Indy Gherkin

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-05T21:33:00.000-04:00

Beach Baby

2010-07-05T21:27:00.002-04:00

Loved the beach but the New Jersey coast water was C-O-L-D! But we had a great time. Ben even got to see some of NYC's sites like the Statue of Liberty as well as the cool dinos at the Nat History Museum. He was wide-eyed in the big city.

Splashing

2010-07-05T21:22:00.002-04:00

Still doesn't like to go underwater, even with his goggles, but we're working on it. Does love the water guns.

Ice Skating

2010-01-26T08:38:00.002-05:00

We took Ben ice skating for his birthday and he really did quite well for his 1st time. There were a few tears of frustration (Ben) and only one broken finger (poor cousin Will), but otherwise, a good time. He said he would definately go back - so I guess he liked it.

4th Birthday

2010-01-26T08:35:00.001-05:00

#4 was terrific. My how time goes by so fast! Spiderman was a hit at the party.

Christmas

2010-01-26T08:29:00.001-05:00

Getting dressed in the morning

2009-11-03T20:45:00.001-05:00

Excerpt from a recent conversation Ben and I had while trying to get out of the house for work/school.

Me: “See Ben, it wasn’t hard, you did it and all by yourself!”
Ben: “Yeah, I know Mom”
Me: “So maybe next time you don’t need to waste 7min crying and you can just get to putting your clothes on?”
Ben: “Well, mama, sometimes I’m tired and I was standing and I needed to just sit down and then I could do it and sometimes that is just how I do things… carrying on and crying. That’s just how I do it.”

Yeah, that's just about right.

Pumpkin Patch

2009-11-03T20:26:00.000-05:00

Caddy, anyone?

2009-11-03T20:24:00.000-05:00

Halloween

2009-11-03T20:09:00.000-05:00

Dancing

2009-10-12T16:34:00.001-04:00

Ben tore up the dancefloor of Bob and Stacey's wedding reception.

Summer Fun

2009-08-12T09:16:00.004-04:00

Of course, like father, like son. When Ben gets out his mower, he uses proper hearing safety. I'm not sure what happened to the eye protection though. Also, black and white (oooh, effect) of the kid on a tricylce at school.

Family Reunion

2009-08-12T09:11:00.002-04:00

We had a Claussen Family Reunion in Chicago this summer at The Morton Arboretum. Good time was had by all. They have amazing grounds, and even a T-Rex!

Wet Banana

2009-08-12T09:09:00.001-04:00

Check out this slider on the ol' slip-n-slid.

New cousin

2009-05-04T08:48:00.002-04:00

Ben is finally a Big Cousin! Bec and Jon welcomed Katheryn Mackenzie on 4/29/09. We are super excited!

Hunting for Easter Eggs

2009-04-26T15:50:00.000-04:00

2009-04-26T15:46:00.002-04:00

Cheering on the Redskins for this years MAC championship game. Oh, so close!

2009-04-26T15:14:00.001-04:00

Snow and more snow.

December Blowout!

2009-01-09T08:47:00.002-05:00

The last 2 weeks of December were busy. Christmas was wonderful, with Gama (Claussen) at our house and Nana and Papa (Jones) in their new place here in town. Aunt Becky (with baby belly) and Uncle Jon flew in from Austin. Then for my birthday, the cousins from St. Louis came in and everyone had a great time together, especially bowling. Then New Years - but I was asleep before midnight - so maybe next year. Here is me with a new TRex I got for my birthday. I love his teeth!

Barn Bash '08

2008-11-05T18:59:00.001-05:00

Courtney & (little) Ben

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

2008-11-05T18:44:00.002-05:00

What are ghost's favorite fruits????? Booberries!

Vacation in Chicago with Ike

2008-09-18T08:22:00.002-04:00

Our long weekend in Chicago got quite soggy but that didn't stop us from having lots of fun. Our hearts go out to those with not such fond memories.

Ft. Wayne Zoo

2008-09-12T16:01:00.000-04:00

Thanks Aunt Becky for the undies!

2008-08-26T19:18:00.003-04:00

Check out these from the Netherlands to cover the nether-regions.

Summer flyby

2008-08-26T18:59:00.003-04:00

Wow! The summer is really going fast. Here are a few memories from June, July and Aug.

Vacation

2008-06-05T08:43:00.002-04:00

We spend last week on Hilton Head Island. Ben did much better with the beach sand this year. He was even jumping in from the side of the pool. Oh, to be on a permanent vacation would be so nice!

Derby Days

2008-05-06T21:14:00.003-04:00

This past weekend we took a quick trip down to Cinti to meet up with old Miami friends, the Smiths, Stoffels, Caldwells and "Uncle" Rick. It was fun to get our kids together and everyone got along well, ie. no hitting or bitting among kids or adults.

Mom, Ben and George

2008-05-05T10:09:00.002-04:00

Also that weekend at the zoo was storytime with Curious George in the dolphin pavillion. We were not sure how Ben would react to seeing George in real life and big. But he went right up to him and gave him a big hug and knuckle knock. Ben even sat through the story and a few songs with the storyteller. It was pretty cool when the dolphins kept swimming around in the background. Now we await the arrival of the koala bears who should be here at the end of the month.

