Fall-ing in love with vegetables

 Now, look at this picture. I know exactly what you are thinking: "isn't that the sweetest little boy you have ever seen? ". Thank you. And the answer is yes. This picture is one of my favorites from this Halloween season. It was harder to capture and thus appreciated even more for the effort it took to achieve. So, lets take in the picture for a minute. The wonderful scenery, the fall colors, the handsome boy. But wait, what is he holding in his hands? Are those balls? Are they rocks or toys? The answer, my friends, is that he is holding Bob and Larry, from Veggie Tales. Maybe you pictured Bob and Larry to look something like this: 

And you would be correct. This is the standard representation of Bob and Larry. But at our house, we go by the Luke version. And that version consists of two smallish forms of play-doh, loosely rolled and shaped in to a ball and an oval. One is red, the other is green, and voila! you have Larry and Bob. I don't remember where the idea came from but one day the play-doh veggies were formed and for three days thereafter, they were all we heard about in our house. Bob and Larry went everywhere. They went to the grocery store, to the park and even to the bathtub, where they did not go in (because they can't swim, duh). We went through about 4 sets of Larry and Bob figures because they kept drying out and cracking and would not retain their shape. So, naturally, Bob and Larry also came to the pumpkin patch with us after school one day.

Like a snap happy mom I was posing and primping Luke for his photos. We had left the veggies on the hood of the car for the first few shots but had to quickly retrieve them once Luke remembered where they were. From then on they were permanent fixtures in the events. At one point Luke even carefully placed them on a pumpkin and asked me to take their picture.

Towards the end of the session, I was told that Larry and Bob wanted to ride in the wagon.

After the initial laughter, those of us in the house began to question the normalcy of this. It seemed strange for a child to create these rudimentary figures and then carry them around with him all day. Also, he slept with them. Yeah, I forgot that part. He slept with Larry and Bob in his hands. So weird. Right?

I understand developing a connection and an attachment to something and wanting to maintain that connection at all times. I understand the idea of wanting to keep the important things close to you. And thankfully this obsession was forgotten after the weekend and has not yet resurfaced. This week we have all we can handle with Halloween goodies and treats. But I am a bit nervous to pull out the play-doh again and have mini-veggies ruling our lives once more. Can someone tell me that this happened to them too? Or their children? Or someone they knew? I am curious as to how "normal" all of this really is.