Nine Years Old

Ben had a fabulous birthday. He told us 117 times in the last two weeks that he was mad that he had to go to school on his birthday, but he ended up loving it. He took Rice Krispies Treats and Fruit Roll-ups for his treat and was so excited about the giant card that his class gave him. When Nate picked the kids up from school, Ben told him “It’s like my whole body was just filled with joy all day. AND, today is a cloudy day so it is almost like my wish came true because I love cloudy days.”

Ben was happy with all of his presents, but the best part of his day was that we let him skip his piano lesson (a major reason he was dreading the idea of a Tuesday birthday). He wanted to go to Firehouse Pizzeria for dinner, so we skipped basketball practice and pack meeting and headed down to Centerville. It worked out great that Ben’s birthday coincided with their kids eat free on Tuesday deal. :) Dinner was delicious and Ben even got his own personal size FH’zzookie.

I didn’t have any great cake ideas, so I asked Ben if he wanted me to make a cake or if he wanted to pick a different dessert. He chose apple pie. Then he said “I really wish there was such a thing as lemon pie because lemon is my favorite flavor.” Ben was thrilled to discover that there really is such a thing as lemon pie (we don’t get out much). And, it just so happened that Marie Callender’s featured pie of the month was lemon meringue. Perfect!

We told Ben a couple of stories from the day he was born on the drive home. It was fun to think back and remember how excited we were for that little boy. He has certainly made parenting an adventure. He is famous for throwing us a curve ball whenever we think we have him figured out. Still, he has one of the biggest hearts of any kid I know and really wants to do what is right. We sure love that boy!