April Happenings

William turned 8 months this week.  He is scooting and army crawling all over the place, but hasn't yet figured out that if he lifts his belly off the ground he can go way faster.  However, he zooms all over in his walker and gets into lots of trouble.  His crazy hair is still growing straight up--it is so hillarious and everyone comments on it.  He smiles and laughs all day.

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Ben got shingles a few weeks ago.  I took him into the doctor and they had three pediatricians all looking at him because they had never seen an 8-year-old with shingles.  Shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox and I learned that children who have chicken pox before age 1 (Ben had it at 11 months old) are more likely to get shingles. 

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We went to our first Blue and Gold Banquet for cub scouts last night.  They had a cake contest, so we made a baseball cake.  I think it turned out really cute.  The boys each got to bring home a gold fish that was used as a table decoration from the banquet.  Ours lasted about 24 hours.  Ben cried and cried tonight about his dead goldfish.  Who knew such strong attachments could form in such a short time.  He wants another one, but I'm not sure I could keep a new one alive any longer.

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I spent two late nights this week helping Rachel finish up her science fair project (including one last minute run to Office Depot for a new ink cartridge).  She did a great job and got an A on it, earning all the points possible.  It was interesting that she was much more concerned about the color of paper used for matting her results, and developing a fancy alliteration for her title than she was about the actual science of the project. 

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I made this recipe for baked oatmeal this week.  It is so good!  I like it warm out of the oven with a little milk.  It is also really good leftover and I've eaten it for lunch and a late night snack.  So good and so filling.  I like it best with blueberries and chopped apples, although I haven't yet tried it with strawberries on top, which sounds wonderful.  (I cut the recipe in half and it still made a lot.)  I love finding new good recipes!

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Ben is studying Australia at school and he made a boomerang which he brought home yesterday.  I had to sign permission slip for him to bring it home, saying that there were dangers involved and Ben promised to be careful, etc. The kids took it to the backyard to try it out and it ended up on the roof with the first throw.  I'm thinking it might stay there a while.
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Saturdays these days mean baseball games.  Ben is loving playing baseball and is pretty good at it.  He caught three pop-flies in a row last weekend. 

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The garden is growing!  I planted some more peas and the corn today.  I also bought a new rose bush and lilac bush and got those planted.  Yay for spring!