A little Hop in Kaden's Step

The weather is getting more tolerable in the late afternoon around here, so we have been venturing out of our Home Cave more frequently.  The other day Kaden was going out to jump on the trampoline and he found a little friend.  It was a huge grasshopper.  I figured he would run screaming from it, but to my surprise he was very interested, fearless and so gentle.  
He tried to get it on a stick for almost an hour.  He went inside to look at it then it hopped on the outside and visa versa.  Quite the ordeal to get a little peak.  But, I was thrilled to see him doing something not video game related that I volunteered to document the whole thing.

 Kaden in the past has very little patience for the small things in life.  It's moments like these that I try to capture and hold onto, because these activities and moments in his life I feel will soften his emotional anguish and give him more peace within himself.  Our Focus this year in our homeschool for him is going to include lots of nature and art.  Up until now it is been overloaded with Math and Science.  Not saying that's a bad thing, but I feel he is already so rule and logic based that he needs a little softer edge to his day. :)

Once he got him off the net he was careful getting him to crawl on his stick.  He was so proud of his hard work, I was too.  Kaden thought he was so unusual because of his coloring, he was gray and brown.  He decided to name him Hopsie.  We looked up what grasshoppers ate and how to build a small habitat for him.  We had gathered all the supplies into the container and as soon as we put Hopsie down he hopped like a million feet into the air.  Ok, maybe a few less then that....but it was far.  
After the initial shock I immediately seized inside because I knew he was going to blow up and be really upset and overwhelmed.  But, to my surprise he was very calm and collected.  He was tremendously sad, don't get me wrong.  But, he was in control of his emotions and they were appropriate for the situation.  Thank you Lord!  

I spent the rest of the night before we just couldn't see anymore looking in the yard for the runaway grasshopper.  We never found Hopsie, but it did give Kaden and I plenty of time to chat about animals and their natural homes.  I was able to talk to him about patience and acceptance.  He displayed both that day and I was extremely proud of him. 
Every time he walks outside he says Hello to Hopsie.  Dad told Kaden that more then likely he has hopped on his way to a new yard or out in the field.  Kaden agreed, but he said you never know Dad he could still be here and I don't want him to feel sad and think that I have forgotten about him.  How sweet, I just Love that little boy of mine!