"Me Board"

Ben's first grade class has a project that all the kids participate in. It's called the "Me Board," and it's a major event in the class. The students all take turns creating a "Me Board" that tells the rest of the class all about them. Their hobbies, family, friends, vacations, dreams, etc. Ben and Jenny worked on it together and it turned out pretty great. Jenny even went up to school and sat in class while Ben presented it. 1st grade has been filled with projects like this, but Ben loves doing stuff like this. He and Jenny did great.

I'll share some of the highlights in case you can't read the picture.
"WHEN I GROW UP I WANT TO BE - An Astronaut"
"MY FAVORITE PLACE - Texas"
"MY FAVORITE THINGS TO DO ARE - Soccer, Legos, Trips, Riding My Bike"
"IF I COULD HAVE ONE WISH I WOULD WISH FOR - To see a real volcano in Hawaii"
Then he has a whole bunch of pictures of friends, cousins, family, scouts, and trips.

Flat Stanley

A few weeks ago Ben's cousin in Austin (Jackson) sent Ben a "Flat Stanley." I'm sure there's a lot of you out there that don't know what that is, so I'll explain. FLAT STANLEY is a series of books for young readers about a boy who is completely flat. The character is also used as an educational tool. Children will mail a "Flat Stanley" to someone who lives in another state or country, and the recipient is invited to take "Stanley" on a tour of their home and town. The recipient will also write a brief report and then everything is mailed back to the original owner. So anyway, Jackson mailed Ben a "Flat Stanley" and Ben took "Stanley" on a tour of his school and Midland. These are the pictures we mailed back to Jackson. You can also see Ben's report which told Jackson's class all about Midland and Michigan. I thought this was a cool project for the two boys. I think it's cool when they can interact like this when they are 1,463 miles apart. (We know the exact mileage because we Googled it for the report.)

Happy Birthday Ben!

Wow! Has it been 7 years already? Where has the time gone? Today was of course Ben's birthday...and it was extra special. Just when we thought spring was around the corner last night we got dumped on with about 5 inches of snow. And as an extra present for Ben schools were closed today. So Ben got a "snow day" for his birthday. He was obviously excited about that. So for his birthday he got to open presents, play his new Wii game, play with his new presents, and we went to the bookstore and he picked out a book. Then to cap it all off tonight Jenny surprised him with tickets to the "Madegascar Live!" musical (which he and Megan loved.) It was a cold, blizzardy day...but Ben had a great (and very special) birthday.

Ben's Birthday Weekend

This weekend we celebrated Ben's upcoming birthday with a visit to Great Wolf Lodge up north in Traverse City (one of those hotels with a built-in waterpark inside.) We gave Ben the choice of a birthday party with all his friends, or a weekend at Great Wolf Lodge with just us...and of course he chose the waterpark. Anyway, it was a fun weekend. The kids had a blast riding all the water slides and splashing around. We also brought a "Hot Wheels" cake for Ben, and he got to open a few presents. Another highlight for the kids was playing "MagiQuest." It's an interactive game that kids can play around the hotel where they go on a scavenger hunt with magic wands and solve riddles and go on quests. Megan liked it so-so but she didn't have the interest for it. Ben however loves it, and he and I spent a few hours each day working on his quests. In fact, I'd say he loved that just as much as the waterpark.

An Early Birthday Present

Ben got an early birthday present today - a new bike! For the past week or two we've been driving around town looking for a new bike for Ben. We finally found this great Trek bike at our local bike store. He is so excited today. In fact he's still in a state of shock because he doesn't understand why we got the bike today and not next week on his actual birthday. Anyway, he loves riding bikes. Last summer he spent a lot of time on the local bike trails. In fact, near the end of last summer he outgrew his bike. So instead of going out and getting him a new bike before the winter our neighbor across the street loaned us an old BMX bike until we were ready to buy him a new one this year. So he's pretty stoked to get this new one. He's already taken several rides today in the 40 degree weather. And just think - this time last year he was just learning to ride with no training wheels. Time sure does fly.

Butterflies In Bloom

The kids had the day off from school today, so we jumped in the car and drove over to Dow Gardens for "Butterflies In Bloom." It's an annual event where butterflies are released in a greenhouse and you get to walk around and hold them. Over the years it's become an unofficial sign around here that spring is right around the corner. It's a fun "warm" thing to do when it's 35 degrees outside. Anyway, this was the first year where Megan was brave enough to hold one. One even landed on her head. She though that was pretty funny.