Ben's Current Favorites

1. Driving me crazy. I hate to put this as #1, but man, this kid drives me absolutely nuts sometimes! I know it's just his age and him thinking he is completely independent, but wow, 5-year-olds are feisty! He talks back, questions me when I tell him he's incorrect about something, uses what I can only describe as a neener neener neener voice when he doesn't want to do something, and whines all the time! We're definitely working on it and correcting behavior we know he picks up at school, but it's frustrating at times!

2. Saying prayers. He says the BEST prayers. Even when he doesn't want to at night if he's too tired, or at dinner if he's "too tired" we have him say them anyway. But he always makes us proud throwing in some little tidbit that makes us smile.

3. Reading. He's a great little reader and can read up to Level 3 in some books (the ones that you buy like at Target). He also loves reading the Book of Mormon with us and gets so annoyed when it's late and we're in a hurry and we don't let him read a couple of verses.

4. Harry Potter. Our trip definitely renewed his interest in Harry Potter. He's now having a Harry Potter Party for his 6th birthday and I am already thinking of photoshoot locations for his pictures like we did for his Star Wars party last year! It's gonna be so fun!

5. Legos. Duh. He has a mess of legos on his little desk in his bedroom that I have no idea how to keep organized! But he creates all kinds of cool stuff! He's getting a big Star Wars Jedi Ship for Christmas that was 50% off clearance at Walmart. My mom found a small Hogwarts Castle for half price too so he's getting that for his birthday!

6. Twinkies. Ben has never been a huge fan of sweets. A couple of weeks ago my mom bought some Twinkies for dessert for Sunday dinner and to say Ben loved them would be a complete understatement. He begs for them all the time now! I'm not sad they won't be making them anymore!

7. His Lego Star Wars belt. I bought him this little wallet and belt set on clearance at Target and he LOVES this belt. It has Lego Darth Vader and some Storm Troopers on it and he wears it every single day (except to church of course).

8. Holes in his jeans. This kid cannot keep a pair of jeans from getting holes in the knees! I guess he's on his knees a lot at recess and during school 'cause it only takes a couple of weeks before a brand new pair of jeans will get holes in them. The only pair of jeans he has without holes in the knees has a hole in crotch. I don't even wanna know!

9. Karate. He's taking an after school class once a week for Karate and he loves it! He is convinced he is a Karate Master now and he's only been twice. We can't afford real Karate classes, but I'm glad he's having fun!

10. Being a daredevil. He's always been somewhat skiddish about doing crazy stuff until we introduced him to roller coasters. Now he throws himself everywhere, flips and rolls around the house, jumps off everything at the playground, spins and spins in swings and, well, acts like a normal 5-year-old. I'm actually kind of grateful because I didn't want him to be afraid of things! This video is of him discovering how to spin on the swing at the park. I should probably feel bad it took him so long to figure this out! This day he did it about 9 times in a row and almost puked. I'd have called it a right of passage if he did. :)