Ben's 9th Birthday!

 On April 16, Ben turned nine years old.  Here is how we celebrated his special day.

Cruz helped me decorate the night before.  He made this sign for their bedroom door.  He is a big help when it comes to party planning.

I always take a picture of the boys sleeping on their birthday eve.  Here is Ben on his last night as an eight year old.  He went to bed very excited about the next day.

 

He was up extra early and eager to open his gifts.

He quickly got dressed for the day and we took a few photos before breakfast.

my sweet baby boy is growing up fast!

We had blue pancakes for breakfast.  For months Ben has mentioned different themes he wanted for his birthday.  He changed his mind often.  At the last minute he decided he just wanted a blue party- all things blue.  So that is what we did.

We had a normal morning of school although I did give him a lighter load.

We took him out for lunch in Antigua and he got to choose the location.  He chose TaCool. 

He loves the chicken tacos.

They surprised him with a birthday dessert.

That afternoon they went to Awana and afterwards he had a few friends come over.  Just like his party theme, he was very indecisive about what he wanted to do for his birthday.  He ended up wanting a small home party and sleepover.  

 

We started the party with a pinata.  

We then played several games.  I used many of the same games we do for our New Year's Eve family party.  The kids had a lot of fun.

This game was a favorite.  The cups were filled with small bills, coins, and candy.  They used Nerf guns to try to win a prize.

We had pizza, popcorn, and blue jello jigglers for supper.  Ben opened his gifts during the meal.

 

His blue cake.

He loved the topper!!

The rest of the night was filled with Nerf wars and video games.  We ended with a late night movie.  He said the best part of his birthday was having friends over to celebrate with.  What a blessing!

                                                                     and then he was nine!!!