Snow! Snow! Snow!

I was starting to feel really guilty after reading so many other post and seeing pictures of kids playing out in the snow.  We had not taken Ben out yet.  So today my goal was to get this little guy out to play in the snow before it all melts!  It was warm yesterday and is supposed to get up to the mid 40's today so the snow will be going fast.  Here is Ben's first experience playing in the snow this year:

Hey! What is this white stuff?

Wonder if it tastes good?

Nope!

Look what my brother left outside!  Now I can practice my dribbling skills!

Yeah!  Mommy found the sled.  This is really fun!  I am signing snow.

OOPS!  Noah left his bike out.  This is what happens in

Nebraska if you don't put your toys away in the fall!

Too Close to Being a Teenager

Belated birthday wishes go out to John, our oldest son, who turned 12 last week.  He is growing up so fast, and some times I think he already has the attitude of a teenager.
For Christmas he wanted an iPod touch.  However, since I have a strict policy that I will not buy better technology for my kids than I currently own, I told him he could save money and buy one for himself.  This had to be a safe bet right?  There is no way he could save/ earn over $200 very fast, so I thought he would be saving most of the year.
I was wrong,
He had it earned/ saved/ was gifted $275 by Christmas Eve. 

He ordered one, and got it the week before his birthday.  But a day before it arrived he made a big mistake.  He lied that his homework was done and played PlayStation before going to his game.  The rule at our house is that homework and piano are done before TV, video games or sports events.  At his game I found out from another mother that some very difficult homework had been assigned.  So on the way home from the game, I asked him about it.  He said "Oh yea, that was too hard, and I needed help, so I don't have that homework done.  
What?
So in addition to losing PlayStation privileges, I also refused to set up his iTunes account which meant no apps for his iPod touch.  (It worked out pretty good because I was not about to put my credit card information on his account, and risk having unlimited amounts charged to it.)    It was torture for him to be able to see all the cool apps he could get, but not download any of them.   Finally for his Birthday we got him a small iTunes gift card so he could finish setting up the iTunes account and download a few apps.  The iPod touches are pretty cool even with out apps, but even I have to admit that some of the apps are way cool.  I can't wait to use it to find some learning apps for Ben. 
Anyway here are some pictures of my oldest, taken at some of his basketball games lately along with one of my favorites from this summer. 

I just wish I could talk him into a hair cut like this one.

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You can vote every day in January.  Please share with your family and friends.
Thanks,
Angie

Ben is Such a Big Boy

Happy New Year everyone!  It has been a busy couple weeks.  The new year started with me hurting my back.  I am not sure what I did but I think it had something to do with picking up Ben.  I did make it in to the Chiropractor on New Years Eve day and she snapped my hip back into place.   My lower back is still a little sore, but it does not hurt nearly as bad as it did. 

We rang in the New Year, playing games at a friends house.  Ben started getting cranky about 10:30, so we all went home except John who was in the middle of a game of Catan.  He caught a ride home with a friend. 

One of my goals for when I was home over Christmas Break was to take down Ben's crib and to put up his toddler bed.  I had seen him put his foot up over the rail before and knew it would just be a matter of time before he crawled out.  Well, with hurting my back the crib to bed switchover did not take place.  So on the first day back to school, Ben crawled, then fell out of the crib.  He did not really hurt himself, thanks in part to all the stuffed animals and pillows on the floor, but he did get a bit a of rug burn. 

So this weekend the goal was to get the toddler bed up.  On Friday, I got it out and went to put it together, but the bag of screws were missing.  So after piano practice, we went to the hardware store to buy more screws.  By 9:00 that night the bed was ready.

I could tell that Ben was excited about his big boy bed.  He kept crawling on it and pretending to lay down and snore.  It was so cute.  He and Noah went to bed at the same time, and although I heard Noah tell him a couple times to lay down and go to sleep, he never really tried to get out of his bed.  He slept all night (much better than I did, since I kept getting up to check on him). 

Hopefully I am not jinxing myself by posting this, but he is doing great!  Here are some pictures of Ben in his big boy bed!  He likes cuddling up with nice warm blanket that Grandma made for him. 

 He also likes to play with my computer and will do so every chance he gets.