Update! Update!

Here's what's been happening since my last post...

Ben and I spent five days in Florida with Ga for his annual Boat Parade party and had a nice time despite my being super sick as a dog the day of the party and missing the whole thing. Ben, on the other hand, partied like a rockstar and had a great time. That kid is just like his grandfather - he LOVES a good time! He also took such good care of me, bringing me food and drinks (that I couldn't even look at) throughout the party and coming in to open my shades a number of times so that I could see the boats go by. He was so sweet! We headed back to St. Louis on Monday night to a car caked in ice and frozen shut. We both climbed in through the front passenger side and headed home to turn up the heat and thaw ourselves out!

Here's Ben in the Atlanta airport on the way to Florida:


Wednesday I went to MICDS and had a Chanukah party with the entire Junior Kindergarten. It was so much fun! I read them a story then we had latkes that I'd made the night before (I fried 78 of those puppies, and luckily the kids seem to love them!) as a snack then we played dreidel with Herhey's Kisses for gelt. I also had little Chanukah gifts for each kid. They are the most well behaved, well mannered 4 and 5 year olds that I've ever seen. And talk about cute! Each one is honest to God cuter than the last! I just love all of them and am so glad that Ben is there.

Friday was the Beasley Holiday Program which was also super adorable. Each grade level sang a couple of holiday songs as well as singing some songs as an entire school. Afterwards there was a holiday party in the room complete with decorate-your-own chocolate cupcakes, juice and cute holiday picture frames to decorate. The kids had a blast, and everyone looked so adorable in their extra nice clothes! Ben shut the party down as usual.

This is the entire JK performing. JK Room A is in the front row (they're the toys), and JK Room B (Ben's class) is in the back row (they're the elves). Ben is in the back row on the far left in the striped sweater


Ben is eyeing the cupcake toppings and other goodies. It was like a sugar fest!


The kids all had their compliments about each other written down. Some of them were absolutely hysterical! Here are the good things Ben's classmates had to say about him.

Today Ben had a playdate with one of his best buddies Bjorn who is so adorable! The boys were incredibly excited to see each other which was so cute. At this age they still express it. I'm going to be sad when they start turning into surly tweens! Ben is obsessed with Bjorn and Harrison, his two best friends at MICDS. I hear about the two of them constantly! Ben will really miss them over winter break.

Speaking of winter break, Ben and I head to Florida on Monday for two weeks of what will hopefully be sunshine. Uncle Andy and Aunt Melinda will be down for a few days this week too, and we're expecting a visit from Santa, too. It'll be nice to get away from the cold and nasty weather that we keep having. I'm ready for a lot of doing nothing next to the pool!

This Post Is For Lisa

This post is in honor of my wonderful friend Lisa who I think is the only person in the entire world that actually reads this blog. Oh - wait - my other wonderful friend Diane once told me that she read Ben's blog. As far as I know those are the only two people in the entire world that have ever even looked at this blog other than me. If you do read this blog and can't or don't want to post a comment, do me a favor and drop me an e-mail so I know that someone's reading this thing! I'm just curious whether or not this is a waste of time and space on the World Wide Web. Anyway...here's an update about what Ben's been up to lately.

School. Thanksgiving. More school. Playing my Nintendo DS Lite. School. More Nintendo. School again. Playing on my laptop. That pesky school. More school. School. That's about it. Oh - wait - a couple of sleepovers at Ga's house. Ga's birthday, too. And don't forget school!

Seriously, Ben's been doing well. School has been good and keeping him plenty busy. He adores MICDS and couldn't be happier there. He spends a lot of time playing with (and talking about) Harrison and Bjorn, his two best friends. He recently told me that he's been playing with Alex too, the little girl who was in his class last year at Hope Montessori. Audrey's mom has told me several times that Ben and the other boys play Power Rangers and chase the girls (and she claims that they like it although I've already apologized in advance for the time when they don't like it anymore - and undoubtedly that time will come sooner rather than later). This morning at drop off Samantha's dad told me that Samantha said that Ben likes to play Power Rangers so he won't play with her (we'll be discussing *that* this afternoon!!). I know that Ben is the Power Rangers ringleader. There's absolutely no doubt about that one in my mind. The boy is obsessed with them!

