Cade Skywalker

Wow, it's Cade's birthday, and you know what that means? I have been blogging for a year now, and I would like to print out a copy for a scrapbook. Anybody had any luck doing that?

This birthday means a lot to Cade, I think because he feels like he will be so grown up at 8 years old. He's very anxious to be baptized, because he says all his sins will be washed away, and I'm pretty sure he's thinking he'll be a whole new person who doesn't make mistakes. I tried to clear that up for him. He says he would rather be baptized than go to Disneyland. (Has he forgotten how FUN Disneyland is?!?)

He's such a funny kid, and I love to spend time with him. I love to go on dates with him, just the two of us. He really knows how to charm a girl, and I know his wife someday will be one lucky girl. He makes ME feel like a million bucks. If you give him your heart he will give you the world.

He is a really sensitive and perceptive guy, very in tune with his feelings. I love to hear him explain the complexities of the relationships he has with his friends, teachers, and sisters. He is a good judge of character and can see through your words and responds more to feelings.


I laughed really hard when he was mimicking a certain teacher at school, first how she acts when there's no other adults around (mean), and then how she changes as soon as another adult enters the room (sweet). He keeps me on my toes, because he scrutinizes every word and tone I use. But I love his candid-ness. We have some really great conversations, because he is curious about everything. Like his Dad, he has the ability to find the humor in everything. I look at a situation in a very pragmatic, serious way, and then my boys will come along and look at the same situation and suddenly it's hilarious. That's what I love about them.

I love his sensitivity too, although not when it comes to fabrics. That's a whole different story. . . . But he has a real soft spot for all animals, real or stuffed. One day we counted and he had over 60 stuffed animals, and has an attachment to all of them.! They are his best friends, and sleeps with a whole bed full. Do NOT mention this to him, he would kill me!!

And I love how concerned he gets if he thinks he's hurt someone's feelings. You wouldn't know it by some of the things he does, but deep down, he really worries about that and wants to do right. I can tell it frustrates him because he wants to do what's right, but sometimes his impulses get the better of him. Hey, it still happens to the adults too!

And I love his enthusiasm about life. He brings so much energy and excitement into our lives. He wants to learn everything and be good at everything. He insists he is big enough to drive the car, and constantly begs me to let him try. He insists on cooking his own eggs, pancakes, etc, and says he wants to be a chef when he grows up and own a 5-star restaurant where he will let me eat for free.

I could go on and on about the things I love about Cade, but many of you probably stopped reading a long time ago. So I'll get on with the pictures.

Cade is frosting his cake. I love birthdays, and I love making a fun cake. Cade's put a lot of thought into what he wanted his cake to be, and he decided on a scene from one of the Star Wars movies where somebody is fighting somebody else next to a river of hot lava.

When Cade found out his birthday was on Sunday, he was bummed. But if it has to be on a Sunday, the SuperBowl Sunday is a pretty good one! We always have a SuperBowl party with our friends the Woodruffs and Andersons, and our kids play together so much they consider themselves cousins. When Cade found out his "cousin-friends" were coming, he thought that sounded like a great birthday.

We let him choose what to do on Saturday, and he chose ICE SKATING!

My mom and sister joined us, and I was pretty impressed with my 60+ mother skating around like a pro! Speaking of pro's, Avery insisted on skating by herself and has become quite the little ice skater.

We followed up with dinner at the Glorious Golden Corral (the best restaurant EVER according to Cade!) That place gives me a gut ache, but hey, it's your day.

Then he opened his presents: the Clone Wars Wii game and light saber controllers, Darth Vader's Death Star, (from Nessa), a clone trooper's gun (from Grandma Packer), Lego Star Wars (from Ty), remote control tarantula and cool yo-yo (from Tyler & Kaden), some jungle animals, a sled, and guitar stuff.

Sunday consisted of this:

Hours of light saber dueling,

some horse jumping,

a little football game, and some cake. Here's the masterpiece. It's General Grievous fighting Obi-Wan (cause we couldn't find Anakin) next to a river of hot lava spewing out of the volcano. Cade says this might be my finest cake ever.

Bailey had the great idea to put broken Oreo's on top of the lava to make it look molten hot, and I thought it was brilliant! The lava is pudding dyed red, and we sprinkled it all with red sugar crystals. By the way, all you star wars fans, did you know there is a character named "Cade Skywalker"? We found a figurine with that name and Cade was pretty excited about that.

Thanks to all our friends and family who made this weekend so special for Cade!

Happy Birthday, my little Jedi!