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.

Major Catch Up Time

Time for yet another major catch up of Ben's life & times!

Thanksgiving was fine. Very low key. Ben ate pumpkin bread for Thanksgiving dinner.

Winter Break was good. We spent three and a half weeks in Florida with my dad (aka Ga). It was unseasonably cold so that part wasn't so great, but it was still warmer than St. Louis and there were palm trees so who cares. Ben went to holiday camp down there at the same place where he went to camp last summer and had an absolute blast.

Heading back to school in January was good for everyone. The winter has been busy so far with basketball (Ben's on a team, and he LOVES it), indoor soccer (Ben's on a team and seems to enjoy it so far), a snow day, Lego Club, COCA class after school, Xtreme Ice Racing, strep throat (two days home sick from school then still contagious over the weekend equaled lots of Wii and Cartoon Network) and another visit from the Tooth Fairy when he lost tooth #2.

Last weekend we were in Chicago for the four day weekend that the school so graciously gifted us with. We had a really great time. Friday we drove up, stopping at Cracker Barrel for lunch along the way. Incidentally, Ben was fabulous in the car both directions. We checked into our hotel then headed to the Lego store at the Woodfield Mall where we dropped a small bundle on Legos. After that we went to Medieval Times for dinner (Ben ate his garlic bread and mine for dinner) and the absolutely incredible show. Ben was even knighted before the ceremony! The next day we spent a few hours at the Legoland Discovery Center then headed to visit our friends in Vernon Hills. The next day we hit the Shedd Aquarium where we communed with various sea creatures. After that we hit the Chicago Crate & Barrel outlet (where one of us really had fun). That night we had dinner with our friends in Northbrook. Monday we hit the Lego store again then headed to Naperville where we hit the Naperville Crate & Barrel Outlet and The Land of Nod Outlet (where one of us had even more fun than the day before).

So that's Ben's life right now in a nutshell. He's chugging along and enjoying life as much as a 5 1/2 year old can. Coming up - a three day weekend this weekend, more basketball and soccer games to play, birthday parties to attend and then Spring Break in Florida.

What Ben's Been Up To

Wow...it's been a LONG time since I've updated Ben's blog! So sorry to those of you who actually check this. Life has been busy as usual. It's always something around here!

Since my last post, we've been to Michigan and to Florida. We've seen Playhouse Disney Live! at the St. Charles Family Arena. Ben also took part in his first play at school through an afterschool COCA class that he took. He's also had several playdates, attended a few birthday parties, spent Fridays swimming at school between January and March (and loved it!), had a dental appointment and has even had a couple of haircuts.

We had a great time in Michigan visiting our good friends Lisa, Jason and Brooke Ruttenberg. We hung out with them in Detroit and even took a drive up to Frankenmuth to see the world's largest Christmas store (Bronner's) and to partake in a famous chicken dinner at Zehnder's (Ben LOVED seeing the big Zehnder's chicken walking around). And yes, it snowed while we were there! After all, it *is* the tundra as far as we're concerned. We also got a chance to see our cousins the Wolfs and the Litvins which was really nice.

Pompano Beach, Florida, for Spring Break was very nice. It rained a few days and nights, but other than that, the weather was beautiful. (Grammy) Eleanor Rosenbaum and her grandson Jake came down the afternoon after we got there. Jake's parents and brother Sam joined us a few days later. My brother Andy even came down for a few days. We had a full house most of the time we were there. We even got to see our friends the Starkeys from Virginia a couple of times. They were down for their annual Spring Training trip. Ben also really enjoyed spending time with the cute 9 year old granddaughter of the next door neighbors who was down visiting with her family from far northern New York.

Ben had a lot of firsts on this trip - his first time fishing (he caught 5 puffer fish off the dock next door), his first time on a jet ski (he looked just like a Power Ranger in case anyone wondered), his first time in the Everglades and on an airboat, his first time seeing a live alligator in the Everglades, his first time holding a live alligator, his first time walking on the bottom of the Florida pool, his first time hanging out in the hot tub with the bubbles on full blast, his first time picking strawberries. I've put up a small album of photos on Facebook. Here's a link to it:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=85922&id=548701684&l=5bcceeb1c3

I've also posted a few photos here. If you want to see more pictures, just let me know. I have a ton!

With a puffer fish he caught:

Holding an alligator:On the airboat in the Everglades:Picking strawberries:Chilling out in the hot tub:

This morning it snowed here in St. Louis, but it's like it never even happened now. Passover starts this week, and we're going to seders the first two nights. Easter is next Sunday, and Ben is extremely excited about the Easter Bunny coming and leaving him candy and money (inside the plastic eggs). It's all about candy and money with this kid! He's also started T-ball, and the first game is this coming weekend. He's continuing with his Little Gym class, and he's got a couple of birthday parties coming up. Before we know it, school will be over, and the summer will begin. It's hard to believe how quickly time has flown by!