This Weekend

This weekend was a pretty fun one for Ben. I had a sinus infection for the last half of the last week and spent a lot of time resting. Ben was so great about all of it so I really appreciate it. He's such a sweet boy!

Friday afternoon we headed to The Magic House for Tatum's birthday party. Tatum was in the other JK class at MICDS and is one of the cutest, sweetest girls ever! The kids all had a great time creating works of art - including their cupcakes - then Ben played for about 45 minutes before we headed to Dewey's in Kirkwood for pizza with Diane (aka Fifi) and Brian Wittling. Sadly, there was no carrot cake, but Ben tried their chocolate cake thing and declared it a thumbs up.

Saturday was Ben's last T-Ball game of the season. He told me the day before that he "had been saving it all up for tomorrow" so I was expecting a lot. He didn't disappoint! Other than a few sit-downs near second base, he did a great job! He even got a trophy that he was extremely proud to have. After the game we went with some of his teammates to Ben & Jerry's for a celebratory ice cream. After a few hours of resting at home, we headed for dinner at Lee's Famous Fried Chicken where Ben downed a biscuit, a chicken leg and an order and a half of mashed potatoes (a LOT of food for him!). When we got home it was Wii all the way!

Ben's last 'at bat' of the season:

Ben with Harrison Brown, Thomas Niedringhaus, Sarah Stockman, Jack Niedringhaus and Greysen Brown:

Today we headed to the Tour de Fun at the J. Ben had a great time going through inflatable obstacle courses, getting his arms painted, watching Babaloo, petting animals, riding the little train and getting fitted for a brand new bicycle helmet. After that we headed to Grammy's house where he played with Jake and Sam Finer for awhile.

Ben getting his arm painted:

Wednesday, Wednesday

Today was a pretty good day for Ben. Before his "meeting" at 1 I took him to McDonald's for some lunch, and he got 2 Happy Meal toys (or Toddler Toys as he calls them) - his AND mine. After his "meeting" we spontaneously went to the movies. We saw the new "Night At the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonians" movie. I enjoyed it. He was a little bored at the beginning, but when there was a battle towards the end, he was in hog heaven! He later asked me if I knew what battle meant. When I told him I didn't to see what he would say (my usual trick with him when he asks me if I know something), he told me it was a fight with a lot of people in it. I'm not so sure why he likes fighting so much. It must be a boy thing.

By the way, if you want to know about boys, just ask Ben. He's an expert on boys. He'll be happy to tell you all about them. For example, did you know that boys never need to say "Excuse me" when they burp or fart but girls do? I know! News to me too! Boys also stink and are gross (Ben's words - not mine - but I tend to agree), and they hate girls and always chase them. I've been informed that there's a lot more to know about boys so if you're curious feel free to give Ben a call and ask away. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to share his wealth of knowledge.

As I type this Ben is sitting next to me dipping his fingers into the icing that came with the CinnaStix from Domino's (Mommy doesn't feel good so Domino's delivered). I'm pretending not to see it because I just give up. This is after he's licked the cinnamon and sugar off of most of the CinnaStix. Incidentally, he's eating them this late because they brought the wrong type of breadsticks with our order, and he went absolutely nutsy (big shock considering that he tells me that all of his teeth are his sweet tooth). I called Domino's, and they redelivered the right kind within about 20 minutes. Good service, but I sort of wish they'd said too bad (they were free anyway with the right coupon code).

Tomorrow will probably be a quiet day since I feel lousy. I have a feeling that this kid is going to watch a lot of TV and play a lot of Nintendo DS this week!

School's Out!

School is officially out! Friday was the last day, and the kids seemed to have a lot of fun. There was an ice cream sundae party and music blaring on the playground at the end of the day before a countdown to 3 pm. What more does a 4 year old need in life? Anyway, he is officially a Senior Kindergartener at MICDS, and I couldn't be more proud!

Here's Ben with some of his teachers from the last year:

Ben and Mr. Wuertz (JK teacher):

Ben and Mrs. Schneider (JK teacher):Ben and Mr. Ives (music and art):Ben and Mrs. McMillion (Head of the Lower School):Ben and his best friend Harrison:

WOW...A Post! A Post!

I know, I know...an actual post. A real shocker, isn't it? Life has been pretty busy these days (my usual excuse but not an excuse - an actual reason!). Here's a quick rundown to catch you all up...

Tomorrow is the last day of school. It's hard to believe that Junior Kindergarten is over, but it is - and I'm so sad! Ben is excited to move on to Senior Kindergarten (SK), and I'm excited for him but there's a small part of me that is a little sad that my baby is growing up so quickly. I just can't believe that his first year at MICDS is already over! Ben has had a great year in JK B with Mr. Wuertz and Mrs. Schneider. I am grateful for the experiences he has had and the friends that he has made. I'm also grateful for the friends that I've made at MICDS. I really like the parents and the teachers there and truly believe that MICDS was a great choice for Ben.

Spring activities at school have been a lot of fun. Ben took part in Reading, Writing and Running Day at MICDS which was super adorable (part field day type activities, part reading us the books that they've written) and Art Gallery Night (every child in the Lower School had a number of pieces of their artwork displayed in the cafeteria and hallways).

T-Ball is going just fine. We still have two more games. Ben seems to enjoy it, and the whole team seems to be getting more into it which makes it a lot more fun to watch. The games are only about 45 minutes long then there's a drink and a snack so how bad could it possibly be?

Ben also just finished the winter session at Little Gym in Creve Coeur. I've signed him up for a couple of mornings of camp and for the summer session. He enjoys going there, and frankly, he could use the outlet for his never ending energy!

This summer Ben will spend a couple of mornings at Little Gym Camp, a week of mornings at Stages Camp (acting camp since he enjoyed his COCA class so much this year at school) and four weeks of full days of camp at Camp Pegasus at MICDS. He and I will also be heading to Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana, for a few days in mid-June with our babysitter Amanda. When Pegasus is over we plan to head to Florida where Ben will attend another day camp down there and hopefully make some new Florida friends to play with whenever we head down to visit Ga.

Speaking of Ga (aka my dad Jack), he has been in town since the end of April and will be here until the middle of next week then he heads to Israel and Paris for a couple of months so Ben's hung out with him a little bit too.

In May we celebrated my birthday and Mother's Day and attended the South Broadway Reunion with Ga. Ben is always ready for a good time, especially if there's the chance of cake and/or snacks.

I promise *yet again* to try to be better about the updates (Lynne - this is for you!), but I apologize in advance if I'm not good enough at keeping the updates coming. If you ever want to know what's going on, feel free to drop me an e-mail or give me a call! We love hearing from friends and family!