About Eli: Age 8

I'm so behind on writing this blog that trying to get organized and make note of happenings becomes quite a challenge!  Here I am writing about Eli at age 8, eight months late!

Eli began 2nd grade in August 2018.  His teacher was Carolyn Wood (she was fabulous)!  He really had a terrific group of kids in his class, and I loved getting to visit on occasion.  He did very well at school, and made strides in his speech class as well.  By the end of 2nd grade his reading level soared!  He was introduced to The Magic Tree House series (which we read together), and after that he just dived into reading all kinds of other chapter books.

First day of 2nd grade! August 2018

Home off the bus after the 1st day!  Eli's bus driver, Miss Tammy, is such a kind and caring lady.  She takes such good care of her kids and always showed interest in what Eli wanted to tell or show her.  He invited her to his baptism, and even though she couldn't make it, she wrote him a very sweet card and included a gift card to Dairy Queen in it.  Love her!  Eli stopped riding the bus for good in the fall of 2nd grade, as I started taking him to and from school.

Lots of time playing at home!

He is such a scientist!  He has his desk set up, microscope handy, and always collecting, collecting, collecting and experimenting!

Still loves playing with his cars!  These (now tiny) Pokemon shorts are his go-to at home.  He wears them solely when he's hanging around the house.

He had his 8-year-old check-up in January.  He is pretty much skin and bone.  He is still the worst eater ever, but he at least drinks the smoothies David makes him that are full of protein and vitamins.  His stats were:
Height: 50.5 in (50th%)
Weight: 49 lbs. (20th%)
BMI: 13.5 (3%)

Eli can be such great buddies with Clara!  It's a wonderful thing to witness them playing happily together. (And it's equally the worst thing when they are not getting along!  It is no secret that her fussy behavior is quite grating on him.  He has pretty much zero patience for Clara's crying and whining.  And sometimes he just likes to be a big stinker and pick on her to get that rise. Grrr!)

He took swimming lessons again in the winter.  He's improving!  He really enjoys swimming, we just don't get to a pool nearly often enough.  The kids loved to play in the dance studio for a bit after swimming. (Ezra can't wait to join in the lessons next year!)

I don't know why our bed is such a popular hangout! The kids love to play "cocoon" and a game they named "Animals" in the bed.

When Eli turned 8 he got to join Cub Scouts at church!  This was much-anticipated by him!  David is one of his leaders, so it's so nice they can go to the activities together.  The Pinewood Derby was in March.  David spent a lot of time and love making Eli's car.  Eli chose an army hummer design.  Even though he didn't win 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place, his car still did great and it was an enjoyable evening.

Eli LOVES to play games!  He's got quite a knack for them.  Here he's playing Yahtzee with Grandma Hayes.

Trying his hand at hammering in the Makesmith Workshop at Conner Prairie.

Eli and David love to create ramps out of the magnatiles and race motorcycles off of them.  Here's a video Eli took of one of their races.

I shamefully didn't get around to interviewing Eli until July!  He was in the middle of a chess match with David when I interviewed him, so that might have swayed some of his answers.  ;)

8-year-old interview (done 7/2019)

Favorite Color: Red

Favorite Foods to Eat: macaroni, strawberry applesauce, vanilla yogurt, fresh (not frozen) cheese pizza

Favorite Drink: Soda and lemonade

Favorite Treats: Gum and tic-tacs

Favorite Books: Boxcar Children and Magic Tree House series

Favorite Shows: Wild Kratts

Favorite Song: "I Am a Child of God"

Best Friend: Beau

Favorite Things to Do: going in the woods, playing chess with Dad, climb, swim, pester Clara, ride my bike, playing legos, and reading. 

Favorite Places to Go: Children's Museum and Conner Prairie and Barnes & Noble 

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?: A scientist

Favorite Thing to Wear: My camouflage jeans and my Washington Woods tshirt.  (Also pokemon jammie shorts)

Favorite People in the World: Family

Favorite Scripture Story: All of Acts

What Do You Love Best About School? Science and STEM

Favorite Sport: Running

What are You Really Good At? Collecting rocks and Tae Kwon Do      

Where Do You Wish to Go on Vacation? Montana

Best Memory: Playing chess

What Would You Buy if You Had $1000 dollars? A dirt bike

Favorite Game: chess

Who is Your Biggest Hero? Myself

What Do You Like About Yourself? "I look good, I'm smart, and I'm a fast runner."

What Makes You Scared? Nothin'

What Makes You Happy?  Playing chess and riding my bike

What Make You Mad? Clara and Ezra bothering me and not having enough money for gum and not getting what I want. 

If You Had 3 Wishes What Would They Be? To have a phone, an ipad, and a computer

What Do You Like to Do Best With Your Friends? Ride bikes

What Do You Love About Being 8?  I'm still older than Clara and I can boss her around. 

What Do You Hope to Do Before Your Next Birthday? Take Dad's phone 

The younger two keep up pretty well with Eli's active play!  They all take part in the swordfighting and wrestling and make the house LOUD and WILD.

One of Eli's best buddies at school is Cooper.  They're also in the same class at church.  I was babysitting Cooper for a while in the mornings before school, so they became closer friends and love playing together.  He'd join us when we'd come to eat lunch with Eli.

The kids and I attended Eli's end-of-year Field Day to play along with him.  Always a blast!  The PE teacher was retiring and she really went all-out!

This was a funny game where two kids pair up and toss a wet sponge to each other.  Haha!

TONS of inflatables!

This game involved another kid that was in an inner tube and they both tried to knock over the other.

This one was hilarious to watch!  Walked around in pairs.  The lead was blindfolded and squirted the water bottle, and the one behind helped guide them around.  Funny here, boys vs. girls!

Always out running and exploring!

This past year at school Eli was in K-Kids, a club that performed acts of service.  One of their service activities was work on the school's garden.  They really didn't spend that much time on it, but the little time they did spend instilled a great love in Eli for his garden!  He loved checking on it periodically during the summer and when we did we'd bring home something that the kids would try.  It didn't always taste good, but it was fun to think that he helped grow it!  Some year in the not-too-distant future I am determined to finally have our own mini garden and give those kids the pride of growing their own plants.