The Scene of the Crime

The Evidence

Cheesy Crumbs

The refrigerator left unlocked. 

 Mind numbing Sports Center on the TV.

 The Victim

A big block of cheese with teeth marks

 The Suspects

Boy curled up watching TV and not his brother.

The other brother enjoying the family Christmas gift.  (family means you are supposed to share)

The Culprit

Complete with a mouth full of evidence and more stuck on his lip.

Mystery Solved!!

Old Habits Die Hard

All the new toys that Ben got for Christmas, and what does he play with?  His beloved football guys.  He must have really been paying attention the other day when they were watching the bowl game in Hawaii with everyone wearing leis, because he started putting my bracelets around the football guys heads.  

He played for a couple hours the other night taking my bracelets on and off himself, putting them around his football players necks then having them tackle so the bracelets would fly off.  Luckily most of the bracelets are stone so they can't get hurt.  It was too, cute but it is hard to see him ignore all those new toys.  At least he is getting a little fine motor out of the putting on and taking off of the bracelets. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

The last 30 days in pictures

 It was a beautiful day on on Thanksgiving when the cousins sat down to take this picture.  The sitting lasted all of about 30 seconds and then they were all off in different directions.  

 

 The next day while mom was at her craft fair Noah and Ben went to see Santa at the fire hall.  Santa and fire trucks.  Now that is cool!

 

 A week later all three of them got to see Santa.  It was a snowy day for the DSAF of NE Christmas party, but there was still had a good turn out. 

 

 Noah had fun singing at his Christmas program. 

Ben had fun singing at his also.  He seemed to have a bit more trouble staying focused and staying in line with his class mates.  There was a baby in the room that needed to be loved up.

 

  One day while a repairman was out working on our internet this little guy showed up on our patio.  I assured the repairman that we did not have a pet raccoon and that when they are out in the daylight, they are most likely sick, so he picked a different door to leave from.  I attempted to nudge him with a broom and he would not leave.  Fearing he may be rabid, I called the county sheriff to see what they suggested.  The sheriff that came out agreed that it was sick and shot it.  Luckily the ground was soft so it was not hard for Randy to bury it when he got home. Hopefully it did not pass it's illness on to any other animals in our area.

Ben helped to decorate the Christmas tree.  He also helps to un-decorate it a little bit every day. 

 

One of John's basketball seasons is over already.  However that meant practice every day and 2 games a week for most of December.  They had a good year and won the tournament at the end.

Ben is not enjoying the buzzer this year.  In fact it scares him.  He watches the clock count down to zero and holds his little ears as shown above.  At least we know those tubes are working.

Noah is playing with the Varsity Small Fry team that John plays with.  He is enjoying learning a new system, and holds his own against the 6th and 7th graders.  It will be a long basketball season for him by the time he is done playing Rookie Small Fry (against 3rd, 4th and 5th graders) in April. 

One Friday night we had very dense fog.  However that fog turned into beautiful shimmering ice the next morning in the sun.  It was a pretty drive into Lincoln, and I had to stop and take quite a few pictures.

The moon was beautiful coming home from Lincoln that same Saturday Night.  The sun was not quite down in the West so it really made the moon glow in the East.  This was taken outside of Eagle. 

Singing With My Boys

Tonight was the community Thanksgiving church service at our church.  Due to scheduling conflicts with the boys basketball practice, we have not been able to attend Choir practice yet this year, but our gospel choir was short on people so they asked me to come.  We practiced right before the service.  Since the boys were with me, they got handed music and decided to sing too. 
I don't remember hearing the song before, but it was an easy hymn.  As we were practicing, Ben opened to the door to the class room we were in, brought is little board book, and started "singing" with us.  It was cute.  When we were done he told us all "great job". 
When it was time for our choir to perform, John, Noah and I all went up front and started to sing.  I noticed that Randy was struggling with Ben who was putting up quite a fight.  Randy let him go and quick as a lick he was up front with that same little board book standing right in front of me between John and Noah.  What I could not believe was that on the chorus, I heard him trying to sing with us.  He was a couple beats behind, but not off key, but I don't think the audience minded much.  Most of them had big smiles on their faces watching him sing with us.  It was so cute.  How I wished we had a camera so we could have taped it.  
Singing with my older two boys is awesome, but singing with all three of my boys is priceless.  I am so thankful for all my boys.

