My Boy Ben

This boy. 

Oh boy. Melt my heart.

Since I'll be doing a Jude and Selah birthday post this month, I also wanted to do a little post on Benjamin, to write down a few things about him in this season of life.

Josh and I comment so often on what a ball of joy he is! Just like his daddy, he sees the glass of life half full! I love that he takes such a positive spin on every day things, as a five year old. That's a great way to see life and go through it, with an upbeat attitude.

Ben is a hard worker and also very much entrepreneurial! He cracks us up with the things he says and the chores he begs for! He's always looking to make some money! We even had company stay with us over the weekend and he hit up the dad, asking if he could wash their car for $3. Ha!

Here he is, pleased as can be that he's earning a quarter for bringing the garbage can up the driveway.

Earning another quarter for vacuuming out dad's car...

And another quarter for folding some laundry...

The other day he said, "Mom, can I please wash some walls for a quarter?" I said no. An hour later he asked again. Then I thought about it and realized he could wipe all of the baseboards and trim pieces on the walls to earn a quarter, so I said yes! And he said, "Yes! My dream came true! ...my dream for today." As he was cleaning the walls he said, "Mom, can I also wipe the kitchen cabinets?" I told him I'd love that. So he began to clean them and he sang, "Shiny, shiny, shiny!" as he worked.

So what is he earning all of these quarters for? Lego Mixels! He loves them, and if he works hard all week long he can often buy one Mixel every 1-2 weeks at the rate he begs for chores. ;)

I had to photograph this because we were at Target letting him pick out a Lego Mixel to buy and he did Target a favor (for other kid shoppers) and sorted them all by series so that it would be easier for kids to spot what they're shopping for.

All done! You're welcome Target. ;)

Ben also loves animals, like his big sister. But I wouldn't say he's quite as gentle with them as Selah is. ;) Here he showed me that his favorite chicken likes to swing! (Surprisingly, I really do think it liked it!)

Ben also has a way of brightening up a day!

At the end of March I was really missing the sunshine and feeling a little melancholy, and in walks Ben with a bouquet of cheerful flowers for me! He made my day!

Being the youngest, he also is still my little buddy who loves to just sit with me and talk about life. The other day we were sitting out on the patio and he said, "Mom, will you be my kids' grandma one day?" I told him I would and his eyes got big. :)

He often invites me to play a game with him or do a puzzle with him. I love that.

I write down a lot of the things he says because they make me laugh. Here are a few:

Ben: Mom, do you know how people become bad guys?

Me: How?

Ben: It's because they want something, but they don't want to have to pay for it.

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Ben: Dad, I wasn't real when mom was a kid, was I?

Josh: Nope, you weren't real.

Ben: What? I wasn't real? Who would do that to me?!

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Ben: Mom, if I owned a store it wouldn't be the Dollar store, because that's only 100 cents for each things people buy. I'd own the FIVE Dollar store!

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Ben: Dad, I know what has 1 leg! An octopus with 7 legs cut off.

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Ben is always the first to fall asleep and the first to rise in the morning. On this night he couldn't even make it to bedtime. But he's always the first to greet me with a morning kiss, hug or smile.

Thanks for being such a ray of sunshine in life, Benjamin! You are my sunshine!! xoxo