Leaving the bed

Last night Ben I put Ben to bed around 845. He was rubbing his eyes and yawning so I figured he would be to sleep in no time. I checked on him at 1000 when I was going to bed and he was still awake. We both have a cold so I gave him some cold medicine and told him he could come lay in bed with Michael and me.

We all got in bed and about ten minutes after we got in Ben said, "Mom if it's ok with you I'm going to go to my room. Now if your scared or need a snuggle I'll stay. But if your ok I'm going to go to my room so I can have my dream light and have the bed all to myself. Ok?"

I laughed and told Ben I would be ok. So after that he went to his room and was out till after I left. Even the thunder did not wake him.

And on a side note, He loves his new class. He's in there with all his friends that got moved up


earlier this year.


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New day

Today I dropped Ben off and his teacher said ,"Ben is so smart. Yesterday he asked me if his dad was picking him up before or after I leave. He said he hoped it was after because he didn't want his dad to know he was bad at school." She explained to Ben that the other teacher would tell his dad. He said, "oh yeah, I forgot."

I gave him a cookie this morning. He asked, "mom why do I get a cookie so early in the morning. I mean I'm thankful because I really love cookies but why do I get one." I explained that he was a good boy and I know he's going to have a good day today. I also said that sometimes you need a good cookie in the morning to help start your day. He enjoyed his Cookie no matter the reason:)







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:( sad face at school

Benjamin comes home every day with a progress report that gives him a happy or sad face. It also tells if he took a nap and if he ate his lunch. Michael and I have tried for the past year to really reinforce the whole if you get in trouble at school you get in trouble at home. This really has helped and he often goes a month at a time without getting a sad face.

Last week was the first sad face in a long time. He knows that he does not get any candy or treats that day and that he gets a pop or other punishment. That day he only got one pop (which he later said was a happy pop because it didn't hurt) Michael explained to him that he was only getting one because he had been really good for a long time but the next sad face would get a bigger punishment.

Well today he got another sad face for acting out and not listening. He got three pops and he also had to write his name for ten minutes. Later that evening he had to pick up pine cones. When I got home he showed me his names that he wrote. He also said, "momma I'm going to be really good tomorrow because I miss my cartoons."

I know some people may think we are hard on him but he really is smart and he knows how to be good. He helps me clean, picks up his toys, says yes mam and no mam, and does what he's told (most of the time).

Now he's taking a bath playing with his toys. He said, "Mom today has been a good day. I liked picking up pine cones it was fun." He can make anything fun with his imagination:)

Hopefully tomorrow will be a happy face day.


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Good night routine

Tonight as Michael and I were putting Ben to bed he asked to see our wedding album. So instead of reading a story we got out the album and let him look through all the pictures. He looked at each picture and made comments about most of them. He said things like, "Mom I really like your dress. Yuck, you kissed in this picture. I like that limo, I'll have a limo one day when I'm married. Wow even Uncle Will was there."

After we finished the pictures I asked him if he had anything he wanted to pray about. Usually he says no you can pray. Tonight he said, "Yes let's get on our knees." I said ok and we got beside his bed. Then he prayed, "God thank you for our day. Thank you for letting mom off so we could have a fun day. Thank you for not letting baby Sam chew up my toys today. Thank you for making me smart. Also thank you for letting Daddy have a good job that he likes. Mom you can add something now. We love you Jesus and God. Amen."

He is such a good boy. Although Michael and I have been trying now for over three years for a second child it's nights like tonight that I am reminded of all of my blessings. He is so Sweet and I know one day he will make a wonderful big brother.




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Moving out

A couple of night's ago I was putting Ben to bed and he said,"Mamma did Pookie and Pop kick daddy out?" I didn't know what he was referring to so I asked him what he meant. He said, "Well he doesn't live with his mamma anymore and I've decided I'm going to stay with you."

I laughed and explained that daddy had left home to go to college. Then when he moved back home he met me and since we got married we moved in together. He thought about this for a minute and said that when he got married she was going to have to move in with us. I explained that they would want their own house. His answer, "she can have her house but I'm staying with you!"
I'll have to remind him of this later when he's trying to leave.

