Whosoever believes…

As I was reading a Bible verse-related story to Christopher before naptime, I came to a section of questions to ask your child about the verse just described.  This particular verse was John 3:16.  The story involved children wanting to “give something back” to Jesus because it was his birthday.  They gave him their time and their singing in worship as gifts.

The “discussion” questions were answered as follows by Christopher:

1. John 3:16 teaches us that God loved us so much that He gave us a gift – what did He give us?

Answer: “I don’t know” (Jesus)

2. John 3:16 teaches us that if we believe in Jesus, we will have what?

Answer: “Cake” (everlasting life)

Using the idea of birthdays or birthday parties as a way of educating children about Jesus and Christmas has its limitations, especially in the face of a three year old’s relentlessly concrete logic.

posted by Dad

Happy Birthday, Christopher!

This past weekend we celebrated Christopher’s third birthday.  We’re not sure which was celebrated more–Christopher or Thomas the Tank Engine!  On Friday, we let him open all his gifts from us and his extended family, many of which were trains, track and accessories for a new Thomas train set.  He loved it and hasn’t hardly stopped playing it ever since.  On Saturday, we had 8 little friends and their moms (and one dad) over for a Thomas party.  Three inches of snow (on top of the 9 inches we already had) threated to postpone the festivities, but thanks to the great City of Indianapolis and its snow plows, the party was able to go on as planned.  It was pure chaos, but Christopher seemed to enjoy every minute of it.  He jumped up and down as each person arrived, and he happily shared his new trains with all his friends.  He wasn’t quite sure what to do while everyone sang “Happy Birthday,” but when it was over he blew out his candles with one big puff.

On Sunday, his actual birthday, I gave him 1-2-3 birthday smooches.  To which he replied, showing the numbers on his fingers, “I’m not one!  I’m not two!  I’m not–I’m THHRREE!”  He used to pronounce “three” more like “kee”, but I guess with all this talking about it, he’s decided to make a strong effort to pronounce it correctly.  It takes him about 5 seconds to get the THR out, and don’t stand too close, or you’ll get a spit shower!  It is hilarious.

Later that afternoon, Christopher and Daddy ventured out into the snow.  At that point, we had at least a foot on the ground, with snow drifts even higher.  The piles of snow by our driveway and front walk were almost as tall as Christopher!

Bye-bye, Wilma!

Today, Will finally discarded the nickname I had given him–Wilma–due to his long, slightly curly hair that made him look like a girl (on good days) or like he had a mullet (on bad days). His big brother is known at the salon as “Screamer”, but Will did us proud and hardly fussed during his first haircut. Now he looks like a little boy, and even more like his brother, I think. Hooray for Shannon, stylist to the stars (aka, our entire family)!

Before:

During:

After:

Cutest Colts Fans Ever

(Don’t be concerned, Will is getting a haircut TODAY.)

The Colts are World Champs!

Congrats to our beloved Indianapolis Colts! Coming soon–photos of the boys in their Superbowl Champions t-shirts!