Nate's 8th Birthday

On April 14th, Nate turned eight!  (I still can't believe he's that old.)  Nate decided that he didn't want to have a party this year, opting instead to head to the Dells for a day to play at an arcade, rock out some laser tag, and drive go-carts.  His birthday happened to coincide with a pizza party that his class earned for everybody getting 100% on their spelling tests.  Nate asked if I would make Star Wars cupcakes for his class to eat during the party.  After a little negotiating (he wanted me to decorate the top of each cupcake with a character's face using frosting), we settled on these cupcake toppers I made using stickers:

Bad guys in red

Good guys in blue

Nate's "Unkie Mikey," Alan's youngest brother, flew into town from BYU on the 14th and was able to come to pick Nate up from school with Abbie and me.  We brought Nate a bunch of Star Wars balloons (are you seeing the theme here?)--He was happily surprised to see his uncle and all of those balloons.

For dinner, Nate chose to head to Outback Steakhouse.  This is a restaurant that we don't really go to ($$$), but Nate loves his steak so off we went.  My parents flew into town on the 14th as well, so they met us at dinner.  Alan's parents, his brother, and two nephews joined us for the big eat.  Nate wolfed down a salad, baked sweet potato, and adult size steak.  If you know Nate, you understand what an accomplishment that is.  (The kid doesn't eat much...)  After dinner, we headed to Alan's parents house to do cake and presents.  Nate requested the same cake as last year, chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting.  (This year, thanks to this over-eager baby, he got a cake made from a box mix.  I did make the buttercream from scratch!)

The little stinker tried to blow out the candles with his nose.

I honestly can't believe this little boy is eight.  He adds so much to our lives every single day.  Nate is still the most sensitive kid I know, always looking out for how other people are feeling.  He doesn't leave for school in the morning without giving me a hug and blowing kisses as I drive away.  He reads Star Wars books to Abbie after school and rides his bike up and down the block with her almost every day so that she'll be happy.  Nate knows more about Star Wars than anyone I know, sometimes producing facts that seem so obscure I'm sure he's made them up, until he finds a Lego or book to show me the proof.  Nate is one of the best readers in his class, testing at a middle school level.  He has his addition down pat, but hates subtraction with regrouping (borrowing), though he's still very good at it.  He's learning to write in cursive, something I'm relearning with him... Nate still hates homework and does just about anything he can to get out of it.  He's not very organized and drives me insane bringing his homework folder home every single day with all of his papers shoved haphazardly into his backpack.  I shudder to think of what his desk looks like...  Nate sleeps in a pair of camouflage fleece pajamas every single night, despite getting so hot that he ends up taking them off every single night.  He has some strange attachment to his socks, which forces me to throw away the holy ones without him knowing it--He can't stand it when I rip up his socks.  Nate still prefers fruits and vegetables to any other foods.  When there's cantaloupe in the house, there's little to no chance of getting him to eat anything else.  He's such a funny kid, full of joy and life.  I absolutely love my little Nate-Nate.