I Bet You Forgot This Blog Existed

That (sort of) makes two of us! It's been a few years (oops!) since I posted on Ben's blog, but I vow here and now to (try my hardest) to be better about this. I don't even know if anyone reads this or even missed it for that matter. Do me a favor - if you read it, let me know. Leave a comment. Send me an e-mail. Give me a call. Whatever. Just let me know that you're out there! So here's where we are now... - Ben is 8 3/4 (he likes when I give him that 3/4 worth of credit). - He is in the third grade at MICDS. - School is over in about four weeks at which point he'll be in the fourth grade at MICDS (God willing!). - Ben broke his right elbow a month ago while on Spring Break in Florida. When we got home it was determined that he needed surgery to have two pins placed. He just got his cast off this morning after having it on for 3 1/2 weeks. He's been a real trooper throughout the whole thing. I told him this is the only break he gets. If it happens again (which it had better not), he owes me money. - We moved in early March to a new house which we both really seem to like so far. Anyone want to buy my old house?? Please?? - Ben's aunt (my sister-in-law) and cousin Zazie (my super adorable niece) just visited for a few days from Brooklyn, and she's super cute (I'm referring to his cousin, but his aunt is cute too). His cousin is 11 months old. She didn't exist last time I posted on here. She wasn't even a twinkle! She sort of looks like me (and my brother - her dad - and my mother - her grandmother). I could eat her face but will try to restrain myself. - Ben is currently obsessed with Xbox and Xbox Live where he talks to strangers and plays video games with them. All he wants me to do is ask him about those games. He gets mad at me when I don't ask the right questions. - At this point in time Ben has lost 8 teeth and has recently had 4 (!) cavities filled. He currently has no loose teeth. He kept telling people about his 4 cavities like it was something to be proud of. It's not. - Ben played on a basketball team with his friends the last several years. We're still not anticipating an athletic scholarship. - Ben was a psychopath last Halloween (he chose the costume - trust me, I vetoed even worse costumes). It was just an orange jumpsuit and a makeup 5 o'clock shadow plus he had a plastic ax, and I made his hair all crazy and gelled. He looked sort of like he was on a chain gang. I REALLY miss the days when I got to pick out his costumes. I'm not sure that there's much more to post right now. I'm sitting here listening to Ben yammer at his Xbox friends. I think he might already be a teenager. If that's the case, we're in for a very bumpy ride. Don't forget - get in touch with us!! Let me know if anyone actually reads this thing. And if you want our new address, let me know too.

Our "Otherwise Known As" Week So Far

Here's a rundown of our week so far:

Monday is now otherwise known as Meltdown Monday. Ben had a SERIOUS meltdown after waking up from a late nap after school and lots of tension and stress filled the air. It was a lousy night, but we both survived it. Enough said.

Tuesday was better so it's now otherwise known as Terrific Tuesday. After school we ran by the payroll company then headed out to shop for birthday presents for upcoming birthday parties and some grocery shopping. We headed home after that and had a quiet, calmer night until I realized that I had to run to Walgreens to pick up prescriptions that I had to have that night. Ben wore his new Mario jammies and looked very cute!

Wednesday - otherwise known as Today - has been quiet so far. Today was Late Start Day at school (otherwise known as The Most Wonderful Day of the Week!) so it was already destined to be a better day. And today was the Pokemon Dojo/Club/Thing that Mr. Ives arranged for the kids so Ben stayed until 4:15. He loves it although I don't know if he knows about Pokemon other than what he's seen on the cartoon on TV (and I have a feeling it's pretty different). I don't understand it at all so hopefully Mr. Ives does. After all, that's all that counts, right? Either way, Ben LOVES that he's with some big kids in the club (it's for SKers - 2nd graders according to the flyer), and he really loves Mr. Ives so it's a double bonus for him to take part in this.

Friday is the Big Day this week at school. Everyone in Beasley (Lower School at MICDS) dresses up and parades down to the MAC (the gigantic gymnasium) where the kids sing a bunch of Halloween songs before they parade through the Upper School for the big kids to see them in their costumes. It was so incredibly cute last year! I'm really looking forward to it, and I know that Ben is too. He's only asked me about 30 times if I'm going to be there, and each time I tell him that I wouldn't miss it. The teachers do a great job getting the kids prepared. Ben has been singing cute Halloween songs around the house for awhile now (taught to him by, coincidentally, Mr. Ives).

And everyone knows what Saturday is...one of the biggest days of them all for kids...Halloween (otherwise known as The Day It's Okay to Ask Strangers for Candy and/or The Day It's Okay to Take Candy From Strangers)!! Pictures will definitely be posted.

Last Weekend

Not much happened this last weekend. We took it very easy since Ben seems to constantly be on the verge of a potential cold and with the weather as wet and cold and back and forth as it's been, I'd rather not have him get sick. Besides, a three day cold for him turns into a two or three week ordeal for me.