Here is a picture of Ben doing his new "cheese" face.  For a mom that likes to take pictures it is great when your kids will finally stop and look at the camera and say cheese at least every once in a while.

Special Exposure Wednesday

Don't worry.  It is only ketchup.  This is what happens when your brother shares his chicken nuggets with a big brother size blob of ketchup.  Little brothers like to smear it on their forehead and then into their hair.

At least he had fun!

It has been a while.

I can't believe that it has been a whole month since I have posted.  About 6 weeks ago I blew out my knee playing volleyball for fun with a bunch of other Moms.  Three weeks ago I had surgery to repair my ACL and Meniscus. So I have been moving a little slow which has made it difficult to get the things I need done around the house and I did 2 craft fairs.  So.  That is why the long posting lapse.
For the most part the end of October and beginning of November have been pretty quiet.  John and Noah are both practicing for Small Fry basketball.  Ben is doing great at pre school, but was out all last week with a nasty virus similar to hand, foot and mouth. It cause fever, sores in his mouth, and a rash on his body, but nothing on his hands and feet. 

A couple weeks ago (while I was still on crutches) we attend the Husker Heroes event put on by the One Coalition.  It was a fun night at the Hawks Championship Center for special needs kids and their families to meet Husker players.  All three boys enjoy this event.  Ben just likes to run around on the indoor football field and play the games (but not wait in line), and the older boys like meeting the players.  A good time was had by all. 

I hate to admit that none of my halloween pictures turned out.  I had gotten a new lens filter, and turned the auto focus off on my camera, so they were all blurry.  However, I did get one of the new trick that Noah taught Ben. Nice.

Our Little Vampire

We have had a bit of an issue lately with Ben biting his brothers.  Quite a few times last weekend Ben would get very frustrated when his brothers would pick on him or tell him no, and the bite would happen.  It is pretty easy to see it coming.  First he gets mad, does a little growl, starts snapping his teeth and then goes in for the bite.  But boys can be pretty unobservant and not get out of the way. 
This new trend seemed to come out of no where, so I asked school if they have a biter, and they said no. Maybe he saw it on TV, or just tried it once and liked the result? We might not ever know.

Today Noah was playing on his Nintendo DS and would not share with Ben so Ben bit him in the side so hard he actually drew blood. Later when Noah was showing Dad his war wound I heard him ask, " Dad, how old does Ben have to be before I can slug him?" No Noah. No slugging your little brother. He really is more alike than different.
At least we know what not to dress him up as for Halloween this year.

Here are Ben's fact posters that were displayed along the walk route at the Step Up for Down Syndrome walk this year. 

10th Annual Captial City Step UP for Down Syndrome Walk

We enjoyed a beautiful day today at the Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk.   Ben's Brigade and the Elmwood Murdock School team raised over $2,200 for the DSAF of NE and had over 50 walkers. In total today there were 1275 walkers who raised almost $60,000.   The Elmwood Murdock School team won the Trophy for the biggest school team.  It feels so amazing to be supported by so many wonderful people. We can't even begin to tell everyone how much we appreciate their generous donations of time and money.   It really means the world to us!

Music Lover

Ben has a definite love of music.  However, thanks to his brothers, he now has a love for "popular" music.  Some of his favorites include Pink, The Black Eyed Peas, and J Lo.  When Ben falls asleep in the car, all we have to do is play one of his favorite songs and he is usually up and dancing within seconds.  Here is a video to demonstrate you might need to turn up your volume to hear the music:

This was shot today on the way home from a big day in Lincoln.

It's Fall Y'all!

Who would have thought that I would have less time to blog now that I am a stay at home Mom, than I did when I was working? It is crazy how busy this fall has been.

