Another Birthday Celebration for Ben

Today my parents came down to visit and celebrate Ben's birthday. We met them at the State Museum and toured it for a while, did a little shopping, ate lunch in the Vista at 5 Guys and walked the grounds of the Robert Mills house. It was a fun afternoon! And, Ben was thrilled to get another celebration (this birthday has streteched for over a week now!)....he promptly took his $$ gifts to buy a Civil War set at the museum and a new Wii video game!

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It finally arrived!

Ben was estatic to find out that his birthday present arrived (only a week late!). Then, to his dismay he had to wait to open it because I was heading to Baubbles and Bubbles (I'll post about this later.) and Ron was volunteering at B&B.....we were definitely not going to let him open it until we were home!

Needless to say he was thrilled and it was well worth the wait!

Sunday Afternoon

Since Ron worked again today and couldn't leave to go get lunch, the boys and I packed lunch, went to his office and had a "picnic" in the conference room. Afterwards, since Ben hadn't been to play in a while and since Clay hadn't worked in a while, we headed to EdVenture for a fun afternoon. While Ben played and Clay worked, I alternated taking pictures and reading John Grisham's "The Innocent Man". Now, we're back home --- having worked out, folded laundry --- cooking supper and Ron just walked in! Yea!! We can finally celebrate with his key lime pie!

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Ben's 9th Birthday

Ben started his birthday celebration being woken up to "Happy Birthday", of course! At school we brought cupcakes to share with his class at lunch and they sang it to him as well.

After school, we headed downtown to meet Ron for dinner at Mellow Mushroom. Every year since Ben was old enough to choose where to eat for his birthday, he has chosen Pizza Inn. Since there isn't a Pizza Inn in Columbia, he opted for MM......and it was GOOD!

Once we got back home, he played "Guitar Hero" with Clay for a while before eating cake, singing, again, and opening cards. Unfortunately, Ben's present didn't arrive (we ordered it last week) and it is a HUGE surpise so he's patiently waiting. The funniest thing was that Maggie was whining for cake. Clay turned his head for a second, she hopped in his lap and started eating his cake! It was so funny!! The girl loves birthday cake!

All in all, other than his gift not making it on time, I think Ben has had a pretty good celebration day. He's had calls from his grandparents and lots of birthday wishes! Keep watching for gift update....

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Musicians VS. Politicians

In a few weeks Edwin McCain is playing at the 5 Points St. Patrick's Day event. Ron and Clay have OA plans and Ron is trying to decide if he wants to go to OA or St. Pat's. At dinner tonight I was joking with Clay that his dad was staying behind. Here is how the conversation went:

Clay: Oh, why? He wants to see Edwin McCain.

Ben (in an "I know more than you do, how could you make this mistake" voice): Don't you mean JOHN McCain, Clay?

Happy Birthday to my Sweet Baby Ben!

I can't believe that my baby is NINE YEARS OLD today!!! The years since he was born have flown by, but have been the best nine years! It is so hard to remember life before Ben. He is such a bright, smart, energetic, sweet and FUNNY little boy!

We can't wait to celebrate tonight after school, Ben! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEN!!! You are definitely our BEST VALENTINE'S PRESENT EVER!!!!

WE LOVE YOU!! Mommy, Daddy, Clay and Maggie

Monday Gathering

Today was the gathering that Ben has been looking forward to! Not only did he have a part in his class' presentation, but he was also recognized for his birthday coming up on Thursday and the whole school sang "Happy Birthday" to him. He did a great job speaking....even had his part memorized and was very "theatrical" about it!

The Johnson Brothers Band

I am not musical. The only thing I can play is the radio and my iPod --- and I don't even play the iPod very well. (A little "Melanie trivia" for you....I actually failed the orchestra and band entrance tests in elementary school.) And, singing? Only when I am in the car alone or its just the four of us around. Trust me, you should be happy that is the only time I sing. But, contrary to what my students believe (I HATE and I mean to use the word HATE "Solja Boy" so they think I have not musical taste at all...hmmm....who really doesn't have the musical taste???), I think I have pretty good musical tastes. I like all kinds of music and seldom do I not have music going in some form. So, when the Super Bowl was on I didn't watch the game, but I DID watch the half time show to see one of my many, many, many favorite bands - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - perform. I have always LOVED Tom Petty's music.