Thanksgiving was fine. Very low key this year. We had Thanksgiving lunch with Adam, Ga and Ga's friends the Kermans at South City Diner then Ben and Ga and I had Thanksgiving dinner at the Cohn's house (more of Ga's friends) where Ben and Bradford (he's in 1st grade - a bigger boy!) played all night and had a great time.

Ga headed to Florida for the winter yesterday. I wish I were there right now considering how cold it's been here lately although it's supposed to go up to 50 degrees today so that's not too bad. I am a fair weather friend, but Ben just loves the cold. I'm not sure where he gets that from! I tell him he's crazy, and he tells me that it's not nice to call him crazy so I have to apologize but then mumble under my breath that he's still crazy. He loves cold and snow and is seriously into Christmas music. Every single time we get in the car he asks me to turn the radio on to the Christmas music stations (in case anyone wonders, he prefers the "jazzier" songs as he puts it). He's also extremely disappointed that we aren't decorating our house for Christmas because we're Jewish. We were in the car the other night with some friends who are also Jewish, and he said, "We don't celebrate Christmas because we're Jewish." The "we're Jewish" part was said in the most depressed voice you've ever heard in your entire life. When he was asked what he does celebrate, he replied "Thanksgiving." He didn't sound too thrilled about that either. I feel his pain. I always loved Christmas and used to tell my parents that I wished I were normal so I could celebrate Christmas. I think a lot of little Jewish kids long for Christmas trees and decorations!! Chanukah just doesn't do it for us.

That's really about all that's been going on around here. Ben spends a lot of time with my Nintendo DS Lite and watching Noggin, the Disney Channel and the Cartoon Network. He would spend 24/7 either playing Nintendo or playing on my computer if I let him (but I don't) with the TV on. He's a typical man already!

Too Long!

It's been busy around here as usual but nothing that I can really put my finger on. Ben had a bit of a runny nose, but for some reason I was the one who ended up with the bad cold (shocker, shocker). He's doing just fine - healthy as a horse - and I'm still getting over the cold that he so lovingly brought home to his mama.

Everything else is pretty much the same. School's been good. There were only two days of school this week so how bad could it possibly be, right? MICDS gives the kids Wednesday through Sunday off for their Thanksgiving Break which is nice, but as far as I'm concerned he could go to school tomorrow. He really enjoys it, and he adores being with his friends.

Oh! Big news! I found the missing original Leapster this afternoon! Way back over Labor Day weekend Ben LOST the stupid thing with the Batman game in it while I was out of town, and he was just heartbroken. I wasn't planning on replacing it (the machine itself is about $50, and the games that go in it are around $25 each), but since it's a learning tool (and a really nifty one at that) I bit the bullet and bought him another one back in October when he had a day off of school (plus he'd been really good so it made it easier to give him a special treat). Anyway, I reached for a cookbook on the second shelf above the desk today and lo and behold, the stupid thing was right behind it on the shelf! I guess it's a good thing that I felt like cooking something in particular today. So now we have two Leapsters and two Batman games (and the worst part of all of this is that these days he ONLY wants to play games on my Nintendo DS)! I have NO CLUE how the Leapster got where it did, but I guess it doesn't really matter. Anyone want to buy a Leapster and a Batman game? I know where you can get a really great deal!

Happy Turkey Day to everyone! Around here we're very thankful for our health and serenity. What are you thankful for?

Nothing New

Everything's fine with Ben. There's not much going on so there's not much to report. Parent-Teacher Conferences at MICDS were last week, and his went very well as I expected. Ben actually was a litle bit under the weather that day (he threw up several times), but luckily there was no school so he didn't miss anything. He bounced back from that as quickly and easily as he does everything else. This last week was rather uneventful. There was a birthday party this morning at Kidz Art for one of the girls in Ben's class. It was very cute. The kids all painted piggy banks then played some parachute games (always popular with the preschool set) and ended with the obligatory cake and juice boxes. It was so nice to go somewhere for a birthday party other than one of those inflatable places!

Ben Doesn't Have Asthma...

