On God and Stuff

Tonight as we were riding home in the car, we received a poignant reminder of how little ears are always listening to the things that we say.  (Even if those same little ears usually don't 'listen' to a thing we say!"   Owen was in the back seat, watching a movie and Matthew and I were discussing a child that had passed away during a surgery.  We were talking quietly to one another, and assumed that he was totally engrossed in his movie, but alas, he heard us.

Immediately, the onslaught of questions began, and all basically revolved around the concept of, "But aren't people supposed to die when they're old?"

"Yeah, Buddy," I responded, "That's how it usually happens."  I was hoping to leave it at that.

No such luck.

"But you said that a little girl died.  She wasn't old. Why'd she die?"

Matthew and I exchanged the hopeless look of two parents desperately needing the wisdom to say the right thing.

"Sometimes," I slowly started, my mind racing. "Sometimes, God just has different plans and wants to bring someone home to Heaven a little earlier."

He thoughtfully considered my answer, and finally replied, "Probably God runs out of little kid pieces sometimes so he needs to bring some kids to Heaven to get some more."

Those little wheels are ALWAYS turning.

Riddles

You know how kids go through the "No!" phase, and the "Why?" phase, (sometimes simultaneously??) Well, we're in a new phase with Owen and it's called the "Riddle" phase.   It works like this, Owen gives us a string of clues related to some random memory that he's thinking of and we have to try to guess what it is.  He is very detailed with his clues, so usually after wracking our brains, we can figure it out. 

For example, one night we were eating dinner and Owen says, "I wish that I could see that nice girl again." 
"Which nice girl are we talking about, buddy?" We asked.
"The one at the church with the birthdays." He tells us, "She sounds like lasagna." 

hmmmm.

This time it took both of us to figure it out.  Matthew finally figured out that the "church with the birthdays", is Winchester Congregational Christian- you know, the one where we hosted Great Grandpa Norbert's 90th BIRTHDAY, as well as other family events.  From there, I figured out the "nice girl that sounds like lasagna." is actually my cousin, Vanessa. (And she is indeed VERY nice!)  

Clear as mud, right?


Sometimes, we have a harder time. Currently, we have an unsolved riddle to which we have clues such as,
-People dressed up like sandwiches
-The guys that came out of the little doors
-Something that makes everything green
-It's a Jesus day

We have no clue.

It's clear that he makes his connections in atypical ways.

Last Day

I can't believe it, but we're already through with another school year.  It's hard to believe how fast time flies.  Owen is actually disappointed to be out of school for the summer.  He truly had a wonderful year!
I'd just like to say a huge thank-you to these two ladies for being everything that preschool teachers should be.

For encouraging, teaching and loving my son- I'm truly grateful. We're so happy that he'll be with you again for another year!

Bounce Baby Bounce

A while back, Owen decided that he'd really like to have a trampoline. He mentioned it a few times in passing, and then it became more a focused subject to him. We told him that if he worked hard and saved his money that he'd be able to buy one. (I promised him that I would match his savings- since I also wanted a trampoline.) One of my proudest moments while he was saving was when he looked at my mom who had suggested that we buy him the trampoline, and told her that he was buying it with his money. I reminded him that he didn't have enough to make the purchase yet, and he simply replied, "I'll just have keep working until I earn enough." Seriously, I know an awful lot of adults who can't understand that concept. Last weekend, after many weeks of hard work, he hit the magic number, and we were off to Wal-Mart to make the purchase.

He carried his little, "spend" box into the store so proudly and helped the cashier count out every last penny. (A big thanks to the patient cashier who didn't get frustrated by a four year old with a box full of small bills and coins.)

We got it home, and within a couple of hours- we were in business! Let me tell you, I'm loving this thing, because on the days when he's spent several hours bouncing, he goes right to sleep! Plus, it's a lot of fun!

And in typical Owen fashion, he wants to make sure that he keeps that trampoline clean. After learning the hard way that sandboxes and trampolines are not a good match, he was right out there getting it swept off.

He cracks me up.