Staying Here

So I guess I forgot to blog about Ben moving in. Here is some background for those of you who don't have a clue about why he is posting to our family blog.

Ben is 17 and living with us. Enough said. Just kidding. He is having trouble getting along with his mother. My mother let me stay with my sister, Brenda, for a year while I was 15 and it did wonders for our relationship. (Props to Brenda for being a great sister! Love you!) So I suggested it to Ben and his mother and they were willing to give it a try.

He has a small space in the basement that he is able to use. It gives him privacy, most of the time. He can do laundry without anyone seeing his whitey tighties. Again, just kidding. We don't know or care about his whitey tighties. He buys his own food, for now anyway. His parents are only going to pay for food for so long then he needs to support himself. He pays rent in the way of chores. Doing dishes occasionally, clearing out the backyard of junk and such. Not much has changed around here. Instead of 5 people waiting in a line outside the bathroom we now have 6. But it's not big of a deal.

In the motivation department he's been great! He gets me up every morning and tries to get me going. Most days I get up. A few days I didn't. And only once did I pretend to be sleeping because I was too tired to bother making a noise. Shhh, don't tell him! ;) I really am trying though.

About Ben: He's a straight A student. He's been inducted into the National Technical Honors Society, he's got several awards from school, he's a soccer player- he plays defense, he thinks only of soccer and Sara- who surprisingly doesn't play soccer. He has a good head on his shoulders and has many values that you just don't seen in teenagers very often. His attitude about his body is great. He won't smoke, drink or do drugs because he wants his body in peek condition and realises that those things don't do anything but ruin lives and bodies.

His parents raised him with no religion at all. We on the other hand attend church regualrly and have callings. (Well, I'm supposed to be called to one soon....we'll see.) So that is a difference that I think we are both struggling to comprehend. He doesn't understand why we go to church and we don't understand why he doesn't.

Over all he's a great kid with an awesome sense of humor. Sometimes we are relentless, and maybe go too far. And so does he. But we are all quick to forgive. We all love having him here. The mornings are filled with laughter, especially when Bailey is beating him up! (read his post about scaring the kids with Obama masks!) The afternoons are quiet because he is either volunteering or working, and the evenings are fun and calm. He's tired, J's getting ready for work and the kids are winding down.

The house is cleaner and I have more energy, until recently. But I'm going to the Dr for that, so that will be another blog for another day.