As the boys were outside playing today, I laid on a blanket and enjoyed our beautiful backyard. When the boys came over to join me, we talked about the beautiful world Heavenly Father and Jesus have given us. We went for a walk to find other beautiful things in every color. Preston found these white flowers. I enjoyed his brown dirty hand even more! We also enjoyed the blue sky, green grass, and purple flowers.
This afternoon was a little crazy. The kids were running around while I was trying to make dinner and I was stressed. Then, I noticed that I didn’t hear them. I went into the family room and this is what I saw. Isn’t it the sweetest sight a mother could see?
Preston wants to be a builder when he grows up (no, he did not get this from his dad). He talks about it all the time. One day, we had a huge discussion about how he could be a builder and an astronaut (another of his dreams). He was afraid he couldn’t be both. I assured him that he could in fact do both if he really wanted to. Once that was figured out he worried the rest of the day what he would do with his million tools that he is going to have when he grows up. He knew he wouldn’t be able to get a toolbox big enough to carry them all and yet he would need them all to fix things. I told him he could have a huge garage to keep them in and carry a toolbox with just the tools he would need to build his projects. That satisfied him so he went to his Grandpa Jeff and got his own toolbox and tools to get him started.
We celebrate Ella and Brennen’s birthdays together. They were testing out the party favors before the party got started!
I accidentally bought Preston “girl” pullups. I hoped he wouldn’t notice (and Ella wouldn’t tell him). When he woke up this morning he told me, “I put my pull up on last night and it looked strange like a girl pullup.” All I said was, “Well that’s weird.” Luckily he never figured out it really was a bag of girl pullups!
Preston loves when Phil tells him stories. He listens so intently and gets involved in the story. I love watching his facial expressions as he listens. If Phil isn’t home to tell the bedtime story then I have to. Each and every time, Preston informs me that, “Daddy tells better stories than you do!”
Phil took Preston and Brennen for a hike today while I had a photo shoot. It was a nice day and I was happy they were going outside for a while. When they came home Preston handed me this bouquet he picked along the way. Phil said they really had to search for flowers in the woods since it’s the end of the season and they are starting to die.
I’m grateful they thought of me!
My parents have a swimming pool and we enjoy it all summer long. I take the kids there to swim two or three times a week. Occasionally Phil is home from work and is able to go swimming with us. The kids love it! This year Ella learned to swim in the deep end and Preston enjoys jumping in with his arm floaties on. Brennen loves to run around the pool and make me a nervous wreck! I am glad we are able to spend so much time together by the pool. I hope my parents never move!
The other day I made split pea soup. All my kids have loved this soup in the past but lately if you mention anything green (like peas), they think they don’t like it. So, when Preston asked what was for dinner, I quickly responded, “alligator soup.” He was intrigued. He started eating and asked, “What are the carrots?” Then he asked about the potatoes and ham. I told him they were things like alligator tail or toes etc. He thought my alligator soup was wonderful and ate two bowls full. I was so glad it worked.
Another great thing that works for him is reverse psychology. All you have to do is say something like, “I bet you can’t do that” and he is all over it! I dread the day when these kind of things stop working on him!
Last night at 3:00 in the morning, Preston came into our bedroom. Phil took him back up to bed and tucked him in again. Then, a few minutes later, Ella was in our room. I told her to get back in bed. Then, a little later, I hear a terrible clashing noise that kept going and going. I finally got out of bed to see what the noise was and Preston and Ella were sitting in the family room playing with the blocks together. Remember, it’s 3:00AM!!! I told them to get in bed and back to bed I went. Why on earth they both woke up at three in the morning and why they decided to play nicely together (normally they would be fighting over the blocks), I have no idea! In the morning I asked Preston if they went back to bed and he said, “Yes, but first we played with Ella’s angels in her room, and then she read me stories, and then we slept in Ella’s bed.” Then he showed me the block castle they made. We were all tired the next day but I thought it was cute how well they played together. If only they could do that during daylight hours!
