-
interview with judah: summer camp.
Tell me about your camp. What kind of camp was it? A Christian camp How many boys were in your cabin? How many counselors did you have? Ten boys and two counselors What major did you choose for the week? Outdoor survival What’s one thing you learned about outdoor survival? That clay can be used as a bug spray What other activities did you get to try? Archery, climbing, GaGa ball, zipline, jump on the Blob, kayaking, water games in the lake What did you do during chapel? Talk about Jesus being the Vine What did you do to celebrate 4th of July? Big fireworks on lake What’s something that…
-
judah goes to camp.
Yesterday evening we dropped Judah off for 6 nights at Bethel Christian Camp in Gaston, about 30 minutes away from Columbia. It’s a camp we’ve known and loved for a long time. We’ve met the director, and have seen lots of friends attend over the years. I can’t imagine a better first camp experience for our boy; still I can hardly believe he’s gone. He’ll turn 10 in September, which is the age I was when I started going to camp, but it still feels young somehow. I was delighted that we were allowed to settle him into his cabin and see the bunk he chose and meet his senior…
-
judah turns 9.
Our oldest boy turned 9 years old yesterday. Can you believe it? Is it possible that I have a 9-year-old? We celebrated with a breakfast date: Judah, David, and me. The three of us sat on the front patio of Rise Bakery, eating sticky buns, and shooing away the black cat that wound around our ankles, wondering when the last time was that we’d been out together, just the three of us. Judah requested a whole year ago that he get the day off school for his birthday. He’s the only one of our kids that has a birthday on a school day, and he was very frustrated about it.…
-
harry potter progress.
I shared here about Judah starting the Harry Potter series for the first time. So many people have asked me how we made the decision to let him begin, and how far in the series we’ll let him go (he’s 8 1/2). Honestly, I wasn’t exactly sure when we started, and that may have been a poor parenting decision on my part, but here we are. After much deliberating, I just let Judah start book 5 of 7, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I keep saying “I” because David hasn’t read the books, and defers to me, but we’ve discussed it quite a bit, and are on…
-
the harry potter era.
I was a sophomore in high school when this book first came out, in 1997. My mom read it soon after with my brother Danny, who was 11 — Harry Potter’s age in this first book. Yes, Danny was in that magical group of kids who literally grew up alongside Harry Potter. My mom told me to read it, and eventually I tried the book, but was unimpressed (I was kind of a literary snob back then). I didn’t pick the Harry Potter series up again until years later, when I was out of college and married. I wish I could remember what made me want to give the books…
-
judah’s first poem.
Judah wrote his first poem last week. It wasn’t an assignment — we were doing our daily reading in Story of the World, and afterward he said, “I’m going to write a poem!” He remembered from our grammar lessons that the first word in each line should be capitalized. And then he sat and wrote it. He presented it to his class at Classical Conversations today, and this proud mom can’t help sharing it with you! History History is not a mystery How do we know? From The earliest creation To the best information. Epic battles take place. Astronauts go to the moon in space. And that’s how we…
-
judah’s golden birthday.
Judah’s “golden birthday” was this week: he turned eight on September 8th! We celebrated in style all week. He and Owen had a Pokemon-themed family party on Saturday, and his birthday breakfast request for Tuesday morning was donuts. David took a couple hours off work in the morning to open presents, help build a Star Wars Lego set, and play a game of Pokemon. The kids and I celebrated with a few friends from Classical Conversations at the park in the afternoon, and we topped the week off with a family trip to HiWire trampoline park today. Judah and Amie have been anxiously awaiting this birthday so that the four…
-
birthday boy.
Judah turned 7 on Monday! We had a fun couple days celebrating . . . David measures the Birthday Kids each year and records their height on the dining closet door frame. Judah grew 2 inches this year and Amelie grew 2.5 inches! We did a birthday breakfast and gifts Monday morning before work and school. Judah’s breakfast request was his dad’s homemade bagels. Yum. Judah still loves Star Wars but his latest character obsession is Transformers. He was so excited to bring cupcakes to Classical Conversations on Monday. Can you believe we just started our fourth week of the school year? Each week gets a little easier for the…
-
he says.
David: “Hey you’re in my chair! Hop up!” Judah: “Dad, part of being a pastor is learning how to share.”
-
he says.
(Judah tells me about the one hundredth Lego set he’s decided on for his birthday…in September) Me: Hey buddy, Dad and I are going to pick your birthday present, okay? It’s going to be a surprise but I promise you’ll love it. Judah: Okay. Just make sure it’s expensive.