Random Things from My Weekend - May 17th

• Is it weird that I know why Hebrew National hotdogs come in a pack of seven instead of eight?
• Owen is going through a stage where many of the other kids at the parks and play areas we visit don't want to play with him. They're often family groups that don't play with any unknown kids. He doesn't really pick up on this well. He usually just tags along anyway. The hard part is, we pick up on it immediately. We often leave biting our tongues, wanting to say something to the effect of, "You all have man kids. It's been great spending time with them."
• On our way home from our neighborhood park last night I talked to him about deciding to be mean or deciding to be nice. One little girl had been particularly rude as we left telling him that he wasn't welcome at the park anymore. I looked at her father to see if he would add anything. He did not. On our walk home, I told Owen that it was okay for kids to decide that they didn't want to play along with him. He got really flustered and struggled to basically say, "What part of not wanting to play with me is okay?" I told him that everyone has the right to decide whether or not they want to play with someone else, but hopefully they'd express their decision in a nice way instead of being mean. I explained that I hoped he'd always choose to be nice to people.
• He's four, and I'm already having what feel like deep, meaningful talks with him.
• We attended a fun cookout this weekend. Our first of the year.
• Owen spent some of his savings money this weekend on a rubber snake from Target. The cashier screamed and literally jumped backward when it came down the line. She refused to ring it up. Her coworker had to come over.
• Both of our sons spent the night with grandparents Saturday. We're still in reprogram mode.
• I hate yard work (mowing, weeding, trimming), but I love planting and gardening. I planted grass seed this weekend.
• I can't wait to finish planting our garden next weekend. We've been trying to be "greener" for a few years now. Our garden saves us money, makes me feel productive, and in a round about way, lessens our carbon footprint. There's something about dirt, seeds, and my attention that feels so spiritual to me. It's like I'm participating in something… that I was made to do.
• I'm almost finished with How to be Good by Nick Hornby. It's fiction, funny, and British, but it deals very realistically with relationship/marital issues. I'm finding it very timely. It even has parallel themes to a recent sermon our pastor gave. Thank you Katie M. for the suggestion. I'm reading a few other books too. I don't usually read more than one or two at a time, but they're all so good.