DVD Review: Read and Share Bible, Vol. 1

We received the Read and Share DVD Bible, Volume 1 today from Thomas Nelson Publishers, and I popped it in our player as soon as naptime was over...

I am very impressed with this DVD. My daughter is currently watching it—at her request—for the second time in a row.

One problem I typically have with children’s media: annoying to listen to. This DVD is actually pleasing to the ears! The music is a gentle combination of classical instruments and it nicely complements the narration. The narrators’ voices (both a man and a woman), as well as the characters’ dialogue, are completely normal and unforced. And they speak so clearly that even my 19-month-old son was paying attention (for longer than usual).

Another problem I usually have is accuracy. We have received gifts of Bible books for the kids before that are very cute, but not very accurate. It is important to me that in teaching my children that the Bible is true, that the Bible story books I read to them reflect that truth. This DVD is Biblically accurate!

Of the 13 short tracks, eight are from the Old Testament and five from the New. They include the oft-told stories of Noah’s ark and Jesus’ birth, but also lesser-known stories like Jacob wrestling with God and Jesus’ baptism and temptation.

Beautifully done! This one’s a keeper that I won't mind letting the kids watch!

Interrupted

A few moments. A napping son. A nap-less daughter playing quietly in her room. A ray of warm sunshine splashed across the couch.

It's been months since I've attempted to take a so-called nap, but today I just thought I would lie down for a few moments.

I closed my eyes and enjoyed the peace. The silence. It was warm and wonderful!

For about 10 minutes.

Then the doorbell rang. Naturally.

Thank you, Mr. UPS Man, for interrupting my few moments.

Oh well. Perhaps I'll try again in April....

(The good news is he was delivering a DVD from Thomas Nelson Publishers for me to review. More on that soon...)

Just what I needed to hear

In a life that has already been full of adventure and amazing things, my children are my greatest joy. But they are also my greatest challenge. Some weeks are harder than others. The last couple of weeks have been those kind of weeks, but as I read the notes that Lucy's BSF teachers gave me this week (called Home Training Lessons), I found great encouragement in these words:

"Recognizing the place God wants you to be, being satisfied in it, and doing your part diligently are significant steps for parents. It is possible to overlook the seriousness of this privileged role. The temptation is great to respond to the world's clamoring that only outside the home can an adult do something worthwhile, fulfilling, or beneficial for mankind. And it is very easy to neglect the daily opportunities to nurture a child. It is a wise, confident adult who can say, 'I am a parent. I am responsible to be with my children. It matters that I am here. No other responsibility is more important.'"

The place God wants me to be... Here I am.

And "daily opportunities." Do I recognize them?

Read that paragraph again. It took me about four times to absorb it.

And also this, derived from the Aaronic blessing in Numbers 6:

"God wants to bless you in the position He has assigned you. Recall the first moment you saw and touched your child. Perhaps you were overwhelmed with the realization that God had brought a remarkable blessing into your life. As you follow His guidance, believe His promises, and trust in His plan for you and your child, there will be constant blessing. God will keep and protect you. He will make His face to shine upon you, even on the most exhausting days. He will be gracious to you, especially when the answers in parenting seem difficult to discern. As you seek Him, He will turn His face to you and give you peace."

You can bet that I'll be seeking His shining face this week, and counting on His peace.

Overwhelmed

Websters defines it as "to be covered over or buried beneath; to be made helpless." Perhaps that's not quite the right word. This definition makes it sound like a bad thing, but the overwhelming feeling in my life right now is all good. Challenging, but good.

I was also inspired by this photo of a newspaper article that an old friend pointed out to me recently:


Fortunately I'm in a place where it made me laugh, but it did get me thinking about why I've been neglecting my blog lately in favor of living life. I suppose to say that I've been busy would be one way to put it, so I started to think about what exactly I've been doing that has kept me from the keyboard and made my life so full.

