DS Wars, Round II

Remember the DS wars with Maggie?  Yes, she constantly took Ben's DS and we would find her playing it in her room, the bathroom, etc.  I was told several times "she's trying to tell you something-she wants her own DS"  After trying several other options, I finally broke down and bought Maggie her own DS.    I was hoping this would be the end of it all.  Ultimately, she broke her DS and then she broke Ben's (mainly because she would put the games in her mouth and eventually shorted out the machines).

So, where are we now?

Everything has been OK for quite a while.  Then recently Maggie has decided that it's OK for her to go into Ben's room and take his iPod.  I guess it was just a matter of time.  She took his iPod at the weekend and I told her once again that she cannot go into Ben's room and take his stuff.  Fast forward to yesterday.....

Driving home in the car, this is the conversation:

Nora:  Mrs Eckerle had to take Maggie's iPod off her again today and she told her that next time she brings it to school, she's going to call her parents

Me:  What?  What iPod?  Maggie doesn't have an iPod.

Nora:  Well, she had one yesterday

Maggie:  ARRGGHHHHH....Thanks, Nora.....

Me:  Maggie, did you take Ben's iPod to school?

Maggie:  .......yes......

Me:  Well Nora, you can tell Mrs Eckerle that next time she can call the police, never mind us, because she took that from Ben

When the story finally comes out (in whatever version there is from Maggie), it turns out that Maggie has taken Ben's iPod to school several times and it's been taken away from her several times too.  I had never even noticed. 

Mrs Eckerle sent me an email last night to ask me to talk to Maggie.  Apart from the iPod, she's gone back to flat out not listening to her teachers, talking in class, making a mess, etc.  She was kept back after school to clean up her mess yesterday.  All I can think is that I'm glad school is almost over for another year.

Worst thing is that Mrs Eckerle told me that she had told Maggie to put the iPod in her back pack.  It is nowhere to be found, not in the back pack and not at school either.  I'm really hoping it's turned up today.  I told Maggie that if she does not find it, then she will be getting an iPod for her birthday and immediately turning it over to Ben.....

Sometimes I really want to tear my hair out, but It won't change anything and I'll also be bald!!!!!

Mini Olympics at SLGC 2013

SLGC has a mini Olympics day for the kids that do recreational classes.  They did a really nice job of making them feel very special and that they had accomplished something.

The kids did the bar, floor, vault and balance beam.
http://www.youtube.com/edit?video_id=fyr5olCe_G8&video_referrer=watch&ns=1
After they all got T shirts and a medal

Maggie was very happy

Was Ben that impressed that he tied her shoes for her???!!!!

Greta's prom

Greta's high school prom was last night. She had bought a dress a while ago and she got Viktorija to do her hair and make up yesterday morning.  She was ready to go by noon!!!  She had asked someone at school to go with her and they went with her friend Liberty and her boyfriend.  They were going over to the park to take pictures, but I took a few before they left.

Greta and Brendan

Greta and Liberty

Brendan bought Greta a corsage, beautiful.  She said "It's just like the movies"  She's right....

Happy 12th Birthday Ben

Seriously-when on earth did Ben grow up on us so much that he's now 12?????  So hard to believe with every year that goes by.....
He really had no idea what he wanted for his birthday.  Actually, he had a lot of ideas, but none of them were things that he was going to get-battle between dad and son!!!!
Sam talked to him about how difficult a 12th birthday can be because you are growing up and things aren't the same as in previous years.  Ben listened and decided to wait until he really wanted something.  I bought him a balloon bouquet from the dollar store and we found a really cool light in Eddie Bauer.  I think he had a pretty good birthday

Balloons and medals!!!!

We bought Ben this white chocolate mousse cake from Whole Foods, actually it wasn't as good as I thought it would be

Visit to the zoo with the girl scouts

The Girl Scouts at Hudson adopted an elephant at the zoo and so we were able to do a tour at the River's Edge with some of the volunteers last Saturday.  We took Taylor with us and her mother met us there.  Taylor and Maggie are great friends.  I took this great picture of them sitting on a turtle at Turtle Park.  It's very similar to the one Amy took of Ben and Lucia about 8 years ago!!!

Taylor walked the whole way into the zoo with her arm around Maggie-so sweet

The girls had a lot of fun as you can see

Ben bought another alligator to go with his other one-will he ever grow out of stuffed toys????  The little girl with him is Taylor's little sister.  She's obsessed with both Ben and Maggie!!!!