...but they tested him for it last week, and here are a couple of pictures. He was a very good boy throughout the entire process! He even got to choose a toy from the treasure chest.

Ben's First Official Vote!

Today was Ben's first official vote. The Lower School at MICDS evidently conducted some sort of voting for all of the kids complete with "I Voted Today!" stickers and Beasley Voter ID Cards with pictures and signatures! I was the lunch helper today so I noticed a lot of the bigger kids with their "I Voted Today!" stickers on their shirts, just like the adults. It was really cute. The JK kids didn't have the stickers so I figured that they didn't involve them in the voting. Well, I was wrong! Ben came out to the car at dismissal time with his "I Voted Today!" sticker on his shirt and his Beasley Voter ID Card in his backpack. It was all so cute! Evidently he voted for Suprise Day at Beasley and for a New Playground. I'm not sure what all of the ballot initiatives were at good old Beasley, but I have no doubt that their choices were an awful lot better than any of the choices that I had to make today!

Election Day 2008

This post isn't directly about Ben, but it is about Ben's future. Today is a very important day in our nation's history. Today we we are watching history in the making, and it's very exciting. On the way to school I told Ben what an important day it is and how one day when he's a teenager he'll be reading about it in his textbooks. He proceeded to tell me (yet again) that "Senator Barack Obama won!" At least that's what they've been telling him on the Noggin Channel (Nickelodeon's preschool channel). Nickelodeon did a "Kids Pick the President" poll, and Senator Obama did win that. Ben also tells me that John McCain runs Noggin. Obviously he doesn't quite get it, but one day he will. It's great that they're trying to educate even the youngest kids. After I dropped Ben off at school I went and voted. I was in and out in just under half an hour so it wasn't that bad. I was number 226 at my polling place when I got up to the table around 8:20ish. If you haven't voted yet, please do! It doesn't matter who you vote for; it only matters that you vote.

Jack-O-Lantern

This year we went a different way with our Jack-O-Lantern. Instead of carving it we decided to use a neat face set that I found at Wal-Mart that came with three different sets of stickers to use to decorate the eyes, nose and mouth. It's really cute and was kind of fun for a change. Here are some pictures of our front door area and "carving" our Jack-O-Lantern this year.

Halloween!

Friday was Halloween, and it was an extremely busy day for Ben. It started with the Lower School Halloween Parade at MICDS. I woke Ben up on Friday morning and got him dressed in his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume, and we headed to school and to his classroom where Mr. Wuertz and Mrs. Schneider were there in their costumes. Mr. Wuertz was a fisherman (complete with a sign on his back that read "JK + Candy = I'd Rather Be Fishing"), and Mrs. Schneider was a beautiful queen. Ben was the first one there, and a few minutes later the rest of the kids started to trickle in. They were all so cute in their costumes! There were two pirates, three superheroes, four princesses, a blue fairy, Hermione Granger from "Harry Potter", a mummy and an airline pilot in JK-B. Everyone met in their classrooms or the cafeteria for pictures then the parents headed down to the gigantic gym (I'd never been there before. It's huge!). After a few minutes the entire Lower School paraded down to the gym with the adorable Junior Kindergarten leading the way. It was SO CUTE and so much fun to see all of the kids in their costumes. They all sat by grade level at the end of the gym and took turns singing Halloween songs that they'd been practicing in music class. After that the entire Lower School sang a song together before they paraded out of the gym and through the administration building where there are also some Upper School classes. I *think* that there might have been some sort of further partying and merriment that day, but Ben wouldn't tell me what happened (as usual). We came home and waited for Adam and my dad to come over to go trick or treating. Ben fell asleep, already exhausted from the excitement of the day. We woke him up a little bit after six, and the three of them headed out to see Grammy Eleanor and Paw Paw Richard Rosenbaum and to do a bit of trick or treating in their neighborhood (the houses are closer together there) then back to our neighborhood for some more trick or treating before heading out to see Mr. Jay and Aunt Marilyn Cohn for a final trick or treat stop. There was only one knock on the door at our house so the two Army boys who came by where treated to large handfuls of candy (Ben also knocked on the door which was very cute.). Ben was the only Ninja Turtle that I saw out there so his costume was obviously a huge success! I think he had a good time, and he definitely has more than enough candy to rot his teeth for quite awhile!