On the same note : tonight he said ,"I think I'll marry Aunt Regan (my friend) because she doesn't have a boyfriend right now. And she's not really family so i can marry her. You'll have to find me a ring mamma."

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Lunch time troubles

Ben's teacher informed us that he was the only kid that never ate his lunch. The only day he ate was Thursday because that was sandwich day. He also would eat if they had chicken.

We told him this weekend that if he didn't eat at least half his lunch he was not getting any treats when he got home. Michael picked him up yesterday and since they had some kind of noodle dish ( he hates noodles) he had not eaten anything.

That night Michael made himself a milkshake and explained that he could have had one if he had tried his lunch. All night Ben said,"I'm definitely eating tomorrow because I miss my treats."

Today I picked him up and he said all excitedly," Mom I ate my spicy slimy meatballs today and my green beans." I asked the teacher and sure enough had had eaten 75% of his lunch. My boy loves his treats. We should have started this sooner.


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worried about mom

Last night Ben was suppose to spend the night with Pookie and Pop but after I called to check on him at 530 he decided he wanted to come home. He got here about six and we all visited for awhile.

That night we were watching a cartoon in my bed because Michael was still at work moving into his new office. I asked Ben why he decided to come home because he has never asked to come home before today. He said, "Well Mom, I like Pop and Pookie but I was worried about you because you haven't felt good lately and I knew Daddy would be moving at work and I didn't want you to miss me. Plus this way I can help you if you need help with your foot." I told him that I appreciated his concern and I really like having him around but that I'm ok by myself when he's having a spend the night somewhere. He said, "Oh ok. Well you can always call if you change your mind next time I'm spending the night and you miss me and I'll come home."

I'm so thankful he is such a sweet boy. When I mentioned that I had a headache last night. He grabbed my hand and said, "Let me pray for your head mom. God Please help my mom's headache. She is  a nice momma and I want her head to feel better. Amen." This made me smile because I've been trying to  teach him the importance of prayer and this is the first time that he's brought up a spontaneous prayer on  his own that wasn't led by me.

infomercials

For the past year Ben has started paying attention to commercials and he's the perfect audience because of course most everything on the cartoon network is geared for kids. Most of the time he'll say "Mom that looks really cool will you put that on my Christmas list for Santa." I agree and he often forgets about it until something else comes on that interest him.

Tonight we are watching cartoons in bed and a commercial for tortilla bowls comes on after his cartoon goes off. I'm not really paying attention to the tv when all of a sudden Ben yells , "Mom you got to see this. I think you will like it. It's a bowl and it's a tortilla. Like, you can eat it after you eat your food. And look. They put ice cream in that tortilla bowl. You like tacos . Right? They said you could put taco stuff in it like meat , cheese , and that green stuff you like. What's it called? Oh yeah , Lettuce. That's right. 

He was quite for a minute then he added, "Oh yeah, you get four of them. So you dont have to wash them all the time. You can use one a day and not have to wash till later. I think they give you one free. So maybe you get five. That's a really good deal mom. And it's only 19.99 I think . I forgot because its gone off. But it's not expensive. We have enough money if you really want them mom. They have a call number you can call them. 

Nothing gets past this boy. I should let them have him as their  salesman:)

4 yr old dreams

Ben slept really late for him last night. The storms kept him up late so he didn't wake until 9. When he woke he came downstairs to find me.

He found me in the kitchen. You'll have to excuse the description because Im going to write it like he told me because for one it's funnier that way and two since he's described them about nine times I remember them pretty well.

