Super Thursday!!

Wow! What a super day!! A super, big, exciting day!!

We have been planning for the last week for the Boosterthon Fun Run at school. Bennett has personally called every relative (or emailed, in the case of Uncle Chad, who is overseas :) getting pledges - he called. Not me or Brad. He was SO excited!!

Here are some pictures of the big event (which, by the way, occurred in the rain - and resulted in these mediocre quality pictures... but you'll still get the idea!! :)

And... he's off!!

First lap down... gotta get the shirt marked...

The first of many water breaks...

The American Idol lap (air guitar!!)

I love the Boosterthon!! Bennett completed the whole 35 laps!! Now he gets to call everyone and tell them how much money they have to pay up :)

After school, we rested for a little bit and then Bennett had his red belt test at Tae Kwon Do.

Here he is focusing before the big test...

His form...

One Step Sparring... (He's chopping that kid in the neck - Go Bennett :)

Preparing for the board break...

He broke it!! Yippee!!

Congrats!!

Putting on the new belt...

He did it!!

Bennett totally NAILED his test!! I mean, 100% confident. Not one mistake. He did great! I am so proud!! He is so proud. There is something so wonderful in seeing your child succeed after trying and preparing so hard. Such a blessing!!

Trunk or Treat fun...

Long, long ago...

Well, actually, back before school started this year, Brad and Bennett hatched a plan for our 'Trunk' at our church's Trunk or Treat celebration... The theme?? Star Wars, of course!!

Bennett began planning right away and has thought of little else since that day about 2 months ago. He's drawn pictures, planned costumes, drafted family members, and talked and dreamt about it. It really has been so fun for me too. To see him so excited it priceless.

So, here's our trunk...

Bennett drew a scene and picked out his figures and vehicles to complete it...

And... the costumes...

Han Solo, Luke, and Leia

Can you tell that we REALLY love our son??? :)

and Luke and Padme :)

(Gigi really loves Bennett too!!)

And, this is how we ended our weekend...

I can count on one hand how many times Bennett has fallen asleep without being told to.

I guess that the Carnival at Nana's church yesterday, church this morning, a baseball game, and then Trunk or Treat really wore our little man out.

We are such a lucky family :)

the grand reveal...

Did you even know that we were remodeling our master bathroom??? Well... we were!! :)

Our bathroom has needed work since we first moved in to the house - remember that 'cultured' marble with the gnat sealed for all eternity in the counter top? Lovely as that little gnat was, I was ready for him to go...

You can imagine my thrill, uh, I mean, dismay, when our shower began leaking into the basement. Being the opportunist that I am, I jumped on the chance to make some big changes...

Here are the before pictures:

I'm sparing you the pictures of the disgusting mold and mildew that lurked below the floor...

Mr. Gnat lived, I mean died and was buried, right there in the corner of the countertop...

Turns out that the bathtub is the only thing that we kept...

Ok, and now for the after... I know you can hardly wait!!

Look at that nice clear (non-frosted) shower door!! And that front on the bathtub!! Oh, and that nice new wall color?? (I do miss the brown, though...)

Look at that beautiful tile... no more mildewy fake marble!!

One of the major challenges of the old set-up was that we had no storage - namely, no linen closet. Poor Brad had to give up his closet space for a sweater-organizer-turned-towel-holder. See that corner cabinet on the bottom? The one that spins around?? It houses all our linens!! AND....Look at that AWESOME corner cabinet!! I've got my hairdryer and all our toiletries in there. It is so great!

(and there are no gnats in that granite!!) :)

You can't really see much in this picture - but I wanted you to see the pattern of the tile on the floor... it's so pretty :)

So, that's it. Our new bathroom...

Lessons learned:

1) It may seem like a steep price when the estimate comes, but rest assured, you will want to spend more as the project gets going...

2) Having a picture to show the lady at the tile store makes all the difference...

3) Having a sister who find the 'inspiration' photo makes even more difference :)

4) A good contractor is hard to find - but I found one!!

5) If Brad's current job doesn't work out, I think that I might recommend plumbing. They get paid well. Or tile. Or painting.

6) Construction dust is gross. It gets everywhere. You must vacate the area within 50 feet of the construction area.

