Jarrett's Number 8

Hard to believe ... Jarrett is now an '8 boy'. We celebrated with our first sleepover party. Jarrett wanted to do a campout and we loved the idea. He invited 6 friends to come over. It was a great mix. All are Mulberry Meerkats except his cousin, Riley, but they all played like they had known each other for years. Boys are SO good at that!

All of the friends came over at 4 on Saturday, the 7th. He invited Carson Curry (in his class), Ryan Perkins (in his Focus class), Austin Gusaeff (fellow Dacula baseball buddy), Will (his best buddy & neighbor), Riley (his cousin), Jesse (his 15 year old cousin - what a trooper!), and David Wiley (fellow Dacula baseball buddy but also friend of Blaine - which allowed Blaine to not feel left out!) Thanks to Mr. Matt & Mrs. Alisa, we had a campfire without scorching the sod! We used their outdoor fireplace and it worked great! My sister lent us their tent to use. It was the perfect size and everyone, including Bowdie, fit great. The boys had a blast just being outside. They played football, jumped on the trampoline, played 'Jail Break', and then, after supper, they played wiffle ball in the dark. We took the glowy necklaces and stuffed them inside the ball so that it glowed. Then Bowdie put down more glowy necklaces as bases. It worked GREAT and was definitely the favorite of the party!

Speaking of dinner, my neighbor and friend, Stacey, gave me a great idea ... campfire nachos. Since they are a favorite of Jarrett's, it just made sense that's what we'd have. The boys had fun putting their chips and cheese in aluminum bowls and wrapping them with aluminum foil. Bowdie helped get them situated on the stick and all they had to do was hold it over the fire and wait. Only 1 friend had burnt chips, but he was okay with it!

After the wiffle ball game and a quick game of flashlight tag, the boys pj'd up and jumped in the tent to watch 'Prince Caspian.' Modern technology is such a wonderful thing ... we put my laptop out there and it worked like a charm! Two friends were asleep within the first 30 minutes of the movie, but the rest were wide awake until the end. Lights went out by 10 and Bowdie went out and snuggled in with them in the nice, warm mid-40 degree evening! I was SO happy to be inside snuggled in our fleece sheets!

Morning came and Bowdie, of course, made chocolate chip pancakes. Jarrett wanted his friends to go to church with him and thankfully, 3 were able. We actually weren't but about 10 minutes late! Not bad considering all that we had to do to get everyone out the door! It really was a fun birthday and makes me so thankful for my boys. I love that everyone had a great time and no one was left out. I love seeing Jarrett hang out with his friends. Kids are so fun ... looking forward to next year!