A LOT of Ben--Working Backwards in 2009

Ben is 11 years old

(October 11, 2009)

Some of my favorite things about Ben this past year are:

*He wanted to learn a duet on the piano with me.

*He took up running and triathlon, and really worked hard at it.

*He was sad (and shed a few tears) at his last Pinewood Derby, his last first day of elementary school, and when Meg told him about Santa Claus ("Damn Meg". . .that was Rusty).

*He can't wait to see Molly after school, and she him.

*He will eat anything I put on the table and never complains.

*He asked if dad and Uncle Mark could give him a blessing before his surgery.

*He became converted to jeans from "swish, swish" pants.

*He still loves to do crafts with me.

Ben chose Chili's to eat out for his birthday. Uncle Mark, Aunt Valerie, Paul and Lisa came.

Ben had to have surgery on a hernia this past October. It was one week before Halloween, but he was still able to trick-or-treat a little.

Before going under the knife . . .

. . . and after the surgery. He did great, but had A LOT of pain. Let's just say that because Ben is NEVER sick, he isn't the easiest patient (kind of like his dad. . .oh wait, did I just say that?).

Ben and his best buddy Max got their Arrow of Light the same night.

Ben joined the school X-Country team this year. Wow, it's a whole new world. I'm used to baseball, soccer, swimming, even dance. . .but cross country at our school is intense (I think due in part to a few of the moms), and the meets last FOREVER!!! Hence, Rusty took Ben (with Sam tagging along) to all the away meets, and Meg, Molly and I enjoyed the "home" meets.

What form!

Ben placed in the top 20 of this race. And no, I never did get his shoes clean. He just ran in them the rest of the year, and post-season I went and got him a nice new BLACK and red pair of running shoes (how come none of those "intense" moms told me not to buy white shoes?).

Ben's support staff.

Ben did his first triathlons this year. He first did a small one: 50 meter swim, 2-mile bike and 1/2 mile run in the sub-division where our school is (see pictures below). Then he participated in a regular tri in our county. The distances were 400 m swim, 8 mile bike, 3 k run. He did great and really liked the sport. I'm sure it's no shock to anyone that Rusty couldn't be happier.

Before the smaller triathlon. Ben, Max, Sam, Dominique and Meg all participated as well. Meg didn't have a great experience (of course it was my fault). . .just wait until her post next.

Ben earned this cap at a swim-a-thon, and LOVES it.

This past summer was Ben's last Cub camp. He is in a great pack (mostly boys from church), and Ben ALWAYS loves to go to Cub Scouts.

This was the first year I went without being a leader. It was great just being a mom at Cub camp.

Ben and Adam (cousin)

One of the highlights of summer 2009 for us was having our cousin Adam (Ben's age) come and stay with us for a few days. We did a TON of fun things with Adam including camping out in the basement.

Two days before school got out, Ben got a wicked case of poison ivy. He came with me to Meg's 5th grade graduation, but felt horrible and we went home right after. He was put on a topical and oral steroid to help speed up the healing process. Unfortunately, I left to go to Las Vegas with Rusty and my good friend Judy was watching my kids. Luckily she's a pro at taking care of this kind of thing, and helped Ben through his ordeal.

The good ole' Calamine Lotion. . .relieves the itch.

Ben's favorite book in the Book of Mormon is Enos. Ben told me once that he loves the story because Enos prayed so long in repentance and "His sins were probably no big deal."

Ben did an indoor YMCA swim team from January through May. The team's name was the ORCAs and Ben LOVED it. Ben got the Most Improved Swimmer of the season award.

Here Ben, Max and Dominique are with Coach Scott.

Ben's Science Project.

In January, 2009 Ben decided to participate in the school science fair. Unfortunately for Ben neither his dad or I know anything about science. I don't even think Rusty took science :) and I got a "C" in Chemistry and I think a "D" in biology. Therefore, Ben really had to do his project on his own (Rusty did step up and help him . . .thank goodness for Google). He did great. The project had something to do with aerodynamics, and I saw a ton of paper airplanes.

Celebrating the science fair with a little DQ.

Happy 40th VO!

Surprise babe! Here's your 40th birthday blog post from your husband the guest writer. And you probably thought I wasn't paying attention to your blogging techniques. Well, I wasn't really, so this will be very amateurish. But I wanted celebrate your day by sharing some of the highlights (at least those that were captured on film) of your 4oth year, because it has been a great one.

Good desserts and plenty of sun at Hilton Head over Spring Break.

Disney World was a blast.

SLC for Alicia's wedding (which twin is she? I still can't tell them apart.)

Hanging out in Vegas with Natalie Morales.

Broadway show (in Louisville) with the girlfriends (and husbands).

sun worshiping and "facebooking" with Molly

The annual family pilgrimage to Maysville for the big race! -- twice this year.

Bon fires and ball games with the fam.

