I'm Raising A Rubik's Cube And A Dalmatian This Year

WORD COUNT: You'll see a number here starting next Monday. [I'll need the coffee.]

Where did I want to start documenting the weekend? Perhaps when I lost my temper last night as our laptop didn't work -- oh, it came on all right but the cursor wouldn't move at all. I needed to look up the directions on either the Nook that Jeffrey was using or the iPad that Sarah was using and it was close to bedtime, I chose the Nook and he started whimpering that we treat Sarah better than him ... it gets me mad enough hearing that that you'd think the kids love the computers more than Martha and me! (Of course, how did I act?) One picture frame was the casualty of that outburst of mine. Martha and I worked together to fix the problem after she got home from Chamber Chorale practice, but after being the worst person I could be at that time, my heart wasn't into any work getting done.

It could have been much worse. At least I'm smart enough -- I think -- to not get on the bad side of Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland (ISBN 0823409244) who in one legend I read in this Tomie dePaola book prayed to God to punish an evil ruler who persecuted Christians, and He turned the ruler into a fox. I knew about the shamrock with its three leaves representing the Christian Trinity of God the Father, Jesus Christ His Son, and the Holy Spirit, but not about Patrick opening his hand to shine light so his chariot driver could find their horses! And some basics about Patrick's life; he wasn't born in Ireland, but in Roman Britain where he was captured as a slave, escaped some years later, and heard God's call to return to Ireland some years later -- and did quite a remarkable job.  

Saturday while I was at work and Jeffrey was at a friend's birthday party Martha, Sarah, and Mary hung out at the house and worked on the Rubik's Cube Jeffrey is going to wear for a Halloween costume this year. Martha and Sarah already finished putting the spots on a white shirt and shorts of Sarah for a Dalmatian this year (she's also got a headdress with gloves done that way) earlier last week ... anyway, I saw the Cube when I got home and it looks great. Both our kids get to field-test their costumes at a Halloween party tomorrow night for Jeffrey's Cub Scout den in our church basement. I'm looking forward to seeing that; of course, I've seen pictures of the kids in costume, but it's not the same as seeing them in it.

Sunday morning at church I had the Weavers class in Parable Playhouse. Before the five first and second-grade boys (all that were there yesterday, including Jeffrey and my prayer partner Levi) got there, Dalyce who helps me with the class AND is one of the witches in tonight's skating program of Hansel & Gretel got talking and considering how to adapt a Disney song for each of the upcoming lessons. While the stories we tell with the puppets may not be as "chapter and verse" as some teachers would like, the fun and some of the discussions -- seriously, first through fifth graders can get deep when they want to -- we have will stick far more than a droll Bible reading. And the facts the kids wanted to read themselves tells me all is not lost.

In fact, Jeffrey's becoming a fan of Mary Pope Osborne's Magic Tree House series. Martha told me Friday when she went to school to pick the kids up that our son was walking down the hall reading one of them, the book about the main characters exploring an Antarctic mountain. He was a little embarrassed to tell me this, but Martha said he shouldn't be and I would be proud of him! And I am, in fact; got to read some of that with him yesterday when we were home from church and I had fun with it. Right now I'm going through the books I've accumulate over the years and various book sales and giving away as many as I can -- so far I haven't cut off a limb doing so.

But it will be a sacrifice, David