Creator God

On Saturday we spent the day at the Science Center. We enjoyed time in the Kidzone playing at the water tables, building skyscrapers, going into space, and even riding a bus driven by a 5 year old! We also saw the Imax movie, Animalopolis. When asked their favorite animal in the movies, Joshua replied the lions, Lydia replied the pink flamingos. There were no pink flamingos in the movie, in fact there were no pink animals. But being the ever optimist, she pretended that there were. The movie was great for kids but gave credit to the fictional "mother nature" for all of the beauties and wonders created by our God. It occured to me how pervasive the godless worldview is in our society, that an elusive mother nature would be more believable (and acceptable) to people than a Creator God who purposefully and deliberately formed each and every creature that takes a breath. It also saddened me that at such young ages our children are being indoctrinated into this meaningless existance. It also reinforced my belief that Steve and I have been granted a tremendous responsiblity to make His Name known to our children.
Thanks Grandma B for the free passes. Here are some photos of our day.

Grand Prix

First, it has been so long since I updated because we have not had internet access at our home for a while. At this time, we seem to be up and running.

Last Saturday our church had an AWANA Grand Prix race. This is similar to the Boy Scouts Pinwood Derby. The dads, I mean the children each were able to carve their own race car. There were lots of rules with length, weight etc. Joshua and Lydia were both able to participate and our family had a lot of fun making the cars. Joshua's car had a large engine on the front. Lydia's car has a pink pig driving. Although they did not win tropies for overall speed (Steve is buying a book and a 6 point inspection kit next year... for the kids), they did win for design.

This is Lydia painting her car.

Joshua is proud of his finished product

The competition...

This is a picture of Joshua's car "Speedracer" in the lead!

The trophy presentation.

Pig Power won first place for novelty design. Speedracer won fourth place for design.

Lydia's First Date

Another milestone for our family. Lydia went on her first date last Friday night. It seems like just last year that she was potty trained. I was not worried because her admirer was a true gentleman who knows how to properly treat a lady. I know this firsthand. Though he did drive a hot-rod yellow mustang... he assured me that her car seat was safely secured in the back! First he took her to Steak and Shake for a pink milkshake then it was off to Toys R Us (just like her mom she considers shopping a wonderful date night) where she found a pink bunny that she just loved, evidently he could not turn her big blue eyes down (I've tried to teach her how to bat her eyes when she wants something, but at 3 she just looks like she has something stuck in her eye as she squeezes them closed and open). Anyway she wore her favorite polka dotted dress (yes, I had to do an extra load of laundry to have it clean in time). We also fixed her hair with 5 clips-usually I don't let her wear so many when we are going in public, but this was a very special night. She was so excited, all day she asked questions such as "do you get in water on a date?" She told everyone she saw that her daddy was taking her on a date and then with the expression of only a 3 year old said, "...and I hab neber been on a date before!" The night was a hit, I think he asked her out again.

We will continue this, that way when she goes on her first "real" date (between 24-26 probably), she will know how a guy should treat a girl...and will never settle for less.

the Gate

This week has been quite eventful. Last Wednesday Lydia fell down and hit the door frame in just the right place to cause a 1/2" laceration on her forehead just above her eye. After about 10 minutes of trying to get the bleeding to stop, I took a photo and emailed it to her dad (technology is great) he assured me that she needed stitches. She hardly cried and the doctor loaded her up with stickers and suckers.
Although, I could not stop that injury. I did stop another one this week. The other day Joshua and Lydia were pushing Katherine around in the laundry basket. She is tiny, so they were moving along pretty well. I happen to walk out of Katherine's room in time to see Katherine at the top of the steps, in the laundry basket with Joshua and Lydia behind her trying to figure out how to get the basket over the 1" tension rod of our baby gate. I calmly asked what they were doing and with faces full of excitement they told me they were taking Katherine downstairs to push her around some more. I asked, "how are you going to get her down the steps?" they replied confidently, "we are going to push her!" I hid my smile because this episode was as dangerous as it was funny. I explained to them why this was a really really bad idea. So they decided to carry her down...in the basket...each picked up one end and said something about teamwork. Needless to say, I did not let them do it. They were so very disappointed. Katherine was not too happy with me either...she was enjoying the ride.
If it were not for our gate...and the small tension rod at the bottom...I'd be posting pictures of a tiny 22 month old with a cast or two... or maybe matching stitches with her sister.