Alden

I did a post not long ago on Benson and have wanted to do one on each of the boys.  This post is dedicated to what Alden has been up to lately.  Alden is my boy who loves to create.  Almost every day he will make something..a book, some project out of boxes or wood, or something in the back yard.  There has been a couple of times where we have been out doing things most of the day and at the end of the day he says how it wasn't the best day.  I'll go through all the fun things we did and he'll agree that there were fun things but if he hasn't made something that day then it never is as good of a day as the days when he has.

Lately he has been into writing books. If you ever come to our house he will try to give you one.  He has written tons of books.  His dream is to have one published one day and have people check it out at the library.  He keeps telling me that his books are ready to be published so the other day we read up on it and how you have to rewrite and rewrite to make a book better and better to get it published.  I think he got the idea and is starting to ask for feedback on his books.

My favorite book that he has written was one he wrote one day after I had finished reading the BFG to him. (Michael and I have been taking turns reading some chapter books to him.) I think it was a day or two after reading the BFG, that I came up to read stories to the boys at night and Alden handed me this story he had written.  He had rewritten the main parts of the BFG but had used Calvin and Benson as the characters and had changed a couple of things.  Calvin was the little boy snatched up from his bed and Benson was the king of the land that Calvin and the big friendly giant went to see to get rid of the bad giants.  I thought it was a fun and cute little book and fun that he did it on his own without asking or telling me anything about it.

Many of the other books he has written he writes specifically for someone.  He made a flap book about shapes for Benson and one of Old McDonald Had a Farm.  The book pictured above is one that he made for Evan and I while we were in the hospital.  Alden also really likes to make to do list that he will put on my phone and check off throughout the day.  Weeks before Evan was born I noticed that one of the things on his to do list was to make a present for the new baby.  Later on that week I noticed it in his room.  He had made a card with a huge heart and inside it said, "I love you so so so....much".  He stapled the card to a big yellow bag that had one of his favorite stuffed animals inside with a couple of books.  One of the books was called, "The Mommy who got sick" and the other was "The Mommy who had a baby". I think he also had a shape book for the baby.  

I am often amazed at how much he thinks of others, his to do list are humbling to me.  Almost everything he puts on them is ways in which he can help others. Things that are often on his list are to read to Calvin or to Benson.  To help Calvin or Benson and almost always he has written on there how he wants to help Mommy with the things she does.  I have much to learn from this sweet boy.

Below is a present that Alden gave me the other day, it was a little box and inside were all these flowers he had colored and a card saying thank you for all you do and how he can help me with everything.

These are some TV's Alden and Calvin made.  Michael and I often joke about getting a TV.  Right now we don't have one and I don't really want one but have told Michael that we can get one once I get my piano. Michael will often look at TV's and research them so he is ready to buy the best one when we do eventually get one.  Alden and Calvin made these TV's and when they did were so excited because they knew Dad would be so excited to have a TV and that now he wouldn't need to ever buy a TV because we have not one but two!
They made remote controls for the TV's and then would do any show we wanted them to do for us.  They used puppets, pictures, and all sorts of things to do the different shows they did.

Just in the last couple of days Alden has been playing more with blocks and legos. Calvin is my big block and lego guy but Alden has been getting into a little more lately but anytime he makes anything he always grabs my phone and takes a picture, so these are a couple from my phone.

 Alden has also been into making games lately. Above is a game similar to ticket to ride and below is a game similar to uno.

 Below is another thing that Alden likes to make, it's a neighborhood to drive his cars on.