Coffee and Boots

Jack and I have a shared love of two things: coffee and boots. Now I love to drink coffee and wear boots but Jack likes to mix it up a little sometimes. I suppose it is only natural for him to come up with interesting combinations involving the two. Why not drink coffee out of a boot or wear a mug on your foot?

This morning, I mistakenly left my full coffee cup in jack's reach and he decided to combine two of his favorite things.

I was busy with something else when I suddenly heard a watery, splatting sound. I turned to find jack pouring my full cup of coffee right into my leather boot! Now he usually shakes his head side to side in a classic "no" action when he is doing anything he understands to be naughty or not allowed, but this time, he looked at me with no head shaking or naughty grin - just a look of interest in what he was doing.

I stepped in at this point, of course, but I wonder if after filling the boot, would he then have tried to drink it out of there?

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A Girl Could Get Used To This

About a week ago, Matt and the boys started having secret meetings without me - "no girls allowed" type of thing.  They had important plans to discuss and afterwards, secrets to keep from mommy, lest they spoil the surprise.  So off Daddy went on a trip for a few days while the boys bravely attempted to keep their secret.  I'm pretty sure Mitchell wasn't paying too much attention in the first place while the plans were being made so it was not too difficult for him to keep his thoughts off of it and his mouth shut.  Ben, however, was very excited about it and kept wanting to drop hints to me without actually giving the secret away.  He'd bring it up at funny times and try to get me to guess what they were planning and then trying to find ways to give me clues without actually giving it away.  It was all very cute, I must say.

Matt returned home from his trip late a few nights later, but got up very early the next morning and woke the boys up.  Their special plan was to make mommy coffee and breakfast and have it ready by the time she woke up.  Well, they of course were not able to accomplish this without waking me, but I did enjoy staying in bed while the smell of coffee and breakfast wafted up to me.  I could hear all sorts of whisper laughs and hushed giggles and quiet instructions on how to best crack an egg or how to brew coffee.  They were having a great time down there before sunrise.  After a while,  Mitchell carefully climbed the stairs to my room, bringing a hot cup of coffee to me with a giant smile on his face.  He told me to sit up and drink my coffee but don't come downstairs yet!  "We aren't quite ready!  You just relax with this special coffee!  Bye!"

Well, I usually make cereal for breakfast - the clean up is minimal and I have a lot to do in the mornings.  But this breakfast was delicious and huge.  It was even worth the giant amount of mess that was left covering my kitchen from counter to counter.   The boys were so proud of what they had done for me and it was such a fun, early time together for us all.

Since then, the boys have been finding little special things to do for me all on their own.  Today was a perfectly cute example of this.  Matt took the boys out to the park this afternoon and when they returned, Mitchell and Ben had picked out "beautiful leaves for mommy" that they carefully brought home without smashing them.  Matt said it was funny how excited they got when they saw the leaves, came up with the idea that I would love them, and then spent time picking out the best ones to bring home for me.  My leaves made it home in one piece, despite their brittleness, were presented to me with much hugging and smiling, and are sitting prettily in my kitchen window.  It is times like this that I love being a mommy, especially to my sweet, thoughtful, and loving boys.  

Just Like It Used To Be

Mitchell is beginning to recover from his sickness, but as he continues to sleep it off, Ben and I have had a lot more time together, just the two of us, and it has been so fun!  After I get the little guys settled down for a nap and Ben and I have both had a small "alone time," we spend the rest of the time together in a way we rarely get anymore.  He has read me simple stories, we have made paper dragons, soaked our feet in buckets of cold water on the patio (not sure where and why he came up with that idea, but it did feel nice!), laid around talking, and made tons of fun little snacks (I get mighty hungry during this part of the day!)

This middle part of my day is usually when I brew my second pot of coffee, and Ben, wanting to be a part of that as well, wanted us to make the drinks a bit more special this time.  Now this was a lot more work than just pouring a nice, hot, black cup of coffee for myself, but his way was a yummy change in the routine.  His choice was a hot chocolate "latte" for himself and a latte with cinnamon for me.  Mmmm...

I don't think I made his quite hot 

enough though because he downed that thing in about 1 minute!

Another treat we discovered in our special time together was a new favorite way for him to eat watermelon!  He loves it any way you prepare it (I think he'd dig right into a whole melon with his fingers if I let him - maybe we'll try that one day!), but this way delighted him for some reason.  We cut the end off and made it into a bowl for him, then he used a fruit spoon to dig it out.   He got 

quite a kick out of that cerated edge on the spoon and also loved to drink the juice out of the bowl when all the 

fruit was gone!  It is so easy to entertain this kid!

Being alone with Ben for a couple hours every day has reminded me of how it was for us before my other two joined the party.  It can be so easy sometimes to just take care of one big kid!  Sometimes, at the park or other public place full of kids and parents, I watch the mom or dad who is there with just one kid.  You can always tell which ones they are because they are busy building a sand castle in the sandbox, or pushing the child on the swing endlessly, or following the child tirelessly from one toy to the next, fully participating in whatever game is going on.  I envy that parent at that point and wish my kids could each have my undivided attention, but I am lucky if I can keep them all in one area of the park for long enough to kick my shoes off!  Just when Mitchell has decided we are playing trucks in the sandbox, Ben needs a push on the swing and Jack has crawled off and gotten himself stuck under the slide again!  "One child mommy" does not have this problem, but she also doesn't have the ability to sit back and let the kids entertain themselves and feel the pride and satisfaction that brings.  I suppose there are some children out there who don't need a playmate and who easily entertain themselves, but not many I'd bet.  Just when I start feeling badly that each of my boys could use a bit more of my time, I see them band together and have so much fun doing it!  So while I do envy "one child mommy" occasionally, most of the time I feel so blessed to have my two older boys so close in age and so happy with each other!  A lot more would be required of me as a playmate had Mitchell not come around when he did!

Our Local Barista

After I brewed my afternoon pot of coffee today, I had to sit down to feed Jack before I could pour myself a cup.  I was telling Ben how I wish he was big enough to get one for me and he thought it sounded like a pretty simple chore and wanted to try it.  Would most moms allow their 5-year-old to pour and carry burning liquid from one room to another?  I doubt it, but I wanted that coffee and wanted to let him prove himself.  He more than exceeded my expectations and from now on, he is my new barista!  He was so excited to bring me that first 1/4 of a cup (his idea to only put a few sips in so he wouldn't spill) that he sat there and watched every sip I took, urging me to finish it more quickly so he could re-fill it.  Once he had coffee down, he was feeling a bit parched so he moved on to making himself some chocolate milk.  He did every step from getting the milk from the fridge to getting out the Nesquik, to pouring and stirring and, of course, drinking!  Typical male though, he needed encouragement with the putting-away and cleaning up part.  All in all though, quite an accomplishment, Ben!