Fun with a Box

Read a blog post recently about the 5 best toys of all time...We had a little fun with #2. The holes Kyle cut started out as peep-hole windows. Then they needed to be big enough to put a ball through. Then they needed to be big enough to put their heads through. Eventually, they were big enough for their whole bodies to fit through...

She smiles. (He's saying cheese.)

 He smiles. (She's saying ???)

 No! This is MY hole.

 The faces of Rebecca...

 Flying like an airplane.

Owen showing us his muscles. Apparently it requires using his "angry face". 

 And his Heisman pose - he says "Can't take MY ball!" - and he means it.

Totally unrelated...we went with the Murrays to the Austin Rodeo on Saturday. Didn't actually catch any rodeo shows, but had fun checking out all the farm animals, looking at the rides (Owen had no interest in going on any of them - no real surprise), and eating sure-to-give-you-a-heart-attack-food. Here is the only pic I managed to capture...they're posing with the "oreo cow" (aka belted galloway) - my favorite of all farm animals.

One update and one story:

Update - Owen can now totally get himself dressed! It is SUCH a big deal! He can take everything off and put everything on! He needs encouragement along the way to not get distracted and just stop halfway through the job (e.g. shirt and flip flops, no underwear or shorts), but he CAN DO IT! It started with what I called an "Owen Challenge" but that resulted in him running around the house hyperventilating while he tried to get himself dressed, like he as in a race. Now when I tell him to get dressed, he says, okay, but I'm not doing a challenge, I'm just getting dressed...

FYI: this means that one of my two BIG GOALS before the baby has been met...now if I can just get his thumbs to be strong enough so he can buckle himself in (and get himself out) of his car seat we'll be all set...know any tricks?

Story - this really deserves a post to itself, but I've got folding waiting for me...

We were driving home north on Mopac and drove past (for about the 1 billionth time) the Austin cemetary at 2222. Owen noticed the grave markers for the first time and asked what was all over that park? Oh boy. I explained that that park is called a cemetery and and when people die that's where we bury their bodies, and the white things are markers/signs with their names on them. I quickly added that if we love Jesus, we go to heaven when we die and we get a new body. 

In rapid fire, here were his questions/comments:

1) I DON'T WANT a NEW BODY!

2) Do they just take my LEGS?  (touching legs) Will I be able to walk? But I want to be able to WALK!!!

3) Do they just take my HEAD? (touching head)

4) Do they just take my TUMMY? (touching tummy)

5) How do they get my body OFF??? (imagining field dressing a deer?)

Oh boy...why am I in the car by myself with him??? Where is Kyle? Anybody, anybody??? Where is the Mopac Train when I need it???

I think I reassured him that although it's a MYSTERY (thanks to Backyardigans, he had recently learned this word), it's not something we have to be afraid of. We don't know exactly how it works but we know that heaven will be awesome and that getting a new body will be awesome. Because God is AWESOME. 

Whew. I think this is what parents of older children mean when they tell me it gets easier AND harder.