2014 Ben's Brigade

.  Our photographer Erica Thompson of Images for a Lifetime built an amazingly cool set just for our kiddos, and Ben got to be one of the first ones to try it out.  While the idea was to sit or lay in the circle, Ben did not want to have anything to do with that.  He wanted to do just one thing.....

JUMP!

What you can't see in this photo is his big brother Noah who was laying on the floor about to get jumped on.  Erica got about 10 photos just like this and Ben had a blast!  

She did get a couple more good photos, but all of them have one thing in common.  If he was not jumping, he was getting into position to jump again.  

 This one is my favorite.  I call it his surfer dude pose.  I also reminds me of the opening of one of the James Bond movies.  

Thank you for supporting Ben's Brigade!

Times Square NDSS VIdeo

Today is the Buddy Walk in New York.  To kick off the walk and Down syndrome awareness month in October, they just showed a video on the Sony screen in Times Square with photos of individuals with Down Syndrome from all over the world.  For the second straight year, Ben's photo was chosen to be included in the video.    One day we will get to go and experience the New York Walk in person.  But for now we are very grateful for Earthcam and especially the fact that this year they focused the camera directly on the Sony Screen.  What a great way to see the video for the first time.  I will post the full video as soon as it becomes available.  But for now here is a screen shot I took from my computer, showing Ben on the big screen!  Technology is so cool

Our own local Step Up for Down Syndrome walk will be held on October 5, 2013 in Lincoln.  If anyone wants to support Ben, either in person by walking or by donating to our team Ben's Brigade, please visit our team page by clicking here.  You can also see the photo of Ben that was shown in Times Square up close.  Thank you to everyone who has already supported us!.  Because of your generosity, Ben has earned all three of his fact poster that will be displayed along the Step Up Walk route, and becuase we are in the top ten for number of walkers, his photo will be included in the 2014 DSAF calendar.  We are humbled by all the love an support we have been give by all our family, friends.
Thank you!

2013 Ben's Brigade

 You can support Ben’s Brigade by walking or donating.     There will be food and fun for the whole family with the String Beans, Der Viener Schlinger, Face Painting and much more.

 We are so proud of Ben and all that he has accomplished in the last year.  He loved going to preschool and playing T-ball and working on his reading skills.  He also enjoyed cheering on his brothers at all of their sporting events.  Ben is looking forward to starting Kidergarten at Elmwood Murdock this fall.  Thank you to everyone who has donated in the past and to those who are planning to donate this year.  You are helping to make a difference in the lives of individuals with Down syndrome in our community.

We appreciate everyone's support.
Thank You!

The W Family

NDSS Times Square Video

I am proud to announce, for the 2nd year in a row, that Ben's photo has been chosen to be in the video that will be shown at Times Square in New York City, to help kick off the National Buddy Walk on Saturday, September 21, 2013.

Ben is a little brother, of two big brothers, who love sports.  In his young life, he has already been to more baseball, basketball, and football games as a spectator, than some people will attend in their entire lives.    While at his brother's baseball games, he loves to wear his umpire mask, squat down behind the fence and call balls and strikes with the umpire.  He has caused more than one umpire to turn around, ready yell at the person contradicting their calls, and you can instantly see the smile appear on their face when they see who the culprit is.  Sometimes they even come over to visit with Ben between innings, which makes his day.

He is no different with basketball as you can see here.

I knew it would be huge for Ben to get to play sports like his big brothers, but the reality did not hit me until he got home from his the first night of practice.  He ran in the door, gave me a huge bear hug and exclaimed, "Mommy, I a baseball player"!  This was the first year he was old enough to play, and was on our local t-ball team with his typically developing peers.

Did he need some extra help getting lined up to bat and getting his helmet on?  Yes.  Did he need some help staying focused in the outfield, when no balls were coming his way?  Yes. Did he need help keeping track of his hat and glove?  Yes.  But so did a lot of the other kids.   Did he need help hitting the ball, running down a grounder or knowing where how to run the bases?  No.  He had paid enough attention at some of the other games to know what to do.

So the next question is how did photos of Ben get selected 2 years in a row to be one of the 200 chosen to be in the video when there were over 1,100 submissions?

I have a theory.

The purpose of the video is to promote the value, acceptance and inclusion of people with Down syndrome.  Unfortunately there are lots of people in the world today who don't realize that individuals with down syndrome are more like everyone else than they are different.  The first 4 years I sent in the cutest possible photo I could find, but none where chosen.  Last year I chose a photo of Ben playing his brother's drum set, because I thought it showed a person with Down syndrome doing something that many people would not realize they were capable of doing.  This year I chose the baseball photo, since it showed how much enjoyment he got from being included with his classmates.

