Both boys were reading the hymnals and looking through the pages. The congregation (including their Grandma and myself) stood up for the next song…

Kiefer (being bossy but confident about knowing what he’s expected to do next): Cameron! Hurry up! Put down the book and get up!
Cameron (focused on the hymnal pages replied very firmly): I’m trying to learn the words!

I almost couldn’t contain myself. TOO funny!

Cameron: The planes can’t go above the clouds because heaven is there.

Jason: Heaven is higher than that. Airplanes can’t reach heaven by flying above the clouds

Cameron: Sparky and Skye are way up in heaven where airplanes don’t fly.

Me: Yep, so no worries. Sparky and Skye will not need to worry about planes. They are too far up.

Kiefer: Daddy, how do you get to heaven?

Jason (suddenly looking a little pale) looks at me and says: Oh no, there’s the question. I don’t know how to answer this.

Me (just as Kiefer started to ask the question again): Sparky and Skye were very old dogs. Bodies don’t last forever. Their bodies stopped working and their souls/spirits went on to heaven which is way way above the clouds. Eventually our bodies are going to get too old and our souls/spirits will go to heaven too.

Kiefer: So we’ll be able to see Sparky and Skye when we go to heaven?

Me: Yes, when it’s our time to go, but that won’t be for a very long time. When we get old and our bodies stop working, then it’ll be time. We can see them then.

Cameron: I can see Sparky! I can see Skye! But, only when it’s time.

Both boys continued on and on about how we all go to heaven when we get very old and how the dogs are up there waiting for us. Cameron seemed a little concerned about the dogs and how they are waiting for us, so I added and confirmed how they are in a place where they have all the friends and toys and food and places to run around in that they could want. They are in a very special place some people call Rainbow Bridge where they are happy as they wait to see their family again. When it’s our time to go, we’ll see them again. It’s not our time yet. We have a long way to go before it’s our time to go to heaven. The dogs will be happy as they wait for us.

Cameron and Kiefer seemed quite satisfied to hear that the dogs were in a good place, they won’t get hit by airplanes, and that they are waiting to see us when it’s our time to go. The car ride did go on as they both discussed their new knowledge on the matter of where heaven is and where the dogs are. I felt happy with myself on how I handled that because talking about heaven and being asked how to get there means talking about death. They’ve never really asked about it….they just accepted that there’s a place called heaven and that our dogs went there to live instead of here at home. They also for a while believed heaven is either on the roof of our house or just above the clouds. It was always a bit amusing to hear them talking about the dogs needing to stay dry when it rained or that we need to make a window in the roof so they can see us better or to make sure there are no holes in the roof so they don’t fall in. Eventually they moved heaven to above the clouds permanently, so we no longer had to worry about the health of our roof anymore.

So, here I am taking photos in my yard and around the house. I can’t say they are professional quality, but I’m rather pleased with a few of them. I certainly need more work on taking photos and I REALLY want to learn how to use my camera to it’s fullest capability. I have a Nikon D80 DSLR camera. It’s a good camera! It’ snot even too heavy, but I do have a heavy lens I like to use and a shorter, more comfortable one that does not have any vibration reduction on it so some photos are not as sharp as I’d like. Yeah yeah, I know…. get a tripod. I can only imagine if I get one I’d have to lug that around too. I want to find a good position for me to stand in so I don’t have to use a tripod just to get a good shot. Don’t get me wrong! Most of my shots are clear and not blurry, but some more recent shots I’d have liked to have a tripod with me. I suppose I should just bite the bullet and get one.

So, I have been looking around the house for some good things to take photos of. I like the lamp photos I took recently. Here are a couple..

I changed the point of focus from the front to the back beads for interest. It was an attempt at least! So, I did find I enjoyed looking for something to focus on. I hope I don’t lose this next attempt. I think it’s important to do things you enjoy doing. I enjoy this! I have focused on my boys for so long, it’s time I do something I want to do for myself. It’s not the last thing I plan to get myself in to, but it’s a great start!