Mr. Wuertz as a fisherman with Ben: Mrs. Schneider as a queen with Ben:Most of the JK-B class (missing one pirate and one princess):
The entire Junior Kindergarten singing after their parade into the gym:Getting ready to head out of the gym and on a parade to Olson Hall:

Getting ready to hit the road:On the prowl for CANDY!!!!:

Not Much Going On

There's not much going on this week which is just fine with me. Ben had an appointment yesterday morning with the pulmonologist at his doctor's request, and his test for asthma came back normal so there's no asthma which is a good thing (and no real surprise). He's going Monday for a sweat test and to an appointment with the endocrinologist to check his growth. None of this is that big of a deal. He's perfectly healthy and doing just fine. He did get a flu shot yesterday as well as had his blood drawn. Let's just say that Ben does NOT like "pokes" as he calls shots and needles. The poor thing was just devastated by all of the needles. The bandaid from the blood draw fell off at school, but the bandaid from the flu shot will undoubtedly remain on his arm for many, many weeks like (just like the bandaid from his shots did this summer at his 4 year old check up). I don't have the heart to tell him that he's probably going to have more blood drawn on Monday for tests by the endocrinologist. I went to Wal-Mart this morning after I took him to school to buy my big brave boy a few little rewards. I bought him a Diego game for his Leapster for yesterday's bravery, and I got a couple more small goodies to give him on Monday after his long day.

Other than that there's really not much to report. My dad (or Ga as Ben calls him) comes back from Europe tonight. Tomorrow is Halloween. Ben is still planning on being a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle although last night he told me he didn't want to go trick or treating so we'll see if he really meant that or not. This weekend are also the two final soccer games of the season so that should be fun. The kids are all so cute out there on the field and the sidelines!

Halloween Sneak Preview

Ben tried on his Halloween costume today to make sure that it fits. I had actually bought it last year after Halloween for half price for dress up. He's had a hard time deciding this year between Batman, Teenage Mutatnt Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers (we happen to own all three costumes right now JUST IN CASE). Here's what I *think* he's sticking with - Leonardo the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle:

Today's Soccer Game

Today was the big soccer showdown between the two MICDS JK soccer teams! It was a great game, and even though we don't keep score, the Blue Sharks (Ben's team) kicked butt! The score - if one were to keep score - was 3 - 2, Blue Sharks leading the way. Anyway, it was a great game, and all of the kids did such a good job! They've really caught on to the game which is exciting to watch. Some of the kids are really great players too. After the game we got our team and individual pictures back, and the kids got their own trophies! Ben was so excited! He's been DYING for a trophy ever since he saw the huge trophy case at the J last spring. Mr. Wuertz (the JK-B teacher - Ben's teacher) even came to the game with his son. All of the kids were so excited to see him! It was very sweet of him to come out to support the,. Both JK classes do things together each day (recess, PE, etc.) so they're all very familiar with all of the JK teachers.

The two MICDS JK soccer teams - Ben's team is the Blue Team:

Ben with his trophy:

My Sweet Boy

This morning when Ben and I woke up he got into bed with me for a few minutes of snuggling before I had to get up to take a shower and get us both ready to head out to soccer. As soon as he got into bed he sang me "The Good Morning Song", a simple little song I made up when he was a baby and used to sing to him every single morning when I would go into his room (I still sing it to him most mornings when I'm trying futily to wake him up). At the appropriate times he said Mommy instead of Ben and sang it all perfectly. It was the first time he'd ever done that, and it was so sweet! My little boy is growing up!

Some Recent Pictures of Ben

Ben at the JK Pet Parade at MICDS:Ben with his pet at the JK Pet Parade at MICDS:Trying on hats at Wal-Mart:Ben with his balloon sword and balloon belt:

All Clear!

I took Ben to see Dr. Vermont yesterday after school, and he listened to his chest, back, lungs, etc. He seems to be in pretty good condition. Now we just have to keep him that way!