My husband and sons wanted me to submit this photo instead.

It was taken just after the first photo and they felt it showed Ben's determination to hit the ball.  While I do like it too, a Mamma's heart almost always goes with the smile, and since I was the one sending it in, I got to choose. By the way they also wanted me to point out that the pink bat was not his.

To view last year's NDSS Times Square Video click here.  Ben is at 14:35.

Step UP for Down Syndrome Walk

Thank you to everyone who has registered or donated to Ben's Brigade for the 2012 Capital City Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk.  Through your generosity, Ben earned 3 fact posters (pictured below) that will be displayed along the walk route at the Step Up Walk on October 6, 2012 in Lincoln NE.  A huge thank you to Erica and Images for a Lifetime for taking such adorable photos and for making the posters for the DSAF.  There will be 98 posters displayed along the walk route featuring 39 different Nebraska children with Down syndrome.   They truly are inspirational.  There is still time to register or donate.  Anyone who registers by Saturday the 15th. will get a free t-shirt with their paid registration. 
Click here to go to Ben's Team page:  

                                              We appreciate everyone's support!

Fifth Time is a Charm

Every year since Ben was born, I have submitted a photo to be shown on the video screen in Times Square in New York, for the National Buddy Walk.  This year his photo was finally chosen! 

Ben will appear in the bright lights of Broadway on Saturday, September 22, as part of the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) annual Times Square Video Presentation, which embodies the NDSS mission to promote the value, acceptance and inclusion of people with Down syndrome.

  

The photo of Ben was selected from over 1,000 entries in the NDSS worldwide call for photos. Over 200 photographs will appear in the video, which will be shown on the News Corporation Sony Screen, located in the heart of Times Square.  

Ben is pictured playing on his big brother’s drum set.  He loves music of all kinds. 

  

The Times Square video presentation kicks off Down Syndrome Awareness Month in October. The video presentation will be followed by the 18th Annual New York City Buddy Walk® in Central Park. This year, Buddy Walk and Step Up Walk events will be held in more than 300 cities across the country, as well as select international locations, in and around October.   

Our own Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk in Lincoln, NE will be held on October 6, 2012.  Here is a link to Ben's Brigades fundraising page.  

Parade Fun.

 The Murdock 4th of July Parade was lots of fun.  The float turned out cute too.  We got Runner Up for best float and won $80 so it was well worth the effort.  We raised another $80 by selling water, beads and kids games, so over all the 2 hours was a success.  Here are more photos from the day.

 The Family on the back of the float.  John was more than willing to skip the second day of de-tasseling so he could ride on the float.

 Ben enjoyed an ice pop before the parade started. 

 We had kids from the 4-H club and families that have walked with Ben's Brigade in the past come help throw candy and hold the banner.  Noah got demoted from throwing candy, since he thought it was fun to throw it as hard as he could. 

 Here is the other side of the float.  Anna's Angels team was kind enough to loan us their posters so we had both boy and girl representation.  I also cut up one of the mis-printed calenders an put those pictures on the sign holders as well. 

 Hey guys!  There a two under here!

 Soon Ben figured out it was fun to dunk his head in the duck wash pan.

Noah found the best way to sell water, was to get a ride from his friends.  By the way, that red hair paint still has not completely come out.

Over all it was a fun day.  Thanks to the community for supporting Ben's Brigade!

Happy 4th of July.

Wishing everyone a very happy and safe 4th of July.  To celebrate, we will be doing a little fundraiser for Ben's Brigade.  Yep, it is time to start thinking about the Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk.  October 6,will be here before we know it.  In addition to the games, we will also have a float in the parade.  I have been wanting to use those Fact posters I have been collecting.  Now is as good of time as any.  Here is our flyer for the fundraiser tomorrow:

If you are in Southeast Nebraska, stop on by! Hopefully  it will be a fun day, where we start the ball rolling to raise a lot of money for Ben's Brigade and the DSAF of Nebraska.

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 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.

Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk

Yesterday was the 9th Annual Down Syndrome Awareness Walk in Lincoln.  Between Ben's Brigade and the Elmwood Murdock School Team, we had 45 walkers which was awesome!  The Elmwood Murdock School Team got second place and a trophy for the school team with the most walkers.  Ben's Brigade also got a trophy for for collecting the second highest amount of donations.  In total we collected over $1600.  Which was well over our goal.  Next year we will need to set the bar higher and try to get more walkers and more donation. But no matter what we do, we know it will be a fun and heartwarming day!
Thanks to everyone who helped out by donating, walking or both!
The W Family.