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dump trucks

One thing I love about this stage in my boys’ lives is watching them play together. There is something so sweet about their relationship as brothers. And I love just sitting back and watching their imaginations unfold. They are creative!

Don’t get me wrong. There are days when I wonder if they could possibly play together for even five minutes without fighting. Days when I wonder if they will ever learn to be kind and share. It’s hard to learn to be generous and think of others before yourself…even for me! But then there are these days when I just sit back and watch them be best friends and it erases everything else. Their conversations (Levi talks, Griffin grunts :)), the things they pretend, and their little giggles are the best.

Last week we tilled our garden and all of a sudden the garden became a construction site. The dump trucks came out and the working began. They went up and down the corn rows and around the garden over and over and over. I am trying to teach them that they have to go around the plants and not step on them or plow over them with their trucks. They really do a pretty good job. Only a few corn causalities happened…I have a feeling plant casualties will just be part of my life from now on!

I think they played dump trucks for close to and hour. They were having so much fun. Thank goodness for a garden full of dirt!

Oh that face. It cracks me up every time. I will miss those determined pursed lips someday.

I never quite figured out what they were working on but they would stop and fill up their trucks with dirt, drive them somewhere else to dump the dirt and occasionally stop to work on their engines or fill up their trucks with gas. Levi was usually in the lead and Griffin just followed behind doing everything his brother did.

They did such a good job just playing in the dry dirt for a long time and then they realized that playing in the mud might be more fun. Of course mud is more fun.

I know that some moms have a hard time watching their kids get so dirty, but I think it is just part of being a boy. They need explore and they need to get dirty. And I figure I can either follow them around as they play, making sure they stay clean…which is both impossible and makes all of our lives miserable. Or I can just let them get dirty and muddy and wet and give them lots of baths and do lots of laundry. Laundry isn’t my favorite but it is totally worth it to me.

I mean…look at Levi. There is just something that brings him so much joy when he is covered head to toe with mud. So here is my motherly advice for you today…let your kids get dirty every once in awhile! It’s messy but so fun. You just might want to make sure they aren’t wearing their nice khaki shorts before you let them outside! Oops. 😉

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  • Debby Graber - I agree! You can always hose them off! What fun they are having! And I love those lips too! Zoom!ReplyCancel

  • GB Jost - My mom (and I also said this to my kids) used to say, “Dirt and sunshine make kids grow!” So when my kids got covered in dirt, we would celebrate how much they were growing…ReplyCancel

  • Danielle Albini - Sweet photos! I agree, getting dirty is just part of being a kid! Not just a boy:)ReplyCancel

  • Mary Ann - Adorrrrraaable. Your boys are sure cute and your baby is almost not a baby any longer. I love their smiles and the pursed lips are precious. My little grandson is 3 and it is certainly an adventure. Have a fun summer!!!ReplyCancel

  • Michelle from Australia - LOVE this post Jess. Love, love, LOVE it! We live 3.5 miles from the centre of Brisbane city. Which is home to over one million people. Our back yard measures 33 feet wide (exactly). And about 20 feet long. And the rest of it is our pool. I can not begin to imagine having a paddock at my back door. One of these days I am determined to get to Kansas just so I can take in the wide open spaces 🙂ReplyCancel

  • Tina - I have 4 boys. I remember hearing at some point, when my oldest was about 2, an interview with Jeff Foxworthy. At some point he said, “When I was a kid, any day that required a bath was a GOOD day!” And I’ve held onto that and love letting them get dirty and muddy! 🙂 And I’m glad to see other mom’s encourage it as well! 🙂ReplyCancel

  • Allison - “God made dirt and dirt don’t hurt”ReplyCancel

  • Cindy - You are so right. Boys and clothes are only dirty a short time and can be cleaned up but these memories last forever. What a good mom you are!ReplyCancel

  • Alice H - My older son would have bathed in mud if I would have let him. LOL! He was always digging holes and filling it with water and digging up worms. He loved the dirt!! And I totally agree with you, let them get dirty, let them play. Invest in a bottle of good stain remover and do those extra loads!!ReplyCancel

  • Allison - My brother was a grass-stains kind of kid, and my mom learned to keep his “play clothes” (the ones that were already faded and torn) separate from his “school clothes.” She’d make him change when he got home from school before heading outside. That way, there was less pressure to get the grass stains out.ReplyCancel

  • Sherry - Hi Jess! I love reading your blog. The photos of your boys in the corn fields make me worried. Is your farm organic? Chemical farming and cancer may be linked. 🙁ReplyCancel

  • Jen - Hi Jess, your boys are so very adorable! I love all the pictures you post of them and was wondering what lens you used on your camera while taking these? I’m in the market for a new one and love how crisp yours come out! Thank you!! 🙂ReplyCancel

  • Brittin Olson - Haha I was just thinking I wonder if she ever got those khakis clean. If you did, share your secret!ReplyCancel

  • Stefanie - I absolutely love these pictures!!! They are so cute playing together!ReplyCancel

  • Kiley Buttacavoli - This is too precious! Remind me how far apart Levi and Griffin are? Seems like a great gap to be great playmates.ReplyCancel

  • mud babies » The Macs - […] If you thought my last mud post was bad this is way worse. Stop reading now if you can’t handle […]ReplyCancel