Pure Awesomeness

Matt tells me that I do too much for our boys; things such as helping them dress, tying their shoes, pouring their cereal, brushing their teethe. I do realize the older two can do most of things without me, but I am usually trying to get out the door in some sort of time limit and I want their teethe actually clean so...

But I do try to let them do more things for themselves. I try to plan a few extra minutes into getting ready to allow for me to have more patience in this area.

It isn't just about being more patient with them learning though, it is having the ability to laugh at the results sometimes. I let Ben pick out and put on his own clothes this morning, and when he came downstairs, he looked great! I was so proud of him and he did it so quickly! It wasn't until after school, when he took his shoes off, that I noticed his pure awesomeness:

Like I said, pure awesomeness...

Sharp Dressed Man

Mitchell has really been enjoying helping me pack this time around. I think what he loves most are the treasures we uncover. His top finds so far are an old day planner/calendar of mine with plenty of pockets, a heavy duty watch box, a sleep mask from an airplane, a shoe box, an old stop watch, and, best of all, Ben's old tuxedo.

We got Ben a tuxedo a couple years ago to wear in a wedding, but he only wore it that once. It has been hanging up in a zippered bag ever since then. Well, as I was packing clothes out of the closet, Mitchell spied that funny-looking bag hanging up and, of course, had to know about it. When I took it down and unzipped it, planning on showing it to him, then packing it right back up again, his eyes got wide and he just had to try it on!

Well, what do you know, it fits him perfectly! He got that bad boy on, all 5 pieces to it, and has not willingly taken it off since. He pretends to be a man going to work and shows it off to everyone he sees. He wore it to school the next day and walked around before drop off showing it off to anyone who would notice and listen. One of my friends there even thought he was so handsome, she took a picture of him! He kept it on when he got home and rode his bike to Starbucks in it. He wore it to the grocery store. He wore it to the park. Boy, was it funny watching a little boy riding his bike down the street in a tuxedo...

He wanted to wear it to bed, even, but I had to say "no." Well, I didn't think to warn the babysitter about his new treasure a couple nights ago, and when I got home, I found Mitchell wearing all 5 pieces of it, snuggled up in his bed!

Last night, as we were putting jammies on after bath, he started searching all over the room for it (I had put it away somewhere else, hoping he might forget about it if it was out of sight). After a minute or so of searching, he marched up to me, hands on his hips, and said, "Mom! What did you do with my mosquito?!"

Ben and I burst into laughter, and when Ben pointed out his mistake, Mitchell thought it was HILARIOUS and wouldn't stop laughing!

He did fall asleep, and not in his mosquito/tuxedo, but he kept it laid out close by so that he could keep an eye on it. He doesn't trust me...

I Just Need A Red Shirt!

Mitchell's new thing is being opinionated about what shirt he is wearing. Up until now, I have been able to get away with dressing my boys in whatever I choose, with no resistance whatsoever from any of my kids. They just haven't cared as long as it fits and is comfortable.

Lately though, Mitchell has begun to not only notice what I am putting on him, but having an opinion about it too! How dare he! I try to let him help me pick out a shirt in the morning, but he is usually such a slug getting up and ready, that I just don' t have time for such nonsense on a typical morning.

So he has to wear what I pick out for him - at least, for the first part of the day, that is. All I have to do is leave him alone up in his room for a little bit and he will be up to some sort of clothing-involved mischief: t shirts pulled out of his drawer in search for the "right one," clothes taken off, new shirt on backwards, searching through dirty laundry for the "right one..." that sort of thing.

Today, he came down the stairs in just his underwear complaining, "Mom, I just need a red shirt and I can't find one! Where are all my red shirts!"