Our first April weekend . . .

This weekend was kind of a mixed-up one … not that it wasn't organized … just that stuff happened that was beyond our control, and so we had a very different sort of time together. I think that my best memory of the weekend will be the eight chapters we read from "The Magician's Nephew." We had read the very first chapter last weekend, 20 minutes before it was time to leave the Beach House and return home.

 This weekend, we were barely in my place five minutes when we picked up the book and resumed where we'd left off reading! This is such a great story! The kids were hanging on every single word. We broke between chapters six and seven to make and consume our spaghetti dinner, but then we got right back to it and finished through chapter eight. Each chapter ends on such a suspenseful note that it is difficult to put the book down and do anything but … continue reading!

But it was time for our Bible story by then, and this week we read the Gospel accounts of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. I told the story while the children colored. We talked about so many things!

I got back into my Israel scrapbooks and showed the kiddos actual pictures from the Mt. of Olives, and pictures of olive trees too. I told the kids all about the connection between olive production there on the Mt. of Olives, what the olives produced (oil for LIGHT), about Jesus being the Light of the world, about the meaning of the word "gethsemane" (olive crush) and how Jesus was crushed for our sins (Isaiah 53). And we also talked about the kiss of Judas and played the song, "Why" by Michael Card (where Mr. Card states "that's not what a kiss is for!"). I taught them about how when the soldiers and temple guards and priests arrived to arrest Jesus that he stepped forward (instead of running away) and asked them WHO they were looking for. When they said, "Jesus of Nazareth" and he answered "I AM he," how they all fell down to the ground at the mention of his name! And we talked about Peter hacking off the servant's ear (Malchus) and how Jesus so kindly healed the man right there on the spot. What a great story! We had such a good time together!

Matthew found a magnifying glass that I had in
one of my art drawers and …
examined everything possible with it!

Pretty soon, it was bedtime and movie time. We watched something called, "Legend of the Guardians." It was a kind of complicated story of a colony of owls and their rebellion, etc. I can't say that I liked the movie ~ too tense and too much fighting! But the children seemed to enjoy it. However, somewhere in the middle of the movie, Emma got sick and requested a bucket.

It was about 9:30 the first time Emma got sick; but between 9:30 and 1:30 in the morning, she had thrown up more than a dozen times, to the point of dry heaves. By about midnight, I was growing quite alarmed. I've never seen one of my own children this sick. Emma was gagging and choking, even at the rare times when she fell asleep for a few minutes. I finally called her mom (who is an RN) and told her what was going on. Since Diana was at work, she couldn't come to get Emma, so Jesse kindly did this at about 1:30. It was so sad to see Emma this sick. I have to say, she was very brave throughout the entire time. There were a few times that I overheard her in the bathroom praying to Jesus, asking that He would please help her. She has such a sweet heart. 

Thankfully, Saturday morning the boys slept in a little bit (and me too), but then we spent the rest of the day without Emma. The boys played really well together. We reminded each other about how we were going to seek to "bless" one another instead of fight. We talked about what being "blessed" by God really meant: wanting the very best for the other person, wanting them to know the peace and happiness of Jesus in their lives.

Since it was Grandpa Pahman's birthday on Friday, the kiddos wondered if we could go over to his apartment and help him celebrate it. They all had drawn him pictures and wanted to see him. So that is what we did! Jesse, Diana, and Kaity-girl met us over there and we enjoyed a meal and some playtime together. I'm glad we decided to do this! 

Diana and Kaity-girl!
Kaity is playing with a very soft pink ball …
she is a fast runner and a tough little kiddo!

At this point, Emma is reportedly feeling a little bit better after having a very difficult day yesterday running a pretty steady temperature. Diana said Emma slept most of the day. I'm feeling very squeamish and light-headed today, so I haven't left the house ~ which is highly unusual for me because it meant missing worship today at Calvary. I am hoping and praying that I do not come down with whatever bug caught dear Ems. I slept a lot today too, it's now early evening, and I'm beginning to feel a bit better. Whew!