9

My baby is 9 today.  I don't like it a bit!  He's half way to being an adult.  Thats terrifying and completely unreal.  I was looking at some old pictures and videos of Ben and its crazy how much hes the same kid and at the same time he's a totally different guy.  He still loves to cuddle with anyone available (even his siblings), his stuffed animals are some of his best friends and he's happy to curl up on the couch with a blanket and a cartoon.  He's also the kid who took charge and woke up crazy early for six weeks to do swim team, hes a natural leader to his siblings and he is a master at memorizing every piece of useless information he comes into contact with!
Ben is my "Ferdinand." He is who he is.  He likes to be called crazy or silly and he doesn't care what anyone else thinks.  He is sensitive and caring.  Hes definitely a lover not a fighter, but he's not afraid to tell it like it is. Hes a huge helper with the little ones and has more patience than I could ever find. He's my sweet, baby boy...who is now 9.

We surprised the kids last night by waking them up at midnight and heading to Dunkin Donuts to get the birthday celebration started.  They loved it, except for Sam, who fell asleep!

Pizza

Life is good when you have a full belly and balloon animals!

Bowling with dad

We were able to get signed up for a free summer of bowling.  Each kid gets 2 free games every single day of the summer.  We just have to pay for shoes. We grabbed dad on Saturday and got in one more morning of bowling. Sam wasn't thrilled he was there even though he was actually beating Jon for most of the first game.

Watching Zach is the best part of bowling.  The ball goes pretty slow down the lane so he has plenty of time to sit down and tell it which way to go.

Jon kicked butt on the second game.  It helped that he started the game with a turkey!

Fair

We headed to the Cuyahoga County Fair last week.  It was a hot one, but I think everyone had a good time.

The carousel was definitely the favorite. The line was short, everyone could go on at the same time and it was a nice break from the sun.

Sam was incredibly bummed he was too tall for the roller coaster this year.  Ellie and Zach tried it out and HATED it with a passion!

Sam and Zach did bumper cars with dad.  Ben was able to go by himself, but he almost choked himself because he didn't think to put the cord around his chest, not his neck! We're still waiting for the common sense to kick in!

We had some goof fair food, played some games, won some prizes and got really dirty.  Its always fun to do things like that, but I'm happy to wait another year before we go back!

Finally

We did it, we got Ben to cut his hair.  The deal was he could keep it long, if he combed it and looked nice for church.  He was not holding up his end of the bargain. He was not happy about cutting it so we threw in a couple bribes and life was good again.  The ridiculous part is that he actually really likes it like this.  Its a little longer on the top so we've had some fun styling it.  Next up, colors!

#8

Ben lost another tooth this week.  8 are gone and its becoming more and more clear that the boy is going to need major dental work!

1st day

Almost 2 weeks ago, Sam told me he wanted to start school August 5th.  He didn't know why he picked that date.  It just sounded good to him.

I think he's a little excited about his new desk and being a big guy like Ben.  What ever the reason, I was happy to start today.  We're easing in since its so early.  So far so good.

Ellie and Zach insisted on pictures too!

Homeschool in the pj's.  We are the stereotype!

Cheese

We ended our 4 day "Corries home" celebration by going to Donatos for lunch after church.  They've always loved the cheese, but they took it to a new level this weekend!

Just like daddy

Its a good thing they look good in glasses, at least Ben is going to need them soon enough.

Bowling

With temperatures in the mid 90's, we decided to beat the heat and hit the (very air conditioned) bowling alley.

Ben won the first game and Sam won the second.  Zach and Ellie put up a good fight though.  It was a fun way to spend a hot morning.