Looking UP! My O turns 5

Tonight my Oboe got out of the shower and looked at the tag on his underwear and said, "Hey I am five now." I guess it is time for new shorts, as The Big Guy likes to call them because my boy is 5 now and he can't be wearing size 4.

This boy has been a joy from the moment he entered our home. He always has a smile on his face and feels that most things are AWESOME--his favorite word. He has a great deal of confidence and finds a tremendous amount of joy in all things around him.

He is a tender heart. He loves to be cuddled and hugged. He notices little things and comments on them He is known to say he likes the earrings I have on, the curtains in peoples house, a new outfit I might be wearing.

He is a cautious boy. He is nervous about trying new things/ This is comforting to me because I know he will always take precautions. I should be so cautious. On the other hand, Owens imaginary friend, Lil Jacob, is a daredevil and does amazing stunts. I find this interesting.

Owen is a natural athlete. He loves to play basket ball and baseball.

He is a thinker. Often he will draw a conclusion about something and say, "Yea I thinked about it in my head."

Owen wanted to see the movie UP for his birthday at the drive in. We invited our friends The Stewarts to come and share the experience with us.

Pizza for dinner and then chocolate cake with chocolate icing for dessert. Emma made the cake and did a great job. His brother Mitchell helped me decorate the cake.

For his birthday Owen got two Star Wars Lego sets. One ship with Annakin and R2 D2 and the ship has four robot droids. Very cool. He got a paddle game like the ol' Zim Zam I used to play when I was a kid, a new GI Joe and a Nerf dart gun and bubbles from the Stewarts. Of course Owen thinks all his gifts are Awesome.

The Tiki drive in was. . .loud, slightly uncomfortable, distracting and a ball. It is an experience unto itself and well worth it. We will be going again.

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!

Like Sister Like Brother.

Ems is a planner. She came out of the womb planning parties and activities, tea parties, craft projects, play dates, park days, princess balls, etc. She is all about the plan: brainstorming the plan, organizing the plan, implementing the plan, experiencing the plan. Her life is so dependant upon whether or not her plan is realized or foiled. It is either the best day, or the worst day. There is rarely an in between. I absolutely love that about her. Every day she asks me: "So what are we doing tomorrow mom?" to which I reply, most of the time, "We are doing homework and having dinner, relaxing and going to bed."

She is never impressed with my plan.

Don't get me wrong, I can plan. . .I just don't think that far ahead, generally, but Emma loves me despite my personal flaw. So Emma takes control of those things she can control. One such thing is what she is going to wear to school the next day. Since, first grade I believe, Emma has made the effort to choose her outfit and place it on her floor so she can roll out of bed and put it on in the morning. She got this from her father, like I said I don't think that far ahead.

Tonight she did the same thing she has been doing for two years already. No news to me. Every evening when I go in her room to tuck her in, she has her ensemble laid out flat on the floor, nice and even, like a little paper doll outfit,

Tomorrow's outfit

organized: top and bottom, belt and buckle, socks and shoes, jewelry too, until recently when she realized that Kiki Lila, our cat, was playing with it during the night and turning it into a big twisted mess.

What I didn't expect, was going into the boys room and seeing this:

These clothing choices aren't bad for yitta guys.

top and bottom, socks and shoes and even jewelry, spy the silver jeweled cross necklace that Will got out of a gumball machine in an Italian restaurant (I guess it is fitting that they would have crucifixes in their gumball machines.)And notice that it is perfectly paired with his Italian soccer t-shirt. (My friend Jeanne LaMonica would appreciate this) Notice Owen doesn't have jewelry, but he has his sword lined up so he is already to play the moment he wakes up and dresses himself.

Richard and I smiled.

Like Sister, Like Brothers.

