Things have been crazy

Sorry for the delay in blogging.  It has just been very crazy around here.  First we had a couple of storms that went through.  The first one knocked out the power for 12 hours and we lost Internet for a week.  The second one knocked out some barn windows, and took down a lot of tree limbs.  We did not loose power, but we did lose Internet for a day.  Elmwood and Murdock were both hit hard, and they even called off school for a day.   Here is a picture of the barn minus a few windows.

The big boys have been playing football.  John is playing center on the 5th and 6th grade team.  They are 2 and 1 right now. Here is a picture of him about to snap the ball.

Noah is playing tight end and is trying quarterback a little.  He likes it a lot.  His team is 3 and 0.

Ben was enjoying one of the football games by having a nice cat nap.  Unfortunately we scored and the nap was cut short by all the cheering.  He has been fighting a respiratory infection and it got him down a bit this week.  Got some antibiotic yesterday and it seems to be helping a lot.  Now if I can just figure out how to get him to take it without having Randy hold him down while I try to squirt it down the back of his throat without choking him or having him spit it all out.  If he could just realize that taking it was what made him feel better. 

 Last week I went to Cincinnati for work.  Here is a picture of my work team.  This was the first time we have been all together in one location.  It was a good trip, but it was very tiring.  We got to go to an Ikea store while we were there.  I did not realize how cool it would be.  All three of us ended up bringing home light fixtures of some kind.  Randy already has mine installed in the basement.  It was worth all the worry and repacking I had to do to carry it on the plane on the way home. 

 

I have also been trying to help out the DSAF group by doing some web support for the Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk.  We have had a few issues with registration and getting the t-shirts ordered.  Hopefully it is all straightened out now, as the walk is next weekend.  I am so proud of everyone who have stepped up to help out.  Ben's Brigade has raised,  almost $1500 and we will have around 45 walkers between Ben's Brigade and the Elmwood/Murdock School team.  Thank you to everyone who has helped out.

Come on Down and Join in the Fun........The Nebraska State Fair.

Today we went to the Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island, so John could do his Power Point Presentation.  He already won Grand Champion at the county fair with the presentation and now it was time to do it again at the State Fair.  The title of his presentation is "Will You Step Up for Down Syndrome".  He did awesome. He got a purple ribbon.   I think having 2 hours in the car to perfect it helped.  Here are the screen shots from his presentation:

 

Here is a picture of John with his Creative Mix Cookies that also got a purple.   They were made with a devils food cake mix and have a white chocolate drizzle on them.  They were yummy!  The ones left at home are long gone.  The best part is that now John can make the cookies next time we have to take some for school!

Noah got to have some fun too.  Here he is catching a pass from former Husker Player Eric Crouch.  The funniest part was that the boys had no idea who he was while they were doing the little obstacle course.  I asked them how it was to catch a pass from the former Husker Quarterback and they all looked at me like I was nuts.  After going back to take a look they figured out who it was.  They thought it was pretty cool.

He also got to milk a pretend cow.   I told him after seeing the way he was going about it,  he would have been kicked in the head by that cow if it had been real.

Ben got to enjoy the fair too.  He liked petting the goats.  But it was just too much for him.

On the way home we stopped at Chances R in York.  It was delicious.  Maybe going all the way to Grand Island to visit the State Fair isn't so bad after all.  Our first year attending there was pretty good.

StepUp for Down Syndrome

Hi!

                                                                            
This is Ben Willey.

It's time again to raise money for the
Down Syndrome Association for Families
of Nebraska (D.S.A.F.) with the newly named
StepUp for Down Syndrome Walk on Saturday,
October 2, 2010 at Antelope Park in Lincoln.


How can you help? Many different ways! You can  donate on-line by going to Ben's Brigade team page https://www.dsafnebraska.org/pledge.php?team_id=152.  You can donate by check made payable to DSAF of Nebraska (put Ben’s Brigade in the Memo)and send it to CCSUW, c/0 DSAF, PO Box 57362, Lincoln NE, 68505. Our goal this year is to raise $1,000, so any amount will help. But the best way to show your support, is to register and come walk with us on Ben's Brigade. My family would love to see you there! To register, go to https://www.dsafnebraska.org/buddywalk.php?action=user. Be sure to register by September 3rd to get a free T-shirt with your paid registration!
The D.S.A.F of Nebraska has given Mom and Dad a lot of helpful information and support through my first 2 years of life! This is our ONE and ONLY fund-raiser and the money raised from the StepUp Walk will pay for information for parents and educators, programs for families impacted by Down Syndrome, fun outings for my family, and much more!
The walk is 1 mile around the Children’s Zoo but there will be so much more than just the walk! I know they have a lot of fun stuff planned for the kids! Here is a link to the website where you can find more information: 2010 Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk

Don’t forget your donations are 100% tax deductible.
Let's make this walk a successful one!
Thanks for reading. Thanks for donating. Thanks for loving me for me!

