Ava

I have really been enjoying Ava lately. She is in such a fun stage. She is 3 1/2 and I often have to remind myself that she is only 3. She is so precocious. Full of ideas, creativity, energy and emotion. Sometimes she drives me crazy with all her non-stop chatter! Today at the dinner table she told me that she doesn't like mushrooms because they grow from a seed, but then they turn into slugs and if you eat one you will get very sick and have to stay in the hospital. I was confused because she got half the story right. We have told her that the mushrooms you find growing outside could make her sick if she ate them, but I don't know why she thinks they turn into slugs.

Anyway, Ava has been on quite a drawing streak lately. She has always loved arts and crafts projects, painting, gluing or cutting. For Christmas she got some glitter pens and made dozens (seriously, dozens!) of beautiful glitter paintings. I had to limit her to two per day. And heaven help you if you throw any of it away! One day, she found some glitter paintings in the trash. She was crushed! She looked at me with teary eyes and yelled "Mom! My papers are in the trash! I made art for you and you put them in the trash?!" I assured her it was an accident and that she could take them out. Poor sweet girl! And now I make sure anything that goes into the trash can is covered up! Lately she has been drawing people. I love looking at these pictures and have captured some of them on film.

This one is for her Awana teacher. It's a picture of her and Ava.

This one is Kobe (my brother's dog) and Grandma and Grandpa

This one is me and Dan. We are floating in the sky because that is hot lava on the bottom.

This one is my favorite! It's Grandma (the mark on her face is her chin) and Grandpa (the mark on his nose is actually his beard) and Ava

Ava is also quite the little helper. She helps me unload the dishwasher, she likes to pour the detergent into the washing machine, she helps me sweep, she loves to go to the grocery store and hold my list for me, and now she even helps me fold laundry. And she's actually pretty good at it. She prefers to fold pants because "shirts are hard." She also does towels and my favorite thing that she does is match the socks. I hate doing socks! So she really is very helpful with the laundry. Now if she could only clean the bathroom...

Ava helping me match socks

Basketball

Back in December Drew started playing basketball. We found an Upward league in our area and I was so excited! Upward is a Christian league. They have soccer, football and cheer also available, but not in our area. I really love this league because they emphasize having fun while learning the sport. This means every time the ref blows the whistle he stops and explains why he made the call. At each practice and game they have about 5 minutes to do a devotion and work on a scripture verse. They encourage and recognize sportsmanship, effort, Christlikeness and Scripture learning as well as offense and defense. They also make sure that each kid has equal playing time and an opportunity to be in the starting lineup.

The games are so cute to watch! We have one kid on our team who really knows what he's doing. He can dribble the ball down the court and make a shot, but most of the other kids are still learning how to control the ball. Drew seems to be enjoying it and often will look for us on the sidelines and give us a thumbs-up from the court. I have found that basketball is very difficult to capture on film! They are moving too fast and every time I think I'm about to get a good shot, the ref ends up right in front of me! Oh well, I'll keep trying!

Go Number 7!

Drew's team identifying which basket they are going towards

One of the few pictures I got of Drew with the basketball

Drew is making a good effort at dribbling the ball down the court

Born Again

Yesterday morning I experienced the sweetest moment of my life so far.

Drew woke up in the morning, came out into the kitchen and said "Mom, I had a dream about Jesus last night."

I said, "You did? What was it about?"

He said, "I was sad that Jesus had to die.

"Yeah, that is sad isn't it? It makes me sad too. And it made Jesus sad. But even though it was very hard, he did it anyway because he loves us so much and it was the only way he could save us," I said.

Drew looked at me with teary eyes and said, "It makes me sad because I love him."

We continued to talk as he was getting ready for school. We talked about heaven and what it's like and how you get there. He just kept pursuing the conversation to the point that I felt I would be missing an opportunity if I didn't take the next step. So in the car on the way to school I asked him, "Drew, have you prayed and asked Jesus to come into your heart?" And he said "Yes." I was surprised he had already done that without me. I said "You did?" And he said "Yes, in my dream. I asked Jesus to come into my heart and I told him that I love him and I believe in him and I will follow him." It was the most tender, sweet and pure thing I have ever heard. Tears welled up in my eyes and I told him I was very proud of him. I told him that meant he was a Christian (he didn't care because he doesn't really know what that means) and that the Holy Spirit would help him follow the instructions that Jesus gives us in the Bible. Things like loving each other, being kind to others, helping people who need it and forgiving people.

When I called Dan to tell him what Drew had said he shared that he wasn't sure that kids as young as Drew could really understand. I know that Drew doesn't know everything about Jesus or how to be a Christian. But do any of us? Aren't we all learning throughout our lives? I think that Drew understands that Jesus loves him, that he died to take our sins away and that if we believe in him we get to be with him in heaven. It's my prayer that he will grow in his faith and learn more about God each day. And I think heaven is rejoicing!

I felt that such a momentous occasion deserved a celebration! So we went out to dinner as a family and presented Drew with his very own Bible,with his name on it.

Luke 18:16
But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.