The Middle Men

I've been enjoying lots of moments with all the boys lately. They are so much fun to be with! I thought I would write about Tommy and Owen today.
I just had a week of Joy School with Thomas. We were talking about obeying rules and repenting when you don't, and making decisions. Because I was more aware of the focus for the week, I felt like he and I had some good off-the-cuff conversations that became a bit more guided as they went on. One of those was about Star Wars. Tommy was in the kitchen eating chicken as I picked it off the bones and asking all sorts of questions about chickens and chicken broth ("it's the juice from the chicken?!") and then his thoughts turned to Star Wars. I don't think he's ever seen the movies himself, but he's heard his brothers talk about it enough and read enough of the picture books that he has a general idea of things. He started humming and said, "What does that sound like Mom?" (I discovered he was trying to hum Darth Vader's theme music.) Then he sang Luke Skywalker's and got it pretty right on. He told me "Mom, did you know that someone came and cut Annikin and then he turned into Dark Vader!" I said, "Really!" Tommy said, "Yeah, and Annikin was scared of Dark Vader, right?" I said, "Well, Annikin was Darth Vader." He puzzled over that one for awhile, then said, "But later when Luke Skywalker cut Dark Vader, Annikin came out!" I said, Well, that was true too. He asked, "Was Annikin good or bad?" I said, "Well, when he was a boy, he was good. When he was a teenager he started making some bad choices and he decided to follow the evil Emperor instead of the good team." Then we had to talk about Yoda. "Was Master Yoda on the good team?" Yes. "Does Master Yoda like fighting all the bad guys and killing them?" Hmmmm. "He doesn't like killing, he just likes stopping the bad guys from doing bad things." Back to Annikin. "So was Annikin ever good again?" "Yes, remember he repented right at the end and told Luke he was sorry and that he loved him. That's when Darth Vader turned back into Annikin."
We've been working on repenting when Tommy hurts Georgie, which is every day. So along those same lines, one night I was putting the boys to bed and helping Owen clear off his bed (he is a big pack rat) and he handed me Buzz Lightyear. I kind of impatiently dropped him to the floor and he landed on one of his buttons. He proclaimed, "I come in peace!" and Tommy piped right up, "Buzz got a consequence!!"
We've made a goal to be better about reading scriptures individually with the boys every night before bed. I have really enjoyed helping Tommy with this. He listens really carefully most nights. You know when you really feel that you are being listened to, and there is almost the sense that your words are going straight out of your mouth into the mind of someone else? I've had some great moments like that with Tommy. I love the look he gets on his face and the questions that always follow. Or sometimes with scriptures he just says, "read that again Mommy!" His favorites in the New Testament so far have been the section about Herod (I think we read that 2-3 nights in a row), Jesus being baptized (he liked the part about the dove), and the Beatitudes. It was cute to hear him say all the "bwesseds."
He still talks in a really cute way. He gets things mixed up sometimes. One example is the evolution of his word "Actually." He used to say, "Ash-key." Then he realized that there is another syllable in there, so now he says, "Ash-a-key!" :-)

Owen makes me laugh many times a day. He loves to wear his coon hat and his slippers around the house. That combo is especially funny to me. The other day when we were heading into the swimming pool, Owen called from the back seat, "look at me mom! I'm a pilot!" I glanced in the rearview mirror and burst out laughing. He had on his swimming goggles and his headphones for watching movies in the car. He gave me a thumbs up and a goofy grin. I really wished I had my camera for that!
The other day, I sighed out loud and said, "Oh, there are sooo many dishes to wash!" Owen took pity on me and offered to help. I asked him to rinse, which he did for the first 15 dishes, and then he was sick of that and wanted to do something more useful. He helped wash dishes for about 30 minutes! He is pretty tenderhearted and can sense when someone is discouraged. He often comes home from school and tells about befriending someone there. The new boy in his class has called Owen for lots of play dates.
In general, Owen is Daddy's buddy. He often says (usually at dinner), "Ohhh, I'm so tired. It's been a rough day at the office. Can we have a cuddle on the couch, Daddy?" Sometimes I get to be lucky enough to cuddle with Owen too, and it is always a fun experience. It's fun to cuddle and have quiet talks every now and then.
Yesterday I was thinking about Owen and how he's so willing to try everything. In the morning when the boys woke up, I was doing some stretches, and Owen came right in, got his tennis shoes on, and proceeded to be my "trainer." He showed me the proper way to do the moves (he does yoga every day in his kindergarten class and can do an amazing side bridge with one arm up in the air, and one foot on top of another!)and then joined in with me. A little later in the morning he had a hockey game. Every time they would put on the music, he would dance around and wave at us. Sometimes right in the middle of a play or chasing a puck, he would turn and wave at us. He also worked really hard and got two goals for his team! That was a lot of fun to watch. Later in the day he was sitting at the piano bench practicing with me. I would straighten him up and then he would slide off the bench again, hunching his back and straightening his knees. Then I'd puff him up again and he would sag. I'd grab his fingers and curve them and the next thing I knew, they'd be in his lap again. But once he made up his mind to practice, he did great! :-)
Owen is a real helper with Georgie and a great friend to Tommy--both of which help me a lot. I love having him around.