Friday night Ben spent the evening with Grammy Eleanor while I attended the MICDS 150th Gala at the Ritz Carlton. It was very nice. More than 800 people were there so it was a bit of a madhouse (particularly during cocktails), but I had a good table so it was fine (Alex's mom, Harrison's parents, Jack and Paige's parents and Jack M's parents - it's all about who your kid is at this stage of life). Ben really enjoyed the special time alone with Grammy, something he never gets. She was dog/housesitting for her sister and brother-in-law so Ben got to spend some time with Hattie, their standard poodle, and he particularly enjoyed that.

Saturday we hung out at home during the day. For lunch we made homemade crinkle cut oven fries, and Ben got to crinkle cut the potatoes. He LOVED doing that! That night we had dinner at Michael's with Adam. Sunday we hung out at home until it was time to go to soccer where Ben actually kicked the ball a few times! Afterwards he hung out with Adam for a couple of hours then we all grabbed a quick dinner at Wonton King where Ben actually tried a couple of new things, one with a bribe of a quarter (which he forgot about so it's still in my possession) and the other completely on his own.

Halloween is what we're concentrating on now. Ben is going to be Luigi of the Super Mario Brothers, and I'm evidently going to be Mario (at least I'll be wearing Mario's hat - Ben's child size 4-6 costume won't fit me). We were even talking like Mario and Luigi this morning on the way to school, and I got several thumbs up from Ben so I must be doing a good job. Pictures will definitely be posted.

These Days...

These days there's not a lot going on yet somehow we're always busy. Ben's busy being a big SKer at school this year. He's on a soccer team with his friends, but so far we've only had one game (one weekend with no game scheduled then a rainout last weekend). Other than hanging out, reading a lot of books together, playing some computer games and celebrating the Jewish holidays, things have been pretty low key.

Last Friday I went to MICDS and talked to the entire SK about Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I had some very interesting comments and questions. My favorite part of the whole things was when it turned into a big conversation about what everyone calls their grandparents (I love the minds of 5 and 6 year olds!). The kids devoured the apples and honey that I brought for them to enjoy for a sweet New Year. Ben and I also went to Children's Services for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur this year. The jury is still out as far as Ben is concerned. At the time of the services he claimed he was bored and hated going to Temple, but he told other people that he really liked it all and had a good time. I will say that the puppets at services definitely didn't hurt! When we were leaving Yom Kippur services yesterday he wasn't at all happy with the idea that he will go to High Holy Day Services every single year for the rest of his life.

Here's a picture of Ben rollerskating at school during PE:

The Summer of 2009 in Pictures

Ben with his good friend Audrey (from MICDS) after we went to see Dora the Explorer Live:

Ben at Schnitzelbank Restaurant in Jasper, Indiana:Ben with Santa Claus at Holiday World:Ben doing pretty much the only thing he truly enjoyed while we were at Holiday World this year:Ben at The Muny:

Ben hanging out at Ga's pool in the Central West End (during his pre-swimming days):Ben at Camp Pegasus: Ben blowing out the candles on his cupcake at his spy training birthday party:The whole gang at Ben's spy training birthday party: Ben IS Spiderman:Ben on his actual 5th birthday:
Ben with a certificate from camp in Florida for making the Silliest Hat:Ben with Ga in Florida:Ben cruising on an 85 foot yacht in Miami:Ben on his way to pick strawberries until we realized that there were no strawberries to pick:SWIMMING! VICTORY!:Ben and Ga hanging out in the pool:Ben with Miss Missy - aka The Miracle Worker (his AMAZING swimming teacher and camp director in Florida):Ben on his first day of Senior Kindergarten at MICDS:Ben with his SK teacher Miss Neary:Ben at the entrance to Beasley (the Lower School at MICDS):Ben wearing his Rams jersey for Homecoming week:

Ben's Baaaaack!

Ben's back, and he's bigger and better than ever! After all, Ben is 5 years old now and in Senior Kindergarten (SK) at MICDS.

Here's a quick recap of the summer:

Ben spent a few mornings at Little Gym camp as well as a week at Stages Camp (acting camp) which culminated in a performance the last day which was totally adorable. The next week we went to Indiana to Holiday World for what was supposed to be a two day visit to the park. Very long story short, the trip was shortened to a single day at the park that ended quite a bit differently than last year. Let's just say that *I* was way more excited to be there than he was.

The next week Ben started four weeks at Camp Pegasus at MICDS. He had a great time there, but the real fun came when we headed to Florida for a few weeks. Ben went to camp there for three and a half weeks and absolutely LOVED it! He also...drumroll please...learned how to swim! And he LOVES to swim! Ben has turned into a total fish (he prefers that I call him a shark). I have a hard time getting him out of the water once he goes in which I totally love. He has done a complete 180 when it comes to the pool. After just 6 lessons with Miss Missy (aka The Miracle Worker), the kid was not only going underwater and swimming, he was voluntarily swimming between my legs underwater over and over and over again.

