The Big Sleep Over At Opa and Oma's House

Anna and Owen's cousin, Hannah, wanted to have a sleep-over with her cousins while they were visiting. We thought that this would be fine as long as they actually slept. The last thing on earth anyone needs is to spend time with a pre-schooler who has not had enough sleep (ask anyone who has spent time with a sleep deprived child)!
The greatest part is that this sleep-over was following an entire day of play (Barbies, Little People, McDonald's junk toys, dolls, blocks, and so much more). They got into bed and wanted to watch the Disney classic Bambi (yeah, where the mama deer gets murdered by the barbarous humans). About 3 minutes into asking to watch it, all three were fast asleep.

That is my type of sleep-over. Parents are heroes for letting it happen; children get a full night's sleep. I bet it will never happen that way again.

This is How Much My Daddy Loves Me

Man, it is SO obvious that he loves me!

Maggie's Mac and Cheesey Fiestaware Luncheon

Today Maggie "Scott" Porter came over to make lunch for us. She made home-made macaroni and cheese. It was really good. She stayed for family worship which is always a nice thing. I love when company is in our home to worship with us.

She stayed for coffee and dessert that Lydia made. It was a fudge brownie oatmeal bar that was so rich that I had three teeth fall out while eating it. It was washed down with two hot cups of Starbucks' French Roast coffee (Owen ground the beans for me).

We talked about blogging for a while. She made fun of me for having a category entitled, Fiestaware, which reminded me that I found a great Fiesta Persimmon vase while I was in Pennsylvania. I was in a dusty unorganized bookshop looking for Glasgow's History of the RPCNA from 1888. Of course the book was not there, but the vase was a nice way to soothe the pain of another failed attempt at locating the book. The vase is a nice addition to my Fiesta vase collection. I think I am over a dozen now. (Notice vase is a subcategory of the Fiesta collection.) I need to blog more about the Fiesta collection.

I had to go to work, so I sent her home with 12 lectures on prayer by Dr. Michael Haykin to listen to on the ride home to Southfield. Ask her if she listened to them. A test is sure to follow!

Snow Flakes on Noses and Whiskers on Kittens

This is a good reason that we left PA when we did on Tuesday. I am not a fan of making that trek across the entire snow-belt of the Great Lakes to get to the Erie area. Winters, to me, are more of a time of reflection and rest than a time of travel and busyness.

Maybe I would travel straight south during the winter, for some golf. But this winter has been colder and snowier in the south than here in Eskimo-tundra land.

Da Bears and Western Pennsylvania

Congratulation to my father-in-law on his team going to that Super thing.

We are back now from our trip to western Pennsylvania and we enjoyed ourselves very much. The people at Rose Point are a great community of believers and whomever the Lord sends them as a minister will be blessed to work with such a great congregation. (I hope that they would like to have me back!)

We also got to spend time in Corry with my family. The highlight was making dinner with my father and my brother. I do believe that event would make a great reality TV show! Pictures are sure to follow.

1:30 AM Saturday Morning

We are currently at the Hampton Inn in Richfield, Ohia. We are less than one and a half hours from Rose Point Church but the roads have disappeared under a field of white and heavy eyelids. We shall continue our journey at 9:30 in the morning.

There is a Nintendo here complete with Excitebike, all the Mario's (including Dr. Mario), and a whole slew of Nintendo 64 games. Lydia was filled with excitement, but it is $7.00 per hour to play it. She will have to practice some self-denial.

Anna wants to go home. She does not like this room. Owen could care less.

Pray for us as we continue our journey tomorrow. Pray for me as I bring the Word to Rose Point Church on the Lord's Day.

Closed For the Week

Well folks, it seems as though they found the still in the cellar. Just kidding! I will be back next week.

• Please pray for me as I preach at Rose Point Reformed Presbyterian Church this coming Lord's Day


• Pray that the semester gets off to a good start, I have 19 credits, plus my job.


• Pray that my Dutch Reformed Ecclesiology professor sees the superiority of the Westminster over the Three Forms of Unity.
  

