Five Minutes in the Mind of Benjamin

Well, I woke up this morning with the "Benjimonster" in my bed, again. This is nothing unusual. He is a cuddler. He LOVES to wake up and hug and roll in the bed with us. This morning was particularly fun.

Chris woke about the same time I did. We were both just looking at Benjamin and I mentioned how his profile this morning looked very much like his ultrasound pictures. Then, Chris started talking about his features and how his nose was turned up like mine at the end and how he had my lips. We were REALLY looking to see what he had inherited from his Daddy. It was a fun conversation. Chris finally declared that Benjamin was my son and not his.

Benjamin woke up, wrapped his arms around my neck and kissed my cheek. I told him what his Daddy had said and asked if it were correct. He said, "Yes! I'm YOUR son." He then proceeded to roll over, look at Chris and yell that there was a "stranger" in the bed. He yelled again, "STRANGER!" and "Get out of my bed!"

Well, of course, I thought this was funny! Who wouldn't? I mean he is seven years old and making up that kind of stuff! Then, Chris proceeded to tell him that if he were a stranger, Benjamin wouldn't be allowed to get in his bed any more because he didn't allow strangers in his bed. So, Benjamin said, "Then why are YOU here?" The boy is comical! AND quick!

Right now, he is watching Tom & Jerry. Of course, Tom is chasing Jerry and making a mess. Benjamin says, "Why are you destroying the house, Tom?! A perfectly good house!" I just LOVE the way his mind works!

Anniversaries

I have lots of "anniversaries" in my life. Birthdays are a kind of anniversary. There's the anniversary for graduations, for major events, even for deaths. Of course, the first thing people think of when one says anniversary is that yearly one with your spouse. Well this is lucky number 13 and it has been the most different of all.

First of all, we are in a totally different state! When we met, Chris said he never thought he would leave Georgia. Well, I cured him of that by causing him to move to Tennessee so he could be with me while I finished college. Then, there was the whole never leaving the mountains thing for me. Yeah, that's kind of out the window, too.

Secondly, it is on a Sunday. I really don't like to celebrate things on a Sunday if possible. I like to maintain that one day for family. We hang out together after church. I fix a big meal that cooks while we are gone, we eat as soon as we get home, then there's NAP TIME, for me, anyway. The kids just don't seem to need naps any more. So, while today IS our anniversary, for the most part, it has felt like any other Sunday, and I am ok with that. Actually, there is one difference. This is the first time I EVER remember it snowing on our anniversary :)

I saw something earlier that made me think. A person said, nobody uses the "F word" anymore...forever. 13 years feels like forever. Chris and I have been together nearly a third of my life. It doesn't seem that long ago that I kept asking my bridesmaids if he was "out there" and if they could see him. Chris and I decided before we ever got married that the "D word" (divorce) would never enter our conversations. Not even jokingly. If we make it so easy to get away from each other and even joke about it, why would we bother with the "F word"?