For starters, I've continued in my study of the life of Moses in BSF. The homework for this study is broken up into segments for each day, and since my kids are such early risers, I most often wait until naptime to sit down with the questions so that I can have a little bit of quiet to focus and learn. I also just began a second Bible study with some women from our church. The gals happened to choose a Precept study for this spring, which I have heard great things about but have never done. This 8-week study on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount comes in a 3-ring binder, so you could say there's a bit of homework for this one, too! I've been feeling like I'm back in school, spending every day at naptime diving in these studies of the Bible.

I have also been trying to squeeze in a little time during these afternoon hours to spend with the newest member of our family: the Eliptical. As part of my desire to keep myself in good physical condition like I wrote about recently, I've been trying to spend several naptimes a week on the machine, and I've been loving that time. Some days my plans don't work out (pun intended), but when they do, I feel wonderful to have gotten that time to push my physical limits and burn off some energy (as if I have so much to spare!).

Besides these few hours of my day, I've been enjoying having my in-laws in town. They have stayed with us for a few days here and there, visiting John's two uncles who both live within an hour's drive of our house in between stays. I dare say we've been wearing them out! Our house is full of energy with a preschooler and a toddler, but their desire to dive in and experience life with us has been rewarding to us, for sure. For one thing, they have helped us with several projects around the house -- accomplishing things on my to-do list like installing a new master bathroom floor, refinishing our oak dining room table, building bookshelves for the loft, and inspiring me to do even more. For another, John and I have had several dates (!) and have cherished spending some much-needed time together outside our home.

And did I mention house projects? I have been dreaming up grand plans for some of our living space, but I've been working on the little things that are more practical and affordable right now. Framing photos, sewing a bed skirt and valance for Lucy and curtains for our bedroom, hanging artwork, organizing closets. And I'm finally getting closer to actually using some of the African fabrics I've been collecting for years. Closer, I said.

I feel like this just scratches the surface of the fullness of life right now. All of this is what's going on on the outside, but perhaps I'll share some of what's going on on the inside in another entry. I could probably try to scale back right now, but the truth is that I don't want to. Like I said, it's all good! So, now, if you'll excuse me, I have some laundry to do, a family to feed, and an Etsy order to fill...

Baby babble

Now that Josiah is a year-and-a-half old, he's feeling the need to express himself. As much as I thought we would be skipping the tantrum phase with our mild-mannered son, my memory of Lucy at 17 and 18 months came back very quickly when Joey decided that life was so hard he was going to just lie down on the floor and scream about it for a few minutes. It was pretty cute, actually, as he glanced at me every few seconds to make sure I was paying attention. And his little pouty lower lip was plain old adorable and irresistible.

Seems like at the core of this lovely phase of toddlerhood is the desire to communicate coupled with the inability to do so. At least effectively. But in these last few weeks we've really seen Joey improve in the sign language that we've been working on teaching him for months. He's been consistent with a few signs, but now he's starting to truly understand, as if a light bulb went on and he's thinking, "Oh, so that's what these silly hand motions are for! Mommy and Daddy don't just do them to make me giggle, they actually mean something!"

Besides the increased sign language, he's really showing a desire to speak and learn to say words. He has had mama, dada, ball, hi, baby, and water mastered for a while (or at least that's what we know he's saying). With John's parents in town he has also gotten quite good at nana and papa.

This last week he seemed to have a vocabulary explosion, associating his new-found vocal sounds with bath, bubble, spoon, moose, bear, shoe, eye, dirty, stop, book, balloon ("boon"), blueberry, potty, cracker, car, buddy, up and down.

Of course, none of this compared to bedtime when John asked for a hug and a kiss. He said to Joey, "I love you, buddy." And Joey leaned in, touching his forehead to John's, and replied in his precious voice: "Yah yoo."

And yes, I cried.

Book review: What's Age Got To Do With It?

When I saw the cover of What's Age Got To Do With It? by Robin McGraw, I thought it was aimed at my mother’s generation, but certainly not for me, in my early 30’s. But then I saw Robin interviewed on a news show. Something she said stayed with me: “I realized that it doesn’t make you a better wife or parent if you’re sacrificing everything—including your health, soul and spirit—for your family.”

