Replacement Cards

Inspired by a 4-0 start to the season, Owen got into some of the football fever infecting the Valley (not to be confused with the more serious Valley Fever infecting the Valley). Well, since then the Cards have gone 0-4. This unfortunate turn of events has really taken the wind out of our sails collectively, but Owen decided to do something about it.  Completely on his own, he decided to make a team of his own. He made them numbers and figured they would have a better chance of racking up a few wins.

In all seriousness, it's kind of fun to see Owen get into sports. He does like football and asks who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. He's not exactly sure what the guys on the field are doing, but he can recognize a good play when he sees one and it's fun to see him get all excited and start flapping when someone passes for a long touchdown or something.

It's Pumpkin Time

Holy moly, time is flying by. Fall kind of creeps up on you when you live in Arizona. We are finally seeing cooler temperatures, and by cooler I mean in the 80's. It's wonderful.

Halloween is fast approaching and per Owen he, "absolutely cannot wait until Halloween" and is, "so excited!" We have decorated the house with Owen pushing for more and more decorations and scarier ones. (Though to him "scarier" is really cute spiders. He's not into really scary stuff yet.) He was going to be Iron Man, but then the dog ate his mask, so now he is going to be Bumblebee from Transformers.

We went to a pumpkin patch last weekend to get pumpkins. It was a pretty impressive set-up of things to do from a train ride, tractor riding, corn maze, petting zoo. You could even shoot tomatoes out of an air gun. Needless to say, Owen had a blast.

While there it dawned on me that not many pumpkin patches include La Bamba blaring over speakers, people wearing tank tops, and palm trees scattered along the edge of the field. That's fall in Arizona, folks!

New School, New Job

I realized we had not posted anything about Owen's new preschool and my new (kind of) job. I'll start at the beginning for those who may not know the whole story. We attend a monthly parents group put on by Miles' mom that is located at their church. One of the parents who attends the parents group is the director of a preschool that is located on the church's grounds. When she heard that I was unemployed, she asked if I wanted to work part-time and have Owen attend the school while I worked.

I had been feeling bad about not having Owen in a preschool because he made such good friends at his last one, and was going a little stir crazy staying at home full time, so it was kind of a win-win situation. The preschool gets some much needed help, and Owen and I get to leave the house and spend time with some very nice people.

As I said earlier, the preschool is on church grounds, but unlike his last school, the two are not blended so he does not have any religious study. The school is based off of the Reggio Emilia philosophy. It's an interesting concept and what it boils down to is a very loving, creative, and supportive environment. (The school is sometimes jokingly called a hippie school because it's laid back and artsy.)
 

Here are two of the lovely and incredibly patient teachers I get to work with.  The one on the left is technically Owen's teacher, though the classes work together quite a bit. I'm with Owen about half the time and the other half I am helping out with the little guys (1-3 year olds). I'm learning a lot by working here and Owen is enjoying himself and making new friends.

Pondering Life

Last year Owen went to a daycare that was part of a church and he went to chapel twice a week. He would listen to stories and songs about Jesus and God, so every once and awhile Owen will bring up Jesus.

Owen: (Looking at the sky) Where does Jesus live?
Us: He lives up in Heaven.
Owen: He's up in the stars? 
Us: Way, way up with the stars. 
Owen: Jesus lives in us too, right? 
Us: Yes, he lives in our hearts.
Owen: Well, I think Jesus is playing Wipeout in my heart right now cause it's beating really fast!

Owen: When people die, do they go to Heaven?
Us: Yes, they go to Heaven.
Owen: What happens if you go to Heaven, but you aren't really dead?
Us: Then you go back home.
Owen: How do you get home? Does God take you home?
Us: God has a special way of sending you back home. It's like magic.
Owen: No. I think God would take you home. God's a good guy. He would walk you home.

We love his little curious mind.