happy 8th birthDAYS ben

Our (not so) little boy Ben just turned 8 years old!! I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. This is a picture of him in his blessing outfit. This was one of Daren's outfits from when he was a baby--so cute!!!
It seemed as though Ben's birthday celebrations went on...and on...and on some more! When we met with his school teacher a couple weeks ago, she said that his birthday had been totally consuming him at school (the same day we ran into his 1st grade teacher from last year and she immediately came over to tell us how many days were left until his b-day because he had been telling her every time he saw her in the halls! Crazy boy!).

The first day of celebrations was on Saturday, May 2. The day began with another cold and very rainy lacrosse game. Oh, it was actually a double header--they won the first game, lost the second. But all the boys (plus Taylor, the one girl on the team) were real troopers.

Ben is the one on the left, running with the ball in the pocket of his stick. He went on to pass it to another teammate who went on to score. It's pretty sweet to see him learning and loving this game. He was in the next face-off, but I had a terrible angle on it, so this was the best picture I could get.

Later that day...

Ben had a birthday party at Classic Fun Center with a bunch of his neighborhood friends. This was the moment he had been waiting for...for years! Between Daren driving the van and me driving my car with all the seats in it, we were able to shuttle all the kids there. The kids LOVED the ol' custom van that we are in posession of right now. I should have gotten a picture of it.

What I love about Ben is that he is a friend to everyone, it doesn't matter what their age is, or if they are a boy or girl. Ages of the kids ranged from 11-years old down to 4-years old, and every age in between. There are many fun things to do at Classic like party pizza with unlimited drinks;

scooters on the track;

games to play and prizes to be won;

and finally there is the bouncing area and the jungle climbing area. In photo 2 Thomas is doing a flip onto the bouncy thingy (what else do you call it?!).

I have the funniest story about this cake. Ben wanted me to make one, and he wanted it to look like the Spiderwick book. K, I'm no cake designer, but did the best I could in a short amount of time. So we were getting the cake out at the party when this latino woman walked by, saw the cake, and exclaimed with glee, "Oh what a beautiful cake! That is a beautiful cross, are you Catholic?!" It was all I could do to not burst out laughing, but I kindly said no and tried to explain the cake. I don't think she got it though. It was supposed to look like leather straps and a wax seal in the middle, but I can see what she was talking about...

Ben loved his cake, though. He was all smiles that day!!

And then there were the presents! Last year he had a real last minute party with his school friends, and I told them no presents, so Ben was happy to get some this year (he got some last year too!). That's one reason I love to do the movie parties, Halloween parties, etc. at our house. You can just show up without the pressure of bringing a present.

The birthday child gets a spin at the birthday wheel, 60 seconds in the prize cube, and a big ol' card for all the guests to sign.

All in all, I think Ben would say it was one of the best days ever in his life. Classic was a great place to have it at, and I think this picture says it all: cake, pizza, prize tickets and melted ice cream...what more could you want as a kid?

May 3, 2001--7:06am, pushing like crazy to get this little boy out!! 7:15am, Ben was born.

May 3, 2009--7:06am, I'm in a deep sleep when I feel this tap on my arm and Ben saying, "Mom, it's only 9 minutes until my real birthday!!" 7:15am, Ben yelling, "It's my birthday!"

Ben chose his birthday breakfast that morning--Lucky Charms--and then opened his presents. It was another fun-filled day.

This was so cute--Jake gave him some new Harry Potter glasses (to replace the other ones that broke) and Ben was so excited. Ben also got this monster truck/slug bug that is remote control. Pictures coming in the next post...

Grandma Airplane also gave Ben these glasses, but they aren't really play glasses. They were her grandma's glasses, which makes them Ben's great-great-grandmother's glasses. You can tell, too, when you put them on that they aren't play glasses because they are prescription glasses. Ben keeps them in a safe place and thinks they are pretty cool.

We went to church later that afternoon and then Gpa and Gma Train, along with Daren's brothers Dakon and Chad, came over for dinner and festivities. I was so busy I forgot to get the camera out. In Ben's words, "It was a perfect day!"

As if that wasn't enough, Ben took 2 dozen Dunford chocolate donuts to school for his class on Monday. Happy BirthDAYS Ben!! We love you so much!

p.s. Ben missed getting baptized by one day, so for now it's looking like Saturday, June 6 at 1:30pm Ben will be baptized. Consider this your invitation!! ;)