Love,

Ben

Randy, Angie, John and Noah Willey

County Fair

This week was our county fair.  We had lots of fun.  John took quite a few projects this year including photography, cooking, Youth in Motion, Heirloom Treasures, Care-n-share and entered the Presentation and Performing arts contests.  He got 10 purple ribbons and 3 blue ribbons, and one grand champion for his presention on the StepUp for Down Syndrome Walk.  He gets to go to the state fair with his white chocolate and devils food cookies, his Youth in Motion Activity bag, and his power point presentation.  Noah is in his third year of 4-h as a clover kid.  He also took photography, and a some care and share items (items donated to the needy of the county).  Here are some pictures from the county fair. 

Bath Time Fun!

athtim
The other day I heard Ben in the bathroom, so I asked John to check on him. You may remember a previous bathroom incident we had with toilet paper, if not check here. John came out and said, "I think he wants to take a bath". When I asked why he replied, "because he is already in the tub playing with his toys. I ran in to find Ben having the best time playing in the tub. I grabbed the camera, and snapped a couple of shots, and said "Ben how in the world did you get in there"? So he climbed out to show me, then climbed right back in. However, his climbing in is more like falling in. When I told him to be careful, or he would bonk his head, he proceeded to purposely bonk his head and then giggle. It was hilarious. Thanks for keeping us laughing Ben!

2010 USA Special Olympics Update

Driving down town in Lincoln to drop my boys off at their summer camp was all it took for my excitement to come back.  After seeing all the teams on Monday morning, walking on the UNL campus to their events, and driving by the Special Olympics town, I could not wait to experience more. 

On Tuesday Ben and I had some time before we could pick up the big boys, and the Basketball venue was on the way, so we stopped.  The game we saw was Men's Basketball.  Texas vs. Indiana.  I was surprised at how physical the game was.  We did not get to see the whole game, and I can not really remember who was even ahead, since we were cheering for both sides.  Every time a basket was made Ben would cheer and clap.  He was flirting with everyone.  I have never seen him quite so outgoing, practically lunging out of my arms to go to complete strangers.  It was as if he know he was in a place where he would be loved and accepted by everyone.  In the short half hour we were there I had10-15  people come up and talk to me about Ben.  We go out in public daily, and while I might get a comment every now and then, it was nothing like this.   People would walk by and say "There is a future gold medalist".  Others, I could tell, were Mom's of athletes, who were remembering back to the days when their child was a toddler.  But soon it was time to go.

After I got the boys, I had planned to take them to Bocce, but they really wanted to go to Special Olympics town.   Ben was in the stroller since it was a few blocks walk from the parking garage.  There were 3 blocks fenced off around Pershing Auditorium with lots of different tents outside.  Some had vendors, free crafts, karaoke, a sand sculptor, souvenirs and a misting station too.  The boys enjoyed getting misted.  It was fun to watch everyone.  I bought a T-shirt, John got a hat and Noah got sun glasses.  The boys made pinwheels for Ben.   We watched a few groups of athletes perform choreographed routines to music with flags. 

The Sand Sculpture

Funky looking blow up by the craft tent

Athlete performances

Then we went inside the auditorium.   That is where they had the Sports Experience.  They had 11 Wii games set up, pool tables, ping pong tables, a volley ball net, basket ball hoops, and a putting green. 
They boys had a blast and did not want to leave.  Poor little Ben however, was not as impressed he bolted when I tried to let him out, so I had to fight him back in the stroller.  It was just not safe for him to run around in there with so many sports and bigger people playing them.  But finally I was able to talk the big boys into going home.

Wednesday after work, the boys have Piano lessons and Ben had therapy, and by the time they were done, there were no events left to go see.  Thursday after work we planned to go again, but could not find anything still going on at 4:00 in the afternoon. 

The Special Olympic Torch

Friday night was the closing ceremony.  I called the radio station about 30 times and finally got thru to get tickets.  The closing ceremony was good, but very loud.  There were 3 or 4 singers, that I had never heard of that performed.  They were OK but not my type of music.  An hour and a half into the program, Noah was really not enjoying it.  He asked me for the 20th time if we could go home, so I looked over at Randy and both he and Ben were sitting there covering their ears, so I agreed it was time to go.  John could have stayed for the whole thing if we would have let him. 

Small Change

The Color Guard

Singing the National Anthem

As we were leaving I decided to use the restroom before the long drive home.  While they were waiting, Randy and the boys struck up a conversation with a couple of swimmers from Arkansas.  The lady gave Ben her Special Olympics Arkansas hat, and was trying to convince us that swimming should be the sport we help Ben get into.   She had won 4 or 5 gold medals in swimming this week.  I did not think fast enough to grab my camera and get a picture, or to get her name.  But is sure was nice to meet her and get to know here a little bit.  Made me feel much better about leaving the closing ceremonies early. 

While I am still not sure if Ben will want to pursue any sports in the future, I do feel that after our experience this week, I will not hesitate to help him get involved in Special Olympics.  It was a positive and uplifting time for all of us.