Monday, Monday

The rest of the weekend was VERY low key. We didn't do much of anything. The most exciting news is that we are now able to get 3 cars parked in our 3 car garage! YAY! I NEVER thought that day would come! And the best part is that I was able to unload a bunch of outside "baby toys" (as Ben calls them) by transporting them down the street to my 18 month old neighbor. I took two loads yesterday and plan on dragging more over to him later this week. Tomorrow afternoon I take Ben back to see Dr. Vermont so that he can listen to his lungs and chest. I'm pretty sure that the pneumonia is all cleared up by now, but I'm going to leave that to the professionals to determine. That's about it for now. I'll try to get some pictures posted soon.

Three Day Weekend

We are currently on Day Two of a three day weekend. There was no school yesterday so that the teachers could start their report writing for conferences which are in a few weeks. Since Ben is still recovering from his pneumonia we just took it very easy. The only time we left the house was to go to Target to buy Leapster #2 (he lost the first one when I was in Florida over Labor Day Weekend) and Batman Game #2 (it was in the Leapster that he lost) as well as something that Ben's been coveting forever - a Pancake Puff Pan. I'm sure you've seen the infomercial for it. If you haven't, just ask Ben. He recites parts of it verbatim for me. It's hysterical to hear some of the phrases come out of his mouth! Needless to say we had pancake puffs and sausage for dinner last night. They're super easy to make and really cute, but I need to work on my cooking times/technique. They were either dark on the outside and cooked on the inside, or they were beautifully golden brown on the outside and sort of mushy/partially cooked on the inside. I just need a little bit of practice to figure out how long to cook the things. Plus one recipe of pancake batter makes a TON of pancake puffs - way more than two of us could ever eat - so we were just fine.

This morning we had a soccer game. I know that we scored at least two goals. The kids all seem to have figured it out and seem to enjoy it. We had our full team there today for the first time in awhile so that was pretty cool too. Next week we play the other MICDS JK team so it should be a pretty interesting game.

We're going to hang out and rest for the rest of the weekend. Ben is feeling so much better than he was this time a week ago, but with pneumonia and the weather really cooling down I don't feel the need to push it. His energy level is still a bit lower than usual which leads to a crankier kid. There are plenty of weekends ahead of us in life where we can go nuts. This weekend is a good one to keep quiet. Plus now that Ben has a Leapster again he really has no interest in me anyway!

Last Weekend

Last weekend was pretty low key. We spent Friday night and all day Saturday at home resting once we got the pneumonia diagnosis. Ben's just a little more lethargic than usual so it can't hurt to get as much quiet time in as we can. Saturday afternoon Alex Johnson and her mom Liz (Ben's JK classmate from MICDS and also from Hope Montessori last year) came over, and we all headed to the Fox Theatre to see the Backyardigans Live. We had amazing front row center seats which made it even more fun! It turned out that another girl from their class was seated directly behind us with her little brother and parents, anda boy from the other JK class was there with his parents and little brother a few rows back and a section over. Anyway, the show was very cute, but unfortunately Ben fell asleep and missed the entire second act (He was SO SAD that night that he missed seeing the dragon that he almost cried that night. I felt so bad for him!). After the show we headed out to dinner (where he literally didn't eat a single bite of food) and then back home where the kids played for a few minutes before the Johnsons headed home.

Sunday was soccer day! It was also soccer picture day. We head to get there an hour plus before the game even started. Luckily the kids seemed to handle it really well. In fact, they handled it so well that they scored 5 goals for the first time ever! In fact, I think it was the first time they've ever even scored any goals. It's liked something finally clicked! Even adorable Samantha was seriously into it - and that sweet little girl has had less than zero interest in soccer all season so far. It was a great game - very exciting!

Pneumonia Update

Ben is on Day 4 of antibiotics out of 5 prescribed days. He's doing pretty well. His coughing has massively slowed down and seems to be fading away. He had a good day at soccer yesterday (his team actually scored 5 goals even though they don't keep score). When we went out to dinner last night he was really such a good boy. He ate practically nothing (although he ate an entire cheese sandwich within about 45 minutes of us going out - the only thing he'd eaten all day aside from part of a corn muffin that morning and some snacks at soccer), but since he's been sick he eats and drinks even less than he usually does. I'll take it from him where I can get it!

