Happy Birthday John-William

Today is John-William's 9th birthday! I can't believe my little man is getting so big. He has the sweetest heart and is such a wonderful boy. He looks at everything around him with such wonder and excitement. I'm so proud of him! Tonight Sophie is having a sleepover at Nana's and we're going to the movies and out for dessert with our special boy. His go cart party with his friends and our family party is Sat.


Last night Ben ran up to the store with Lexie to pick up some chicken broth that I forgot for dinner. While they were in the store (just 5 minutes) a motorcycle lost control and crashed into the drivers side of my car. So today we're also dealing with body shops, insurance, rental cars and a ton of other details. Hopefully this all goes quickly and easily!

Bowling

We've spent the last week enjoying company. My grandmother turned 90 this month and we've had family come into town to celebrate with her. My cousin Lauren, her husband and her 2 adorable little ones spent last weekend with my parents and this week my Uncle Dwight, Aunt Toni, cousin Kevin, his wife Tamika and their two children were here from Vermont. It's been great catching up with everyone. The kids and I had a cold all last week. Sophie ended up with an ear infection. I've been coughing all week. Poor Ben needs a good night sleep after listening to me.

Lexie's 5th grade teacher got married today. Lexie and I went and got a pedicure and then headed to the wedding. She looked beautiful and Lexie got to see a bunch of her school friends. Ben is in the mountains for the night so I took the kids bowling after I picked the younger two up from the sitter. JW won the first game and I won the second by one point. Sophie loves to throw the ball down the lane. She threw it in other people's lanes a few times :).

I finally got my dishwasher yesterday. I went by myself this time and got what I wanted, instead of taking Ben with me. He installed it for me last night and I love it. Lexie is glad she's off dish drying duty. We also got the kids school supplies yesterday. I love shopping for paper and crayons!! Next week we'll be heading to the uniform shop in Charlotte and gearing up. Only 3 weeks till school starts!!

Who Ate My Peanut Butter and Jelly?

Yum this is good!

Diego is funny! Mom, can you make me another pb&j?

Sophie was eating her favorite lunch of peanut butter and jelly yesterday. She sat it on the coffee table and someone stole it. We found Diego under Ben's recliner chowing down. He's so tiny (3 lbs), we can't reach him under there.

My little chef

John William finished cooking camp today. He had a blast. Now if I could only get him to take on all the cooking, life would be easy. The next big project is his 9th birthday in a couple of weeks. He decided to have his party at a go-cart track. He and his friends will drive the track and play laser tag. Ben's looking forward to the party also. We're going to start house hunting in the next few weeks. I'm excited to start looking. We need more room! These kids just refuse to stop growing :). Ben's afraid I'll fill it up with more animals, but I think I'm good with the ones we have now. We've been here 6 years next month, that's the longest we've stayed in one house.

VBS

What a crazy week! The kids have been attending VBS at our church the past 3 mornings. This was Sophie's first year and Lexie's last. Next year she'll be too old, but she wants to start volunteering. Kimie has been wonderful and has driven them every day. I watched her 3 boys and fed everyone lunch while she did some testing after VBS. I got to snuggle with baby David. What a cutie! It's so nice that Kimie keeps having babies so that I can get my baby fix. The kids have had a blast all week. John William started cooking camp this week too. I wasn't paying attention when I scheduled them on the same week. He's doing camp at The Young Chef's Academy, a cooking school for kids. He is having a blast! He wants to come home and make dinner for us. I forgot my camera, but I'll take pics tomorrow. Lexie headed off to a sleepover birthday party at a friends tonight. The other two kids and I are going to veg out on the couch and watch the Little Mermaid, again.

The Morning After

Eating ice cream

Lexie's birthday gift

Being silly


The party is over. We had a blast and all need a nap! The girls had such a good time eating ice cream and drinking orange soda last night. They finally fell asleep around 11, or maybe that's when Ben and I fell asleep :). Now Lexie and I get to clean up the mess. For her birthday gift, we got Lexie her first real piece of jewlery. She wanted a necklace so we took her last week and she picked out a half moon. Because we always tell her we love her to the moon and back. Today we are going shopping for a new dishwasher!!!! I know it doesn't seem like a big deal, but it broke the day Ben left for Dubai 6 weeks ago and it's been a pain not having one.

Lexie's Tea Party

We had Lexie's birthday party today at The Tea House. It was so much fun! She had 6 friends and Sophie there. It was beautiful! We were in her favorite room, the Alice in Wonderland room. We had scones with clotted cream and lemon curd, sandwiches and cupcakes decorated in purple and blue. 4 of her friends came home with us for a sleepover. I'm cooking homemade pizza for them right now and later we'll be eating banana splits. Sound familiar Jenn and Jamie? Ben and John William headed out for dinner and to see Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3-D. Wish us luck tonight :)

Pics of Ben's trip

Ben didn't take many pictures. The only ones he took were of stuff he was working on. But here are a few.

Skateboarding

John William went to skateboard camp last week. He had a blast and really improved his skating.

Ben returned home safely. We had a busy weekend. He adjusted quickly to the time difference, but is still adjusting to being back in our noisy, crazy house. The kids have enjoyed having their Daddy back home. Sophie thought he was at the airport this whole time working. Fouth of July was fun. We spent the day at Mom and Dad's. The kids went out on the boat and played with their cousins. Lexie's birthday party is tomorrow.