Big Guys and Little Guys

"Big Guy" and" little guy" are terms of endearment in my family. At least I use them as such. It all started with This guy: The Big Guy

The Big Guy aka "Bob" with Wills in '02

Notice I use the article "the" when calling this guy The Big Guy. That is because he is "The" original, "The" first, "The" Big Guy. It's true. The term has been used since when talking to my boys and one or two other guys who qualify for various reasons, but it originated with Bob, my dad. Why is he called The Big Guy? well for one thing, he is big, he is tough and he has a big heart. To tell you the truth, I don't actually know where the name originated from, we just accepted it and never questioned it, it just is. Here is the Big Guy when he was little:

My Grandma Edna curled The Big Guys hair for this photo. Let's keep that to ourselves, if it got out it might ruin his reputation as a tough guy.

Then we have the Little Guy, or as we like to call him yetta guy, Rob--he is my younger brother. Yetta Guy took after The Big Guy in looks and in manner, hence the name, of course he had other nick names capt. barf, and The Fonz for example, but Yetta Guy stuck.

The Yetta Guy aka "Rob" in '75

Here is The Little Guy now that he is Big:

Rob and I last Summer at Santa Cruz Island

Here is The Little Guy and I when we were young.

in the front room of our house in Diamond Bar

Here is both The Big Guy and The Little Guy in the Aug. '85

Outside the Chicago Temple at the Open House before it was dedicated.

Now here is this guy. This is my yetta guy, Os.

This Little Guy takes after The Big Guy in looks and manner as well. Like The Big Guy, he is the biggest of all his siblings by comparison. One day we will call him Big Guy too. I am sure of it. And this is where the story begins. . . This guy has a friend. Not any ordinary friend, mind you but an amazingly brilliant, talented, incredibly privileged, and remarkably nimble friend. I have never actually met this friend, but I hear about him all the time, in fact we all do and feel like he is part of our family. His name is Little Jacob. . .

Here is Big Jacob. . .

Big Jacob is like another brother, in fact he is Mitchell's brother from another mother as we like to say. I am pretty sure that Little Jacob, Owen's best friend, stems from this Big Jacob, whom we all love.

Now Back to Little Jacob. . .

Here is what we know about Little Jacob. Little Jacob lives in a match box house, I am not sure if that means it is small like a match box, or is full of Match box cars. Another thing I know is that he has every toy imaginable and thousands of legos:

"Wow," I said, "Thousands? where did he get them all?"

"For his birthdays!" Owen shares enthusiastically.

"Really, how many birthdays did Little Jacob have?"

"A hundred!" Owen says confidently. And I believe it too, because it seems like every week Owen is invited to another one of Little Jacob's birthday parties. And they are themed parties too: spiderman, superman, batman, or GI Joe parties. Owen is always invited because he, of course, is Little Jacob's best friend.

Little Jacob can do some amazing things. Just yesterday, Owen told us that Little Jacob could stand on the wall upside down. Emma retorted that she could do that, and immediately began forming a head stand.

"No," Owen corrected, "Little Jacob can stand on the wall upside down!" and then he points to the ceiling.

"Really! You mean Little Jacob can stand on the ceiling like Spider man?" Owen, wide eyed and smiling, shakes his head yes. We all are amazed. This little Jacob is quite the phenomenon.

Little Jacob goes to school, but not your average school, he goes to Camp School."Camp School?" Mitchell questions, "What do you do in camp school?"

"All camping stuff, and he has to set up tents, and then he does his school work in the tents."

"Oh wow, that's fun, what else does he do?"

"He cuts wood with axes, and he goes in the mountains, and he plays with sticks, and he climbs on things."

"Wow little Jacob is really lucky," we acknowledge.

"Yes he is and, (a pause). . . can I go to camp school?"

"We can go camping, but I can't send you to camp school. Little Jacob is really lucky."

Little Jacob has some amazing strength. He can lift cars, jump off houses, run through fire, climb up rocky cliffs and other super hero feats that would make the hair of any mother stand on end. I am just glad that I am not Little Jacob's mother or I would never sleep restfully at night.

Surprisingly, however, Little Jacob can't swim. We were all amazed. But, he can walk on water.

