Happy 4th Birthday Benjamin!

Today Benjamin turned four year's old. Hard to believe how fast time has flown. He was born at 9:51 AM on October 25, 2005. Now he's "not a little boy anymore Daddy, I'm a big boy now!"

My son, my life, my best pal. I'm proud to be your Dad!

Here is our little celebration after we came back from our birthday dinner out. Benjamin's choice: He loves Olive Garden so we all had a nice meal there.

Benjamin learned to help his Lolo shortly after he learned to walk.
Every meal he makes sure Lolo gets to the table ok.


Cupcake anticipation!


Singing Happy Birthday!


Contemplating a birthday wish


Yeah!


Here we go!


Oh yeah!


Cool book Grandpa, thanks!


More presents


Acting like he's been there before


Iron Man!


He loved his lunch earlier today with Grandma and he likes all the presents he got. Big thanks to Grandma, Aunt Kim & Uncle Bill and Uncle David & Sharon. We enjoyed the afternoon celebrating.

Now a walk down birthday memory lane...

10/26/05: One day old


2006: Benjamin's first birthday




2007: Benjamin's second birthday


2008: Benjamin's third birthday

Benjamin's First Wedding

Been awhile between posts. We've had a busy month and we finally decided on the Honda CR-V. We are planning Benjamin's 4th birthday party. This month has flown by so far. So yesterday we went to Weena's cousin Karina's wedding in Warrenton, Virvinia. It was at The Black Horse Inn. While the weather wasn't ideal, the ceremony was beautiful and the reception was a lot of fun. Benjamin had a great time. He hung out with Mommy and Daddy, played with his cousins and even danced with everyone. We had a very nice time. Here are some pictures of Benjamin all dressed up.

Before we left for the wedding


With Mommy at the wedding reception


Photo before a fireside chat with Benjamin


Hanging out in the rec room at the reception


With Lolo Mario


Dancing with the cousins


Sweet, "Shout" by the Isley Brothers!


Benjamin doing a Tiger Woods fist pump on the dance floor

Car Update

My Civic needs a new transmission so we've decided to shop for a new car. We've decided on a Honda CR-V. We test drove one today that Weena's cousin bought a month ago. Both of us like the feel of the car, it's roomy and most important to us, it's not one of those oversized monsters.



We definitely have a need a roomier car now with Benjamin turning four. The Civic was a clutch, reliable car right up until the end. Overall I got eight and a half solid years of use from it. I was very pleased with it which is one reason we're going to purchase another Honda.

My Civic is still at the repair shop parking lot, the manager there said I could keep it there as long as needed. It was sad cleaning out the car yesterday. I had to disassemble the XM Radio, gather all the CD's and clean out the glove compartment. In doing so, I saw ticket stubs from various events I went to in my car. Springsteen concerts, Maryland football and basketball, a ticket stub from the 2004 MLS Eastern Conference Final between D.C. United and New England Revolution, which is perhaps the greatest game in MLS 16 year history. Ok, I'm biased there but the memories from that night at RFK were incredible. It was like that in every ticket I looked at yesterday as I saw something that brought a smile or a curse word (Caps vs Penguins playoff game five that the Penguins won in OT).

Baseball returns to DC, a Caps game 7 loss to the Flyers in April 2008 and a game seven playoff win over the Rangers this past Spring. NCAA soccer games at University of Maryland during their 2005 and 2008 title run.....I'd jump in my car and head to the event with anticipation and would ride home happy with the win, sad with the loss or happy as hell after seeing a great guitar solo by Nils Lofgren. There were also golf score cards from the beach where we all enjoyed a round of mini golf. You get the idea.

I took Weena to the hospital on her delivery day and I brought Benjamin home from the hospital six days later in that car. It was the slowest ride home ever as I was very nervous. Vacations, trips, family outings. I had a nice look back and the feeling was that I was losing an old pal.

So it's going to be bittersweet when I negotiate a trade in but I know I'm doing the right thing for the three of us in getting a newer and bigger car. I just hope after the dealership fixes up the Civic that whoever purchases it can experience the same reliability and happiness I had with it.

Car Woes

Today we took Weena's car over to the repair shop where she knows a mechanic. She needed a new muffler. My car was acting a little funny on the way to Benjamin's day care, I'd accelerate but the car would take a moment to move. I thought maybe because I was in a hurry to get Benjamin to day care that I didn't let it warm up.

We drop off Weena's car and on the way home it was acting up worse. We're in the middle of the road (during rush hour I might add) when the car stops suddenly. The engine is running but nothing happens when I push the accelerator. I turned on the hazard lights and turned off the engine. A couple folks pulled over to help and after a minute I started the car and was able to move it from the middle of the road to the far right lane.

So we called for a tow truck and got it taken to our mechanic. Weena's car is fixed but I await my fate of my car. I'm hoping it's not a back breaker $$$$ wise. Early in the morning Benjamin indicated he wanted to go with us to see the mechanic but we told him he would be very late for school if we did. Normally I like to show him new things and experiences but I was very glad I took him to school at his normal time today.

I appreciate the folks who stopped to help. Bless you for caring. To the folks who felt it was cool to yell, curse, honk and flip me off, how will you feel if/when this happens to you one day? I really wanted to stop in the middle of a busy highway during rush hour and mess up everyone's day.

2009 Light the Night Walk, Reston VA

Reston VA Light The Night Walk
Date: October 3, 2009 7:00 PM

For the 9th consecutive year, balloons will light up the night sky of Reston, VA during the 2009 Light The Night Walk. Thousands of Walkers will once again fill The Reston Town Center and surrounding streets, enjoying an evening full of family fun as we celebrate and commemorate lives touched by blood cancers. The Reston, VA Walk is one of several Walks hosted by the National Capital Area Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. This nationally recognized campaign consists of evening walks that take place in all 50 states and helps build awareness of blood cancers as well raise funds for cures.

The Light The Night Walk is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's nationwide walk to raise awareness and funds to cure leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma as well as to improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Since its founding in 1949, LLS has invested more than $550.8 million in research specifically targeting leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Although research is responsible for increasing survival rates for these diseases, there's still work to be done. For the second straight year I joined our group at work and Weena and Benjamin will be participating in the walk too.

Ouf firm has a goal of $4,000 and as I write this, we are very close to reaching this!

I've set up a web page if you wish to contribute and help the cause. You may access it here.

If you have further questions or wish to send a donation via mail, please click the View My Complete Profile section to the left of the blog and contact me.

Thank you very much.