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!

Passover 2009

Ben and I spent the last two nights at Passover seders. The first night of Passover was spent with a tableful of cousins. Ben had a great time with a couple of younger cousins, and I enjoyed getting to talk to the adults. As usual, the food was good (Passover food is ALWAYS good and so ridiculously filling). The second night of Passover was spent with some family friends who don't traditionally hold a seder the second night. Instead there is usually some sort of Passover trivia game. Last night it was one side of the table versus the other side. When I knew the answer I was ordered (by Ben) to whisper the answer to Ben so that he could raise his hand and give the answer to the moderator. He got several of the questions right, and he was VERY excited! He also loved being the only kid to get to look for the afikomen. The best part of the night for him though was that it was at Kara's house (our friend as well as his former swimming teacher). He adores Kara, and he loved getting to hang out with Kara and her friends (she's a junior at Mizzou).

Tomorrow morning is the first T-ball game of the season. It should be nice and muddy and disgusting considering how much it's been raining the past couple of days. One of us is totally not looking foward to this. Any guesses which one of us that is?! After T-ball Ben's got a birthday party to go to at the Magic House which should be a lot of fun (not to mention dry and hopefully mud-free). Sunday is Easter, and Ben LOVES the Easter Bunny! Last year the Easter Bunny brought him lots of plastic eggs to find filled with candy and money as well as some nice Easter basket goodies. I'm sure that he'll get just as lucky again this year.

Good Pesach and Happy Easter to all!

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!

Quick Update

Here's Ben's life in a quick, neat little nutshell:

We had two snow days a week and a half ago (but you already know that if you've read the blog before now). During that time Ben worked on his cup stacking skills, his baking skills, his Nintendo DS Lite skills and his TV watching skills (he's REALLY good at the last two things in case anyone wondered). We were also in the midst of closing Arts of Asia and moving the office (and some of the leftovers) to my house. Now Ben and I share an office at home. The last couple of weekends have been busy with all of that. Next weekend we'll be in Michigan for a few days visiting friends and relatives. We're really looking forward to that. Hopefully it's not a HUGE mistake to visit the Frozen North in February. Keep your fingers crossed for us! Oh yeah, Ben has a double ear infection right now, too. Luckily the kid is a real trooper and hasn't complained at all.

Some sad news to report...Richard Rosenbaum, a very close family friend who was Ben's surrogate grandfather, passed away on Friday morning. He was a wonderful, kind, gentle man, and we will miss him very much. His wife Eleanor was my mom's best friend and is extremely close with the whole family (She's Grammy Eleanor to Ben. He was and always will be Papa Richard.). Richard was always so great with Ben (and all kids), and Ben really adored him.