Game On

This is fun.

Secret Keeper Girl

 So thankful to spend this time with Vanessa and to do it before she outgrows it. She is a masterpiece . . . as is each and every one of us. . . . I just hope and pray she always knows it.
~ Ephesians 2:10

Cub Scouts, Fall Craziness

Zane got to go to his Cub Scouts' lock in this year. We didn't spend the entire night though. It was a wild and crazy evening but lots of fun. They played games, sewed pieces of a sensory quilt, decorated cookies and made crafts. We ate popcorn and watched Incredibles 2 before heading home to bed.

A Few of Our Favorite Things

At dinner the other night, Vanessa prompted discussion by asking us to name 5 of our favorite things. I liked her prompting so much that I thought it would be neat to note our responses here.

My reply

1. chocolate

2. sleeping

3. filet mignon

4. cozy bed

5. comfy clothes

Vanessa's reply

1. chocolate

2. sleeping

3. school

4. Starbucks

5. video games

Zane's reply

1. sleeping

2. family vacations (especially in NC, WV, TN, FL...)

3. chocolate

4. Wendy’s and Tim Hortons

5. Bob Evans

Dad's reply

1. sleeping

2. fishing

3. music

4. quiet

5. steak

We’ll give Hendrix a few years to really think about it. Everything we named that we are pretty sure are favorites of his, he said "Umm...no."

Finding Identity

Dad knows the kids look forward to jumping in the leaves. The kids even instigated some of their own piles last week. But while Dad used his day off to blow the leaves, he was sure to create and leave one huge pile for when Vanessa and Zane got home from school, before taking it the rest of the way to the curb so Hilliard could come and suck them all up.

Guess how many kids are buried here. . . . 

All three kids are under the leaves here, even Hendrix likes to be buried, which for a toddler shows just how much he trusts his family. This gets me to thinking about acceptance and building trust and how these things in your core family is so very important to avoid damage to self image. When disciplined, the kids typically endure a lecture on trust and how we lose and build trust from others. And beyond that, I also have very intentional discussions with V and Z about the kinds of things that can define us,  the things we shouldn't let define us, and why the world feels the need to define things based on a worldly agenda, which sometimes leaves us feeling misunderstood or mischaracterized.

It's confusing because we work so hard to develop integrity and trust when aspects of the world destroy the value of trust and integrity. But we rest in our conversations on how really the only acceptance that is ultimately important is from God and doing what is right in His eyes. We can for sure always trust Him. This all relates to seeking approval from people and things that will inevitably fail us. But God is consistent and constant which encourages me to try my best and will hopefully always encourage my children to do their best too.

It is tempting to allow others to control our direction, hold us back or prevent us from doing what we feel God is leading us to do. Maybe it's a stretch, but I love that Vanessa and Zane didn't allow Dad's schedule to prevent them from seizing the moment last week. They didn't wait on someone else to pave the way, but they took initiative to seek and pursue their own joy and owning it. The consequence was joy.