The North Museum

On Tuesday, Mom & I took the boys to the North Museum. She had seen a coupon in the newspaper for $1 off admission, and it advertised the Big Bird Planetarium. One of my friends had mentioned that show being cool for little ones, and I had seen at the library where they had a free family guest pass for admission. Shawn had reserved the pass a couple weeks ago, and it finally came in! The pass was good for up to six people, including Ma-maw, and they still honored our $1 off coupon (since the planetarium costs extra). The entire bill for all four of us was $1.50 (since Caleb still gets in for free). The first display we saw was the bear above, and the boys wanted to go behind the ropes to get him. The next thing we saw was the potty - which is on a different floor than the main attractions. We were there three times for the Bean, who obviously had a little too much to drink before we left.

The next room we went into was the 'live animal' display. A man was there to pull the animals out and talk about them to us. The boys especially loved looking at the turtles.

We all got to pet this female turtle from Florida. The man dropped her back into the tank accidentally and she landed on the other turtle. The commotion made quite the impression on Joshua, who told Daddy that night that "the man dropped the turtle" as one of his highlights from the day.

Joshua saw a scorpion change color in a black light (they glow a greenish color when under the light), and he got to touch the turtle, a millipede, a snake and the hissing cockroach below. YUCK!!!

Here he is with the corn snake - both Mamaw & I touched this yellow snake, too. Soon, we left there to head to... you guessed it, the potty again!

Next we went into the "hands on" room in the museum. You can see the blue boxes on the shelf, and each one is labeled with something new to explore and touch and a description in the box of what you're looking at. We got out the animal feet, the skulls and the fossils before the boys moved on to do other things.

Here we are with animal feet... another YUCK! But they were actually kind of cool.

The boys could have stayed at this magnet display all day, where you rearrange the wheels to make each other turn. This was their favorite, I think. I kept wanting to show them other things, but this won out in the end.

Caleb also loved this bench that he would climb up on and Mamaw would help him jump down. This little friend soon followed his example.

Next we went to the brain teasers area, where Joshua & played the game where you can pull items one or two at a time and the 'loser' is the one to pull the last pin. We also put together a square from four different shapes that could also make a triangle.

Mamaw & Caleb worked on numbers. This area was a little bit bigger than my kids' abilities, but I think in a few years they would really like it. And, the stuff was still fun to play with and look at.

Soon it was time for the 'main event' or the reason we were there. The Big Bird Planetarium show said it was optimal for ages 4-8. I think if I had an 8-year-old, they would have been bored. My boys did great at the show and enjoyed it and there was minimal learning involved. They pointed out the big dipper and north star, and they talked about the sun and moon. For the most part, though, it was Big Bird & Elmo and their little friend from China singing songs. So, the boys thought it was great, but again, very little about the different constellations or anything like that. The show was at 1 pm exactly (or nap time in our house). So, I had to work our schedule around it, not leaving too much time in the beginning for the boys to get bored or fall apart but also not having too much time at the end since they were tired.

Before we left, we walked through the dinosaur display area. This is something I'd like to go back and see when the boys are older some day. They were pretty well done by this point, but it was still neat to see them checking out the dinosaurs since they like playing with them at home.

Mamaw bought the boys lunch on the way home, and then they went to bed afterward. It was a fun day for only $1.50. We will definitely go back again sometime to see more of the museum. Thanks for coming along, Mamaw!

Rollin' to Roland

Yesterday, I met some of the gals from my youth group years at Roland Park in Akron. Michelle organized the picnic 'n park fun and then came down with the flu, along with her youngest daughter, and couldn't make it. Another friend never RSVP'd but the other four of us all went with our kiddos. Cheryl (on the left) has four (the three behind me and the one she's holding), Kristina (on the far right) has the little gal she's holding, my two boys were in front and Jen (next to me) is praying to conceive (keep her & her husband in your prayers!). We had a nice time catching up.

Joshua, who's posing for the camera in the above picture, fell down just as we were leaving the house and skinned up his shin something awful. He kept telling me all morning how ouchy his leg was. I felt SO bad for him. If you squint in the top picture, you can see his bloody leg. Poor guy! Then he fell backwards off the picnic table. It truly was not his day on Monday. :( :( :( A friend I had met at LCBC's Women's Bible Study (and she also goes to MOPS even though she's not in my group, and she has a daughter in Calvary's Preschool even though she's not in Joshua's class) ended up being there with another friend from church. And that was it at this big park for a long while! Heidi agreed to take our picture (above), which I thought was sweet.

Here's Joshua pushing Miss Jen on the big swing. He thought this was really cool. He also had a great time playing with Jemiah, Cheryl's third child, who's four years old (soon to be five). After they were done swinging, they went down the slides together and the Bean followed him around as they played. Caleb didn't really keep up with them - he was more interested in running around and climbing on all the playground equipment.

