With final exams next week and a ton on my plate this will be a highlight blog today:

(In no particular order)

#1- The girls had a court date on the 17th but their case was extended and the next court date is June 26th.  Once again we are delayed.  I pray that this is the last time.

#2- As a direct result of #1, Jill and I each need to put in 8 hours of continuing education for our foster care license.  We had hoped not to have to do this but we have no choice.  I will be in class for three hours tomorrow morning (not looking forward to that one)

#3-  Our youngest had a nightmare last week and nighttime has been an adventure ever since.  When the sun goes down the tears start.  Our saving grace has been Nanna with the "monster spray".

#4- Even though Seminary is almost over it is looking more and more that ordination will not take place until later in the summer.  I was hoping for June but it looks like it will be later now.  More info to come...

#5-  I have to make another trip to the doctor with the girls on Friday.  If you know the history there you will be praying.  

#6-  Our oldest went to the dentist the other week and was a trooper.  She had a great check-up and wants to go back.  We will see how long that lasts.

#7- The girls just got back from a walk with Nanna so I got to go and do jammies and teeth.  Have a great week...

The joys of a 3 year old

Today I want to talk a little about the three year old I share a house with. She is just the cutest little thing you have ever seen but there is a good reason God makes them so cute at this age. Our youngest has been a bit of a pill the past few days. She has been a bit crabby and whiny and doesn't like to listen right now. I want to share a few of her stories with you.

On Saturday we were at Jill's sisters house in Orange. Our families try to get together at some point every weekend. At around nap time our youngest was being quite a pill. She was tired and needed to sleep but did not want to give up having fun. Jill finally scooped her up off the floor where she was moping and told her to stop being so cranky. Without missing a beat, our little princess quips back, "I'm not cranky, see my happy face!?!" She then proceeds to flash the greatest smiley face you have ever seen. It was hysterical. We were all rolling. Finally after some drama about a water cup she finally fell asleep for about 3 hours!

On Sunday night before bedtime, the girls were talking about what movie they wanted to watch. It was our youngest's turn to pick and she told us that she picked "Buzz Lightyear". OK, no problem we pulled out Toy Story put it in the VCR (yes we still have one) only to have her collapse into a ball on the floor of the living room in a tizzy saying, "NO! I don't want this one!!!!" Jill and I tried to make peace and tell her this is what she chose, but she would have none of it! I finally calmed her down with a few deep breaths and asked her again what movie she wanted and she told me "Bugs Lifeyear". For those of you who know your Pixar Animation movies you can see how she got confused. What she really wanted was "Bugs Life" but got confused with the character of "Buzz Lightyear" from Toy Story. She finally pulled herself together and settled in and enjoyed her movie.

We have been having a few glimpses of summer around here and last week during nap time it was quite warm. Now our youngest likes to be completely covered up when she sleeps. From head to toe. She calls it "hiding". Well it was over 80 degrees outside and she covered herself up with a double layer fleece blanket for a few hours. When Jill finally came to wake her up she was soaked. Not just moist but she left a spot the size of seven year old on her bed. She soaked through all her clothes,the blanket, the pillow, etc. Thank God for waterproof mattress pads! She was wreck! She thought she wet the bed, but no, it was just a few gallons of sweat from a three year old (YUCK!!).

One more...Our littlest disparately wants to be 40 lbs. Why? Because that means she can ditch the carseat and use the booster seat. We keep telling her that she needs to eat all her dinner and veggies, etc. so she can grow. We have been taking full advantage of this at nighttime too by telling her that she needs to sleep so she can grow. So the other day she gets into the van and goes right to the back where we have a few booster seats for our nieces. She sits down and tells me that she has eaten all her dinner and is bigger now so she can sit in the booster seat. I could almost see her heart break as I told her that she was not 40 lbs yet. After some tears and some coaxing I finally got her into her carseat. As of yesterday she was at 36 lbs so we still have four pounds of encouragement time to use.

OK enough about our little one. I will try to give equal time to our oldest at some point but the short story is, she is growing into a very polite young girl. She has her moments, but she has me wrapped around her finger and I love it. Talk to you next week

The Week that was...

So here we sit...without a blog from last week.  Believe me, I heard from the adoring crowd.  Many of you waiting with baited breath for the happenings in my life.  But lets say that life has gotten the best of me for a few weeks and blogging has not been a part of it.  So to appease the masses here are the highlights of the past two weeks:

-I went on two field trips this week, one was to help the Jr. High at Bethany and chaperone a trip the California Science Center.  Very cool indeed.  The other was to the Santa Ana Zoo with the preschool.  The girls loved to watch the monkeys and learned what an Emu is.

-I have been knee deep in my Seminary class and in particular Franz Pieper's Christian Dogmatics Vol. III.  I have read and digested almost 400 pages in the past three weeks.  I even had a presentation on a portion of it (can you say ex opere operato?)

-My last research paper for Seminary is almost done.  Let me know if you want to read a paper titled "The Sinners Role in Conversion".  Lots of Greek and the dreaded crux theologorum (don't ask).

-Taxes....blah!!!!!!!

- Confirmation was this past weekend at Church.  I had two mentees that I have been working with this year go through the witness service and were both confirmed in the faith on Sunday.  I could not be more proud.  Good job Alex and Ryan!  I am proud of you both!

-The girls have a court date this Thursday and I have been feverishly been getting all the needed paperwork in including going to necessary doctors and dentist appointments.  Talk about time killers.

-  I started teaching a new round of Bible studies last week and things are going quite well but it is taking more time than I anticipated.

-  The best news of the week came in the form of an email I received this week and I share it with you:

Dear Brother in Christ:
As Director of Certification at Concordia Seminary, I am very happy to let you know that you were included in the motion that the faculty passed at its meeting on Thursday, April 10. The motion reads as follows: Moved, that the faculty express its satisfaction that each of the following men will meet all personal, professional, and theological requirements for the office of ordained minister, declare each of them to be of entry level competency and qualified for a first call, and recommend each of them, subject to the satisfactory completion of the appropriate course of studies, his receipt of a Theological Diploma or Certificate, and his receipt and acceptance of a call assigned to him by the Board of Assignments.
We praise God for his work in your life, and we rejoice with you as you move closer to service as a pastor in our church. May the Lord keep you safe and joyful as you complete your studies and prepare to serve.
Cordially in the Risen Christ,

Dr. Jeff Gibbs

Concordia Seminary
Office of the President
801 Seminary Place
St. Louis, MO 63105

So even though I have not had time to blog, things are going well for me.  Please understand that you may not get another update for two weeks or so.  Please don't think ill of me.  Talk to you soon....

Celebration Charts

Last week Jill and I decided it was time to get some motivation rolling with the girls.  Getting dressed in the mornings and putting on PJs at night was starting to become a chore.  The girls are big enough to do it on their own but would prefer some help.  Jill and I were done "helping" in the normal way and decided to help with the use of a "Celebration Chart".  Jill made up some good old sticker charts with spots for each time the girls get dressed without any help.  It has been working great and we have been singing "Celebration" by Kool & the Gang as our theme song.  Today our oldest finished up her first page and we went to Target to choose a celebration treat.  We listened to "Celebration" on the iPod as we went and our oldest was so excited!  She chose a dinosaur coloring page with some markers from the dollar aisle and she was just beaming.  Tonight the girls each earned a sticker and our youngest will be making a trip to Target soon.  The only downside to all of this is the fact that I can't get Kool & the Gang out of my head so would you please hit play on the following video so I won't be lonely in my funk groove.  Please....