Favorites from Christmas

Yes, it was Neil's gift, but Ben is happy cause he thinks Neil won't beat on him anymore.

I had a hard time deciding between this one or the one with Busia trying to turn Neil's frown upside down. Glad to see the boys' favorite bedtime book is immortalized here.

Neil can't be bothered to smile for the camera – he's BUSY.
(Santa also rewarded me with the retirement of the potty chair when we got home!)

Truck time with the English boys. Ben now says Matt is his favorite cousin, but I think it has more to do with the computer time they had together.

Truck time is tiring.

Christmas Ornament

Ben brought this home from school this week. Mama thinks he's handsome.

Polish Christmas

I read Donna's Blog the other day and June had made a comment about her memories of Wigilia. So today I'm reading an article about one of our favorite shows, Community, and the actor discusses being Polish Catholic and briefly describes Wigilia and oplatek (in the last paragraph). If you are a Community fan you will be surprised by which actor has the Polish upbringing.
Community Wigalia Link

I attended Wigilia only once, but my memories were not so much about the food. I think Brian may have argued that I did not have to eat all of the items, but I'm pretty sure I would have at least tried everything. (Try everything once, avoid it in the future.) For me I was more "traumatized" by the everyone sings Christmas carols portion of the evening. So, in the future if I'm on Free Factor I will eat the Madagascar Hissing beetle, but I won't sing a capella.

Sidebar: I'm still learning to read Polish. In my mind, Busia should be Buscha and Wigilia should be Vigala. And must always remember to capitalize Polish, otherwise it can be confused with polish; like polishing the furniture.

Ben's Field Trip

Brian joined Ben for his first field trip yesterday. They have been studying Food at school so they went on a field trip to Jewel. Got to visit the deli, produce, fish monger, meat packing department, box crushing machine (baler), and bakery. They decorated cookies in the bakery, which Ben shared with Neil when he got home.

Brian received a nice compliment from Ben's teacher: Ben is the most agreeable and easy going kids she has ever taught. He also has the distinction of being the class line leader. Basically whenever the class leaves the classroom Ben gets to be the first guy in line. (He may be the only one who listens based on some classmates Brian observed).

Pink Eye

As if potty training was not enough fun for me, Neil woke up today and I think he's got a case of pinkeye. Ugh!

My Repair Team

All of our repair projects are now addressed by a team of workers. I overhear things like "Okay, now hand me the Phillips" and "I want the pliers". Incidentally, the dishwasher needed attention because the door was sticking. Ben took a pretty scary ride backwards and under it the night before when he was trying to pry it open.

Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas

We had our first snow today, 5.5 inches total. The boys were very excited to get out and shovel the driveway. Ben has been really looking forward to this. Earlier in the week we had a little dusting. When he came home from school that day and stepped off the bus he burst into tears saying, "why did you shovel all the snow." I had to explain that it just blew away, not that I had done it.

The boys also got to visit Santa at the clubhouse today. They both asked Santa for candy, but after trying candy canes they may change their minds. Neither one liked them. Ben was also curious as to how Santa got to the clubhouse since he didn't see any reindeer. Brian explained that reindeer are reserved especially for Christmas day. If memory serves me, I also had to explain how Santa gets in our house last year since we don't have a fireplace.

Our Great Big Turkey

Check out this Thanksgiving turkey's hairdo!

Family Portraits

About this time of year I always like to have a our family portrait done so I can share it with our family and friends on our Christmas card. (I like to think someday the boys will enjoy looking back at them.) I'm lucky enough to have a photographer friend who comes to our home. This has always been super helpful in the past when the boys were younger. This year was supposed to be super easy since the boys were older and more willing to cooperate. The big problem this year was me. Brian and I went out for dinner with some friends of ours the night before. Big mistake – I was more hung over than I have been in years – probably pre-kids. Learned my lesson.

Here are a few that didn't make the Christmas card cut.

