Missing: 1 front tooth!

Ben's front tooth had been hanging loose for weeks. He wanted it pulled out, but I'm not man enough for that. It really gives me the chills to even think about it. I pulled one before for him and the little "crunch" just before the tooth came out... well I'll pass on pulling any more!

Anyway, we kept joking before Christmas that it might come out. Then on Monday after Christmas he was eating his chocolate Christmas tree at Grandpa & Grandma Kaiser's, and out it came. I noticed immediately that he seemed to talk a little different, and boy did he look cute. It won't be long before the permanent one is in though; it is already peeking through.

He held onto the tooth until we got back home on Wednesday night and put it in his "tooth box" on his dresser that night. He got two Sacajawea coins in exchange for his tooth, and with a generous spirit, shared one of those with his brother. He told Owen that he had two more loose teeth, so he would be getting more coins anyway.

Love those sweet moments, few and far between as they are sometimes!

Angela

Children's Museum on New Year's Eve

Here's a pic of Ben, Cooper & Owen at the Children's Museum.

We hadn't been to the museum in months... with soccer, basketball and tennis it has been hard for us to find time to visit. This was the first trip, besides Ben's class field trip in the Spring, where he hasn't been able to play in the Playscape area. He was a little sad. He and I left Owen with Heather and Cooper and went to the Ruby Bridges/Anne Frank/Ryan White exhibit. He was especially moved by the Ruby Bridges story this time. I actually thought he might cry. He kept asking why the kids were mean to her, then kept repeating that it was because of the color of her skin. I love that he's such a sensitive little guy.

It was a good day!

Angela

It's 1-1-11!

It's a new year and we're making a blogging comeback again.

No excuses, we just haven't had time to blog. I love reading the old posts though, so I'm really going to try to do better!

It's New Year's Day (barely) and both boys stayed up to see the ball drop. We had a late night last night because we stayed up watching Star Wars. Then both boys were up before 8am on New Year's Eve, excited about a trip to the Children's Museum with Heather & Cooper. After a long day at the museum, we had dinner at the Putnam Inn and then the boys worked on Ben's Pinewood Derby car and played Wii (Harry Potter) until just before midnight. I told them I'd need a kiss from them at midnight, and Owen said "I will give you one NOW!" He took off my glasses (he likes them off for some reason) and gave me a nice big smooch!

They didn't really get the "big deal" of New Year's but they kept me company while I watched Dick Clark count it down. At midnight Owen was jumping up and down on my bed yelling "Happy New Year!" By bedtime 15 mins later they were both in meltdown mode. Tomorrow should be interesting!

Happy New Year!

Angela

The Superhero Party...

Last night was the superhero party. Several of my friends lamented "what will they do for his 16th?" Maybe we got carried away??? It was ALOT of fun though!

Jason made an obstacle course complete with a swinging rope. The kids got to stand on the step and swing onto the baby matress. I doubted the safety and success of this rigged up thing... but it worked quite well. Ben was STILL talking about the "training course" when I was trying to get him to sleep at 11PM.

We had "hero" sandwiches.. Jeanmarie and Beth helped with those. I think we made about 60! And of course there was a superman cake.

The kids played "Pass the Kryptonite," "Pin the Super on Superman," and beat the pinata til it poured out loads of candy and toys. Later, Ben got just what he was needing... more TOYS!! He loved it. Lot of work... but worth it! He'll be talking about this until next year.

Oh and check out the capes. Tammie made the velcro closures. We even had a cape for newborn friend, Cooper. I tried to get all of the kids to wear capes and masks and get in the same photo at the same time... with some limited success. I told them they couldn't bust the pinata until we had a pic!

Today Ben's already talking about his NEXT superhero party. He said "mommy, I don't want capes for my next superhero party." I said okay, what do you want. Ben: "no wait, I DO want capes for my next superhero party!!"

One other funny today... Jason had JUST woke up. As I mentioned before Ben is VERY into "which is stronger" kind of questions. Today it was: Batman, Superman or a Ninja Turtle. Jason said: "Batman - no Superman." Ben said in a mocking voice - pointing, I think - "you said Batman, you said Batman!!" Apparently Batman was SOOO wrong!