Fun Run Done

Ben had his Fun Run fundraiser on Thursday. He had a great time and ran his little heart out. :-) HUGE thanks to all of you who pledged for him!!!

Nana was off work that day, so she joined Mike and me (who both worked from home so that we could attend) to cheer Ben on.

It was chilly but not freezing (in the 50s I think). We were a little cold on the sidelines, but Ben kept himself warm using up all his energy. And boy has this kid got energy. Here he is getting ready to start the run.

They got to run onto the field through this big inflatable tunnel, which was a cute touch.

As they finished each lap, a teacher marked one lap off on the back of the shirt. Here is Ben with his own teacher, Mrs. Rainaldi, getting a lap marked off.

Here he is in action (in the red headband, which all the kids were given along with the t-shirts). I have to say, he's fast. He was lapping a lot of kids. 

After 45 minutes, the run was complete and Ben had tallied 49 laps (plus we all walked a 50th lap together.) I took a picture of his shirt after he'd run more than 35 laps, thinking he was done. But nope, he just got a drink of water and then kept running until they called time.

The kids headed back in, giving the Homestead Huskie a high-5 and stopping for a class photo.

Nana and I picked Ben up from school at 11:20 (he's half day) and took him out to lunch. I assumed he'd be ready for an early bedtime, but nope--he was "running the bases" around our ottoman at 8 p.m. that night. Oh, to have his energy!

The Dawn of a New Era

Liv is finally showing an interest in television. It only holds her interest for about 10 minutes and he has to be Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but I'll take it!

I've tried TV with her a few times over the past year, but she never had any interest. In MI last weekend, I noticed she seemed interested in Mickey, so I put on an episode Friday night. She LOVED it. Now she tells us "me mickey, me mickey" and gets so excited when she wants to watch.

Here she is, deep in concentration on Sunday morning. Mike looks pretty intrigued too. Mickey is serious business, apparently. (And notice those Minnie PJs--she loves Minnie Mouse.)

Ben is a little past the Mickey stage, but he told me he'd watch for Livvie. Yet when she wandered off after 10 or 15 minutes, he stayed glued to the set. :-)

Hurray for 10 minutes of quiet while I unload the dishwasher!!!

What We've Been Up To Lately

Somehow the entire month of September slipped by me. We've been keeping pretty busy around here. Here's what we've been up to lately.

I had this great idea to take the kids mini golfing using a Groupon deal. Ben did great and loved it. 5 is a great age for mini golf. Liv, on the other hand, was a disaster. She wouldn't actually putt her ball (a purple ball of course). She just carried it in her pocket. Every time I putted, she ran after my ball and picked it up for me. Hmm, so helpful. She also insisted on carrying around a box of Jello--yes, you read that right. See it in her hand in the pic? I was cleaning out the cabinet and she spotted it, and from that point on she had to have it with her at all times. So Liv.

The next weekend we headed to the Arboretum with the Tassones to check out the Lego exhibit and play in the children's garden.

There were several Lego displays; all required thousands of Legos and hundreds of hours. Yep, these were all made of Legos.

Ben's favorite was this family of deer.

Then it was off to the children's garden.

 Liv is feeding the frog a goldfish here.

Ben also mastered his two-wheeler. One day he couldn't go two feet, the next he was officially riding solo. He still struggles a bit to stop without falling. Working on that one.

The big event of the month was Grammy and Grampy's visit. We mostly just hung out but did enjoy a trip to Brunswick Zone to ride the rides and play at the arcade. Ben and Liv both really love the rides here.

Mike and I also escaped for a few kid-free days in Lake Geneva. While we were gone, Grampy and the kids made homemade strawberry ice cream. Big hit, and tasty too.

I got my hair cut. We discussed shoulder length so I could still put it in a ponytail, but it turned out a few inches shorter--more like chin length. But I'm learning to manage it.

We ended the month (actually first weekend in October) with a trip to Grand Rapids, MI to visit Meg, Ed, and their kiddos, Scarlett and Harry. The drive up was a little rough. With Friday traffic and Liv not napping, the last hour felt like three--as you can see from Liv's expression in the photo below. But once we arrived it was a fun weekend all around.

Saturday we visited Fredrick Meijer Gardens, which had some beautiful gardens and walking trails, plus a play area for the kids.

We knew it was going to be chilly, but we were still unprepared for how cold it was. We borrowed gloves and hats for the kids from Meg's kids, which saved the day!

I borrowed this hat from Meg, which looks cute on her but is clearly not my best look. But it kept me toasty warm.

Ben climbed to the top of this hill and then was singing "We are the champions" at the top of his lungs. :-)

Liv took to Scarlett and was calling her "my Scarlett". We all had a good time hanging out and catching up. Thankfully the drive home went more smoothly and the kids both napped for an hour.

And now Halloween is right around the corner!

My Baby Is in Kindergarten

Tuesday was Ben's first day of Kindergarten. Well in advance, we took his supply list to Target and gathered up all his supplies. I was like a kid in a candy shop--I've been waiting for a legitimate reason to shop back to school supplies for years!

Though I must say I had a bit of sticker shock at spending over $60 (with coupons and sales!) for half-day Kindergarten. Say what? I can't imagine that he will use all that stuff in 10 hours a week. But no biggie.

Next, we ordered him a backpack from Pottery Barn Kids. I'd been warned by several people that the big box store backpacks don't hold up, and it is worth it to invest in a good one. Also, the PB Kids price versus the Target price really isn't that different. This Mackenzie small bag was on sale for $33 and free shipping. I had a gift card for $25 too, so that made it even better! I let Ben choose the pattern. 

I figured we'd end up with a super hero bag, but he fell in love with this snake print. The small size is PERFECT for a Kindergarten. Ben got the rolling overnight bag in Batman print from Grammy and Grampy last Christmas, and it is great for one-nighters but too big for day-to-day use.

So we were all set and waited and waited for that first day! That morning we took Liv to daycare, but Ben stayed home with me. Mike worked from home so that he could come along on Ben's first day too.

Liv wanted in on the picture taking too, with her big "cheese" smile. That smile is almost as big as her hair. Almost.

At 9 a.m. we took a few photos and then headed over to his school. We had a nice button down shirt picked out, but at the last minute he wanted to wear his Blackhawks t-shirt.

Ben is now a Homestead Huskie. He loves that his mascot is a huskie--he loves those dogs. On the first day, the parents bring the kids, and then we listen to a lot of information while the kids head to the classroom with their teacher.

I really didn't think that Ben starting Kindergarten would feel like that big of a deal to me. He's been going to full-time daycare since he was 4 months old, so being separated certainly isn't new to me. So I was as surprised as anyone when my tears started to come as he lined up and headed off to his classroom.

We weren't allowed to go back to the classroom to get photos (don't get me started on that one!), so I wasn't able to get anymore photos. But Ben and I did go to lunch together and then ran an errand at Costco, where he picked out another SWAT costume. His last one is way too small on him now, so he's thrilled to have one that fits again.

He decided to change into his button down before lunch. Okie dokie....

Then we spent the afternoon playing police, which worked out well for me. I had to lie on a bed he made me on my bedroom floor, while he brought me pretend "prison food" and I browsed the Internet on my phone. :-) He runs a tight ship.

He absolutely loves Kindergarten and can't wait to go each day. He also decided he needs more responsibilities to match his new found Kindergarten status. So cute.