Change your mind while you can!

Neal got in some trouble at his grandparent's new house recently. There had been painting going on previously and several huge empty paint buckets were sitting out on the back yard patio. One had fallen over and leaked a nice small puddle of paint underneath itself. Of course I was not aware of this, probably because I am not 3 years old. :) So on this day, the three of us - Ben, Neal and Anda - were outside, I was busy assembling a picnic table and the boys playing. Suddenly I see Neal stomping in a paint puddle right next to me! Shocked, I look up, and see these little white footsteps all over the patio AND the deck!!! And there is Ben, watching the whole thing from the deck. After all the cleanup I ask Ben if he had seen Neal doing this, to what he answers:
-I was going to tell Neal "good painting!" and then I heard you say "oh, no!" so I changed my mind and I said "Bad painting!"
Isn't it crazy how we have to keep changing our kids' minds for them? Anyway, I thought it was cute. :) And thankfully the deck was going to be painted or covered anyway, so I didn't have to spend my afternoon scrubbing boards.

Take your kid to work.

Yesterday Kevin had a "take your kid to work" day. The boys were very excited and had a great time eating lunch (and ice cream!) with daddy and learning about recycling. They even received gifts, including pencils made from recycled materials like denim and cardboard. Then they had fun sharpening them with daddy's electric pencil sharpener. And then they were ready to go with mommy and get a birthday cake for auntie AnneMarie.

Pump it up!

Once or twice a month we visit a special little place called Pump it up. It's usually for birthday parties and such, but on Tuesay and Wednesday mornings they have pop in playtime for littler munchkins. This last time I remembered to bring the camera. :)

CTR

Ben, showing his friend a CTR ring:
-Look, Daniel, this is my Choose The Right ring. But now, if I put it in this evil cup, when it comes out, it is going to be changed into a Choose The Wrong ring! Mwa-ha-haaa!!! See? Choose the wrong!!!

Scripture Scouts

The boys usually listen to Scripture Scouts when they're falling asleep. A couple nights ago Ben fell asleep quickly, but Neal was awake a long time. I heard him trying to wake Ben up, so I went in to see what was going on. He had been listening to a Scripture Scouts song about the Second Coming, and he was saying, "Ben! Jesus coming!" He was very excited, with a huge smile on his face. I explained that he shouldn't wake Ben up, but he wanted to tell Anda, so we brought her in, and he repeated the good news. I talked to him for a minute, and at one point he told me, "Jesus have wings, for fly."

Clean Room

A few weeks ago (before the bunk beds), Ben spontaneously decided to clean his room. We were doing something else, and he was quiet in his room, and after a while he asked me to go see something. I was absolutely shocked. Then we showed Anda, and she almost fainted, too. Especially since the bunk beds, Ben is now very desirous to keep his room clean. Not sure what prompted the change, but we're not complaining!

Also, today was Parks Appreciation Day, so when we finally got up we drove out to Blueberry Park to help spread mulch and stuff with the ward. On the way there, I was joking around with the kids and stuff, and Ben told me, "You know, Dad, all the other dads aren't so silly all the time, so could you just be like the other dads?"

Ben Goes to Work

Ben likes to copy me. He frequently changes clothes to make sure that our clothes are as similar as possible. If we go out somewhere, he watches me to see how he should dress: if my coat is unzipped, his will be too. A couple weeks ago as I was getting ready for work, he was careful to mimic my every move. He got dressed in work clothes, too. Then he wanted to come with me to work. So he came and drew on some papers in my office for a bit. It only took him a half hour or so before he was bored out of his mind. But it was fun.