Eli's Birthday

Last week was Eli's birthday. I'm still getting over the fact that he's six years old . . . He's a big boy now! Sending him off to first grade this year was bittersweet for me. You'd think I would have experienced these emotions last year with kindergarten, but being pregnant on bed rest with a herniated disk at the time, I couldn't wait for him to start! It just seems like he has grown and changed so much this past year. He's still very emotional at times, but he is starting to mature and there are moments when I wonder at this little boy we're blessed to have in our family. I think the best moments are when he's playing with Carli and I overhear him say, "Carli, you're my very best friend." I swear, every time that happens I choke up!

Anyway, on to the birthday proceedings. The 20th was the actual day and I knew he would be in school all day, so we planned a special breakfast. I knew that waffles with cherry pie filling and cool whip would be a big hit. Way to start the day off right!

We arranged a babysitter for Sammy and picked Eli up after school so we could go to the afternoon showing of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." Carli was good for about three-quarters of the movie until she got bored, luckily, we had the whole theater to ourselves, so she just ran up and down the aisles. Eli and Ben were totally enraptured, of course, and enjoyed every minute of it. (I must admit that I jerked awake a couple of times, but don't tell Ben! =)). After the movie we drove through Taco Bell for burritos and took them home to get Sammy. It was such a beautiful evening, we decided to pull out a blanket and make it a picnic. After the burritos, Eli and Carli put on a show for us, trampoline tricks included, and then we went inside and he opened his gift from Nana and Papa. He was thrilled with the Star Wars blaster, especially after just seeing the movie. I think Eli had a great birthday . . . I know I enjoyed it!

Saturday afternoon was the actual party. We had a pretty good turnout and a friend brought a slip-n-slide, so between that and the trampoline and wading pool, everyone had a great time. Ben made the cake since I was busy with church stuff in the morning, and he had the great idea to put a SpongeBob Frisbee on top (yay for TJ Maxx!). Eli loved it and it turned out really cute! They got to have their cake and play with it too. Way to go Ben!