Clay and Ben have gotten hooked on Tom Petty now as well. And, Clay took it upon himself this past week to start learning "Free Falling" (he's been taking guitar for less than a month). When I left for the beach he had the first little bit down. Tonight, when I got back, he and Ben performed an "unplugged" version for me in the living room. Clay, interestingly enough, sounds slightly like a young Tom Petty and has done an AWESOME job of teaching himself the song and performing it. Ben does an awesome, but hilarious job. (I promise you will laugh until you cry if you watch him....you may have to watch twice. Once for the great laughs and once to actually listen to Clay sing!)

And, so I now present to you the very first video (I hope there will be MANY, MANY more with millions behind them...hint, hint, boys!) of the Johnson Brothers Band.......

Polar Express Day

Four years ago when I was teaching 2nd grade we held a "Polar Express" Day at school and I bought a new pair of pjs just for the occasion. The next year I moved to a new school and "took" PE day with me. Ben was also at my school that year so, we both bought new pjs and again last year, new pjs for both of us for PE day. Well, this year, yet again I found myself at a new school and again I brought PE day with me. Over the weekend I went out and bought Ben and I our annual pajamas and today was finally the big day and we got to wear them with our slippers to school!

Mr. Chris played conductor and checked tickets before reading the story to our students. Afterwards, parents served us hot chocolate and cookies! Less you think we did nothing today, we did do math and reading....all Polar Express related of course! We ended the school day by gathering as a group to watch the movie. Too bad this wasn't the last day before break....it was pretty hard to beat!

Sunday of Awards!

Our school's director received a call on Thursday that I had been selected as the VFW Post 4262 Teacher of the Year! This is to recognize excellence in teaching --- particularly citizenship and US history. They invited us to an "awarding" for today and Ron, the boys and I met Victoria and her son, Natondi there. After a terrific meal (chicken, ham, mac and cheese, corn, green beans.....some good ole country cooking!), I was presented with a check by the Post. $$ = YEA!! The post folks were very nice and I turned in a scrapbook for the district judging, which was taking place today. (In the photo I am pictured with the Post Commander and Post President)

Then this evening, we joined Ben's soccer team for the fall banquet at a local pizza place where he received his trophy for the season.

It was quite a day for us!

Book Fair Week

Our school is having a book fair right now and this week had several special days for it. On Monday was hat day, Tuesday was breakfast with family, Wednesday was character dress up, Thursday was lunch with family and Friday was "spirit" day. I didn't manage to get a picture of me and Ben on spirit day, we matched in our Carolina jerseys, but we did get a dress-up day picture before school. Just in case you are wondering, Ben is Jack from the Magic Treehouse series and I am Fern from "Charlotte's Web".

Band Bears, Tourist Photos and Rock Wall Climbing!

After church we stopped at Barnes and Noble to get a gift for a party that Ben was attending this afternoon. We decided to step out to see the Santa and in addition to Santa, we found this "bear band".

After getting the gift we went to Ron's office for him to pick up his car and Ben and I to change clothes before heading to the party. I also took the opportunity to finally take some pictures from the 15th floor of his building. I've been wanting to do this everytime I visit his office (I know....I'm such a tourist...in my own town!) but didn't want to be too dorky in front of his colleagues.

From there I took Ben to the gym for a rock-climbing birthday party for one of his classmates. Ben did a great job!

Practicing in the "rock" room.

Climbing the BIG wall! He made it half way up before deciding to come down.

Ben's Gathering Again

This week was Ben's class' gathering week for Monday morning and Friday afternoon. I missed Monday because I was away at a conference, but was able to see Ben present his "angle house" --- a lego (of course!)house that showed obtuse, right and acute angles. He did a wonderful job presenting AND building!

Boo in the Zoo.....Again

Ben was invited by his friend, Cullen's family to join them at "Boo in the Zoo" tonight. I had a doctor's appointment and left school early and had arranged for Ben to go home with Cullen. After meeting with Clay's scoutmaster and senior patrol leader about heading up a flag retirement ceremony at our school in a couple of weeks, I met Cullen's family to pick up Ben. They had a great time and I couldn't resist posting yet another cute picture of my little Gamecock! Isn't he a stud?!?!

Barber Ben

I noticed a huge gap in Ben's hair today while visiting his class. I asked what was going on and he finally admitted that he had cut his hair before school this morning! His reason, "my hair was sticking up and I couldn't get it to lay down!" Gotta love him!

HalloWonka 1 - Live with Lucas

This must be the week for 3's! 3 trips to the Zoo, 3 trips to EdVenture for HalloWonka.....This morning, and when I say morning I mean morning, Ben and I headed to EdVenture for the taping of the "Live with Lucas" segment on HalloWonka. I had to get up at 4:30 (this coming from someone who barely gets out of bed before 6:30....and I have to be at work at 7:30!)and be there by 5:30. I told my parents that I hoped I wasn't too unfriendly, but I was barely awake!

