Henry turns 8

Henry's birthday shopping list and his requests for cake and dinner were so simple that this was the easiest birthday ever.

He's so cute. When I told him dad couldn't stay for his birthday breakfast, he wanted to save half his presents to open later when dad was home.

So I saved the better presents for later and I told him so. The only presents he opened were food.

And he couldn't have been more thrilled. He asked for Apple Jacks and Jolley Ranchers.

Siblings make birthdays so fun. (Erica is wearing my old dress.)

In true Henry style, we listened to this song while making his birthday breakfast.

He asked for buttermilk pancakes which we have all the time anyway.

James likes pancakes too but usually no syrup.

This is the cake design Henry drew for me.

And this is what I came up with.

I traced the logo by putting a piece of paper right on the screen then cut it out and put tape on it for handles. I put it on the frosted cake and then Henry spread the sprinkles. I swept the sprinkles off the stencil and used the tape handles to lift it up and wa-la! UNC cake! It took 10 minutes.

And he couldn't have been more happy. And Justin couldn't have been more proud.

It has to be one of my favorite cakes I've ever made because I got to help make his vision come true and that's fun to be a part of.

His second birthday request was a Biggie Bag from Wendy's.

 And he wanted Wayne to come to the park with us too.

 Erica pouted during dinner because I failed to get ketchup for her fries. I didn't know you had to ask for ketchup nowadays.

 He had lots of family there to share his big day. He felt so loved and had so much fun.

 Then Justin rolled out his 3rd birthday request, a new bike. We told him if he wanted a bike, it would be pretty much all he got from us (thus only getting snacks in the morning) but he said that was okay.

 Aaaand we didn't see him much after that.

 He did come back for a few minutes so we could sing to him.

He had so much fun with his cousins and friend. On the way home he asked if there was any cake left because he didn't have any. Funny kid.

Here are my 8 favorite things about Henry.

1. He writes very thoughtful notes. He has a way with words.

2. He gets a bee in his bonnet and super motivated to do stuff like clean the whole family room or have an exercise afternoon. He gets so focused and has great follow-through. It doesn't happen very often but I love when it does.

 3. He lives to have fun and doesn't want to do anything that isn't fun but he's a deep thinker. He really ponders the things we talk about from the scriptures and will tell us how he feels about stuff at other times so I know he's listening even though it doesn't seem like it at the time.
4. He's a great student and super smart. He comes home nearly every day with math facts he's passed off.

5. He takes good care of James. Those two....
6. He sees himself as the cool one and the funny one of the family.

7. He sleeps with his baby blanket and his stuffed Dumbo and he asked for a squishmallow.
8. He loves the things the loves but he doesn't seem to love Pokémon as much as he used to. Halleluiah.

I loved partying Henry style. We all have more fun if I just let them do their birthday their way. And it's surprising way less stressful!