Ben turned 40 a few weeks ago. He’s a simple guy and didn’t have many requests for his 40th birthday except to 1) not have a party, and 2) garden together as a family. Easy enough, but the girls and I still wanted to do something extra special for this extraordinary man of ours. It’s not every year that someone turns 40, and I think 40 is a pretty big deal. One day, as the girls and I were driving somewhere, and singing the song, “All About That Bass;” it dawned on me that we could easily change the lyrics to be “All About That Ben,” so that’s exactly what we did.
“All About That Ben”
Because you know I’m all about that Ben
‘Bout that Ben, he’s forty
I’m all about that Ben, ’bout that Ben, he’s forty
I’m all about that Ben, ’bout that Ben, he’s forty
I’m all about that Ben, ’bout that Ben
Yeah, It’s pretty clear, you’re the birthday boo
And you can shake it, shake it like you’re supposed to do
‘Cause you got that boom boom that all the girls chased
And all the right junk in all the right places
I saw you in a magazine you need no photoshop (I hold up the magazine he was once in, which happened around the time we met)
I knew you were for real
And I wasn’t gonna stop
Cause you got beauty, beauty, inside and out
Every inch of you is perfect
From the bottom to the top.
Yeah, my mama she told me you’re gonna marry that guy (my mom really told me that after the first time Ben and I hung out)
She said, “Boys like that are the ones who’ll hold you at night”
It’s been like that for 10 lovely birthdays with you so far (we’ve been married almost 10 years)
And I’m sure that they’ll be many more as our lives move along
Because you know I’m all about that Ben
‘Bout that Ben, he’s forty
I’m all about that Ben, ’bout that Ben, he’s forty
I’m all about that Ben, ’bout that Ben, he’s forty
I’m all about that Ben, ’bout that Ben
You’re forty now!
No one would guess that right off the bat
I’m not playing, you look like ten years minus that
I’m here to tell you,
Every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top
Repeat verses above
It’s kind of hard to choreograph something with four little ones, but we all worked on memorizing the words together, and watched the video a gazillion times (we are playing it while we dance for Ben) to get some of the moves down. When it came down to performance time, it seemed they got a little shy, but I think Ben got the gist. We love him so much and we wanted to do something fun and silly for him! We did get to work in the garden a teensy bit, I made him one of his favorite meals, and he got to blow out candles on an oatmeal pecan pie. I think he would say it was good way to celebrate turning 40! He did end up surprising me with something too, but I’ll save that story for another post.
You are seriously so adorable! That video was so cute and I love that you still made sure to do something to make your hubby feel special on his big day even though he didn’t want a party. You always do such a wonderful job in including your girls in whatever you do.
I love including the girls. He’s such an introvert that throwing him a party would have been a no-no. I thought this little party of ours was just what he would like!
Super cute!! I’m a long time reader but don’t usually comment. I just wanted to let you know that you inspire me in so many ways!!
Thank you so much Caitlin! I really appreciate it.
Dear Rubyellen,
happy belated B-day to your husband! Best wishes of happiness, harmony and peace! My sincere admiration for your and your wonderful family from the very bottom of my heart. You are a Supermom and Superwife! So much creativity, warmth, devotion, so much lifepower and sparkling enthusiasm together with kindness and oceans of love. Thank you many times for such an amazing video and unbelievable ideas you have been generating. And for inspiring me once again to appreciate the highest happiness of being a loving and loved mom and wife:) You and your near and dear are so special!
To express my gratitude for your blog and for the magic feelings of family belonging let me share something very good with you that my family and I have just discovered. It is a great app called Carde. It is free and can be easily downloaded at http://www.carde-app.com. Saves time amazingly, fun, and is just excellent for creating a family photohistory and to be with those you love. Hope, you and your family will enjoy it:) Looking forward to your reply. I will be so glad when Carde brings even more joy and smiles into your life:)
I hardly feel like supermom or superwife, but thank you so much for your encouragement. I enjoy doing these things for my family and I’m glad they enjoy receiving and being a part of these things too.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!!! that was super cute, btw!!!
You guys could not be cuter. The incredibly heartfelt things you do are so inspiring <3
So cute! Love the video
so sweet!!
Aaarggh! That video! LOVED it – exactly the kind of dancing around nonsense me and my boys get up to as well. And the best thing of all is the way your girls will grow up with the awesome role model of their mum just loving and making a fuss of her husband. Brilliant.
You and your girls looks so cute! I love the video!!
I love your very nice Family !
I like your vidéo !
Happy Birthday to your Ben.
😉
That was so cool!!! Well done!!! HBB Ben:)
This is so incredibly sweet! What an amazing lfamily you have and I’m sure your hubby felt blessed by this joyful gift. xo