Boys and sleepovers

Oliver had his first sleepover at a friend's house last night. His friend has 2 sisters and, according to his mom, was desperate for some boy time. The friend lives near a different creek (the creek actually flows through their back yard, how fun!), and the boys did lots of exploring and climbing outside, looked for bugs, played spies, and just had a great time in general. 

(Proud mama note: my friend had nothing but great things to say about Oliver's behavior and manners! What a sweet boy. :-))

Oliver came home today full of stories of the fun adventures he and his friend had. He also came home full of mud (from making and camping in a tree fort), and with this little guy that he found in the tree fort:    

Oliver asked if we could bring it home and keep it in his room. My response: No, not while you're 5 1/2 and you share a room with a 3 1/2 year old. Because we all know what would happen! 

So we compromised . . . he could bring it home, and leave it on the kitchen counter until his daddy gets home from work to see it. And then we will release it into the back yard. :-)  

(Doesn't it look scared? Obviously it doesn't want to be in our house either!)

The best reward prize EVER

We've been using a sticker chart with Oliver to reward him for good behavior. He has the opportunity to earn 1 sticker each day, and when he gets 4 stickers, he earns a small reward -- he calls it a "prize" -- usually a $2 or $3 toy from Mardel or Target that either gets broken or lost in a couple of days. He earned his 4th sticker yesterday, so we went to the store to look for a new toy.

Then I thought of something that we could make for him instead of buying a toy . . . something that he would use every day, something that would last for a long time, something that would require a trip to Home Depot (Oliver's favorite store!) . . . We would build Oliver his very own workshop, in his closet!!!

So we went to Home Depot last night and purchased a sheet of peg board, hooks, a piece of scrap lumber that was cut to suit our needs, and 4 table legs + screws. Oliver and Dennis started working on it right after breakfast this morning.



























This is Oliver's closet before:
































And this is Oliver's new workshop!! Can't you just feel the excitement??!



























I'm so happy that we could do this special thing for him!