Flowers from my "Boys"!

I thought I better post before everyone thinks Ben has taken over my (oh I meant to say "our") blog!:)

The other day I received flowers twice. Flowers from my sweet husband who conveniently "forgot" to tell me he was going golfing, and got caught:) And this flower. Ethan came in with this flower he had picked, and planted in one of his cups. What a cute and thoughtful thing from such a small little guy. It sat on my kitchen counter for over a week. I was sad when it finally died, and I had to throw it away. Every time I did my dishes, his flower always cheered me up.

Ethan has so much personality. Sometimes things come out of his mouth that I would expect to hear from a teenager. Yesterday, I went into his room to wake him up for school and he said. "I want to sleep". I continued to scratch his back and tell him he needed to get up. He then said in a "matter of fact" way, "Mom, can you just let me get some rest?" I decided I would let him rest and left. About 30 minutes later he came downstairs all dressed and ready to go. Guess he is like his mother....not one to hop right out of bed when the alarm goes off!!!

Today was a nice break for me. Ben stayed home so I could go to the temple with some ladies in YW. Everyone ended up cancelling, so Melissa showed up by herself. We still had a great time! We made a little stop at the Scottsdale mall on the way home. Our first stop was Nordstroms. I forgot how much I love that place. It's probably a good thing it's so far away, and I'm too lazy and cheap to drive all the way over there. I wish I had more time and energy to walk more of that mall, but I only made it as far as the Gap and Anthropologie. Melissa and I also made a stop at a little place similar to Cafe Rio. I need to learn how to make it myself. It's so yummy! We ended up getting back around 2:00, giving Ben enough time to get a few jobs done for work.

The afternoon was pretty laid back. Sophia took a nap right before school got out, so I had time to play Memory with Ethan and get a quick 15 minute rest on the couch. Aubrie called from school, wanting to know if she could go to her friends house. Her friends parents have A LOT of money, and own a HUGE house behind our church building. Aubrie kept going on and on about how big the house was. So much for me feeding her the line about how she has it better off than most kids! Ha! Now she'll just talk about all that Grace has. I did decide to nip it in the bud, and had a frank conversation about how money doesn't make someone better or more cool, and how our mansion in Heaven is what is most important. I think she was just amazed more than anything, like a little girl going into a castle.

Since Aubrie was at Gracey's today and Ethan had t-ball practice, it was just Boston, Sophia and I, for over an hour. I used the time to make a nice dinner, and feed Sophia. Boston came in asking if I could play kickball with him. I told him I would as soon as I did the dishes. The next thing I know, he is scrubbing dishes and cleaning the sink. Boston and I got about 30 minutes of kickball in, before everyone got home. Boston informed me that he now divides his time on the playground; part tether ball and part kickball. I'm glad that he is enjoying himself at school.

After dinner tonight, it was my turn to put Sophia to bed. She let let me rock and hold her for more than twenty minutes. I LOVED it!!! I love when my kids let me hold them. I know that it will be too soon when they are all grown and I can't hold them like I do now. Thank goodness for grandchildren. Mine are going to be so smothered!

Right now Ben is at Home Depot getting some latches for our pantry doors. Sophia is always getting in them and dragging food items around the house. I can't wait to have those installed so I don't have that headache anymore. I can't wait to see her reaction tomorrow. Isn't that evil? I remember being so excited when we finally thought of putting a gate in the hallway that led to our open den/office. I felt so liberated!!! Though I love Sophia and this cute little age of hers, it also has been so much work. This should cut down on some of it! Now I just need a solution for keeping her off my bathroom counters. That stinker has figured out how to use the bathtub to get up there!:) She is my little monkey!