Benjamin loves Precious!

While Payton and I were in Benin, Benjamin spent his days and many nights (I will someday tell the story of the exact moment I was being taken to the airport Tony was being taken to the ER sicker than I had ever seen him)...with my mom, Precious, as she is called by the grandchildren.

Since returning home we have noticed many things about Benjamin that show my moms influence on him. Just to list a few:

He wants his Bible in his diaper bag or in my purse at all times.

Everyonce in awhile when driving in the car he will say, "Let's get some praise music going."

He wakes up in the morning and says "Lets talk about what we get to do today...I bet its going to be wonderful.") His voice inflections on this one makes him sound exactly like my mom.

When changing a pull-up on Benjamin, as soon as he lays down he will say, "It's not gross, its just a part of life."

He now prefers his apple juice from Starbucks....if too much of the day passes he will come in from playing and say, "We have not been to Starbucks yet."

At night he says, "I love so much I can hardly stand it."

In his prayers instead of dear God he now starts with "Father"

When he is about to be disciplined he now will look at us with a completely straight face and say, "I live with Precious at her home, please take me there now."

My mom left on Sunday for 2 1/2 weeks in Kenya. This morning I was doing laundry and heard Benjamin talking to my mom...It seemed like he was answering questions, but I knew my mom was in London and I had not heard the phone ring...I walked in and said, "Benjamin, who are you talking to? Hand me the phone." He handed it to me and said, "I love Precious, why she talking like that?" I said,"Hello, who is this?"

Lady on the phone: "Miss, this is North Richland Hills 911, I repeat do you need an ambulance or police assistance?"

My heart rate accelerated like I had just done 45 minutes of cardio. I quickly explained that was my 2 year old, apologized profusely and then apologized some more. The lady was kind.

I explained to both boys after we were done that we should never play with the real phone and then explained that 911 was something we only used in emergencies. Payton took ever bit of it in...wanted the definition of emergency and nodded solemnly when asked if he understood... When asked the same question Benjamin just looked at me with a huge smile and said "Who wants to call Precious again?"