Ben wore his costume, played games, ate candy, checked out the new Vietnam Fairy Tales exhibit, visited with Willy Wonka and got to be on the news. (If you go to www.wistv.com and check out the "Live with Lucas" tab, there is a video of Ben's interview, though you can't see his face.)

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It was actually really neat to see live television. HalloWonka is going to be a blast and this was a terrific way to kick it off...it was even worth the loss of several hours sleep!

(By the way, if you don't live around here you probably are wondering "what in the world is HalloWonka?" EdVenture --- a children's museum--hosts this event in conjunction with Wonka Candy. Wonka donates candy for prizes, the sculptures, a candy bar raffle, ec. and it raises funds for the museum. Kids dress up, play games and get lots of candy! It is a great Halloween activity. This is our first time going since we've just moved here, but I have enjoyed being on the committee and I'm looking forward to sharing it with Ben, his friend, Cullen and Cullen's mom tomorrow night.)

My Parents Come to Visit

After we dropped Ben off at his friends, I called my mom to see when they were getting into Columbia. She surprised me by saying they were already here and checking into their room (we offered to let them stay with us, but they decided they wanted their own room...and what a great room it was!) Clay and I stopped to check on Ron and then headed over to pick them up.

After taking them out to the school to so they would know how to get there this morning and letting them meet Bunny and Matilda, we went out to the Village at Sandhill for some shopping. We practically bought my mom a new wardrobe! And, thanks to my dad for my new outfit, too....I got lots of compliments today.

Ben met us at 5 Guys for dinner and then to Target for some on-the-way items. I dropped my parents off at their hotel and let them go enjoy it.

They met me and Ben at school early this morning for GRITS for Grandparents, a Friends of CSI sponsored event. After breakfast with Ben, they took him with them (parent approved school skipping, I guess) and picked up Clay for some shopping and lunch with the boys before they returned home.

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We had a great time with them and look forward to their next visit!

Slideshows, Dead Frogs and Bumper Problems....

You've probably noticed the picture slideshows on my last couple of posts. I'm not a big fan of slideshows on blog pages, but I realized last week that blogger actually has a size limit for attaching pictures and videos. In an effort to save space, I have relented to use these when events warrent a huge amount of pictures to be posted. So, bear with me on this issue!

Now, onto other things, last night after dinner we stopped at Walgreens to pick up a few things before heading home. (I'll post later with pictures about "Boomer".) When we pulled up our neighbor across the hall had her adorable new baby, Maggie, a little weiner dog outside. We just had to stop and play with her. Like our Maggie, she likes to chase the froggies around the grass and sidewalk. While we are laughing at her chasing, Clay notices something under Ben's foot....guess what it was....yup! A dead frog. He's killed it by stepping on it! Yuck!! Ben -1, Frog - 0.......

And then this morning Ron calls as I'm dropping Clay off to let me know he was having bumper problems on his car....the kind that result from said bumper attaching itself to someone else's vehicle. Yes, he had a little accident on the way to work. Apparently he was going straight and didn't see (the guy didn't have his headlights on and it was still not completely light outside, but it was still Ron's fault) the other guy. Ron is fine and the car only clipped the tire (what is it about Ron and other car's tires!?!?) on the other car so as whole both cars aren't too bad off. The other guys car - 1, Ron's car - 0.

Halloween is Coming!

Ben wanted to be a Carolina soccer player this year for Halloween. Sounds great, right? Well, let me first say that I love, I LOVE Carolina football and I'm watching it as a I type, but, around here unless it is football in the fall, it doesn't exist. We looked everywhere this afternoon for a soccer jersey, that is all we need. Can't be found. So, Ben opted instead to buy a football player package and be a Gamecock football player. Luckily, he has a ton of opportunities to wear it over the next few weeks and then for game days, too, so that we can get our money's worth out of it.

When we got home he immediately tried it on (though I think he's going to wear his "real" jersey with the pants, pads and helmet). He loves it!

Another Friday Feast

Every couple of months we are encouraged to have a "family feast" in our classrooms. Today my class had our first feast and we had a great time, though I couldn't really talk to anyone. Luckily one of my moms and dads were the "mouthpieces" passing out directives.

It was made even sweeter because Ben's teacher allowed him to come and join us! He was so excited to get hot dogs, Doritos, Coke and Oreo Pie for lunch instead of the usual PB&J. And, of course, he thought he was special getting to sit with the Upper Elementary "boys".