Her encouragement was what I’ve needed in my rekindled desire to take as good care of myself as I do of my family. With two young children to care for, it’s easy to use all my time and energy in caring for them, putting myself on the back burner. I haven’t made my own well-being a priority in recent years, but Robin’s words gave me motivation for doing what my conscience had already started prompting me to do.

She balances personal experience with professional advice on each topic. I found good information from the areas of fitness, food, skin and hormones. Probably due to my age, I didn’t relate quite so much in her chapters on hair, beauty, and fashion.

My overall gain: if I don’t put my health and well-being first, no one else will.

Forget 8 seconds, I'm talking about 8 hours

It's January, and for those of us in Denver, it means just one thing: temperatures in the 60s and lots of sun!

Oh, and it also means the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo.

Yes, often we have both, and yesterday proved to be one of those days where we left our jackets at home, donned our sunglasses and large belt buckles, and headed downtown to see some amazing creatures... and the animals they ride.

We love having family and friends visit us in January so that we can expose them to the cowboy culture without even leaving our city. And we love to have an excuse to splurge a little and enjoy it ourselves.

I have to say that the rodeo is even more fun with kids. It's more work, too, as you have to be careful not only where you step as you walk up and down the rows of livestock, but also where they step. But there's nothing that can replace the wonder and awe in their eyes as they see the velvety black angus cattle, the massive and powerful clydesdale horses, or a newly shorn sheep up close for the first time.

With John's parent visiting from New York, he took the afternoon off work so we could go when there were less crowds, and our intention was to see the 2:00 pm rodeo, then see how the kids were doing afterward to determine how much time we wanted to walk the grounds and see the exhibits and animals, etc. But I suppose we looked at the online schedule wrong because yesterday was the only day that there was no afternoon rodeo. Surprise! So at 1:30, we decided to buy tickets to the 7:00 pm rodeo and make a day of it. A very long day.

All told, we were at the National Western complex for eight hours. With two kids who hadn't napped. Truly, we were amazed, pleased, and proud of how wonderfully they did, and it made for a fabulous day with lots of fun memories.

Who couldn't love this adorable lil' cowboy? Josiah gears up with daddy's hat.

Ah, yes, the photo op at the wagon wheels. Just couldn't resist.

The petting farm was one of my favorite parts of the day. These animals were so incredibly patient with some of the kids who would smack and yank on them. Both of my kids were gentle, thankfully, or I would have been really nervous. This llama was taller than Lucy when it was lying down. Joey looked like a dwarf next to it.

Lucy fed a goat from her hand, but didn't intend for this one to try to eat her hat. Wouldn't it look tasty to you, too, if you were a goat?

Here you see Joey gently patting a goat. He was very brave and obviously fascinated by each and every goat, llama, sheep, and pig. The end of his fascination came when a sheep head-butted him right in the belly. He was apparently in its way. When he started to cry, the sheep turned back to look at him and promptly sneezed in his face. There was no recovering from that.

We were so proud of Lucy as she bravely rode this pony. (And I was proud of John for splurging on it!)

It was exhausting for some more than others. Joey settled in for a very brief rest on Papa's shoulder, but he didn't sleep the whole time we were there. He did, however, have his first taste (or two or three) of Pepsi, so I'm sure the caffeine boost helped.

Our seats for the rodeo were in the third row, right behind the cattle chutes. This was Lucy's second one, but she doesn't remember the first (which was either 2 or 3 years ago -- apparently we can't remember either). She loved the mutton bustin' and the barrel racing the best, as well as watching the horse teams pull the wagons. I'm sure the cotton candy John bought helped fuel her enthusiasm, too.

We love the rodeo. John got this great shot of steer wrestling, which is one of my favorite events. Roping is one thing, but watching these guys go lunging off their horses at full speed to intentionally land on a horned animal that weighs twice as much as they do and wrestle it into the dirt is something else entirely. These poor guys don't even get their 15 seconds of fame. It's more like 4.8 or 5.6 seconds.

