July Pictures

Here are a few pictures from my phone and texts from friends of Bender life in July:

We spent the 4th of July at a cookout with our friends Kristy and Sean Burks. The boys loved the cookout but not the fireworks! Philip watched from the back seat of the station wagon until he heard the first "Boom!" He then headed inside. About 2 minutes later, Jackson joined him. When we looked around and all four of us were in the house alone is when I said, "The party is over for the Benders," and we headed home. 

Philip, Jackson and Sam (who loved the fireworks but also liked the idea of watching from inside the car!)

A trip to the mall with Sam and Jack
Kate and I actually got to sit at a real table and talk while the boys played/ate at a kiddy table!

Sam, Jack and Philip on the carousel.
Jackson opted to save his money ($2) for a treat at the Lego store! I was so proud of him for thinking of this that I didn't let him in on a little seccret - the Lego store is so expensive, you can't get anythign for $2!! We just pretended the $10 bill I handed him was his carousel money!

Hanging out at the Lego Store:

Philip being Philip

Susan, Joshua, Caleb, Rebekah, and Benjamin came into town for VBS. I took only a few pictures of our fun because the majority of our time spent together was at VBS. Here are a few of Benjamin and Philip in the backyard.

 

Philip and "Ben-Ben"

Jackosn spending some of his birthdy money at Target
More legos, cars and even a motorcycle he picked out for Philip!

 Haircut time!

Before/After

 Before/After

(I had to use this picture as the "before" because I love how Jackson is sleeping. He has slept this way since Day One with his little hands curled up!)

These pictures are from our monthly visit with Miss Tricia. She spoiled the boys with gifts for Jackson's birthday!!

I love this picture!!!!

Something happened to Jackson in the beginning of July and he became a swimmer! He loves it! Here he is swimming to Wesley and Philip. Look at that form!

I finally got around to making something with the zucchini from our garden!
Pumpkin Zucchini muffins.

Summer Pasta Salad

Disney - Youth Conference

For the second year in a row, Wesley was able to head to Orlando for a youth leadership conference. This year, he was gone for 11 (long) days but Macey got to go with him!! Yay!! He had a lot of fun and we enjoyed living though his experience through the pictures he would send us each day. 

Here are just a few:

While Wesley was gone, the boys and I had some fun!
Here we are at "Milkshakes" (Steak and Shake)

Trip to Nashville

Wesley headed to Orlando for 11 days for a Youth Leadership conference. With the combined factors of the heat, being pregnant, the long lines and Wesley being tied up all day every day, Jackson, Philip and I decided not to join him on this fun, free trip to Disney.

Instead, we headed to Nashville for Hillsboro's VBS and to visit with the family. Even though we had just spent a week with Susan and her crew, with the stress of VBS, we didn't get to really enjoy the time together. So, this week it was all about playing and enjoying time with family.

An added bonus was we were able to celebrate Jackson's birthday!  The first birthday celebration was with Aunt Emily. We joined her at work for a tour of Lipscomb, lunch and some cupcakes!

The Bison!

Cupcakes from the Painted Cupcake

The next celebration was on his actual birthday - July 25 - with Mimi, Susan, Joshua, Caleb, Rebekah, Benjamin, Mommy and Philip at Chuck E. Cheese. The kids had a blast! Susan and I bought TONS of tokens and just let the kids run wild. The adults even got in on the fun too! Susan and I enjoyed Skee Ball and Mimi tried her luck at Air Hockey!

Jackson put in three tokens at once for this game and all of a sudden the tickets started coming!
I had no idea what had happened but I sat back and watched his smile get bigger and bigger. Soon, his cousins and others joined around him to watch the tickets pile up. It didn't take long for the game attendant to notice and run over to shut the game off! Something had malfunctioned but instead of telling Jackson that, we told him it was because it was his birthday!
117 TICKETS!

 

Mimi tried her luck against Bekah but Bekah's skills were too much for Mimi! 





She then went for a win against Joshua, but again was defeated!

The kids with their loot!

After Chuck E. Cheese, we went back to Susan's house for Jackson's birthday lunch. Pizza, breadsticks and "salsa." Jackson was in food heaven! And to make it even better, his cake was a Krispy Kreme donut! Happy Birthday, Jackson!

While Philip and I rested after the party, Pop Pop took Jackson to Target (this kid had the best birthday ever!) and let him pick out another birthday toy. He picked out a Star Wars lego kit that he and Pop Pop put together before we left for home on Thursday.

To make the week even better, the boys were able to participate in VBS. Jackson was so excited because he was in the Kindergarten class and he loved it! Philip enjoyed it as well, but he was harder to transition. Someone would sit with him during the group sessions and then sneak out during snack.

Jackson was all about VBS and the animals they searched for each night.

Olivia and Philip
Thankfully, Olivia was in Philip's class and she helped each night with the "sneak out." This picture is so dear to me because when Olivia was Philip's age, I was helping out with VBS with her! LOVE the Richardson family!!!!!

Olivia snapped this picture of Philip loving him some craft time!