Dem Bones

Little Explorers

Crash! the door flies open and the boys sprint in "Mom, mom, mom, guess what we found--bones. After dinner we are going to go back and get 'em."

"Yeah, I found dem, I just looked down and saw dem." Owen says confidently.

"You have a good eye don't you Bud!"

"Yea, and dey are AWESOME!"

"Really?" I say, "Bones? Your bringing them back here?" I am already squirming at the thought. This is one of those moments where I realize that my boys need so much more than I can offer, because I am sure, actually very confident, I would have talked them out of bringing those bones back to the house, but their dad, he was all game for it.

Will describing what the bones are.

"It's a whole body mom!" Will says with an attitude of authority.

"Yeah, wif little teef." Owen shares with a big grin. I see the excitement in both their eyes, the smiles on their faces and I can tell how happy they are, but all I can think of is yucky decomposing bacteria.

By now the girls are sauntering in. "Did you here about the bones that Owen found?" Lily says, she has wide eyes too, but no smile. "Yea it is the whole animal, you can see the spine and the head and the teeth and everything."

Our neighbor we affectionately call Little Austin

"Wow, did you find this at the church?"

"Yeah in da bushes! We are gonna go back and get it after dinner so we can find out what it is!"

"I think it is a bird that ate a mouse!" Will concludes.

"We know it is not a bird because it has fur." says their dad, he is smiling too. "But we can go get the bones and figure it out." It is a great mystery that needs to be discovered.

Now I am smiling because I am thrilled at the curious minds of my boys and because their dad is encouraging it. Oh yeah and that I can stay here, far from the bones and not have to be the one to collect them.

Before dinner we pray and Will offers:

"Dear Heavenly Fader, thank you for the bones of the bird."

"It's not a bird," Lily whispers,

"It's not a bird!" Owen declares,

"Thank you for the bones of the bird!" Will repeats.

"Thank you for the food and bless it," and then he closes the prayer.

"Don't you remember Will, it can't be a bird because it has fur!" Owen says with authority.

"Yes, Will birds have wings, mammals have fur, so it is probably not a bird." their dad teaches.

"Yeah it had all dat fur hangin' off da bones!" Owen persists

By now I am losing my appetite. "Can we not talk about the bones right now?"

Every one laughs because they see I'm loosing interest in my meal very quickly. We were having chicken.

"Did you see the head and all the teeth? All the teeth were still there!" Lily says again. She loves science and animals. She is into this as well. Emma thought they were cool too but could take them or leave them.Scary Skippy John Jones dinosaur bones faces

They brought the bones zipped up in a sweaty zip lock bag. "Look, look mom, look at the bones."

They were pretty cool, I will have to admit, "Wow, the teeth ARE all still apart of the skull." It looks like something you might find at a museum of natural history. "Remember those bones belong OUTside!" I say with authority.

My boys go out and place the bones on the table an begin classifying them. My little digger, explorers, with dirt in their fingernails, smears on their faces and messy hair. Perfect!

"Oh gross." Owen declares.
"What do yo see there Owen?"

"Sugar Bugs!"

By the way, the mystery animal was a possum. Go figure!