Ben Turns 10!

Celebrating on his actual day-January 4th...







Birthday tickles...=)



Birthday brownies...=p

And, a few weeks later, after recovering from Christmas, and more birthday festivities, it was time for a friend party.....


Years ago, when we had 2 small boys, I swore I'd never let them have toy guns-too violent, too real, just asking for trouble, I said....
Then they began to fashion them out of twigs, tinker toys, and oh joy, their fingers, (yes, finger guns-they were the handiest, and most portable-they even brought them to church a few times-God help us....) It was around that time that I realized I was fighting a losing battle, and was without my bulletproof vest...
So a couple of years later, when Nerf came out with their line of foam-dart shooters, we broke down and bought them each one for Christmas...and the love affair began (little did we know they would come out with more and higher tech models all the time-doesn't every kid need a "semi-automatic"?!)
So when Ben asked if he could have a Nerf party for his 10th birthday, I agreed, and we ran with the theme, as usual, and with the help of friends who had their own great Nerf party a couple months before. Here are some of the "shots" from a super-fun time...



Homemade Nerf dart pinata from an old lincoln log container, an aluminum pie plate and some duct tape...turned out to be sturdier than i thought!
prizes!



All decorated! ;)



target games
prepping for the nerf wars...


dinner break

edible nerf darts=pirouette cookies dipped in melted orange wafers with a reeses pieces stuck on one end

present time!
gracie getting some attention of her own...

Josh could hardly contain his excitement, so we tried to help him...





time for action...
here comes the ref! (one of my fave shots)




haha-dad got stuck with the pink safety goggles! ;-)

another of my favorites...
sniper...



the pinata loot-complete with what else? slim jims...;-)



cake time!



and after several more battles, time to hit the hay, still armed, of course...

pancake breakfast!

and a few final battles before it was time to say goodbye!





Happy 10th Birthday to our Benjamin! The strength and courage you have shown over the past year has amazed us. We are so proud, and love you so very much!