Friday, August 31, 2018

Time to Celebr-Eight Eli

Our summer started with our first swing at baseball. I signed Jeff up to be a coach somewhat against his will, but this old rookie turned out to be the MVP. All the boys loved him and he did a great job as coach! 
Evidence of Eli's good coach is this little guy's skills. He was a natural out on the field. He was a consistent hitter and quickly learned the ins and outs of the...ins and outs. 
The start of summer brings on immediate preparations for Eli's birthday which is always the first or second day after school gets out. Baby wearing preparations proved to be less efficient than I had envisioned they would be. This is what happens when a baby foot gets stuck in a bag of powdered sugar. 
Nevertheless, the cake was made. 
For those of you who do not wake up humming the Mario theme song like we do, this is a fire flower that can be found in any video game involving America's favorite mustached plumber. 
Mary was in town, so she stopped by to whip Eli in a quick game of air hockey and then to take Eli to the store for a gift and out to lunch. Totally made his whole morning!
After naps we met up with the Guam folk who were in town for Eli's birthday again! My boys at one point were calling these cousins the birthday cousins because when they came into town two years ago they also spent Eli's birthday with us. We've dubbed this a bi-annual tradition. 





It's hard to believe Eli is eight! That's like a real kid! Like, have I finally made it to established motherhood? And now that I'm here, do I really want that? I kind of liked the young mom phase of being blissfully naive and easily forgiven for my parenting faux pas. We're getting to the age where things are really starting to matter and I've better make sure my rubber duckies are in a row.

Luckily, for everything I don't yet have figured out, Eli does. He just gets it. He's wise beyond his years while simultaneously exactly his age. When he's not hopped up on sugar or infinite levels into a video game or making inappropriate jokes at dinner, he's so sweet and caring and kind and loving and mature and spiritual and just downright good. He's just a good kid. He wants good. He wants to do the right thing. He's a great example to his younger brothers and a great example to me.

Eli's birthday celebrations continued through the weekend as we were invited to go to Lagoon with Jeff's work!







There are endless benefits to coordinating jobs with your family friends. 
C
Our summer had a sens-eight-tional start. But we've only just begun...

1 comment:

Kim said...

The ins and outs of baseball made me laugh.

Loved seeing the 8-year-old birthday boy and his Eli smile. Your description of him is sweet.

Whenever I see a photo of all four boys with Jeff (or with you), I always think about what a handful that many boys must be. But you manage it magnificently!