Pneumonia!

Ben's got pneumonia! Ben went back to school on Wednesday after staying home sick for two days, but his cough wasn't going away and sounded like it was getting phlegmier (is that even a word?!) and deeper. He had a ridiculously long coughing fit in the middle of the night Thursday night so Friday morning I decided to call the doctor to see if this was more than just a cough. I took him in on Friday afternoon, and after examining Ben, Dr. Vermont sent us to the hospital for a chest x-ray. He called us at home a little while later to say that Ben definitely has pneumonia and that he'd call in an antibiotic for us. He also tested Ben for whooping cough (Wow, Ben did NOT like having his nose swabbed!), but I have a feeling that the extremely long coughing fits that he's having are all about the pneumonia. Who knows...I must have missed medical school that day. Anyway, he also wants us to see a pediatric pulmonologist to see about getting tested for asthma since this is the second time Ben has had pneumonia (last time was two years ago at Thanksgiving). Can't hurt to check, right?

So that's our story around here. We're still going this afternoon to see the Backyardigans Live at the Fox Theatre. If we didn't go I think Ben would absolutely go beserk. He used to come to me out of nowhere and tell me that he wanted to go to Chicago or Washington, DC, and when I'd ask him why he'd tell me that the Backyardigans Live were going to be there (Thanks so much, Noggin). And tomorrow are the rescheduled soccer pictures (and soccer game) so we have to go to that too. We're just hanging out at home today and resting. Ben was up before 8 this morning (yuck) and isn't too bad right now. He's pumped full of antibiotics and cough syrup and only coughs once every once in awhile which is much better than it was before. I think he'll be fine to do a few things. Besides, the fresh air will be good for him.

Last Weekend, Etc.

This last weekend was a pretty busy one for Ben. Saturday morning we attended Harper's 5th birthday party at The Sugar Shack in Kirkwood (Harper's a girl in his class at MICDS) then he and I headed down to the Kirkwood Farmer's Market for our annual pilgrimage to pick up some pumpkins. It's a tradition that I started the year that he was born. I've taken him there every fall for pumpkins - even if it's just a baby pumpkin (this year it was 2 large and 6 small). It's also always a great spot for some pretty fall/pumpkin pictures.

We chilled out at home the rest of the day, and that night he and I had a date at Noodles & Co. where he ate some plain buttered noodles and some of the mac and cheese that I got with the hopes that he would try it (and it got a "Yum" from Ben - the highest culinary rating a 4 year old can give something). Sunday morning my Uncle Neil (my mother's younger brother) and his friend Riva drove in from Centralia, IL, where he was in town attending a high school reunion (he currently is splitting his time between New York and California). We had lunch together before Ben and I had to head to his soccer game.

It was another fun weekend on the soccer field! It's more like swarmball than soccer, but that's okay. The kids seem to have a good time. Ben seemed to enjoy chasing Audrey and Anna around on the sidelines more than the time that he spent on the field, but that's okay (he was a puma, and they were kitty cats).

Afterwards we hung out, watched some Noggin and eventually headed to dinner at the Trainwreck Saloon in Rock Hill where Ben proceeded to sleep through the whole thing (He'd been coughing a lot for two days at this point and just sort of passed out on me in the booth. At one point before he fell asleep he told me to stop eating because it was making him cough.). When we got home he was awake long enough to scarf down two slices of American cheese and a bunch of blueberries before sleeping for 13 hours. I told him last night that he probably wouldn't go to school today (see the 'Sick Again' entry), and he was so cute. He wanted to go to school so badly! It just wasn't a good idea for him today.

Last week I went to MICDS and talked to both JK classes about Rosh Hashanah. I brought books for both classes' libraries, read a story to the kids and brought apples and honey for their morning snack. That's about all that's gone on with us lately. So now everyone is all caught up!

Sick Again

Ben is home sick again today. He's fine - just a cough and what feels like a tad bit of a fever (who knows where the thermometer is...) so I figured better safe than sorry. There were several absences from JK last week, and according to Mrs. Moulton (the other JK class's lead teacher) they all had that "fever headache thing". Ben doesn't seem to have a headache, but he's got something. He'll be fine after a day of R&R at home with Mommy.