Each of us gals brought something to contribute to lunch - Kris brought veggies and then also made sandwiches since Michelle called to say she was sick, Cheryl brought fruit, Jen brought cookies, I brought munchies (pretzel goldfish & chips) and of course all the paper/plastic/foam products. We had a nice morning out and the weather was beautiful. It was nice to catch up - we used to be all but inseparable back in our high school days and it's nice to talk about what God's doing in our lives, etc. I think we'll get together again in August, possible at Cheryl's parents pool. Thanks for the fun times, friends!

Beading Buddies

Sunday afternoon, Shawn had plans to go golfing with Chris from our life group. They had wanted to go earlier but since I was on the worship team, I asked that he wait until I get home to be with the boys and he said okay. The sky was getting black as he went to leave, and I asked him if he knew it was supposed to storm that afternoon. He said everything would be fine and took off, only to call me 20 minutes later as the heavens had opened to dump water on us in buckets. The wind was moving sideways where he was at, and he said he had to dodge patio furniture that was on the road. He had called the golf course, and they were closing (of course) so he had called Chris, whose car was currently getting pummeled by hail. They both talked about how it felt tornado-esque. Sure enough, where they were had a tornado according to the news. Thankfully both of them made it home safely. But, no golfing for them, unfortunately.

After the boys woke up from their naps, Joshua asked if we could play with the beads. I said sure and dug out the string. We don't have enough vowels left to make any words, but that was okay with them. They would tell me the colors of the beads and the letters. I was surprised at how many letters Caleb knew, along with the colors. But, what surprised me the most was that he didn't need any help to do his bead necklace this time. He threaded each one on carefully all by himself. They both highly enjoyed it.

Here's Joshua proudly displaying his final piece in our office/play room. Please pray that he adjusts better to going to church without me. He bawled again Sunday morning, Shawn told me. I know he'll get used to it, but I hate to hear when he's sad. And he loves time with Daddy, but I know he's a creature of habit and the way we normally go to church is as a family. Pray that he adjusts to the new routine, which only happens once a month.

Speaking of sad, Joshua cracked me up yesterday. He woke up from his nap and said "MOMMA! MOMMA! DADDY IS SAD!" I asked him why, knowing that Daddy was at work, and I thought Joshua might say because he was missing us. But not this time. The Bean said "Daddy's sad because the trash man just stole all his trash and took it away." Haaa!!! Actually that makes Daddy happy - Daddy doesn't really want the trash that he puts in those cans and takes to the curb. Silly Bean!!!

Born to Worship

Sunday I was on the worship team for the city campus. After becoming facebook friends with the gal who sings on the fourth Sunday (who seems super sweet!), I saw she had been tagged in photos that were posted on the KidVentureIsland facebook site. I had to "borrow" them, not because I'm proud of being on stage but because it's a good reminder of what God has done in my life.

On Wednesdays at practice, we have a time of Bible study before playing together, which I think is a great way to start out rehearsal. This past week, we were asked to share something in our lives where we know God has orchestrated the situation(s) to show His love for us (I'm sure this wasn't the exact wording of the question - the worship leader first read Romans 5:1-5 and then asked a question and this was my interpretation of it). I realized later that even my being part of that group was such an illustration. I've learned that most of the folks on the worship team studied music in college. The vocalist teaches choir at Penn Manor. The drummer even attended Berkley. Wow! I think I stick out like a sore thumb. After all, I taught myself how to play piano - or really the Holy Spirit taught me - in the basement of my mom's house during the blizzard of '96 when I was stuck inside.

I had played the viola since I was 8 years old, so I had a musical background and my mom played piano (and thankfully we had one at our house and an old keyboard) and my dad played the guitar. And most of my friends from my younger days played some instrument or another. But, I remember wanting desperately to be able to worship God at home. So, prayed about it and asked God to enable me to play worship music. I asked a friend to show me a couple chords, I was given access to worship music at the church we played at, and I played and sang and worshiped at home by myself (and my friend learned the guitar at the same time so we would get together and sing and praise some days). I enjoyed worshiping God so much that I often sat down in front of our old upright piano and continued to play by ear for the most part, learning the chords and the chord progressions. I told God that my music was for His glory alone. I lead youth group worship a couple times on the piano when I was a teen. Later I learned to play the guitar, mainly in hopes that I could follow a guitar worship leader. But, with the barring of chords and the capo, I didn't continue to pursue skill on that instrument as I loved the piano. After Shawn & I got married, I joined the worship team at our former church, singing and playing the keyboard. I also lead worship for the youth there. But, I never 'studied' music. I just want to honor God and worship Him in Spirit and truth. As I read the music they post, it's even amazing to me that I know the musical terms on it. Then I realize... this, too, is from God.

