Spotlight on Ben

Ben was excited that it was his turn to be the Spotlight in his 2nd grade class a few weeks ago. He filled out a questionnaire and got to take photos to put on a special spotlight bulletin board in his classroom. He chose the pictures he wanted to take, and I thought they were cute, so I thought I'd post them here:










First season of T-Ball Summer 2007.


Halloween 2007.





With his cactus named Tom, whom we adopted after a trip to Arizona.












Christmas Blizzard of 2006 in Denver.








Ben at his 2 year birthday party eating pasta.





Ben is such an amazing kid. He loves to learn and remembers everything. He is still very interested in weather, and is also into astronomy. He loves to look at the stars, point out Jupiter and the International Space Station when it floats by in the night sky. He has also been showing an interest in minerals lately. The other day he told me he would find me a huge diamond in the ground so I could be rich! Such a good boy to take care of his mama!

Ben is so smart, too. He is reading way beyond his grade level, is an excellent speller (got 4th place in the 2nd grade spelling bee the other day), and says Math is his favorite subject. His imagination and creativity is really coming out in his drawings of tornadoes, gemstones, and robot inventions. I never know what he'll think of next. He loves to teach others as well. Last night he said to Erik "Hey Erik, want to look at math flashcards so you can be smart?" They were 7 times tables, and he kept giving Erik hints like "7 x 8. Its one more than 55." Erik enjoyed this game. A few weeks ago he drew a poster his teacher showed the class of a way to remember how many cups, pints, quarts, etc are in a gallon, and could hardly wait to share it with our church Home Teachers when they came over.


Ben constantly entertains us. His teacher tells me he is the class clown, which didn't surprise me, but I know that he didn't get that from me! (or Shaun. I think it skipped a generation). He loves to tell Laffy Taffy jokes and to make all of us laugh. Shaun and I remember that from the time he was still quite small...before he could talk...he LOVED to laugh HARD! You know how something just catches you off guard and makes you suddenly burst out laughing? He would try to do that to himself again and again just to get the rush! He still loves to laugh until his belly hurts and he can hardly breathe and he has Erik to laugh right along with him. They really get each other going sometimes. As a parent, its a joy to watch!

He has been all I could have hoped for and more as a Big Brother to Erik from Day One. I love to overhear the games and make-believe that they come up with together. I still can't believe how consistently inclusive and patient Ben is with his younger brother. When I was expecting Erik, I read up on sibling rivalry and feared I'd be dealing with jealousy when the new baby came because it seemed so common and inevitable. Well, to my amazement, I've never needed any of that info with Ben. He doesn't have a mean or jealous bone in his body, so I should've known not to worry. And now he is so fun to watch with Alex. Alex smiles and can't keep his eyes off Ben when he gets home from school each day. I'm sure they will have a great relationship as well.

Ben, I know this will embarrass you, but we are so proud of the person you are! When we see what a great young man you are becoming, it makes us feel like we must be pretty amazing parents, but really we know that it all comes from inside you! We are so lucky to be your Mom and Dad! We enjoy every minute with you and are so happy you are in our family!