Ben's First Soccer Game

This afternoon was Ben's first official soccer game! All of the kids did a great job and seemed to enjoy themselves even if they had no idea what they were doing. Samantha's father Greg is the coach of our team. The rest of the MICDS JK is on another team (the two JK classes are mixed up on the teams), and we caught most of their game right before ours. They, too, did a great job. We still have 7 or so more games so we'll see how the kids all progress.

Ben in his uniform - #11:
Ben with the ball:
Ben and his JK buddy Harrison:
The whole team:

Festival at Grant's Farm

We spent Saturday night, September 20, at Grant's Farm at the American Brain Tumor Foundation's Fall Festival. Our good friend Jennifer Gutierrez is on the committee and is a brain tumor/cancer survivor (yay for Jenn!). Ben and Adam had never been to Grant's Farm before, and I hadn't been since I was a young kid. We had a great time. When we arrived, we parked and took the tram through the park to the main area, and we got to see all sorts of animals along the way - lots of different varieties of deer, cattle, sheep, fowl, donkeys, zebras. Once we were inside the park Ben and Adam fed the baby goats bottles of milk. I chose to be the official cameraperson at the point having done that as a child and remembering how mean and nasty those little goats are. I still remember them trying to eat my little brother's shirt and then ramming into everyone with their little horns. Nasty little creatures! After the goats feasted a bit, we ambled through the park on our way to the festival area. We saw kangaroos, guinea pigs, chickens, parrots, cockatoos, opossums, elephants and all sorts of water fowl including pink flamingos! Once we were in the festival area there was a live band, a silent auction, raffles, games and lots of food. We had a great time and lasted until about 9:30 when we took the tram back to the car and headed home. Congratulations to Jennifer and the whole committee on a great night!

On the tram on our way into the park:


Ben feeding the goats:Adam was quite popular with the goats:

Ben with a new friend:

My Little Ram

Here's what Ben looks like in his new MICDS football jersey - his first piece of MICDS paraphenalia aside from his Homecoming t-shirt. I bought it in a 4T so that he can wear it for awhile. He was very proud to model it for me, and he looked so cute!!

Front:


Back:

This weekend he'll have his first soccer game (as long as the weather holds out which I think it will) so I'll post some pictures of him in his uniform.

Rollerskating

It's rollerskating week in PE in the Lower School at MICDS. Ben seems to be really enjoying it so far. He's never been on skates before, and he seems to love it despite his previous apprehensions. He pronounced himself an expert at skating and the best one in the class yesterday when I picked him up from school. He's even told me that he can teach *me* how to skate. What a good boy I've got!

Thanks, Ike!

Thanks to Ike (you know, the hurricane, not the dead singer/wife beater) there's no soccer today. That means no soccer pictures and no first soccer game of the year. Frankly it's not raining right now and looks fine outside, but I can only imagine how muddy and gross the field must be from all of the overnight and morning rain. Just fine with me and even more fine with Ben who really doesn't care whether or not he gets to play soccer. He still has birthday party #2 of the weekend to attend later today for a boy from his class at school so all is good in his world.

Homecoming Carnival

Today was the Homecoming Carnival at MICDS. Ben and I went and had a really nice time. We saw a bunch of the kids from his class. There was a bounce house, an inflatable slide, an inflatable obstacle course, games with prizes, (free) food and drinks, an ice cream truck, a couple of field hockey games to watch and lots of fun to be had. Ben got a spider painted on his hand, took 2 trips to the ice cream truck (only eating miniscule amounts of each treat - big surprise), ate 4 bites of a hot dog and some chips (a hard won compromise prior to the second trip to the ice cream truck), watched some field hockey, bounced in the bounce house, conquered the obstacle course a couple of times (and managed not to get trampled by all of the big kids racing each other), got his first piece of MICDS paraphenalia (an adorable little football jersey - the only thing they had small enough for him) AND got said hi to *by name* by two fourth grade girls who knew him. As I said to him, play on player!