Happy NERF Day Benson!

Our sweet Benson boy turned 7 yesterday and we celebrated him with a big Nerf party. It was so fun. Benson has always loved "Nerf" guns and he really loves when every plays Nerf together. So this party was perfect for him. 

I really loved styling it and making this massive balloon wall for the backdrop. 

 

Benson told me what he wanted for his cake and he was very specific about it. It always cracks me up how specific my kids can be about the birthday cakes. Lucky for me there is "Pinterest" and "you tube" tutorials so I can learn how to do the ridiculous things they ask for.

We also had sherbet push pops which we called "energy shots.

 

Then we had Cheetos or "nerf darts" and orange soda or "battle fuel". Benson loved the food and it was really easy to put together. 

The cake was definitely his favorite part. 

I just love this little 7-year old. He's so much fun. He has a great sense of humor and perfect comedic timing and he makes everyone happier when he is around. He's the perfect little caboose to our family and we love him so much!

These boys dominated the Nerf war. They were a fierce team!

I'm grateful we got to spoil our boy and make his party just what he wanted.

Oh and I also got to have lunch with Benson yesterday at school on his actual birthday. It was a crazy busy day and I'm so glad I was able to squeeze in this time with Benson. 

 I love making birthdays special for my kids. Happy 7th Birthday Benson!

Last Day of School

"Orange you glad that school is out?

I know we sure are. We actually decided that today is our last day and we are headed to Branson on Sunday for a week with all our Drake cousins. The last day of school is technically the 30th of May, but we are just going to skip the rest of the year so we can have the time in Branson with family. 

 We are so excited for the summer and a week in Branson is the perfect way to celebrate school being out. 

I loved styling this cute end of school party. The orange theme is one of my new favorites and it was so easy to set up. 

 

We had orange creamies, sunny D, cupcakes and cutie oranges. It was so easy and looked adorable.  

The kids loved the treats and we were all happy to be celebrating the end of the school year.
Tanner finished junior High, Bailey finished 7th grade, Tucker finished 4th grade and Benson finished 1st grade. Here's to a great summer of fun and lots of memories together!

End of School Fun

We are at the end of the school year and that means all the fun things are happening all at once. It's been wild but so fun. 

Last week we got to celebrate the 4th Graders at Elm Tree Elementary and they had a 4th Grade Carnival. I was only there for part of it, but they played games, played on bouncy houses and they got to use their tickets that they earned during the year so they could buy treats. Tucker even bought a "Twix" candy  bar for us to share. 

Tucker had the sweetest little group of friends from his class this year and it was so cute to watch their friendship grow during the school year. I hope they are in some classes together in Middle school. 

 

Then on Monday this week we had "Field Day". This is always a favorite with my kiddos and it's not hard to see why. I got to go to both boy's events and it was so cute to watch them have fun with their friends. 

Benson's events were in the morning and the ground was a little dewy still, but we couldn't have asked for better weather. He had the best time playing all the different games. 

The parachute is always a favorite. 

But I think Benson's absolute favorite was the sponge relay. His class competed boys against girls and they dominated. It was pretty cute to watch. 

I loved getting to hang out with my sweet first grader. It was a really fun morning. 

Then I got to hang out with Tucker during the afternoon. It's so crazy to me that my sweet Tuck is a 4th grader and is going into middle school next school year. It's insane how fast time is going.  

The tug-o-war event is way more intense with fourth grade boys. They were cracking me up. 

And as it turns out, the parachute game is just as fun for 10-year olds as it is for 7-year olds. 

Tucker liked the sponge relay but did not want to get wet. He didn't like Mr. Osborne spraying everyone with the hose. 

Regardless of how he felt about water, all of his sweet little friends hugged him with their soaking wet clothes until he too was very wet. The girls just love Tucker. It's kind of hilarious. 

They ended field day with popsicles and sidewalk chalk. 

And Tucker had to get a picture with Mrs. Means. He absolutely adored her and he had a great school year with her. 

Then yesterday I got to attend Tucker's 4th Grade graduation. They sang some songs and they each got introduced. 

Then they gave out awards. Tucker was given the 4th Grade literacy award. He was so excited. I might have cheered like a crazy person. It was made even sweeter because his sweet friend, Nora, was the other one given the literacy award. One boy and one girl from each class got this award. There are 5 classes of 4th graders- so 10 kids got the literacy award. Pretty impressive- considering there are about 150 kids in the 4th grade class. 

I'm so proud of my sweet boy. 

 

I brought Tucker a little candy bouquet and his sweet friend Ivy got a flower bouquet. We had to get a picture of them together. 

 

The last event for Tucker was today and it was his "4th Grade Walk". Basically, all the seniors in Bentonville that attended Elm Tree Elementary come back to the school in their graduation gowns and they lead the 4th graders around the school in a graduation walk. It was pretty cute.

I cheered like a crazy person when Tucker walked past. It's a pretty cute tradition.  

Of course we had to get one last picture of these cute friends. 

That's it for Tuck. He's now officially graduated from elementary school. So proud of that boy. 

In between all the fun elementary school events, Tanner got to complete his job shadowing for his career development class. He job shadowed at a construction & restoration company called "Restoration 1" and he loved it. 

He had so much fun and even got to help demo some cabinets. 

Now the school year is about over and I'm so ready for summer.  We survived but just barely. 
Now stay tuned for our last day of school and our end of school party. Yay!