As promised!

Oooh, pictures!

Day at the zoo, with Ben, Ella, Sari & Estella:



Ella & Gigi:


Ben, posing:


Not quite right...


Now she's got it!


He was a little excited:


Ben in action:


New hat:


Pouty faces:


Ben & Gord overlooking Killarney Lake:


Playing in Grandma & Grandpa's backyard:




Our Kindergarten Graduate!


Showing us the classroom:


Surprise visit from Auntie Kathy & Le Petit Henry:


Ella wanted to pose with her baby, Estella Isabella:


Henry modeling his super-cute shark hat:


We were so happy to see these two!

The end is near...

Tomorrow, Ben graduates from kindergarten. I can't believe it! This year has gone by so quickly - that is very scary! I don't like thinking about how quickly the next 15 years will go by...

There is a celebration of learning at the school - I plan to take lots of pictures and video, and a box of kleenex! Then we're having a little luncheon afterwards. It will be so cute - Ben keeps telling me that they're going to sing for us. I can't wait!

What else can I say about Ben right now - he is turning into a genuinely funny, sweet kid. His laugh is infectious and he can be so silly that you can't help but laugh along with him.

He is full-out reading now - yesterday we went for breakfast, and I was telling Ella what the options were, and I glanced over at him - to see if he was listening - but he was reading the menu himself. I could see his lips moving as he read through the list of food. I smiled to myself, but was also caught off-guard. He put the menu down and announced, "I'm going to have french toast. And a side order of bacon!"

Ben's current obsession is Pokemon. And holy mackerel, is it an obsession! I swear, it's all he thinks about. We constantly hear, "Did you know that such-and-such is the last evolve of so-and-so?" "Mommy, do you remember the differences between a male and female zubat?" Etc. etc. etc.

He played baseball this spring, and we think he really enjoyed it. He definitely improved from the beginning of the season, both in skill and in ability to focus on the game! In some ways, baseball was a good choice for him - less running around (like in soccer) but then again, he tended to goof around in the field as he waited for the batter to hit the ball. Ah well, he had a great time and learned a new sport!

I will post some pictures - of graduation and everything else that's been going on - tomorrow!

Not prepared

This school thing is really not what I bargained for.

I don’t mean the actual schoolwork – Ben’s report card and student conference went very well – his teacher is very impressed with his progress and his interest in French. He loves to tell us all the French words and phrases he knows, sings us all the songs they learn, and quiz us on how much French we know.

It’s the social aspect. The other kids. The kids who are a bit older and wiser. The kids who wrestle and watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The kids who make farting sounds with their mouths. The kids who use words that we don’t use.

I don’t blame Ben. It must be confusing to do stuff at school and then go home to parents who don’t let him do those things.

But what I’m finding hard is how we balance it all to make sure he’s allowed to be a kid, ya know?

I mean, let’s take the farting noise, for example. He farts. Everyone farts. It’s nature. And fart noises can be funny (c’mon, admit it). But when he constantly makes the farting noise with his mouth, say at the dinner table, spreading germs all over the place, yeah, he has to stop.

And though no one’s gotten hurt YET wrestling/TMNT-ing/karate/Star Wars-ing on the playground after school, it’s only a matter of time. (And my kid has the glasses that will get broken. 5 year old with glasses = mucho $$$$)

We’ve just been going through a transition, I guess, and he’s learning about boundaries and expectations. It’s just hard right now, when we’re frustrated, not to take all his privileges away.

Or then there’s the conversation we had on Sunday night that started like this: “T’s brother so-and-so said that the Santa Claus at the Santa Claus parade was fake.”

Yeah, so not prepared.

It's official...

Ben is a kindergartener!



We *may* have been a minute or two late, and we *may* have had a miscommunication with the teacher as to where he was supposed to go after dismissal, but all in all, it was a good day. Ben loved it, which is of absolutely no surprise to us at all. I asked what they did, and he said that "Madame __________ read us stories...IN FRENCH!" I asked if he understood the books, and he said, "Nope!" :)

Tomorrow is the big day

Kindergarten. How did we get here so fast? Why can't I slow this train down? What I wouldn't give to have a bit time back, to relive some of the past 5 1/2 years. Or all of them.



I cannot put into words how much that sweet little boy means to me...but I still miss my baby.