was an "upgrade" but not a "replacement" for a lost item. You understood and I'm proud of you for that. You also politely told Nana that what you wanted was something just a little different and she said we could go exchange it. You put the box off to the side and patiently waited until we had time to go exchange it. You wanted to play your game but you held out for just the right thing. Now that you've got it, the thing goes with you absolutely everywhere! (It's got a camera in it and distorting pictures is your favorite thing to do - especially pictures of me that you turn into big blimpy messes!).

Like I said, I cannot believe you are eight years old! You and I argue on a daily basis about many things but I'm so proud of the way you politely stick to your guns these days. You're growing up and you're growing into a child I am very proud of. Stick to it! I love you!