End of the Year Celebration

Ben's school had another one of their great get-togethers. They had ten stations set-up outside and each classroom got to spend 10 minutes at each station. Trust me 10 minutes can be an eternity when the boys aren't feelin' it. Ben's favorite station was the rice tables – imagine sandbox toys in tables filled with rice. Neil's favorite was the bubbles. Truth be told, we decided the 10 minute rule didn't apply to us, so Neil spent most of the afternoon with the bubbles. Unfortunately I think Neil would chase bubbles off a cliff given the chance. I have to say I'm going to miss these events, but I'm sure their future schools will have something similar. By the way Ben has graduated for the Phonological class and will be receiving speech therapy at the local elementary in the fall for his expressive language.

Company

Donna and Dan came to visit following Donna's successful 1/2 marathon. Here are a few pictures courtesy of Ban and Neil. I think Ben has potential to be a good photographer. Neil is – well, a better model.

Fire Truck Show

We took the boys to the Romeoville Fire Truck show today. It was not as big a hit as Brian and I thought it would be. Maybe because there was very few trucks they could actually get inside. I mean why go see fire trucks if you can't fulfill, "Me go ride in fire truck?"

The Skittles passed out by one of the paramedics were a big hit though.

Neil made sure all of the levers, buttons, gauges and dials were really turned off.

Brian had to help Ben get up enough courage to go down this slide the first time.

It Takes a Community

Look what arrived today! Neil's cross stitch. I have to give a great big thank you to my mom – without her help this project might still be unfinished. Plus it's pretty special that we both get to put our initials on it.

With Ben's cross stitch I was pretty ambitious and did a lot of it it while I was pregnant with him. When Neil's turn came I didn't have as much free time. Good thing otherwise this would have had frills and flowers. So I didn't start this until after he was born and thanks to some encouragement from June, my sister-in-law, my mom and I did manage to finish it. (June told me she didn't finish a project for Gwen until she went to kindergarten, so I'm feeling pretty satisfied with 2 1/2.)

Another thank you goes to our friend Ruth Yheulon who always does a beautiful framing job. She's spoiled me with her workmanship, the things I've had done at Joann's or Michael's are definitely not the same quality.

Egg & Peanut Update

Not sure all of who I've shared this with, but we've run into some problems with introducing egg and peanut back into Ben's diet. The egg hasn't been too bad, but the peanut has been pretty unpleasant. Each time we've given him peanut he's spent the rest of the evening throwing up. Called the doc today and he said this isn't an allergic reaction – just an intolerance. He suggests we hold off another 6 months to a year before we try again. I think we'll continue with the egg ingredients, but no eggs by themselves.

Opening Season part 2

Everyone got to see how excited the boys have been to help dad cut the grass this year. So it's only taken two weeks to figure out that one grass cutter for two boys is not enough. I went out and got the boys a second one. Here's where the real problems began. Two grass cutters makes sense, but only when they're the same. The boys were quite aware of the difference between the 1985 model and the 2010 model. To save myself from an entire summer of delegating whose turn it is, I went out and got yet another grass cutter. So the boys are really happy with that arrangement. You would think that old faithful could be put out to pasture, but no it still has a capability the new ones don't. Ever since the handle broke last summer the boys like to attach it to the tricycle and use it as a pull behind, a game they're still not willing to give up.

Here's the boys (not really cooperating) showing off the new mowers. And Neil figuring out that the new ones will not have tricycle towing capability.

Were Crazy Proud

Here is Ben's class picture that came home today. Brian and I have become a couple of those crazy proud biased parents. We took one look at this picture and all we could think was – how special is Bennet?!? He's like the star of this picture. He's front and center. Holding the class mascot flag. Plus he has the most fantastic smile of all these kids. Of course that's just our opinion. We know you'll agree.