Elephants Never Forget...But I Do!: Nine!!!

How can my first born be nine years old??? I mean, look at this kid! He's huge! At his 9 year check up he weighed 72 pounds and was 4 feet 6 inches tall. That puts him in the 75% -85% range for his age.

It has been a good year, I'd say. Third grade was pretty good. He had a great teacher, Miss Looney, and a good class. His best buddies in his class this year were Max and James. At the end of the year his class voted to give him the Wallace Wolverine award- it is awarded to the person in class who is a friend to everyone. It was the first year for the big standardized testing, the STAAR test. He did very well, but it still caused some anxiety before hand. He continues to excel in reading, and more importantly continues to love it. A few of the things he read this year: the Rush Revere books, the Percy Jackson series, Heroes of Olympus, The Cane Chronicles, The Mysterious Benedict Society and, at my request, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh.

He continued with ballet this year and has chosen to do so again next year. He played a big part in the recital and did very well. The expectations are increasing and getting harder all the time. When asked he said "I wouldn't say I love it, but I really, really like it."

He also continues with Cub Scouts and earned his Bear badge, which means he is now a Weebelo. The Hubby took him to the Fall campout but they had to skip the Spring campout. In the winter he went with his den to spend the night at NASA in Houston! About a week after school got out he went with his pack to his first overnight camp- Weebelo Resident Camp. He stayed 3 nights and got to do lots of fun activities, like Human Foosball, Aquanauts, Duct Tape Adventures and stick hockey. He did say he was a little bit homesick, but still had a great time. He said the worst part was the sleeping arrangements- they were in two man tents up on raised wooden platforms and apparently the floor was very hard!

Bubba continues to be a good big brother. He can be very helpful and kind, but on occasion he can also be a typical big brother who is not-so-helpful and not-so kind. He and Duch have spent many hours playing Minecraft together and he still plays pretend games with the younger two. Jurassic Park with the toy dinosaurs, Zombies Take Over the World, Alien Invasion...

He spent lots of time playing outside with the neighbors and riding his bike. He got a Nintendo DS for Christmas and would play on it all day every day if allowed. He has had several sleep-overs with his friends. So far this summer we have spent lots of time swimming.

We did some fun activities this year.

Perot Museum

Snow Party for neighbors

National Night Out

Halloween

The Night Before Christmas ballet

State Fair

We took some great trips as well. Of course there was our annual trip to Gulf Shores:

Austin to visit friends:

Mom Mom's house for Thanksgiving:

Fossil Rim drive through animal park:

Little Rock for President's Day weekend with the Cousins:

It has been a busy year! So now for the annual interview:

Bubba, at what age do you think a person is a grown-up?

19.

If you could be invisible for one day, what would you do?

Skip school and do fun things like go to the pool.

What is something that makes our family special?

That the boys outnumber the girls

Are you a good friend? and why?

That is hard to answer... sometimes I think I am and sometimes I don't feel like a good friend if I am fighting with someone.

How would the world be different if animals could talk?

Animals would probably take over the world because they would be getting smarter if they could talk.

What is the best thing about being a kid?

No paying the bills

What is the worst thing?

I can't drive a car.

What is your favorite place in the world?

Alabama beach

If you could give one gift to every kid in the world, what would it be?

A toy. What kind of toy? I'd let them chose what toy they like.

Tell me 5 words that you would use to describe yourself.

smart, awesome, nice, brave, and talented

If you could invent something, what would it be?

a time machine

What is your favorite:

color: green

food: tacos

song: Demons

book: The Cane Chronicles

activity: ballet

toy: Nintendo DS

subject at school:science

friend: All my friends are my favorites, I don't have one favorite

animal: rhino

TV show: Pokemon

movie: The Lego Movie

What does Dad like to do?

watch sports in his La-ze- boy

What does Mom like to do?

play on her phone

What makes you special?

I take ballet, I'm very good with little kids

What is one thing you would most like to do?

watch youtube

What would you like to write a book about?

dinosaurs

Describe what you look like.

brown hair, brown eyes, tall and awesome

What are you looking forward to this summer?

Alabama beach

What did you accomplished as an 8 year old?

another year of ballet, my first STAAR test, campout with Cub Scouts, lots of reading

Love this kid like crazy! We are so proud of him for many reasons but mostly because he has a kind and generous heart. I'm looking forward to the next year!

And just for fun, some random pictures that I like: