First Recital

Today was Benjamin's first piano recital.  He started piano lessons about 8 months ago and has really enjoyed it so far.  He practices happily most of the time.  I'm very grateful for that because I know how hard it was for my mother to get me to practice!  I also remember always being terribly nervous before recitals, but Benjamin wasn't very nervous at all.  He was excited to have me hear the songs because I'd never heard what the second song sounded like as a duet or what the third song sounded like with the special sound effects he'd planned.  He composed it himself at home on our piano and then his teacher helped him set it up to play in a cool Hawaiian way for the recital. So he was more excited about surprising me than anything else.  He said he went up there and forgot there were other people watching him.  I think it all sounded wonderful.  Afterwards the teacher gave all the kids a carnation.  I thought Benjamin might think getting a flower was girly, but he told me, "I'm so glad I got a red one since I like red."  Thus the whole evening was a complete success.  We're so proud of him.

It's Out!

Benjamin's first tooth was quite a stubborn one!  It took a week from the time it started wiggling until it finally fell out on Sunday morning while I was in the shower.  I stepped out to find Benjamin standing there proudly holding it in his hand.  "Look what I have!" he declared, beaming.  I put it in a baggie since it's all I had readily on hand.  (Yes, I got dressed first).  And then I took a picture.  His new tooth is already so far out that the picture almost doesn't show there's a hole there.  But in reality, the adult tooth is quite a ways back from the hole.  Please let that straighten itself out on its own!

After church I gave Benjamin a little plastic treasure chest designed for teeth with the words "tooth saver" on it so we wouldn't lose it.  Of course, he insisted on carrying it with him everywhere and letting Bella and Christian hold it too.  I repeatedly asked him to give it to me so he wouldn't lose it, but a couple hours later he came to me wailing that it was lost.  "I lost my tooth and then I lost my tooth!"  We searched high and low for that little box but it was nowhere to be found.  Oh the stress - would the tooth fairy still come!?!?  He prayed and prayed to find his tooth, but it didn't turn up.  Luckily the tooth fairy was forgiving and still brought him a dollar and a little certificate which now proudly hangs on the fridge.  Luckily last night he had a bit of an anger management issue (read: temper tantrum) and ripped the cushions off the couch, only to discover his tooth!!  He was so excited. All's well that ends well.

Yesterday we discovered how to to get more bang for your buck at the zoo: confuse what time it closes.  Turns out the zoo closes at 4pm in the Winter, but I thought it closes at 5pm as it does in the Summer, so we were clear at the back of the zoo when I started to notice it was very empty around us.  However, it's winter so I didn't think of much of it and thought how nice it is not to fight the crowds.  We enjoyed the prairie dogs, the wolverine, the buffalo and the bald eagle, etc. and then we wanted to check out the polar bears and sea lions again - the kids love watching them swim overhead in their tunnel.  When we got there, however, the door was closed.  What?  Why would they close off the polar bear exhibit in the winter - that was the best time to see them!  We walked around a bit more and watched the bears and arctic foxes from outside and then an employee rode by on a bike.  I stopped him and asked why it was closed.  He looked at me funny and said, "Well, we close at four."  I looked at my watch - 4:30.  Ooops!  So here we were in the middle of the zoo 30 minutes past closing time.  So we headed out, but decided to take our time since no one seemed terribly anxious for us to leave.  We passed several more employees but no other visitors.  Not a single employee seemed to even notice us or even said anything.  We stopped at the camels, the ducks, the turtle and frog statues where the kids like to climb around, etc. and finally it was 4:55 when two zoo security guards came riding by.  "What are you still doing here this late?  Were you way in the back?" they asked.  "Yup, sorry.  Didn't realize what time you close."  They eyed me critically, said nothing more, but then followed us the rest of the way out.  Good thing they did, too, because all the exits were already locked!  In the end, we did leave at 5pm, just as planned!  Nothing like having a zoo all to yourself!  It was a fun afternoon.  The kids loved it but were a bit bummed that it's not like in the books where all the animals come out of their cages and have parties after all the visitors go home.  Maybe we just didn't stay late enough.  Guess there's always next time!