"He can walk on water?" Richard questions.

"Yes, on hot water." Owen pronounces, "Little Jacob can run on hot water!"

The adventures of Little Jacob continue to weave through our lives. I felt I should write just a few down before they are gone forever.

We love our little Jacob, just like we love our Big Jacob. Keep those stories coming Os. Oh and by the way, We love you Big Guy!!! and the yetta guy too!!!

Owie Has An Ouwie

Once upon a time, there was a little O Boy, but he wanted to be big. Sometimes he tried to do the things that the big boys did and that got him into trouble.

googley eyed snake by Lisa Kirtley

Little O Boy and big brother Willow climbed up on the life guard tower. Willow told little O Boy to jump off. Little O Boy obeyed. Down, down, down he fell, the whole 6 feet, to crash upon the cement base of the life guard tower.

"Ouwie," little O boy cried!

Where were little O boy's parents you ask. Gladly getting their camera for the cute picture that they wanted to take of little O boy and Big brother Will on the life guard tower.

awesome fire breathing dragon and knight by Mitchell

Little O boy chipped his calcaneus bone (the heel) and will be in a cast for two weeks.

But does a cast stop little O boy from being ready to fight the bad guys?

NO WAY!

Prepared to fight

Kung fu fighter stance

Lesson learned by Little O boys parents: Safety first, pictures later.

Little O Boy and His Sponge Bob Pole: A Fish Story

Once upon a time there was a little O Boy! He was a happy boy who thought he was big. He wanted to do everything the big boys wanted to do, and he did. One day little O Boy went to the dock with his trusty Sponge Bob Pole. There were lots of people there and they were catching some fish! Little O Boy wanted to catch one too. He was patient and had faith in his Sponge Bob Pole, although the other kids thought it was just for babies. Lots of fish were caught that day!

Big Bro Willow caught one. Big Boy Sam I Am caught a Big one. Even Big Sis Ems caught one!

Finally, Little Boy O caught a fish. Everyone was very happy for him and thought he caught a big fish for such a little boy!
But Little O Boy felt he could do better because he is pretty AWESOME! so he put his pole in one more time. He had faith in his little Sponge Bob Pole! He put in his line one more time and this is what happened:

Little O Boy caught the biggest fish of the day, a large mouth bass, with his trusty Sponge Bob Pole. Oh the faith of Little O Boy and his Sponge Bob pole.

O boy!

Owen at Ca Adventure on his birthday

Owen contemplating his wishes!

My sweet big boy Owen just celebrated his 4th birthday! He wanted a Wall e birthday because the movie came out on his birthday. So for his birthday we went to Disneyland and then went to see Wall e. Little did we know that the movie would make human beings seem like weak, lazy, irresponsible dults. Luckily the message went right over his head!

Unlike the human characters in Wall e, our Owen is so proud of himself and thinks he is pretty AWESOME! Our Owen is such a joy and a ray of sunshine. He brightens our lives with his enthusiasm and his optimism. Once when reading a rhyming book that asked us to whisper our ages in each others ear, he whispered his age with his little hot breath in my ear "I free years old", and I in turn whispered in his ear, "I'm forty-one years old" to which he grabbed my face in his little hands and said "Oh man, that's AWESOME," He instantly made me feel great about being over forty. Now that's a miracle worker. He is a little love bug, always giving kissses and hugs. When ever he wants to give me some lovin' he says, "Two kisses and two hugs!" Of course two is better than one, Right? So he grabs my face in his hands and plants two big kisses on my lips and gives me two big hugs. My little Owen knows what girls like: to be complimented. He will say, OH mom you look pretty!or "Oh mom, what a pretty shirt," always smiling and looking directly into my eyes. Thank you my O!

Owen is a very cautious boy and needs to take his time doing things, but when he gets up the courage, there is no stopping him. Here he rode the tube for the first time. He loved it. He is flexing his power after the ride.

Happy Birthday my little O, my Oboe, my Owie, my Big Boy! We love you.