EIGHT IS GREAT!

 Andrew, you turn 8 tomorrow! I cannot believe you are such a big boy! This year has been such a big growing year--physically and emotionally.

You love school and enjoy going (although, when you have to miss a day, you lament the fact that you will have too much work to make-up).

Piano Recital

You started piano lessons with Danielle 2 months ago, and really enjoy it. You played at the recital 2 weeks ago with no nervousness or doubts--you just went right up there in front of 30 people and played your songs! I was so proud of you and your bravery.

You still want to learn how to play the accordion, so we will be looking into lessons this year.

You love to play with Lucy and Emmy and they LOVE to play with you.

You continue to take on more responsibility--you will help me out by doing everything I ask of you.

You feed Hachi everyday. You will get your sisters food (especially when Lucy is asking for a second dinner)!

You keep a running invoice of all the chores that you do so that you can get paid every week.

You earned close to $60 a few months ago and bought a toy you really wanted.

You fill out your own tithing slips and have started to understand what tithing is (even though it is very hard for you to part with your hard-earned dollars).

One of your Lincoln Log creations

You are getting baptized on Sunday and are super excited about it.

You were 1 of 4 kids in your class who got to move on to the finals in the spelling bee. You got 8th place (out of 12) out of all of the second grade! Our goal was for you not to get out first and you were super proud of the fact that you stayed in 4 rounds! Quite an accomplishment since you were in extra help for reading and math in 1st grade!

You still want to be a movie director when you grow up.

You really enjoy Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books and The Boxcar Children.

You love constructing buildings with Legos, Lincoln Logs and in Minecraft!

You really like watching YouTube videos about Minecraft and you can relate all of the finer points of them to anyone willing to listen.

At the Ashford Volunteer Fire Department

You love Scouts and received your Wolf badge in April. You will go to Scout camp in July and are excited to go.

You still love to clean and organize, but I think it is mainly the companionship you enjoy, since you don't really like to do it on your own (but you still do it, just with a little more teeth pulling).

Andrew, you are a joy to be around! You are very smart and have an inquisitive mind. You are such a great and loving big brother to your sisters--they are very lucky to have you! You are such a blessing to our family. We love you and hope this is your best birthday yet!!

Love,
Mom

Breakfast

My sweet boy this morning made me breakfast!

As I was getting the girls changed, he called up to me and asked, "Do you want toaster strudel for breakfast?"

I said yes and he got the box out of the freezer, dragged a chair over to the toaster and put the toaster strudel into the toaster for me.

Nothing warms my heart more than seeing Andrew learn how to take care of himself AND thinking about other's needs before his own!