Wow, you set the bar pretty high this year for fun in our 40's. I'm looking forward to see what you can come up with next year to top it. . .

You're a tremendous wife and mother, you make 40 look good, and I love you. Have a great birthday!

love, Rusty

Sam's Talent

Today Sam came home and told me that while on the bus he was able to burp the ABC's two times right in a row. We're so proud of you Sam!

Halloween Decor

I have two very talented and super crafty friends (friend #2) who help me find what little inner craftiness that I have in me. Although I can't compare to their brilliance, I love to copy their ideas and appreciate the constant help and motivation to make my home a little more festive.

Here is my attempt at fall/Halloween decor this season.

Kid's Pictures

I have a great friend who is an amazing photographer and was so kind to spend a hot, humid summer evening at the last minute taking pictures of my kids. I love the natural setting and smiles she was able to find (especially in my boys). These are a few of my favorites. Thanks Michele!!!

Disney World Favorite Memories (Beware, Long Post)

I pulled my kids out of School from September 16-22 to go to Disney World. We wanted to take advantage of the fewer crowds and the free meal plan. I was worried about them missing so much school, but the teachers were understanding, and besides Meg having to attend one day of Saturday school to make up three tests, everyone was able to finish the missed work quickly.

Cinderella's castle just moments before entering and eating breakfast with the princesses.

Sam showing me an alternative way to wear his Mickey visor with a french fry hanging out of his mouth.

I had this shirt made for Molly, and had TONS of people ask me where I bought it.

In Animal Kingdom they had a Lion King show which is totally awesome. Each section of the audience is lead by one of the performers to be a certain animal. We were the lion section and Sam was chosen to teach us how to roar like lions.

Our red-heads.

One thing we really got into this year was pin trading. I ordered a whole bunch off of e-bay (CHEAP), and when we arrived in Disney we bought each of the kids a lanyard. A lot of the pins we got weren't very cute or what the kids wanted, but it didn't matter because most cast members (employees) have lanyards with the Disney pins to trade (and have to do so). Here we found the jack pot. A cast member with an entire board of pins.

Posing in front of the "Tree of Life"

Going on a Safari in Animal Kingdom, Sam's "third favorite ride" (Sam was really into ranking the rides as well as having us name our favorites).

As they say in Kentucky. . ."Sissies"

Ben's looking a little timid and turning a little red.

My favorite moment of Disney World (Sam asked me what it was during our plane ride home). During the princess breakfast the waiter gave all the kids a "wishing star." About halfway through the breakfast everyone stopped and were told to close our eyes to make a wish. The room got dark except for stars "glowing" around the room and everyone made a wish. Here is Molly making her wish. Later, I asked her what she wished for and she told me that she wished that she could come back to Disney World. She knows how to work me.

The reason I loved it so much is because she REALLY believed. It was too cute.

Look at that smile. She LOVED meeting the princesses (see next post with her posing with all the princesses).

Look at the sheer brute strength.

Although Molly loved meeting the princess and characters, she did not love going to the 3D shows or going on the rides (the only exception was the Aladdin ride). This was the first 3D show we attempted to take her to; she didn't know what to expect and, therefore, she was still happy.

Meg was actually sick this day, but I was glad because otherwise she would have gone on "big kid" rides with the boys and dad, and wouldn't have hung out with me, gramma Kathy and Molly at Mickey and Minnie's houses.

Molly and me hanging with Mickey and Minnie.

Molly took this picture. While waiting for the kids to come out of the Raiders of the Lost Ark show (she freaked) she figured out that she could use the camera.

In Hollywood waiting for the parade to begin (sitting on the American Idol Theater stairs.

We went to every park at least twice, (Epcot three times), but "Hollywood" was probably Meg, Ben and Sam's favorite all because of one ride. . ."Rockin' Rollercoaster." The one disappointing thing occurred when Meg and Ben asked me who Arrowsmith was. . .seriously? Am I old? One afternoon when we were there it began to rain, and "Hollywood" was a ghost town. We rode Rocking Roller coaster again and again. Here we are posing in front of a New York set used in movies.

This is Rusty's least favorite ride in the park. The infamous must-do, "It's A Small World." Consequently, it was one of the ONLY ride Molly didn't cry/freak out in (and yes, I'm also counting a major melt down in Peter Pan. . .we didn't even walk by, let alone go on the Snow White ride).

Epcot is Rusty and Ben's favorite park (my favorite ride is in Epcot too. . .Soarin'). We love to ride Test Track and discovered the beauty going "single rider" this year. At first, Ben and Sam were nervous to go with a complete stranger, but 1) they realized that we could skip the "movie," 2) most of the time, most of us got to ride together anyway, and 3) we got to ride it a ton of times right in a row. Rusty loves Epcot because, as he says, "I love to eat my way through Epcot." Especially with the dinner plan (which was free during the month of September), we ate and ate and ate.