A sampling of today's conversations.

Tonight on the way home from the pool, Luke wanted to hear the story of Jesus and His crown of thorns. ("Jesus bloody head.") So we told it to him. Then he wanted to hear it again. He has been very intrigued by Jesus lately, particularly his crucifixion (aligning with his fascination with dead things: smashing bugs; begging and pleading us to turn the car around to view a smashed squirrel or another unfortunate piece of roadkill; and marveling at the dead mice, rats, and chicks at the raptor center). He now thinks that all crowns produce blood, so when Richie offered to make him a crown out of paper, he winced and panicked: "No da dum! No da dum!"

Earlier in the day Luke watched the workmen for a while. They are doing work on the patios beneath us, and the boys get to nap each day to the sound of things like jackhammers, drills, tractors, and other perfect-for-naptime tools. After several minutes of supervising the work, Luke decided he was ready for his bike ride. At the end of our loop, we came back for naptime, and Luke said, "Workmen ny-ny." Bethany: "You think the workmen are going ny-ny too?" Luke, sadly: "Yeah." Then we got nearer, and he spotted two workmen chatting by their truck. Excited, Luke pointed at the workmen and shouted, "Workmen! Talking!" Bethany: "Yes, the workmen are talking! What do you think they are talking about?" Luke, boldly: "YA-YA!" Little does Ya-Ya know, but workmen all over the world are talking about her, apparently.

Luke mentioned during dinner that Jesus is in heaven. Richie said, "And we get to go to heaven too! How do we go to heaven?" Luke was happy to declare, "By car!" Richie: "Nooo..." Luke tried again, even more emphatically: "BIKE!" (Ironic: It's even simpler and easier than that.)

And one last car conversation: Luke saw Bethany's wedding ring and wanted her to take it off. She explained that she does not take it off, and that it was Daddy's way of saying he'll love her forever. They got to talking about marriage, and that he may get married someday, and then asked him whom he wanted to marry. This was no light question. He paused a few seconds, thinking deeply, and then responded wistfully, with a sweet smile: "Sam."