i'll say it again

Boys are dirty! I certainly don't have a daughter that is against getting dirty. But she has never sought out getting completely mucky. My boys are a different make all together. Nathaniel will throw himself into a pile of muck. He enjoys creating it, getting messy in it and trying to bring his younger brother along for the whole experience.
It all started innocently enough. The boys were playing in the backyard while Abigail had a swim at the pool down the street with neighbours. I was between watching them and trying to finish up supper. Nathaniel asked to "garden" and got out the shovels, buckets and weeder. Somehow water got mixed into the equation and it all went downhill from there. (Although in the world of a 2 and 4 year old, the party was just getting started!)

It looks like my boys are just doing their usually digging.

Until you get a bit closer and realize Nathaniel is bathing in mud.

"Mucky!" Normally I might celebrate a bit more when Jesse has learned a new word. Jesse was a bit more reserved in his first real go with the stuff. I think he knew that his sandals weren't suppose to get covered in mud. But he sure did enjoy the feeling of dirt between his fingers.

It was now a free for all. I had to really fight my instinct to get them out of the dirt. I allowed them a bit of freedom.

And then I called it quits. The shoes got hosed off. The boys were carried to the tub. I hope they will thank me later when they realize their mother, who doesn't really like getting dirty, allowed this experience to occur. You're welcome boys!

Oh, and Nathaniel...I am sorry that I yelled at you this morning when you insisted on walking through the house with your sandals that still had mud caked on the bottom. The HUGE trail of dried mud was not what I needed when we were trying to get out the door for school.