A Boy & His Lion

Lion holds the record for longest-lasting attachment object. (The shortest record goes to various popsickle sticks, pebbles, or church programs that only last an hour or 2) He is Rychen P's best friend. He gets his own bed and blanket, he watches for people out the window, he has conversations with Bub, and has been known to breastfeed a time or two (not on me, on Bub)!!

 

Lion even has his own Facebook page. You should be his friend :)  Look for him as "Lazy Lion" under our friends lists. He is tagged in several pictures.

Construction!

A home is being built a few lots behind us (at the end of the easement) and for several days now, they've been digging it out and hauling the dirt away in a dump truck. So we've enjoyed these two fine machines! The drivers are pretty nice and talked to Rychen P. about it, answered his [strange] questions, and let him sit up and "drive" the dump truck. Elisabeth is pretty interested in them herself!

 

Not for the faint hearted

Yuck!

 

Elisabeth has been sick with a gooky eye. In one picture you see how her eyelashes are glued together. In the other one you see how it got red and puffy. Interesting. Rychen P has never had that... (Did we take her to the doctor? Nah... We knew it would get better, and it did)

 

One night she slept for 15 hours (usually sleeps about 12) So Dad wanted to take a picture of her "Fifteen-hour Bed Head"

A Girl & her Kitty

Playing keyboard

Fun toy!

Toilet Paper Princess

Occasionally Elisabeth stays up late. Funny things happen at night, when you just don't care anymore.......

Biggest Loser

How did I not know that The Biggest Loser was such an awesome show? I am just now starting to watch it, and I love it! It's very emotional. If you don't know me well, I am all about being emotional, in a self-improvement sort of way. I love hearing inspirational stories and see people change their lives. I LOVE seeing people give up their bad habits and change their lifestyle, and learn to appreciate healthful living. I would love to be someone who can help people do this. I have done some diet coaching a couple years ago and really loved it, but then again it's difficult because ... well let's just say "Many are called but few are chosen," or in other words, everybody gives lip service to changing their ways but few actually commit themselves. It's so difficult, but when the time is right, it's so easy and simple. No, I don't think it's about will-power and finally "getting" something "right." I think it's about timing, and at one point it just clicks for a person, and then it happens and they are never the same.

 

I've had some ideas about getting into this as a career. What I would do isn't so much training, but counseling - doing emotional work and therapy with people, as well as teaching about nutrition, healing, detoxification, Natural Hygiene, etc. Combining my psychology background with my nutrition experience and passion.

 

In the raw food world you hear SO MANY AMAZING stories about people getting healthy, getting thin, and seeing health problem after health problem simply disappear into thin air. And just like on The Biggest Loser, they are re-born and virtually get their lives back. What is more inspirational and moving than those stories!? But to be on the front line, a part of the action, witnessing their personal growth and change first-hand would just be simply amazing.

Noah's Ark

Noah's Ark is a great story, but I think it's told wrong. We miss a huge opportunity when we dumb it down and make it a cute little story about animals. Noah took animals with him so they could eat, and so they could re-propagate the species, a minor detail when you consider what this scripture story is about. This is actually a wonderful story to learn several spiritual lessons.

The reason I say this is because, like all children, I was taught the story of Noah's Ark: Cute Animal Version (Oh, and the Cute Rainbow too). And then, twenty-some-odd years later, I saw the film Evan Almighty and for once, it dawned on me what this story is ABOUT!

Yesterday Rychen P. was asking something about people who lived before he was even born. (He was actually surprised to learn that the earth existed for thousands of years before he was born!) So I drew a timeline of the Earth's history, and we talked a bit about history. I put biblical names on the timeline as well as world history events/figures, Renaissance, Classical musicians, etc. One of the Biblical figures was Noah, but he couldn't recall the story of the Ark. So that's what we did for school today.

I told him the story of the Ark. The Real Story. Including thoughtful questions such as "Why did God want everybody to die? How did God give them a second chance? What did they have to do to be safe? Did they do it? How do you think they felt when the puddles turned into ponds, which turned into lakes, and their things got destroyed? How did God help the righteous people be prepared? Do you think they were scared too, even though they were righteous? What can we do when we're scared? How did the wicked people treat Noah when he was building his ark? Did he get self-conscious and please his peers, or did he keep obeying God even though he was mocked?"

By the way, Evan Almighty is an awesome film. I really recommend it. I watched it during my pregnancy and it spoke to me so much about Faith, even when society mocks us. And your faith with be tried. At the climax of the film, Evan (Noah) is standing on his boat, waiting for the rain to come. It's a bright, sunny day. The ark is surrounded by crowds of people, mocking him, yelling at him to get off his stupid boat. Even his family is saying "Come on, Dad, maybe it was a figurative flood. Nothing is happening." And Evan almost begins to doubt... almost... and is faced with the big decision. But he stays on the boat, and just then, the flood suddenly comes. And of course he is blessed for holding true and staying on the boat.

That is the lesson I want my children to learn. That is what I want them to remember every time they think of Noah's Ark.