Ben's New Education Plan

As I mentioned a few weeks a ago, we had parent conferences with Ben's teacher from Montessori as well as his Speech Pathologist. Since then I've been making phone calls and basically pushing to get him more support for his speech. We're pretty excited about how things have worked out. Ben will now be back at the Early Childhood Center for a Language Plus class on Mondays and Wednesday. (Early Childhood is where he took his Phonological classes last year.) The great thing about this class is it will be more than doubling his time with a speech pathologist. Incidentally, this class was just formed back in October so it wasn't even available for Ben when we set up his plan back in May. But thankfully the school responded to other parents who were in a similar situation and they created this class. Because of this change in Ben's speech class, we've decided to remove Ben from the Montessori. Ultimately it's just way too expensive for a three day a week program. We're looking into some other options for two days a week for both Ben and Neil starting in January. I'll let you know what we decide on.

Neil is 3!

Neil's birthday was fun for all. The boys have been having a great time playing with all the new toys. And I'm quite pleased with how well they are both sharing. Truth be told Neil was typical Neil and was willing to skip the whole thing if he was going to have to eat dinner, despite our attempt to lob him a softball with grilled cheese sandwiches. Brian gave in and let him have his cupcake anyway. So much for that. He only took one lick of frosting and said he was done. If I could have put a candle in the gallon size box of Goldfish I'm sure it would have been a different story. Oh, and Ben is starting to sing Sto Lat.

Trick or Treat

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. Grandma came out for a visit too. We took the boys to the dollar show to see Toy Story 3 in the afternoon. Movie was good, boys were good, theater was virtually empty. Then that evening the boys wore their costumes. Ben was a police officer, the costume grandma got him for his birthday. Neil decided to be a superhero. Neil has been changing his mind on a daily basis about what to wear so we let him pick from our dress-up box and finally he decided on Spiderman, but only after saying no to everything once. Brian took both the boys for a few blocks. Came back for warmer coats and then took Ben back out again for another block. The amount of candy we now have is about a plastic grocery bag full. Way more than two little boys need. But I'm doing my best to ensure no peanut candy is consumed by the boys. It's a rough job but I'll take it. Brian got the most comments on his costume, which was his Beer Delivery Guy shirt and of course a beer.

Slumber Party

Ben saw on a recent episode of Wow Wow Wubbzy that they had a slumber party and said he wanted to have one. (By they way, the boys now say "I want that," to almost everything on the television now. Ben does admonish Neil if he asks for something that is for girls.) So we set up the sleeping bags and pillows in the living room put on our jammies and snuggled in for a family slumber party while watching Ratatouille and eating popcorn. It was a fun night and we hope to repeat it next Friday.

How Not to Pick-up Chicks

It seems to be fairly important to young men to have a game plan in how to approach females. Brian and I have shared a giggle about how Matt rather unsuccessfully engaging a pretty young lady with the opener, "Who are you?" with the same tone you would reserve for the person who just stole your job.

Based on there opening lines with our new babysitter last night, we will have to spend more time on this craft with Ben and Neil. Ben opened with "I go poop in the potty". While Neil, not to be out done, chose "I farted – he-he."

Also the new babysitters name is Delaney. How weird is that.

Parent's Night with Ben

Ben picked me to take him to Parent's Night at his Montessori last night. He got to give me a tour of his classroom and some of the different projects he's been working on. Initially he had a hard time warming up to the idea, possible because there was so many unfamiliar adults in the room, but once he did warm up he was excited to show me everything to the point that he didn't want to go home. Some of his projects included, rubber stamping, scooping aquarium pebbles from one bowl to another, separating magnetic items from non-magnetic items, shape and color stackers and much more. I was kind of surprised he wasn't very interested in showing me the number of animals in his class, two of which are a gecko and a tarantula. My favorite project was probably his demonstration of window washing. He explained, "squirt once, do this (use squidgy), wipe once". I asked if he would do that chore for me at home (considering the door wall window is always filthy), but he quickly replied – no.