I had to take at least a couple of pictures of the animals!!!!  I managed to zoom in enough with my new camera to get a fairly good shot of one of the cheetahs

Last gymnastics meet of the year

The last meet of the season was on Saturday night. Ben was on top form and won first place overall (even though he only placed first in one individual event).  His rings routine was phenomenal, he scored 10.7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAE1BN_08Pc&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgeoZEsx_7I&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ5gse2Tg_s&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zs0v8QXTi8&feature=youtu.be
 

Greta's first baseball game

Second home game of the season.  It was a perfect night, warm and breezy.  We were sitting up in the nose bleed section, but I kind of like being up there anyway.  We took some pictures when we were a little closer to the field.  Ben made me take this one because you could see the arch so well

Ben and Maggie

......and Greta!!!!

I don't think Greta was too impressed with the game, but she loved the stadium!!!!

The Cardinals won, we saw a home run and the fireworks.  We also stayed til the end of the game, walked to the car and were home within 30 mins.  Perfect baseball game really.....

Walking with a crazy kid

Ben walked to Hudson with me today to get the girls from school.  It gave us the opportunity to talk to each other with no interruptions.  Of course, that meant we had some entertaining conversations.  At one point, I said, oh Ben, I really want Cici's tonight.  He replied, I don't.  I want to go home, clean my teeth, drink some milk and be healthy.....

Later, when we had the girls, I was carrying Zoe's back pack and Ben commented that she should be carrying it.  I said  I couldn't help it because she was so cute (she's only in 1st grade).  He said "oh, you're one of "those" people who is always saying "oh, I'll do it because you are so cute", "yes, you can go to U Gas because you are so cute".  You should be saying no you can't go to U Gas, but you just can't help yourself......"

Shaw Nature Reserve

Spring arrived suddenly in St. Louis and we decided to go to Shaw Nature Reserve on Sunday afternoon.  They had taken the cover off the tepee and Ben had to scratch his name in the dirt inside it!!!

They both love the prairie house.  I don't think they can wrap their heads around the fact that people used to live in houses that small!!!

The water in the river was FREEZING!!  I walked into it for a short while but my feet couldn't even get numb enough to not be painful!!  Of course, Ben and Maggie waded around in it for ages.

Ben built a seat for me on the beach

They love to play football at Shaw, it's about the only place they do play it.

Ben found this shell in the river and found a bunch of very cool rocks. 

This is a great picture of Maggie sitting on the rocks

The primary reason we went to Shaw was so we could see the daffodils-OK, that was my primary reason for going!!!!

There wasn't much flowering yet and the trees are still pretty bare, but I found these really pretty flowers.  I suspect they could be weeds though!!!!

We had our usual picnic by the lake after we got back.

Latest growth appointment

Amazingly, Ben has grown almost 2 inches in the past 5 months (he's now 4 ft 9.2 inches).  He's moved from the 22nd percentile in November to above the 30th percentile.  It's really amazing how much he has grown.  He has a bone age Xray done today, so we'll see if they can predict how tall he will be.  Even though his growth is delayed, apparently his puberty development is actually 18 months ahead of his age-no wonder he is moody!!!  He even has a 12 year molar coming through, well I guess he will be 12 in a couple of weeks so it's not surprising!!! 
Ben's growth age came back as 12 to 12.5 so he has caught up completely and they predict he will be 5 ft 9 by the time he stops growing-not bad for a European!!!!

Great Maggie quote

Julie, Maggie and I were walking the dog yesterday and I was telling Julie how busy Maggie was these days.  Maggie pipes up:  I wish there was two of me, then my other self could do all of that and I could nap.
WHAT??????!!!!!!

Dyeing Easter eggs

We always go to Arline's to dye eggs before Easter. Arline always lets the kids put her Easter baskets together, they love it!!!

Maggie looks so industrious dyeing her eggs.  This year, we did some glitter eggs!!!!

The finished product

Easter Sunday

We cleaned up well for church on Sunday morning!!! Ben even said "Mum, I can't believe you got us dressed up without any fuss"  I took Maggie to the resale shop to see if I could find her something to wear.  I found this great dress and cardigan for her-the cardigan even had the original tag in it!!!  Of course, Mum had to take a bunch of photos before we left for church!!

Jan and Julie's church has a new minister, she is really good with the kids.  Maggie goes to church with Jan and Julie quite often, so she knows the routine.  This is the first time she has been willing to go down and sit with the other kids

I took this picture when we went outside to let the balloons go.  It was an absolutely beautiful day, perfect to be outside

Jan and Julie got the hammock out and the kids argued all day about who was going to lie in it (of course!!)

Greta managed to get her first sun burn of the season!!!

The kids did the usual egg hunt in the back yard