7) Brad will let you have the space in his closet once taken up by linens for the excess shoes in your closet. He's that kind of guy :)

So, if you come over, I'll let you try out our new shower. I think you'll like it!! :)

The Pros and Cons...

I've been reminded lately that with every pro, there is usually a con. Take, for instance, Bennett's love of drawing and writing... This time last year, as we were just getting started in kindergarten, Bennett would barely consent to holding a pencil or marker in his hand, much less enjoy it. Each time a paper came home with something that I could recognize, I saved it, wrote the date on it, and hoped that one day he might be able to draw a person with not only arms and legs, but also all of the features of the face.

Well, once his interest was sparked, in typical Bennett fashion, he took off. He started drawing. All the time. This is definitely a pro - I love to see his creativity in action!

He's drawing constantly. Really. It is so strange to me, but now he asks to draw in between tasks. I love it! Here is a picture of his drawing desk...

And here, you can see that the sides of the desk are filled with pictures as well:

His favorite subjects? Star Wars, of course. Sometimes I get a Scooby Doo or a Charlie Brown. And, every once in a while, I get a family portrait... the problem? Well, sometimes, he draws very realistically:

See how tall and skinny Brad is? Very true. See me? Although I am obviously very happy in the picture (I am jumping up and celebrating), I am noticeably, well, let's just say I'm wider :) I'd count this as a 'con'.

Let's turn to his prolific writing... He can write and read just about anything now. His interest in this was just like drawing - it came over night and seemed to take on a life of it's own. Suddenly he was reading signs all over the place (pro) - and we couldn't spell things in secret any more (con)!

Another 'pro' is that things are clearly labeled in our house:

I've explained several times that 'EXIT' has an 'I', but he continues to tell me that that's not how it's done where he sees it. Interesting.

But, the biggest 'con' to this writing ability came to me very early on Sunday morning. Bennett got up before the agreed time (5:32 to be exact - a full hour before the agreed upon time) and I told him that he could lay on the floor (we've made him a pallet on the floor for these frequent occasions). He continued to talk to me - 'What time is it?' 'Can I get in the bed with you?' 'Is daddy here?' 'Can you feel my loose tooth?' 'When will our Halloween costumes get here?'. I finally responded with 'You are making me angry. Please be quiet' or something along those lines and he got quiet. I awoke a few minutes later to find this note on our bed:

In case you can't read it, it says "Dear mommy and daddy I have decidid to stay in my room all day becos noone loves me any more. Your Son Bennett Ray Steenwyk"

Definitely a 'con'.

Just in case you were wondering - he came out of his room about 10 minutes later to make sure we had seen the note. He didn't return to his room.

Oh, and he knows that we love him very much! :)

Fall ball

So, Bennett decided that instead of playing soccer this Fall, he'd like to give baseball a try. Since we are committed to Tae Kwon Do, there was no way that we could sign up for 3 sports, so we've given soccer a break, went on a shopping spree at a local sporting goods store, and headed across the street to the ball fields.

Keep in mind that the last time Bennett had a bat in his hand, which was about 2 years ago, this picture allowed me to create a scrapbook page titled 'shiner'...
:)

Anyway, he has been SO excited about playing baseball. I've been assured by my well-intentioned friends that Fall Ball is laid back and so much fun... I bought in, and we signed up.

Well, fast forward through 3 practices (one missed because of some mystery illness last week, and 2 others that had me cringing as the ball kept whizzing past the bat - oh, but he swings with all his might!!)... and you come to today. The first game of the season.

He got dressed and looked SO CUTE! He was ready to play. He felt no pressure at all. He never does. I feel it... he doesn't. I breathed a sigh of relief when the first one on our team struck out. At least Bennett wouldn't be the first to strike out...

He got up to bat. Look at that stance...


The coach pitched the first ball...
and he hit it!! Look up there at that picture!!! HE HIT IT!!!

And he ran like the wind for first base!! (I have pictures of each base, but I will spare you :) He ran to second with the next batter - then stole third!!

And here he is... a sort-of-slide into home!! He made a run!! (is that what you call it?? :)

And you know what??? He did that SAME EXACT THING the next time that he got up to bat!! I'm tearing up as I type this!! HE DID IT!!

Look how proud he is!!

