School Board Meeting

Last Tuesday we were invited to a District 44 school board meeting so Ben could receive his special recognition for doing so well in the science fair. As you can see from his face in these pictures, he was thrilled to be there!!! Oh well-- I'm a proud mom nevertheless. He has already warned me however that I'd better not try to make him do it again next year OR ELSE!

New Trees

On Good Friday, we spent the day planting trees in our backyard. The kids each got a shovel and helped dig the holes and fill them back in. The reason I decided to add this picture is because the kids went all day-- ALL day long with no arguing or fighting. Unbelievable!!!

Science Fair 2009

Lauren and Ben were both entered in District 44's science fair this year-- Lauren by choice, Ben by force. (Since I was the Pleasant Lane science fair chair this year I told him if I had to do it, so did he...) Lauren and her friend Alex won a first place ribbon for their pop spray experiment, but when we went to table 8 to find out how Ben did with his magnet experiment, his poster was gone! In it's place was a little piece of paper saying "Congratulations-- your project has been selected Best In Show." You have got to be kidding. He must have really charmed the judges or something! Unfortunately (or fortunately) we'll be leaving for Disney World the day they wanted to film him for School Scape. I broke the news to him gently, but he just said, "Nobody watches Channel 6 anyway." Good point.

Grandma and Ben's Epic Light Saber Battle

I had to throw in a few pictures of my mom and Ben dueling. This was hysterical-- once my mom started "playing," it quickly escalated into an all-out battle that lasted for about 15 minutes. Ben used light sabers, a hockey stick, and even a vacuum attachment. He told my mom that he's practicing doing back flips so he can incorporate them into his battle sequence! Now that he's proven himself against Grandma, we plan to enroll him in the Jedi Academy this summer so he can battle his ultimate foe, Darth Maul.

Lauren's 8th Birthday

Lauren had her 8th birthday party at the Lombard Park District. It was a "1/2 Hannah Montana, 1/2 Jonas Brothers, 1/2 Camp Rock" party, making it 1 1/2 times more fun than the typical party! The girls (and Ben) made stuff out of clay, ate cake and Cheetos, and freeze-danced for two hours. It was lots of fun! Lauren picked out a leprechaun cake with a rainbow and extra shamrocks. But next year I think I'll just set out a gigantic bowl of Cheetos puffs, since the kids seemed to enjoy those the most!

Ben's Hockey Picture

Out of fairness to Benjamin, here is a picture of Ben getting ready to go on the ice for his last day of hockey. He advanced to the next level, but he/we decided to take a break for the spring and summer. It is nice to have our Saturdays back, even if it is only until April (when baseball season starts.)

Playing in the Snow

Devon, Sheila, and Max came back to Illinois for a few days last week and Max got to play in the snow with the kids! After having no snow on the ground for the last two weeks, the day he came to Lombard to visit, we got 4 whole inches! While not technically his first time playing in the snow (he got to play in New York and Vermont the week before), it was his first snowfall, so he got to experience things like shoveling, brushing snow off the car windows, and trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue. Some friends came over and also got in on the fun!