work, best cure for a fight

I'm super duper sore today from working in the yard yesterday with the boys. We finally finished removing all the busted rock and plastic that remained in the pond. It was a nasty mess filled with leaves, dirt, rain...lots of good smelling, decomposing matter and worms and rolly polies. I couldn't believe how Asher was digging into it with his bare hands and loving the icky mess. He said "What Mom, I AM a boy!" Later he took a big sniff of his hands and said "I love that smell, it smells like summer" HMMM, not sure what he was relating that smell to, boy stuff I guess. I always remember summer to smell like sunscreen and chlorine. Addison wasn't as "in" to the whole yuck because I didn't want him to get his shoes muddy and he didn't want to go change into a different pair. So he fell into the role of a servant, which was completely by his choice and not prompted by me in any way. He began bringing us "fluids, to keep us hydrated" (I have been telling him to drink plenty so he can recover from his upcoming surgery more quickly) and snacks (which I had to feed Asher because his hands were covered in muck, but I had been wearing gloves and had "clean enough" hands by boy standards). Addison would sit and wait for us to ask for a different tool and to his complete joy would lend his knife whenever I needed it. After we got all the rocks and things out we started filling the wheel barrow with fresh dirt and filling the hole in. Asher took a break and Addison and I got to work together for a while. I love the conversation that comes with manual labor side by side with your kid. Initially I started yesterdays work because the boys were arguing and pestering. I knew they needed something worthwhile to do. Of course their attitude was not the best when we started, but within minutes of working, the grouch melted away. I saw this over and over again with boys in the foster home we worked in. The child who was making you miserable and being the biggest pain was the one you needed to work side by side with and in time would probably become one of your favorite people to be around. Anyway, after all the work was done, both boys piled in and played in the dirt.....aahhh, boys! And yeah, it is december and my boys don't have any shirts on...can you believe how warm it has been.

*just a note: I typed this up last week, but didn't have time to add photos and post until now. Addison's surgery went well and he is painfully recovering. I'll post pictures and more about it soon.