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was born to worship. What's my calling in life? While I know that I'm to be a wife and a mom, a teacher (at least at this time) and a writer, I know that more than anything else in this life, I am called to worship. I was given breath so that I can praise God. And worship to me isn't just Sunday morning songs. It's a life of reading about God and knowing Him, it's an expression of praise and thanksgiving, it's a life of realizing how amazing God is and giving Him glory. When the Lord lead the Israelites out of captivity, over and over again Exodus relays that God's people were called to worship Him. This is my purpose. And I am honored to play with those who are more skillful than I am (although I believe we should all pursue excellence in what God has called us to play or do), I realize that He has brought me to this place as another outlet to fulfill this purpose.

I love this song by Sarah Kelly (and this is the only video I could find of it). My favorite part is where it says "And it's all so clear...it's all so clear... I was born to worship!" Great song that I've loved for many years. Enjoy! Praise the Lord today!

Bonk-in' Nose

The boys have created a 'game' that makes us all laugh at their silliness. They touch each other's nose and say "BONK on the nose" (if it's Joshua) or "Bonkin Nose" (if it's Caleb). Joshua's 'bonk' is extremely gentle where Caleb started out by trying to grab the nose off the person's face (we discovered when we were brought into the game). So we taught Caleb how to gently 'bonk' a nose by just barely touching it. They both think this game is the funniest thing ever, and Joshua will ask Caleb to bonk his nose at times when Caleb has tired of the game already. When we walked to the park the other night, they played it for a good part of the trip. It makes us laugh to hear their giggles and glee while playing.

I love my silly boys!

Gym-b(r)os

Saturday after our pictures were finished, we went to Joshua's favorite pizza restaurant. I knew I had to keep them moving since we had a birthday party at 12:30 (which is pretty close to the Good household nap time!). One of my friends from MOPS, who's also named Valerie, was having her son Ethan's 4th birthday party at Gymboree. She was kind enough to invite us to share in his special day.

We arrived on time, and the kids started playing immediately. We hadn't been there since Joshua's last birthday, but both boys seemed to remember it. In fact, Joshua asked about the tube long before they had brought it out. So, I knew he at least remembered where we were. They had a blast!

Pretty soon the room filled up with kids and adults to celebrate Ethan's birthday. Valerie also works at Gymboree part time, and her & her husband are expecting their third child this fall. She's a sweet gal, and their kids are close in age to ours. Alena (sp?) is 2 1/2, I think, and Ethan is 4.

Pretty soon, the girl in charge called the kids over to play in the circle game. Joshua wasn't too sure at first if he wanted to join in or not. So, he told me I had to come play too. I went right up with him, but I didn't grab a color. Instead, I took pictures of him & Caleb with our old crappy camera. Caleb is next to the Bean, but you can't see him from this angle.

The party had a fireman theme, and I thought it was so cute that they let the kids all wear these hats. Then they showed them how the different equipment was apartment buildings and jump ropes were hoses and fire extinguishers, etc. Then they let kids hold onto a 'ladder' that they lifted up. The kids LOVED it! My boys each took two turns. I noticed how they would wait patiently as other kids would jump in front of them, butting in line. Neither one of them thought to push or shove their way to the front of the line but just waited until they could take a turn. As a parent, it was nice to see, but I felt bad as other kids took advantage of their staying back a little.

Caleb kept the fire hat on longer than Joshua did, and he had a great time participating with the other kids. You can tell he's a second child rather than the first. Joshua has to decide what's appropriate or not, while Caleb thinks he's to follow the other kids because that's 'normal' for him. It's amazing as a parent to see the differences.

Here's Joshua & his buddy Ethan, the birthday boy, on the one toy that all the kids took turns jumping out of (the burning building). They thought this was fun. Most kids would count to three and then jump. But, Joshua's friend Henry kept on counting to 20 until another kid told him to jump already. Haaa!!! Margie, Henry's mom, is also in our MOPS group.

They also created the 'tube' Joshua had asked for, and both boys highly enjoyed climbing 'in and out the tunnel' but my pictures didn't turn out so well. They had lots of other circle time games, including some dancing with their mascot "Gymbo." Then it was time for the bubbles, which is always a big hit!

After the bubbles, they took a ride on the parachute (which Joshua chose not to do) and then played underneath, which Caleb thought was hysterical. He laughed and laughed and had a blast!

As the activities continued, my kids wanted to play rather than be involved, but they weren't the only ones and the whole atmosphere there is pretty relaxed. The Hiltz boys (Henry & Peter) got into the boat with my Good boys and they had fun while Margie & I talked. When Peter (the youngest) got tired, his daddy Matt took him to try and stand awhile.

Then it was time for the cake. The boys enjoyed the ice cream cake and the fresh fruit before playing a little bit longer. Soon enough, it was time to get their hand stamped and receive their little goody bags and say goodbye. Happy birthday, Ethan! Thanks for letting us celebrate with you!