And, then, at the end of the game, Coach Mark called the boys together and talked about how each boy did such a great job. He got the game ball out - and gave it to Bennett!! I was so proud! My heart was so happy for my little boy.

This whole game has really got me thinking... I went into that game just hoping that he wouldn't be too discouraged when he struck out. After all, he really didn't hit the ball many times in practice. I had heard about how they were playing with only 3 strikes. How will he do it?? I left that game beaming with pride for my little boy. I am just so happy that he is happy...

Being a mom is such a great job -and a position that God uses to teach with over and over!! I can honestly say that I am amazed each and every day!! Yes, there are some days when I'm complaining about being stuck at home with a child who is 'sick'. Or I'm wondering if my oh-so-talkative 6 year old to could please not talk non-stop for just 1 minute. But those aren't really complaints - they are just me thinking about me and what I want. Most days I'm just so thankful that God has given me this little boy. The little boy that never ceases to amaze me. And proves to me that I need to stop thinking that I already know what is going to happen and just wait and see. Wait and see that the LORD is good!!

What a Difference a Year Makes...

for me, anyway :) I didn't cry on the first day of school this year! (or the 2nd, for that matter!!)

Yes, Bennett started FIRST GRADE on Thursday. It's hard to believe that he could possibly be in the first grade, but it's true.

We met his teacher on Wednesday. He had been telling me (and Gigi and Nana) that he was nervous about school starting. Just a little. He told Gigi he was nervous about getting bad grades (interesting, since last year he got many a frowny face without any apparent guilt...) I think he was more unsure of what to expect - and after meeting his teacher (who is so cute and great) and seeing the room, he was not nervous any more. It may have been the calculator that got him... that was what he chose to play with while I filled out the paperwork...

Here he is on the first day in our normal first-day-of-school picture spot...

Here he was on his first day of school (mother's day out) in 2004... (now that makes me want to cry!!) He's still just as cute :)

Please note that this year, he didn't have to use the kindergarten 'bag' so he got to choose his own backpack. Of course, we got... Starwars!!!

He was happy as he got out of the van - excited to start a nap-free day of school.

When I picked him up, he reported that it was a good day. He ate chicken nuggets for lunch. Did 'fitness type things' in PE. He didn't get to share his 'Me Stew' yet. He went to art and made a picture of him sitting on the couch (complete with pillows, a blanket, and Pavel's cabinet in the background). I can't wait to see that picture! They played outside of the playground (the playground was closed). And they read Junie B. Jones (which we don't really approve of, but it allowed us a teaching moment about how we can listen to those types of things, but not act that way...) And - he didn't have to take a nap...

First grade promises to be a great year!!

The more things change, the more things stay the same...

Well, it has been a whirl-wind couple of weeks... and it looks like the next week will be just the same. I want to make time stand still and delay the start of school for oh, say, another couple months.

We had a great time in Michigan last week. It was the first vacation in a VERY long time that I was not ready to come home. We really could have stayed for at least another week. I'll post a few pics in my next post...

Right now I'm thinking about Bennett. I always get a little sentimental as school starts, don't I? :) Here are a few pictures of him in Michigan. Brad's cousins, Ryan and Keith, own a landscaping business, and it is every boy's (big and little) dream come true. They have so many 'toys' that I think Bennett's eyes just about popped out of his head when he got the chance to see those BIG machines up close.

And actually DRIVE them...

There must be big machines like this in heaven for all the boys (again, regardless of age!!) to ride around on. Bennett was really a good dumper-operator (what do you call that big bucket in the front called??) He took it all very seriously :)

It reminds me of what seems like just yesterday - but it was really almost 5 years ago - when we visited Keith and Ryan's shop. Again, Bennett was so excited he could barely stand it. Just look at him...

At this point in his life, Bennett yelled 'UCK!! UCK!!' every time we saw a truck. He said it for EVERY truck. No matter how many we saw in a row. Seriously, as we drove around, I would sometimes think I was going to go crazy with how many times he said 'UCK!! UCK mommy!!'

I remember those times with such sweetness. He was (and still is!!) such a sweet boy. So much passion for life and new experiences. Ahhh. And then, when I think of what's still to come... wow! I'm so blessed to have the chance to be his mommy! (He tells me that he will always call me mommy. I told him that he might change his mind one day :)

Oh, and at least he's not too big to still fit in the bucket!!