Quick Thinking

When Jon is grilling (especially during the winter when he would walk in the house with snow on his shoes) a lot of times he'll just ask me to get him what he needs so he can run back outside. (Our back door leads right into our kitchen.) Many times he'll start the request as such: Hey Ker, can you get _____?

Jon was grilling tonight and the boys were outside with him. I was upstairs putting laundry away when I saw Ben come up the stairs. He stopped and said to me, "Say Ker, can you get me, um, that light on the wall?" I'm still laughing at this. I thought that was pretty quick thinking as he quite obviously had nothing in mind for me to get him.

Learning New Things

The other night the boys had their pajamas on and were sitting at their little table playing "kitchen." Jon came up to say goodnight, so we were going to say our prayer. Jon said "Ben pray" and he folded his hands. Then he said "Finn pray," and Finn dutifully folded up his little hands. This was the first time he had done it, and I think it was extra cute because he was sitting at the little table. We were very proud of him. There's just something about those little hands folded up.

Going in a totally different direction...

I was watching Finn dig through the desk drawer the other day. There are just a bunch of papers and things, not too valuable, of course, and I saw him take something out to the kitchen, not realizing I was watching. I couldn't tell what it was, but he came right back out. He then proceeded to pull out the hole punch and walk back to the kitchen. I followed and found him dumping it in the garbage. I also found a few of Jon's business cards. So not only does he dumpster dive into all of our garbages, he has decided to add his own stuff. Though I only noticed it a few days ago, we're thinking he may have taken it upon himself to throw away our TV remote, which has been missing for roughly a month. I'm not sure, though, because he treasures those remotes. I guess we'll just keep looking.

Spring is Springing

It's been a beautiful day here in Iowa so far. The boys have been out this week to play in the snow and the mud and the standing water. And some of the snow they played in 2 days ago is gone now. There are tons of birds out singing and the sun is shining bright after a week of rain and fog. Ben likes to go down about half his slide and be stopped suddenly at the snow bank. He thinks it's pretty funny. He can't swing yet because the snow is still piled underneath, but he tried anyway. I'm just looking forward to the ground being dry and letting the boys run without hats and mittens.

I have been looking for some valances for our room and the boys' room. I found some blue ones for the boys on Friday and was pretty excited. I'm hoping to get them put up on Monday. I'm still looking for just the right ones for our room.

I spent most of Friday childless. I went shopping for valances and lots of groceries, but it was a nice time to myself.

Finn keeps adding words to his vocabulary. He says bye-bye, hi, daddy, potty, baby, dada, boots, and works on others when you give him a word to repeat. We went Friday night to another couple who has a 9-month-old, and he just sat staring at her saying baby, baby, baby and patting her head. It was very cute. He also walks around saying daddy, daddy, daddy. Just practicing, I guess. I've heard him say mama when he's mad or frustrated. Go figure.

I'm still working on potty training with Ben. It's definitely a slow process, so if you have any good tips/advice, feel free to share. He's such a helpful little boy. He loves to help me set the table and load/unload the dishwasher. Ben is beginning his independent streak and gets mad when I try to do things for him. He's very funny and makes us laugh often. He also loves singing and sits with the little kids at church when they sing for Sunday School.

I'm off to rest a bit while I have the chance. Have a good week!