Parent Teacher conferences are Thursday night. We're very eager to hear what his teacher has to report. So far though he's able to write B-e without any assistance. I'm sure n is soon to follow.

Boo at the Zoo

We became members of the Brookfield Zoo this year, so we took advantage of the great weather and spent Sunday there. Ben decided to celebrate Halloween and wore his Spiderman costume. We've been about 4 times now and the boys still enjoy it. Probably because we see something different each trip. Boo at the Zoo had a special free admission to the children's petting farm so that was new for us.

The boys are determined to ride the carousel each time. This time they upgraded to riding the animals. Last time they were both a little nervous and insisted on sitting on a bench instead. It's also a must to sit inside the giant kangaroo pouch.

Yee-Haw for Fall

We couldn't have gotten any luckier this past weekend. Ben had a long weekend from school for Columbus Day, so we headed to the Double JJ Campground just north of Muskegon, MI. (Got to enjoy the great fall colors on the ride home. Who knew three days could make such a difference?) What a great resort. They had so many great attractions and activities the boys were pretty much busy from morning til bed. (Okay, so much activity causes mom and dad to need a nap in the afternoon so the boys got a chance to watch The Incredibles, over and over.) Double JJ has an indoor waterpark, horseback riding, petting farm, stunt show, hay rides to the pumpkin patch, carriage rides, pig races, bull rides, and an old time downtown featuring an ice cream shop most importantly. We will definitely be going back to this campground. Plus, if anyone would like to join us in the future they have a hotel and cabins too.

 Neil said his favorite part was feeding the chickens (despite being pecked – Ow), we'll have to settle for this pic with Rita the pig.

Ben's favorite part was the stunt show which included fighting, zip-lining, and falling from two-stories.

Probably could have been our Christmas photo if these darn kids would look at the camera and take their thumb out of their mouth. Oh, I guess dad would have to take his hand out of his crotch too.

Morton Arboretum

Yep, again with the water.

Dupage Children's Museum

Water is always the funnest thing wherever we go. Sorry no good shots of Neil from here.

Romeoville's Newest Playground

Nothing better than spending an afternoon at a new playground. (This is from a week or two ago.)

So Busy

I know the posting has been too infrequent. But the school season has made us busier than I expected. Ben now goes to Montessori M-F and speech on W. (I now understand all these Mom's Taxi signs.)

This Wednesday was busier than usual because Ben's school had picture day and Neil was invited to join him. Plus Ben had his second visit to the dentist (which he seems to really enjoy). He is still in the no cavity club! He's also been told he may pick a prize from the dentists big box if he can quit finger sucking by his next visit. I've told him we will also get a special trip to the toy store for this accomplishment. (I fear the big box does not contain a prize cool enough for all his effort. After all I've quit a number of vices myself and it's HARD.)

Tomorrow is our first Montessori field trip to Morton Arboretum. I'll try to take some good pictures to post.

Neil Riding a Big Boy Bike

So far he's doing awesome. Can make it to the Dwyers and back no problem. It took Ben a couple of days to work up to that. But we all can tell Neil is going to be very into athletics.

In the background you may here Ben asking to pet a dog that happens to be walking past. Also, yes, our lawn does look THAT bad. Grubs.

Labor Day Weekend

I wish I had the energy to write a proper entry here about our trip to Minnesota, but I've been running around like crazy since we got back. So here are the highlights:
• Attended a Twins game at the new stadium *
• Had dinner at an awesome restaurant called Haute Dish *
• Boys got to go on numerous scooter rides (Thanks John)
• Boys also had a tremendous time driving the Barbie Jeep
• Brian enjoyed playing wiffleball, while the boys and I enjoyed the playground
• Ben worked on riding a bike without training wheels
* Without any children!! Thank you, thank you Kelly & Abby.

And of course thank you to our gracious hosts the Kuebelbecks.

Yep, that's Neil in the background having a timeout against the door wall because he decided to have a massive tantrum while all the other kids smiled happily for the camera.