The Lord's My Shepherd

Owen and Thomas

Owen has been enjoying the Thomas the Train Wooden Railway quite a bit lately. I cannot believe how intuitive little kids are; they seem to know that Thomas is the main character as well as the one in charge of other trains. Anna liked Thomas the best, and now Owen likes him the best too. It is a good thing that we have FOUR Thomas engines!

The creator of Ramen Noodles died this week at nearly 100 years of age. These noodles hold a special place in the heart of us:

Lydia was dating the boyish-infantile-immature guy across the hall from me at Schultze-Eldersveld at Calvin College. She was hungry one afternoon and he told her to come across the hall to my room because I would have food (prejudging me based on girth). I did not have any, but my roomie had Ramen Noodles which I offered to her.

The long and short of it was that she immediately dumped this guy upon hearing me speak and feeling the warmth of my personality and we were shortly married thereafter. Or so I remember it. Ms. Marion Lanning threw dry Ramen at our wedding.

Long live the cheapest, most disgusting food ever invented, despite the death of its creator. (As long as there are colleges in this world, there will be Ramen!)

Saturday Evening--John Newton

Safely through another week,
God has brought us on our way;
Let us now a blessing seek,
On th' approaching Sabbath-day:
Day of all the week the best,
Emblem of eternal rest.


Mercies multiply'd each hour
Through the week our praise demand
Guarded by Almighty pow'r,
Fed and guided by his hand:
Though ungrateful we have been,
Only made returns of sin.


While we pray for pard'ning grace,
Through the dear Redeemer's name,
Show thy reconciled face,
Shine away our sin and shame:
From our worldly care set free,
May we rest this night with thee.


When the morn shall bid us rise,
May we feel thy presence near!
May thy glory meet our eyes
When we in thy house appear!
There afford us, Lord, a taste
Of our everlasting feast.


May thy Gospel's joyful sound
Conquer sinners, comfort saints;
Make the fruits of grace abound,
Bring relief for all complaints:
Thus may all our Sabbaths prove,
Till we join the church above!

Goodbye Old Friend

Car Seats Are for Babies

Consumer Reports claims that many of the infant car seats that they reviewed 'failed miserably' when tested at speeds of 35 miles per hour.

I am not opposed to car seats, per se, but I hate being told that I have to wear a seat belt and that my children have to be in car seats.

Should these be laws, or should this be up to the discretion of the parents? Why should 'Big Brother' tell us how to buckle our children? Remember the days when babies rode on mama's lap in the front seat? I am sure that it is just as safe.

How Many Pancakes Can You Eat?

Today Anna, Owen, and I made pancakes. Both of the children love to eat pancakes for breakfast and would eat them everyday. Now, the normal pancake is just that- a cake fried in a pan and then you slather butter all over it and pour corn syrup that tastes like maple all over it. We are not in favor of this.

We made whole-wheat pancakes that have 4 grams of fiber per serving. We may have overdone it though- because we made 180 of them! They went into containers and into the freezer. No more wasting time flipping jacks in the morning for the kiddos!

We also read Eric Carle's book Pancake Pancakes while we made them. The book is about a boy who wants a pancake for breakfast so he goes to the field and cuts some wheat and takes it to the miller. The book walks the reader through the entire process of making a pancake. Fun!

New Years With the Grand Parents

The Eshelman's from the glorious state of Pennsylvania came to spend the new year celebration with their favorite grandchildren (that is what they say, I do not make this stuff up, mind you). Owen was really happy to see them and was a great boy all weekend, despite him getting croup again and spending Sunday morning in the med-center with his mother.

We went to Meijer Gardens to see the train that they have for winter. They have the indoor gardens set up like old Grand Rapids and the train moves in and out of various historic buildings made from nuts and twigs and other organic material. It is very nice to watch and I would suggest that you go to see it if you like trains or Grand Rapids history (or both).
Here is the train on the tall bridge. That Asian guy's head is not part of the display, he just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

We spent most of the afternoon running around the Gardens. It must have been close to 50 degrees that day. There were so many people there.
We had breakfast at the Cherrie Inn in the East Hills district of Grand Rapids. Lydia said that Brandywine in Eastown was bigger...but I was right...huh, Lyd?

We had a very nice time despite my beard being ridiculed by my mother. (I think that she is just jealous because her husband cannot grow one!)

Lydia is really cute too.

Happy New Year Everybody!