Silver Dollar City and lots of questions about God

Last week, we went to Branson with Nana, Granddad, Aunt Laura, Uncle Garland and Caroline. We had a great time! On Thursday night, we went to Silver Dollar City to see their millions of lights and huge Christmas tree. We saw a fun Cajun music show, ate lots of popcorn, rode a train (this was a BIG hit with my two little “choo-choo” fans!), saw a parade of lighted floats and watched a living nativity play. During the nativity, right after the wise men offered their gifts and worship to Christ, Christopher whispered to me, “Is this Heaven?” Later, I asked him why he thought it was Heaven. He answered, “I just wanted it to be Heaven.” I wish I understood why he thought that!

The next day, we went back in the afternoon to ride all the kiddie rides. Christopher had a BLAST! He especially loved the tea cups and the hot air balloons. (All the rides are basically the same premise–going around in circles and/or up and down in a themed vehicle of some sort.) Will enjoyed one ride, but after a traumatic experience on the bouncing frog ride, he became just an observer. Mommy and Daddy even got to ride a roller coaster–I hadn’t done that in years!

Christopher seems to be asking more and more questions about God, and often asks the same questions over and over, which makes me think he is really trying to figure out these difficult concepts. A couple of times, he has heard me sing along with the radio to “You are So Good to Me” (by Third Day, click on the title for lyrics). And he asked me why God poured out all His blood. So I explained how we all disobey God, and when Jesus died on the cross, He took the punishment for our sin on Himself so that we can be children of God and go to Heaven to be with Him. I tried to explain how painful the Cross was, and how Jesus bled because of His love for us, and specifically for Christopher. Ever since, he has asked me about every other day, seemingly out of the blue, “Mommy, why did God pour out all His blood?” Last night, I gave him a more concise answer than I usually do, and he kept asking me, “And what else?” until I had fully described the good news of the Gospel. I look forward to the day when Christopher truly understands these wonderful truths and shares them with others! Christopher is also quite intrigued by the question of whether or not God has ears. I’ve explained that God doesn’t have a body like men, because He is a Spirit, so He doesn’t have ears, but He hears us when we pray and when we praise Him. Christopher asked, “Does God hear Will talking?”

As for Will, his latest accomplishment was catching a ball that I was tossing to him last week. I was so proud of him! He’s getting good at going up and down stairs as long as he has something to hold on to, and if there’s not a railing he can reach, he reaches for my hand and says, “help!” He loves the keyboard that Christopher got for his birthday two years ago (thanks, Ash!) and abuses it daily by carrying it around (it is at least as tall as he is) and dropping it on the floor repeatedly. I can’t believe that thing still works!

In preparation for Thanksgiving, Christopher made a turkey out of a brown paper bag at Sunday school. He named her Turkey Lurkey and seemed quite attached to Turkey Lurkey all day Sunday. By the evening, however, he asked me if he could hunt Turkey Lurkey so he could kill her and eat her. (Daddy has said that he can’t pretend to shoot a gun at his brother, but he can “hunt” his stuffed animals.) Poor Turkey Lurkey!

Why I love Arkansas

A natural question for people to ask me these days is “How is life in Arkansas?” Although we definitely miss our Indy friends (especially those who are faithful Puppy Dog Tails readers!), we love being in Arkansas. Here are my top 10 reasons why:

10. Christopher goes to the same preschool I went to as a kid, and he loves it so much that he gets mad at me when I come pick him up.  (And three grandparents got to come see him as Curious George in his Book Character Parade!)

9. Christopher can sing the Razorback fight song, and Will is learning to call the Hogs.

8. Taking the kids to the same park I played growing up (even if there is a playground where the merry-go-round used to be, and the big silver slide is gone) and going to story time at the new public library Grandma helped build as a member of the library board of trustees.

7. There is a donut shop near our house that has a drive-thru window (!!) where I can get a dozen donut holes for the boys and a chocolate glazed donut for me all for just $2.23.

6. Fall is an actual season here when the weather is fabulous and the tree-covered hills are gorgeous.

5. Christopher has adopted a fake Southern accent that he uses only for words with an “I” sound in the middle.

4. Getting to call the Hogs live with 70,000 screaming fans from our nose-bleed section seats at the home football games. (Even when they lose.)

3. Saturday mornings with Grandma and Grandpa at Panera, and outings to the fair and pumpkin patch with Nana and Granddad.

2. We aren’t traveling at all during the holidays and still get to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with family.

1. When I leave my kids with someone, it is almost always someone who has loved them since before they were born. (That includes you, Jenny and Dre!)

Basketball and brotherly love

Last night Christopher went to his first Razorback basketball game with his Grandpa B. He was extremely excited. He thought it was a little loud, but he had a great time. His favorite parts were seeing the mascots (although they were unsuccessful at getting up close to one) and eating the yummy snacks. They also went all the way up to the top of the stadium, sitting in all the seats they could find with a “3″ on them. (Christopher is obsessed with his age.) When he got home, I asked him if the Razorbacks ran fast and threw the ball through the basket, and Christopher said that the “squishy one put the ball on his nose!” That’s when I realized that I was talking about the basketball players, and he was talking about the mascots.

The other day I went to check on the boys, who were being nice and quiet as they played in Christopher’s room together. I noticed that there was a suspicious wet spot in Will’s hair, and his cheek was red. I’ve seen Christopher be about to spit on his brother before, so I started by asking . . .

M: Christopher, did you spit on your brother’s head??

C: Yes.

M: And why is his face red?

C: It got pinched.

M: What did it get pinched in?

C: In my fingers.

Poor Will! At least we’ve got the honesty thing going, even if we have a LONG way to go with the kindness, gentleness and self-control!

Trick or treat!

The boys got healthy just in time to enjoy a two-day Halloween celebration. On Tuesday, we went trick-or-treating to their grandparents’ houses. They raided Nana and Granddad’s stash of goodies (apparently, Christopher assumed he should take however many would fit in his basket) and enjoyed a Halloween cookie cake at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Yesterday, we went in our costumes to Daddy’s work to get more treats and meet some of his co-workers. Then our friends Mollie and Emily came over to go trick-or-treating, and our friend Ruth came over afterwards for Halloween Rice Krispie treats. It was a full day, and the boys had a blast. Will wasn’t so sure about all the kids in costumes at first, but by the end of the night, he was pushing his way up to the door with all the bigger kids, wanting his candy. (He also learned the word candy and said it repeatedly through the evening!)

These are our friends Mollie and Emily–Grandma and Grandpa have been friends with their grandparents since before the mommies were born!