"Mom, I had lots of dreams last night." He said. "First there was this halloween house. You know like a scary house. It wasn't too scary. I wasn't scared because I like that stuff. Well, I went in the house. Pop went in too. There was this witch. She was so tiny. That's why I wasn't scared because she was tiny. She let this monster tickle my knee. Pop hit the tiny witch so she wouldn't  get away. Don't worry Mom she was a puppet so he didn't hurt her. We saw her because I had to go to the bathroom. That's when we saw her. "

He then continued, "And after that dream I had a dream we were at the beach. A raccoon bit my knee. I don't now why but it did. I kicked him and he ran a way. It didn't bleed. Just left a little bruise. That's all. But I had this boat. Well not a boat. More like a ship. Mom, Why did you take it away from me? Nina gave me the ship. I think you should have let me keep it. It really wasn't yours to take a way. But you did. I forgive you. It was a dream. Oh, and there was this bucket. I really liked the bucket. A big wave came on the shore and took it from me. I really liked that bucket."

We are on the couch right now as I write and He just asked if I was blogging about his dreams. He said, "Mom dont forget about the tiny witch part. People should know she was just a puppet."lol.

Be nice to your tummy

We have been trying to teach Ben to eat healthier food and to be appreciative of the food that he has on his plate. Tonight we had chinese. We gave Ben sweet n sour chicken, an apple and some carrots. He said, "Yummy this looks really good. And you gave me good ice water. Just what I wanted.  Thanks Mom!" (Dont worry he's not always this polite. He's just really smart and knows if he's nice he might get a cookie for dessert) . I thought it was a little over the top but Im just glad he wasn't complaining about dinner. I said,  "Your welcome Ben." He ate most of it and then said, "Mom I'm getting full so I'm stopping now. 

I of course ate way to much beef and broccoli.  I said, "Ben, I should have stopped eating when you did. I ate way to much food." Ben came over patted my stomach and said, "Mom you have to be nice to your tummy and then it will be nice to you. When you eat to much it's not happy and then your not happy." I told him thanks for the good advice and promised to follow his advice next time. 

Talk of Heaven

Tonight as I was putting Ben to bed he looked at me and said, " Mom I will be really sad if you die." I explained that no one knows when they will die but I hope I can live a long time to see him get big. He thought about this for a moment and said, "well, when you do die you'll wait in Heaven for me right?" He was being very serious so I was trying to give the best answer I could. We talked for a while and I told him I would wait for him in Heaven but I hoped he would live a long time.

We changed the subject to something else then right before I left he said, " we should have a meeting place when we get there because I want to see you when I get there." Of course I'm almost in tears now because he's being so sweet. I know he's a little small to understand the whole concept of heaven and he really wanted to have a meeting place so I told him maybe there would be a big pond and I'll wait there.

This seemed to make him happy so he closed his eyes and told me goodnight.
He amazes everyday with his conversations. I know he will do great things one day. He is truly a blessing.
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Outside time

Benjamin has been spending a lot of time inside with me lately watching movies and as many kids his age has become quite good with the kindle and iPad.
Today after school he came in grabbed the iPad and started playing one of his favorite games. He then turned on the tv so he could not only play a game but watch his favorite cartoon as well.
Michael came in shortly after and asked Ben if he wanted to play golf. Ben said, " No dad I just want to sit in the couch and play my game." He then started to whine when Michael told him he needed to have some outside time.
At this we decided to turn off all electronics. The kindle and iPad got put up as well as tv's turned off.
Michael got the golf clubs out and turned on the sprinklers. At first Ben was not excited about
the forced sunshine but soon the boy that loves outdoors finally returned. They currently are having sprinkler wars.
I think we will make this a daily routine in the Long household. Yes he might not be as electronically savvy as some of his classmates but there is always time for that.




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Taking charge

This morning Ben and I are taking it easy watching cartoons. Since I have a few weeks off due to my foot surgery I called my dermatologist and tried to get an appointment for next week. Of course they can't get me in till July 30th so I was a little frustrated after talking to them.
Ben said , "mom next time let me talk to them because they need to see you sooner than later because you hurt your foot and shouldn't have to wait. So call them back and let me talk them. I'll explain the situation. Ok? What's their call number? I'll call them."
He is such a sweet boy. I was going to let Michael take him to school today but I figure this is a great time to hang out with him. Plus he has been quite helpful. He can get me ice water, knows how to get his snacks, and also understands that I need to rest so he really doesn't ask a lot from me.
I'm looking forward to a day of board games and movies.
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