Cameron: I farted this morning. I had a lot of farts this morning!

Me: That’s wonderful, Cameron.

Cameron: I’m still farting! I’m so gassy! I’m a gassy boy today!

Cameron: What’s in those doors?

Me: We don’t go in there.

Cameron: What are they for?

Me: People go in there to bake themselves.

Passer-by: *snicker/chuckle*

Me: Like I said, we don’t go in there.

Cameron: Oh OK.

Cameron: When I get older, I want to be a lunch maker. I’ll make food and serve it from the kitchen.

Jason: A lunch maker, eh?

Cameron: …and I’m going to make wings that you can eat the bones.

Kiefer: Look! I’m hiding my penis!
Me: oh really? Where is it?
Kiefer: It’s not here! (pointing down towards his boy bits)
Kiefer then spread his legs letting his now mostly erect penis bounce up and proudly sang Pop Goes the Weasel!

BOYS! *facepalm*

Kiefer: Sing Rock-a-bye.

Me: Proceeds to sing him Rock-a-Bye, Baby

Kiefer: You know that lullaby song?

Me: Knowing what he’s talking about, proceeds to sing him All the Pretty Little Horses.

Kiefer: You know that song that ends with something like Daddy’s going to hit you or something?

Me: Daddy’s gonna hit you? Oh, umm… figuring it out, I proceed to sing him Hush Little Baby. But, by verse 3, I’m laughing too hard I can’t finish, so Kiefer tries to finish singing for me…

Kiefer: Daddy’s going to buy me a shopping cart…

Me: A shopping cart? Laughing even harder by this time, I can barely breathe.

Kiefer: Start over!

It took me about 5 tries before I could barely make it through the entire song. Kiefer also had a hard time keeping a straight face which made it even harder for me to be able to finish the song.

Yesterday, they boys enjoyed their day having an Easter egg hunt with their aunt. The Easter bunny had apparently visited their auntie and dropped some cool stuff in her back yard. They got a chocolate bunny each, I didn’t even count how many eggs they found, and they found a rubix cube and a whiffle ball and bat set each. OOO what fun! They also colored some eggs and enjoyed some mac and cheese with string beans. I can’t say Kiefer was thrilled with the food, but he also has been getting over a cold, so his appetite has been spotty at most. After lunch, they were going to get back in the car to head home for a nap. But, they were not having that! Time to play with their new bat and ball set! So outside, their auntie and daddy threw a ball to them and each got a chance to hit the ball back. They have never done this before, so it was fascinating to see Cameron hit the ball a few times. Kiefer has thrown balls before, but it was nice to see how well he can throw the ball and aim.

So, finally we got home and with some normal resistance, they took their nap. After their nap, not to my surprise, they wanted to go out and play with their bats some more. I threw Cameron the ball and just a little less than half the time, he hit the ball. Sometimes, he even hit the ball way past my head! I was impressed!! Kiefer had a little trouble holding the bat and hitting the ball. He’d hit sometimes, but he was having trouble. But, give him the ball and he’d toss that ball far! now if only he could gain more control of the ball, he could throw Cameron the ball and he could hit it. What fun that would be!!!

Then after that it was off to play with their light sabers and the desire to walk around the neighborhood. Of course, Kiefer saw someone watering their yard, and he wanted to go home to water our yard too. I don’t know where our new hose head is, but I was not about to drag our hose to the front of the house so Kiefer can attempt to water the yard and then make me do it. The yard didn’t need watering yet. He was disappointed to say the least, but it was nice he was willing to do a chore like watering the yard. I shall use this to my advantage if he seems up for the job later!

Me: There are no storms nearby us.

Cameron (pointing to some dark green areas): What’s that?

Me: those are mountains.

*I zoom out so he can see how many mountains are on the US continent

Me: Here are the mountains that are near us and these are the Rocky Mountains. See how many mountains we have?

Cameron: We live on a very bumpy planet.