Zoo

2008-05-05T10:01:00.003-04:00

Ben and Bill riding the carousel at the zoo. He really wanted to ride one of his favorite animals, the elephant. We happened to see 3 that day. One of which is the baby, who is close to Ben's age and about 1000 lbs heavier (and almost just as cute).

Play Date

2008-04-01T10:07:00.003-04:00

Isabella came over for some peer play before her baby brother arrives. We all know, those new kids, they only eat, sleep and poop (= not as much fun as playing drums).

Easter

2008-04-01T10:06:00.003-04:00

Easter was cold and wet here, but Bunny managed to find our house and leave a few treats.

Happy St. Patty's Day

2008-03-17T21:18:00.003-04:00

Walrus

2008-03-17T21:13:00.002-04:00

Last time we went to the zoo, the walrus was very friendly. Ben wasn't too sure about the tusks and whiskers.

Cookie Time

2008-01-27T17:39:00.000-05:00

Ben loves to help in the kitchen, especially when cookies are being made. He is good at quality assurance too, although a bit sloopy.

Post Holiday Sloth

2008-01-05T21:51:00.000-05:00

I guess you're never too young to enjoy the post holiday with logging some serious time on the couch catching every possible football game. Check out these lounge lizards... like father, like son.

Happy Birthday Ben!

2008-01-05T21:40:00.000-05:00

We traveled to Austin via St. Louis so Ben celebrated his birthday with Kim, Erik, Andrew, Lizzie and Will and Gama. The theme was Curious George, of course. Ben, unfortunately, wasn't feeling well due to some unidentified virus causing a fever and later rash. But he was a trooper and enjoyed his cake and opening even more toys.

Christmas

2008-01-05T21:26:00.000-05:00

Blog Review

2007-12-21T10:55:00.000-05:00

In case you noticed from past posts...yes, the boy does have more than one shirt! I guess the red stripes is just one of our favorites. But thankfully, Nana and Papa have sent a new one. Now, he loves to be Cowboy Ben.

So grown up!

2007-12-21T09:53:00.000-05:00

Bill and I are now very aware of our words and actions. Ben wants to do everything he sees us doing and literally shakes with frustration when he can't do the same. Yesterday, he had a meltdown when he couldn't manipulate the chopsticks quite right. I tried to tell him that 2 year old Chinese children probably didn't get it yet either, but it didn't help. Recently, he had also wanted to drink from the glasses that Mom and Dad had. I guess it is evident that I already had 1/2 the bottle of wine to allow my baby to handle the fine china. But nevertheless, here he is being such a big boy. Yes, that is milk.

Thanksgiving

2007-12-02T21:09:00.000-05:00

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving Holiday with Gama, Aunt Kim and Uncle Erik and "the cousins" (Andrew, Lizzie and Will). Ben had a wonderful time playing with the big kids. We stuffed ourselves per usual fashion and enjoyed the time together. We are all truely thankful for family.

Dancing Ben

2007-11-01T21:17:00.001-04:00

Hello all. Ben sure likes to dance. Please enjoy some of his best moves seen here.

Halloween

2007-11-01T20:47:00.000-04:00

Ben had a great Halloween. He enjoyed giving out the candy almost as much as Trick-or-Treating. It was such a nice evening that we all were on the porch sitting by our big pumpkin while we gave out treats.

Pumpkin Carving

2007-10-30T21:02:00.001-04:00

We had fun carving our Giant Pumpkin this past weekend. This pumpkin was so big, Ben could almost fit inside. It especially looks great at night all lit up. It will be great on Halloween when all the kids in the neighborhood come to our house and see it.

Awesome Autumn

2007-10-29T21:45:00.000-04:00

Autumn here has been amazingly warm which makes for some great time outside.

Reggie

2007-10-29T21:38:00.000-04:00

On October 16th, we said goodbye to Reggie. We will miss her, but remember all the good times we had.

What happened at school today?

2007-10-10T13:03:00.000-04:00

One of the local fire departments brought their rescue dogs to the Day Nursery for a visit. Ben is giving Kasey a "good dog" pat. Aren't they beautiful dogs? Days like this go in the daycare "pro" column!

Maybe Next Year Cubs Fans!

2007-10-08T21:45:00.000-04:00

Ben is having a vocabulary eruption. Every day he practices new words and is stringing nouns and verbs together. It is quite an amazing process to watch someone learn. We are marveling at his little mind at work. He is excited for Halloween. We are working on "Trick or Treat". He wore his costume tonight and ran around like crazy. What to know what he'll be.... you'll have to wait until the Oct 31st entry.

Game 1

2007-10-03T21:50:00.000-04:00

It's a big night for Cubies fans! Ben didn't make it up for the late game, but he is still cheering. This could be the year. Go Cubs.

First Blog

2007-09-30T20:17:00.000-04:00

Today was a great day! We hit the zoo early for a rare tiger close up and both baby elephants out playing. We had great temps and cool breezes. We were a bit concerned about the Colts tonight when Ben peed all over his Harrison jersey. I guess the team pulled through with the W, but Marvin was out early due to injury. That is some potent pee. We'll have to be more careful next week. We are still in process of getting this year's Halloween costume. I can't believe it is October already. Soon we'll head out to the orchard. Yum!