Neil's Chores

For the most part Ben is the one who does any "chores" around the house. He always eager, Neil… not so much. Today he was actually willing so I asked him to take a roll of paper towel up to our bathroom. So this is what I found when I went upstairs later. Made sense to him.

Ben's 4th Birthday

I'm so behind. Found these in the camera. Ben requested ice cream for his birthday instread of cake, so we had Coldstone cupcakes. I guess we all know what Ben likes since he received a fireman raincoat, a policeman uniform and a fireman backpack.

Bennet-isms

Here's a couple of things Ben has said lately that stuck me as particularly funny.

"Mommy your bed needs a pole." Hmm, now I know I have one of the most difficult jobs a woman can have, but I think he's referring to the lack of a headboard on our bed.

Warning the following contains material not suitable for readers who have not had small childern:
"Look – I made a rainbow." This one is referring to what he saw in the toilet after making a poop that he thought was shaped just like the arc of a rainbow. Brian said, "who says you can't polish a turd".

Out and About

Yesterday we took the boys to the Naperville Riverwalk. Our visit started out with a highlight for Ben. We meet two bike patrol police officers and one of them was nice enough to give the boys their very own police badge/stickers. Ben wore his proudly all afternoon and told just about everyone we passed "I'm a policeman, I have a badge."

Brian and I had what I'll call a team strengthening exercise yesterday. Somewhere I got in my head that I'm not going to allow the boys to pick up any of our irrational fears. Let them make up their own. Part of this came into play when I took the boys to the zoo Friday. I overheard so many parents cringing/whining/complaining about a particular animal they were not fond of and didn't want to observe; bats, snakes, whatever. Of course their children mirrored this. Anyway, part of the riverwalk allows you to be right up on the water and the boys were having a pretty good time of it watching the ducks and what not. Neil was expressing that he wants to hug the ducks. So for me this was high anxiety time. I was freaking out that the boys were going to topple into the river. Now, it's not very far into the water and it's not very deep, but in my head this was not going to be okay if we had to calm someone down and take them home wet. It was Brian's turn to be the brave parent and get right up there with the boys. He told me he was fully prepared to go in after either of them.

My turn to be the strong one came later when we took the boys on the guided tour of the Millennium Carillon, a very cool tower with bells. We learned on the tour that carillons are pretty rare and the view was pretty awesome. Here's where it gets freaky for Brian. He is not a fan of heights and I'm guessing he knows this is irrational cause he was the one who suggested we climb the tower. So there I was on the top observation deck taking each of the boys out to the edge and pointing out which direction our house was and the Chicago skyline and whatever else might be of interest to them. Meanwhile, Brian is standing in the center of the deck wondering at what point we can start working our way back down. So there you have it Brian is the ying to my yang.

Here's a couple of nice shots from the day. The first is with the enticing ducks and the second is of the boys playing with the Dick Tracy statue which is on the riverwalk because one of the comics artist is a longtime Naperville resident. (Look Matt & Nate, Uncle Bri doesn't only wear jean shorts.) Also a pic I found of the tower.

Our Boys are Back

The boys came back from their vacation at Aunt Donna and Uncle Dan's yesterday. (When asked if they wanted to come home they said "NOOO!". I think something about chocolate ice cream may have influenced that response.

So today we went back to Cantigny Park to check out the gardens that we missed on Father's Day because we were too busy checking out all the awesome tanks. And we were smart enough to remember a picnic basket this time.

Here's a couple of pics of me with the boys. I'm recovering quite nicely and have no complaints.

My First 5k

I ran my first 5k today. The weather was not what I had hoped for since the humidity was about 85%. Just prior to the race it rained briefly. I would have preferred for it to keep raining, cause I'd rather run in the rain than the humidity. But anyway, I'm pretty happy with my performance: I finished in 33 minutes 20 seconds. I've already done all the calculations and it keeps me under a 11 minute mile so that makes me happy. I'm eager to do another one, but that will have to wait until after my recovery.

