Insight

Last night Lily and I read the story of Judas' betrayal of Jesus. Lily asked me a couple of questions about it. Then she said, "But money can't make you live."

In other words, she saw right through the folly of Judas' greed. She understands that Jesus is the only giver of life and that worshiping Him is a lot more important than getting money. That's a lesson that we grown-ups need to be reminded of sometimes, I think.

Busy Weekend Coming

I'm taking the day off today so I can get done some of the stuff I would normally do over the weekend. I'm going to a conference at a seminary in Wake Forest, so that will keep me busy this evening and all day tomorrow. Meanwhile, we have a birthday party for Uncle Eric on Sunday, though we may have to divide on that one so that Noah can get his nap in. It's not pretty when Noah doesn't nap.

The good news is that it is supposed to warm up to the mid-60s this weekend. We had a little bit of a cold snap (relatively speaking) the past couple of days, but it is sunny and getting warmer now. Hopefully Amanda will be able to take advantage of the nice weather tomorrow. Noah does so much better outside. The problem is that he is a handful to chase around.

The Great Enigma

Last night in bed Amanda asked a great question. She wondered how a child could be so annoying and endearing at the same time. That's Lily for you though. When I came home from work last night Lily was playing some game where the house was all mud, but she was building some kind of island on the ottoman. She had stacked up as much stuff on there as she could. Amanda wasn't feeling very well, so I got dinner ready from what Amanda prepared (chicken with peanut sauce, yum!) and then took the kids out to Sam's Club for a few things after dinner.

The good news is that Lily cleaned up all the stuff before dinner, just like I told her to. She actually behaved quite well for me, which was nice. It's just that she can be a little much, especially when you're not very energetic.

The Singer

As I write my entries for the day on this and my other blog, I can hear Noah on the baby monitor. At one point it sounded like he was singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Of course, he also has been known to sing "Happy Birthday."

The poor little guy really needs some vocabulary. He is getting really frustrated by his inability to communicate with us. Unfortunately, pointing and going, "uh...huh" with a rising tone only does so much. He'll get there and then we probably won't be able to get him to shut up. I hear that's how it was with me. It's only been in the last 5 years or so that I've learned to be more quiet, so maybe we're looking at 30 years of straight talking?

Winding Down

We're not quite sure what to do with Lily sometimes. I guess that's a common refrain in this blog, but specifically Amanda has noticed how hyper she gets after school, after dance class, and after playing with her friends. Some of it may have to do with her extroverted nature. She just gets so revved up that she gets a little out of control. It could be a lot worse, but it could be better too.

Lily is doing great in kindergarten, but she is having a problem that I can relate to. It seems that she is sometimes talking when she should be working. I'm going to talk to her about that and see what is going on. I don't know if she is bored or what the problem is, but we'd do well to nip it in the bud now. I'd hate for her to have her own seat apart from the class like I did so many times.

One other bit of news is that this week is bring a friend to AWANA week. Lily's friend Ruby has invited her to go this Sunday. Hopefully Lily will enjoy it. I think AWANA would be good for her on several levels. Obviously it would be good for her to start memorizing some Bible verses. It also would be good for her to have some structured competitions. I think this would be better for her than playing sports. We'll see how it goes.

Lazy Sunday

It was strange to have a lazy Sunday morning, but we enjoyed it. Amanda babysat for a friend Saturday night and was up until after midnight. I tried to let her sleep in, but it didn't help to have Lily at the top of the stairs calling for me. Then, as I was making breakfast, Noah found his way up there and was crying outside of her door. One minute he was playing with his books and the next minute I realized that he was being a pest.

I took the kids down to the basement for the bulk of the morning and played video games with Lily. After lunch I hunkered down and got some homework done. Amanda had a family bath with the kids and I got some work done on my paper as well. It was nice to make a little headway yesterday. Next weekend is going to be very busy, so I need to get ahead. I think I'm off to a good start though.

Now it's back to the weekly grind. I have class tonight and tomorrow. Lily has dance class tonight. Hopefully I'll get to work from home tomorrow, which always helps at least a little bit.

Ms. Saturday Night

Our church has major overcrowding problems on Sunday mornings, so they have encouraged as many people to come on Saturday night as possible. There is a service at 4:30, which works OK for us. It does make for a little rush after we get home, but it works as long as we don't have to cook anything. It is nice to have a more leisurely Sunday morning too.

However, Lily doesn't see it that way. She has grown quite fond of her Sunday morning teacher and she likes her group too. She really lost it when it was time to drop her off. Normally she practically sprints into the room on Sunday morning, but last night she had a tough time. We made a deal with her that we would come get her if she wasn't feeling better after they finished singing. By the time we got her she was back to her happy skipping self.

We think we have Lily on board now. Unlike many of her fits, this one was pretty legitimate, but I think she is now convinced. It helps too that she has some friends in the class that she knows. What she doesn't know is that in September our church is going to be multi-site and we will be going to a new place somewhere much closer to home. One thing at a time, I say...