YEEHAW! We left at 9:30, about half-way through the bull riding, but we knew we couldn't push our luck much further. Beating the crowd out had another advantage: we hitched a ride on a bicycle taxi to our car. A fun end to a great day!

Book review: For the Tough Times

I just finished reading For the Tough Times by Max Lucado.

This book is for everyone. I mean everyone. Read it, then read it again with a highlighter in your hand.

By the title, you imagine it’s just for those who are experiencing hardship in life. But even if your life is all rainbows and ice cream right now, who doesn’t know of someone experiencing tough times? If we ourselves are not asking, we all hear the questions: Where is God in all of this? Can good come from evil? Is God really listening?

We can all use the encouragement in these pages, no matter our circumstances, to gain a greater understanding of God’s purpose in allowing life’s hard moments. Four ourselves, for those around us, and for the state of our world.

I almost stopped after the introduction, feeling that in just five pages Lucado had already given me enough to ponder and digest. But the full 80 pages were loaded with analogies, biblical and historical examples, and Lucado’s characteristically flavorful language. Besides addressing the questions above, he expounds on the issues of trust, God’s authority, the allowance of evil, forgiveness, reverence, hope in death, and prayer.

I’m about to read it again. This time with a highlighter in hand.

“The issue is not the existence of pain; the issue is the treatment of pain.” –Max Lucado

The next challenge

We got the official medical 'stamp of approval' this morning that Joey has made a full recovery! He no longer has to get blood work each week. His labs from Monday were looking really good, except that his platelets were still a little bit high (not dangerously, but just a bit above the normal range). Our pediatrician told me yesterday that he would call the Infectious Disease department at Children's Hospital to get their thoughts on his case. He expected a call back sometime this week, but he heard back from them nice and early this morning and talked to one of the leading researchers of Kawasaki's in the nation who has been working with KD for over 30 years. She said the latest grouping of kids with KD have had slightly elevated platelets, but because the other critical markers are normal we don't have to test Joey's blood any more! We will continue to keep an eye on his heart as he grows, but they consider his case a full recovery!

We are indeed celebrating and giving all the glory to God for this gift!

I think Joey must have already known last night that this news would be coming. He knew that we would breath a big sigh of relief and finally be able to close this chapter, so he decided he had to do something that would keep us on our toes. He waited until Daddy left for his Bible study and Mommy was up to her elbows in dish water before he did this:



I was trying in vain to explain to a 17-month-old how it was dangerous, but Lucy was more than happy to encourage him, and it became a game for the two of them:



Even though I feel like I'm holding my breath each time I allow him to do it, who can resist those grins of triumph and the giggles of sibling joy? From now on, the dishes will just have to wait until after bedtime.

Book review: My Little Girl

Thanks to a tip from a friend, I recently became a "Book Review Blogger" for Thomas Nelson Publishers. The first book I received from them is called My Little Girl by Tim McGraw.

I admit to being a fringe country music fan, and I appreciate the expressions of Christian faith I hear in McGraw's music, as well as hearing of his devotion as a husband and father, so I was curious about his foray into children’s literature.

My daughter and I really enjoyed this sweet-as-sugar-and-spice book that celebrates the relationship between a father and daughter.

In the story, Katie prepares for an extravagant day with her father, but his plans didn’t include anything extraordinary. Their enjoyment of each other is inspiring and put many smiles on my daughter’s face. The whimsical illustrations add to the charm by really bringing out the characters’ personalities.

As a parent I often think that creating great memories requires big events, extravagance or money, but McGraw’s story shows that even “nothing-in-particular” moments can strengthen the bond between a parent and child and provide lasting memories of life together.

I was encouraged how McGraw, a top-selling musician, writes in a down-to-earth manner and how he demonstrates his faith and values in subtle ways in his writing, such as Katie’s bedtime prayer. His wife Faith Hill writes the forward and expresses her hope “for fathers and daughters to enjoy each other’s company and make memories reading together.”