Brian and the boys just missed my finish so I took a picture with my two run coaches after the race.

Jury Duty

I completed my civic duty yesterday. As you may remember I got called to serve here in Will County. I was on call for the whole week. So Monday I spent the whole day in the jury selection room reading. Tuesday I didn't have to go in till 1:30, but once I got there I was put in a group of 40 and ended up being selected for a criminal case. Trial only lasted Wednesday and half day Thursday.

The trial was on 7 different counts, two for drug possession with intent to distribute, three for a convicted felon being in possession of a firearm, and two for a firearm with the serial numbers removed. It was a pretty interesting experience and I now have more knowledge of street drugs than I will ever need. The prosecutors had us pass around all the drugs. So I can now say I've held crack and black tar heroin, something I really could have done without. Ultimately we did find the defendant guilty on all counts. I believe the sentencing is done at another time, but I'd be interested to know how much time he was given. As a group we suspected it would be substantial since he had two prior convictions.

Two other interesting aspects of the trial were that he was working with the ATF as an informant and he chose to defend himself. God fore bid anyone I know ever has to stand trial, but I would strongly recommend not defending yourself. At times it was painful to listen to him attempt questioning because so much of it was objected to, but the judge was really pretty nice and patient.

On a happier note Brian got to spend a lot of time with the boys and thoroughly spoiled them. They had a day at the pool, play date with his hockey buddies kids, and a trip to the zoo. I won't be surprised if they ask me to go back to work (what we told the boys I was doing) and leave dad home.

Michigan City Camping

This past weekend we went camping in Michigan City, IN with my mom and grandma. They rented a cute little log cabin that had some pretty nice amenities, kitchen with microwave and fridge, bathroom with toilet and shower, plus it even had air conditioning. We of course stayed  in our RV, the campground was a little tighter than we usually like, but the cabin definitely made it worth the stay.
I think the highlight of everyone's trip was the time we spent at the dunes. Ben and Neil surprised us by actually being able to make it to the top of the dune. Neil was smart enough to get a piggy-back ride on the trek back to the car though. We had plans to go to a steam engine museum, but that did happen because a GPS is more important than you think. Beside, that will leave us something to do the next time were camping in the area.

We also had fun at a cool restaurant called the Tree House Cafe. It really has a tree growing in the middle of it. It was a great outdoor venue with picnic tables set up near a sand lot that was full of cool stuff to keep the kids occupied, tire swings, volleyball net, old tires to roll through the sand, wiffleballs. They even had a ping-pong table outside.

Here's everyone on their way to the dune's beach.

Swimmers

Here's how it started. Wednesday night Brian took both the boys to the pool while I got to stay home and have some mom time (really Heather time, cause I get a ton of 'mom' time). When they got back he told me Neil was now swimming. Part of me couldn't quite believe it because aside from teaching the boys how to kick Brian hasn't introduced any this is how you swim instruction.

Thursday night I went to the pool with the guys and brought along the camera just in case I could catch Neil on film. Not only did I get footage of Neil, but I think all of mom and dad's praise of Neil prompted Ben to start swimming too. (How many feats will Ben take on just because he see his younger brother doing it?) Here's the video:

Sorry about all the rumbling, it was super windy while I was filming.

Ben's New School

Ben has been taking a test run with his new school in their 3-week summer program. They actually have a topic they've been working on: the body. Today, he came home wearing a brain, heart, lungs and digestive system. Yesterday, he had a Ben-sized drawing of himself with labels indication things like neck, shoulder, feet. He's been pretty enthusiastic about the items he brings home and is eager to share them with Brian when he gets home from work.

All this anatomy has my mommy daydreaming working overtime. I picture him growing up to be a doctor someday. If any of you have seen his hand-washing technique, up to his elbows, you'd agree he'll specialize in surgery. If I really allow myself to get carried away, I picture him being a plastic surgeon – that way I can get a discount later on.