Somewhere in the middle of all of this Ben turned 5. He had a fabulous spy training birthday party with a ton of his friends as well as a small family birthday dinner. The actual night of his birthday we went to Dewey's for pizza, one of Ben's very favorite places. He got a lot of fabulous presents, but the most successful one seems to be his MP3 player. Next time you see Ben ask him to sing along to Pink's "Get the Party Started" or Soft Cell's "Tainted Love". He can also sing along with a ton of the other songs I loaded for him. As he puts it, he likes "rocky" music with a good beat.

The last two weeks we were in Florida, Ga arrived from Europe to be with us. We reluctantly headed back to St. Louis the Friday night before school started just in time for the Back to School party the next afternoon. Ben was so excited to see all of his friends again, and I was happy to see them too. That Monday there was a quick orientation at school then the real deal started on Wednesday. The first week of school was half days to get the littlest kids used to everything. By the time he started full days, it was time for me to head back to Florida again for my annual girls' only trip to my dad's house. We had a great 5 days together, and I already can't wait to go back again next year!

Now school is in full swing as is soccer. Ben's team is wearing red this year, and they've named themselves the Red Dragons. The kids are all so cute out there in their uniforms as they hustle after the ball. Some of them (unfortunately not Ben) have gotten much more into soccer this year so it's fun to watch the game. The only drawback is that we are playing until the middle of November which is pretty much forever and a day. We're on a pretty fun team though (meaning that the parents are fun to hang out with) so it makes it better. A few of Ben's favorite kids are on our team so that helps entice him to g0. Last weekend was his first game as well as Homecoming at the school so we had a fun Saturday at the Homecoming carnival then at soccer.

Ben's teachers in SK this year are Miss Neary and Miss Kristen. They are both incredibly sweet, and I think that Ben will really enjoy being in their class. He's not with a few of his closest buddies from class last year (they're in SKA, Ben's in SKB), but he seems to be making friends with some of the new boys as well as getting closer with a couple of the boys from his class last year. So far Ben isn't totally loving SK because it's not as much fun as last year. In other words, they don't get to play with the toys as much as they did in JK, and he's not too happy about that. Poor guy doesn't realize that SK is more like real school. They still seem to get plenty of fun time, but I guess it just isn't enough for my Ben.

Funny story: When I took Ben to school this morning he was showing me something in his classroom, and I saw that each of the kids had colored a picture of a trophy and had written on them what they were best at. Ben's trophy boasted that Ben was the best at skateboarding. Very interesting. I don't think Ben has ever actually seen skateboarding let alone actually touched a skateboard. Miss Neary said that Ben said he goes to skateparks all the time. I asked him who takes him, and he says his grandpa does. She also said that Ben said he'll teach her how to skateboard, and I said that maybe he can teach me, too.

Have I mentioned that Ben has quite an imagination?

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:

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!

Catching Up

Ben and I spent two weeks in Florida over his winter break from MICDS. We had a great time in the sunshine doing pretty much nothing. Some highlights from while we were there: Ben's Uncle Andy and Aunt Melinda came to visit for a few days from New York, Santa visited with tons of presents, Chanukah candles were lit many nights, Ben assisted the magician in an awesome magic show, we had a Christmas night party, Ben played with his cousins Spencer and Carson from Michigan, Ben played with his friend Tucker from Pompano Beach, we hung out with some of Ga's friends, Ben played a lot of computer, Nintendo and Leapster games, Ben watched a lot of TV, Ben spent every single night in a room with Ga (except for one night with me), Ben went swimming at night in his clothes with Aunt Melinda (that was a big highlight for him), Ben went swimming during the day in his swimming suit, Ben saw Santa's tushie a LOT, Ben spent New Year's Eve frolicking on the beach and in and out of the ocean after dinner at a great Cuban restaurant, Ben had his first dinner at Benihana with his friend Tucker and his mom and grandmother. Basically, we had a great time, and I've got the pictures to prove it! If you're interested in seeing them, please e-mail me.

Since we got back to town Ben's been busy with school. He's taking a COCA class after school one day a week for 8 weeks, and he really seems to be enjoying it. He had a playdate with his best buddy Harrison, and right before we went to Florida he had a playdate with his other best buddy Bjorn. Today's a snow day (see the last post), and it's still coming down out there so who knows what tomorrow might bring!

"It Needs More Salt"

Today is a Snow Day - NO SCHOOL! When we got the automated call from school last night, Ben went NUTS! He did an intense happy dance on my bed. He couldn't wait to get outside today. There wasn't a ton of snow, but it's been lightly snowing for a lot of the day so we'll see. The "It Needs More Salt" comment comes from when he tasted the snow on his glove and then said that. It was so funny! After we came inside I got a cup stacking demonstration. Evidently that's what they've been doing in PE at MICDS. He's actually pretty good and taught me how to do it. Here are some pictures:

I pulled him around the driveway on the sled. He's modeling one of the hats that I knit in the first picture then he switched to his Spiderman hat:

Getting ready to attack me with a snowball:Catching snowflakes on his tongue:Stacking cups:

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'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!

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!!!!: