Yesterday, I leaned my head out a back window to check on the kids playing in the backyard. They were finding ladybugs in the "garden" area amongst the weeds. When they caught sight of me, they excitedly told me, "Mommy, we are teaching a ladybug how to swim!"
I replied, "Ladybugs can't swim."
They answered, "This one is! It's on it's back and it's moving its legs!"
I informed them that they were actually teaching the ladybug how to drown. They moved on to teaching ladybugs how to swing.
As we left my parents' city on our recent trip, we stopped to buy a few snack items at the grocery store. I opted to sit with Matthew and Sophie in the car, thinking four items wouldn't take very long to buy. James and Evan disappeared into the store and were gone for A VERY LONG TIME. I began to think that the store hid the four items that we wanted on purpose! When they returned, I discovered that James had purchased about TEN items, and I felt impatient to hit the road.
Proverbs says "Many are the plans of a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." I was thinking that our plans were behind schedule, but the Lord had a surprise for us. That night, we ended up driving past St. Louis at 10 pm, just in time to see the firework display near the arch!!! The fireworks were shot off from a barge in the middle of the river. We drove west on I - 70, then east, then west, then east...and then west again so that we saw the whole display.
Good thing that James did not stick to the list!
Quote of the Week by Sophie (so far): "The Golden Gate Bridge should be golden!"
This morning, the kids and I all had dental appointments and the kids had their pictures taken for the "Cavity Free" bulletin board. Whoo hoo!
Yesterday evening, our whole family went over to the rec center and went "swimming". We've taken the kids to three sessions of group swimming lessons and so far have seen no appearance of swimming. James and I are going to start trying to teach them some on our own. Evan, though, panics even in water that he can stand up in. If we try to hold him while he floats on his back, he gets a death grip on us and will not relax. I played with Sophie a lot in the water last night and got her to bob under water, holding her breath and to float on her back while I hold her lightly. She doesn't like it when I quit holding on, though, and collapses in the middle when my hand moves away. The kids love to play in a pool, but we are so ready for them to learn how to swim themselves. I have called about private swimming lessons and am waiting for the teachers to call back. The lady I spoke to said that I'll probably see a huge jump in what they can do even in the first lesson. We will probably invest in some private lessons at least until they can do the basics.
Last week our church had Vacation Bible School with the theme: "He Spoke in Parables: the Stories Jesus Told." Since I am the chairman of our Christian Education Committee, I also was the VBS director by default. We put together our own program instead of buying preplanned materials. Each night, a different storyteller came in and told a different parable. It was fun to see each person's unique ideas in presenting the story. James was Mr. Shepherd and dressed up in a bathrobe over his clothes and sandals and headgear and a staff. He hid a sheep puppet in the room ahead of time and had the kids hunt until they found it and then cheer. With the sheep puppet on his arm, he told the story of "Baby Baa" : The parable of the lost sheep. He also displayed pictures that he drew on large newsprint. The kids loved it. One little girl exclaimed: "Isn't that a bathrobe?!" James quipped, "It's my shepherd robe. I got it at Shepler's (a western wear store)."
Our theme psalm was the first two verses of 49A sung to the tune of 113A. Our song leader made up hand motions to go with it and by the end of the week, everyone had it memorized. Many of the kids also memorized all four verses of our memory program (and received prizes): Romans 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, and 10:9.
Sophie just had me stop typing this, because she wanted to sing 49A with me. Matthew keeps saying that he wishes that VBS lasted a whole month.
Okay! I'd better start updating my blog! Maybe I should start with our Breckenridge vacation at the end of May...
A very gracious family in my dad's congregation gave him a week's stay at their condo in Breckenridge as a graduation present. (He finished his doctorate last year.) My dad invited my family to stay there too. We all thoroughly enjoyed our stay.
Here are two pictures:The end of June, we drove almost 1500 miles (one way) to attend my grandmother's 90th birthday celebration. I actually prefer driving to flying. I like seeing the country and spending time with family in the car.
Here is a list of activities that kept us occupied in the car:
Here are pictures of family:
This is Brian, Jen's husband, with their son, Sebastian
The best part of our trip was that we had many quality visits with family and friends. Many people came to Grandma's party to honor her.