Ben is loving pre school.  He does not have a lot of legible words when I ask him about his day, but he sure has a long story to tell me.  He loves singing songs especially when they have signs or actions included with them. He seems to listen and follow directions pretty well when I am not around, however, when I am there, the acts like a wild man.

Noah is in 4th grade and is enjoying football.  This year he is the quarterback for his team.  He and his good buddy Drake had a sweet pass for a touchdown at the first game.  They beat Syracuse 14 to 8.

John is in Jr High this year and is also playing football.  He is the center for his team again.  They have had 2 wins so far this year, and both wins have been by 3 or 4 touchdowns.  Apparently the Jr high team last year did not have as much luck, so it has been fun to watch them doing good.

Ben enjoys cheering for his brothers.  Last Friday night they invited the Youth League players to the high school football game, where they announced the players and coaches, and they got to run on the field at half time.  It was a cold, damp night, but Ben was layered up.  He enjoyed the game and would take his hands out from under the blanket to clap.  Unfortunately, the weather did not agree with him as the next day he woke up with breathing issues.  We went to the Dr on Monday and he is taking a 3 day course of steroids and a 10 day course of antibiotics.  He seems to be doing much better now.  Hopefully this will not become a repeating pattern of sickness again this winter.

Spiders

I usually don't do a post like this, but this morning as Ben and I went on our morning walk, I could not help but notice all the beautiful spider webs that were glittering with dew as the sun tried to break through the morning fog.  It made me wish I had my camera.  Then as I turned the corner to go home they were so many on the edge of the field, I felt I had to go back and get my camera to shoot some.  Here is what I found:

It's time to Step up for Down Syndrome!

A little over three years ago our lives changed in a major way.  We had a new baby boy, who was healthy and strong and cute as a button.  There was just one little thing that made him different.  He has an extra twenty first chromosome.  We were lucky to have received such a blessing. 
Now Ben is a happy, healthy 3 year old pre-schooler.  He loves to play, read books and sing songs.   He is really starting to enjoy all the outings that we get to do with the Down Syndrome Association for Families of Nebraska.  They host many events throughout the year including a Christmas party, Spring Ball night, Summer Swim party and of course in the fall the Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk.  Ben is very social and really enjoys seeing all of his friends. 
The Step up Walk raises positive community awareness and celebrates that individuals with Down syndrome are more alike everyone else, than they are different.  This year's walk is scheduled for October 1, 2011.  It is held at Antelope Park in Lincoln and begins at 8:00 am.  If you would like to join us at the walk, or donate to a very worthy organization, please click here to go to Ben's personal  page on our new walk website. 
We appreciate your support.

It Is Time For School!

Yesterday I sent all three of my babies off to school.
Ben started Pre School and loves it!  They said he did a great job both days and is making new friends.  He looks like such a big boy with his back back on.  He would not cooperate to take a picture with it, but I will get one soon.  Just in the last couple days, it seems like his speaking is much clearer and we can understand more of his words.  (He has always had lots of words, we just were not sure what he way trying to say unless he uses a sign so we can figure it out.)

 Sitting at his desk getting ready to color.

 His desk.  Dakota comes in the afternoon session and also uses this desk.

Noah started 4th grade today.  He was all decked out in his E-M Knights gear. We go tomorrow to check out the football gear for him.  He is excited about the upcoming football season.

 

John woke up early and ran out to ride the bus on the first day of 7th grade so Mom would not take pictures of him.  So I surprised him while he and Noah were playing football after school.  He wore his Knights attire on the first day too.   He gets to ride the bus a little bit extra this year....all the way to Murdock.

This is what I found last night when I went out to pick black berries.  Looks like the cousins were playing school last week while they were visiting.  I especially like the old toilet seat on the straw bale.  Luckily I got it all put back in the shed last night as we had a big rain storm with lots of wind and hail.

Noah and Adam got along especially well this year.  About 3 hours after they left, Noah came up to me and said "I am bored Mom!  It's just no fun around here without my cousins."