"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Psalm 119:105
Prince Caspian
posted Tuesday, May 20, 2008 :: 7:04 AM
My husband and I took Zane to see Prince Caspian Sunday afternoon. I have been waiting for this movie with anticipation! I generally liked it, although they did not stick as close to the book as they did with the first movie. A change which they made, which I think was better than the book, was leaving out Bacchus and the wild girls. They completely left out the scene with the little Telmarine girl at the school, though, which I loved.
A change which they made which I think was worse than the book, was Peter having a chip on his shoulder. He did not have the nobility he did in the book until the end. I suppose they decided they had to show him growing into his nobility as a process, but it was something I did not like.
Like the first movie, it was visually stunning and beautiful. The Christian themes were again subtle, but they came through: 1) help comes when you ask for it, although it may take a different form than you were expecting; 2) you may have to follow God alone; 3) we cannot always depend on visions, audible instructions, tangible experience and the like for guidance - sometimes God's face is hidden - and we just have to do what we know is right; 4) evil can be beautiful and tempting. There was also a subtle theme of making things happen out of the works of our flesh vs. relying on God, juxtaposed with sometimes God works through our actions, but that is a difficult theme to explain, let alone depict visually, although they might have pulled it off - it just doesn't leap out at you while you are caught up in the movie.
However, Zane loved the movie, even if he did not understand it all. He is going to be four in a few weeks, and in about four years after that, we can give him his own set of Narnia books!
You just know that a day that begins with banana chocolate chip pancakes is going to be good. Zane's Mom brought him and Grace over for breakfast this morning and we ended up spending the day together. Sure, we all had things to do, but how many summer days I am going to get to spend with Zane as the cutest three- year- old ever? After lunch when he threw his arms around my neck and told me "I wuv you, Granma," that just makes it all worth it. Yes, I will be working extra hard tomorrow, and thrilled to be doing so. By the way, I managed to snap another picture of Gracie:
I was just thinking last night about the meaning of Zane's and Grace's names. Zane is from Sean, which is the anglicized Irish of John, which means, "God is gracious;" and Grace, of course, means "grace". So together their names mean "God is a gracious [giver of] unmerited favor and kindness." How true that is. Isn't that lovely?
My daughter, her husband, and new baby are still in the hospital and will be going home today, Lord willing. I am picking Zane up from the other grandma's house in a little bit and will have him today. We are going to the hospital to see everyone, of course, then parks and playing and a visit to the cousins (so Grandma can catch her breath, LOL) then I will take Zane and supper back to his house once his Mom and Dad get settled. So this will be my post for today, unless by a miracle at the end of the day I am full of energy for writing. But I promised pictures, and I need to process them off the camera and onto the computer so I can post them, and that is more likely what will happen this evening, LOL.
I just have to mention how proud I am of my daughter. She delivered Grace naturally without drugs, and maintained a calm and peaceful spirit throughout. I did not hear her snap at anyone even once. Then after the baby was born, when she was exhausted and hungry, she still received well- wishers with so much genuine grace. My daughter's gentle and quiet spirit is such an inspiration to me. God bless you and your sweet little ones, honey. Dad and I are soo proud of you and your precious family.
*** Update: Pictures! Click on the thumbnails to enlarge.
Well, it's 2:10 am in the morning, on Monday June 4th; I am at the hospital while my daughter is in labor. The contractions are about 4 minutes apart and she is dialated 6 cm. We may have a baby by breakfast! Pics to be posted as soon as possible ...
*** Update: the baby was born at 2:24 pm this afternoon -- a girl, Grace Lynn!! She is 6 lbs 14 oz and 19-1/4" long. Mother and baby are fine! As soon as I get home later tonight, I will post pics!!
Just to update everyone: our daughter has been having contractions every ten minutes apart for over 24 hours now; so the baby has not been born yet, but I have a sneaking suspicion it will be soon, maybe even today! If there is a break in posting, chalk it up to Grandma being at the hospital with her new grandbaby, and pics will be posted as soon as possible.
I had Zane yesterday, and today Zane and his mom and I were at my sister's all day for our Bible study. Boy, he is a busy little boy; I am tired, LOL. Then my husband's father- in- law is out visiting us right now, and long story short, this is the first access to a computer I have had all day. I have post ideas, but they will have to wait till tomorrow when I am more awake, and when I will be in my office. Sorry about the missed day. Now my daughter, Zane's mom, is due to deliver her second baby any day now, and so when she goes into labor, there may be another posting absence. But I will try to let everyone know what is going on. (I am so excited about being a Grandma a second time!)
My dh and I took our grandson Zane to the circus on Saturday. It was a small affair, but the acts were skillful and performed as if the circus was in a big city with tens of thousands of onlookers, rather than the small crowd our home town was able to supply.
1. Front row seats at the circus.
2. "Can I ride the pony, Grandpa, can I, can I?" At the ticket booth.
3. “Is it too late to change my mind about the pony ride?"
4. Clowns were somehow funnier when I was Zane's age.
5. It can't be a circus without lions, tigers ...
6. ... and elephants.
7. My favorite act: he is balancing on four wine bottles.
8. Amazing! How can he do that?
9. He is adding even more chairs ... I can't look!
10. If the cotton candy and popcorn is all gone, it must be time to go home.
My sweet dh took our son and daughter, and Zane, camping last weekend. It was opening day of grouse season, and my dh goes every year to Walden in Colorado. Walden is in North Park in Colorado, a high mountain meadow in between ranges. I stayed home; we had just moved and I had so much unpacking to do. But Zane, who is now 2 years and 3 months old, by all reports, had a wonderful time:
1. Throwing rocks into Lake John. “I’m letting the fish know we’re here, Grandpa!”
2. Grandpa teaching Zane to fish.
3. “Now I am getting the hang of it!”
4. Fishing with the boys (my dh, and Zane, and our son).
5. Zane’s first s’more: “So these are s’mores ... I wonder why they are called that?”
6. “If we toast marshmallows every time we go camping, then I love camping!”
7. Doing what all boys love to do ... climb anything nailed down.
Mere Comments has up a wonderful story and
tribute to the Grolier’s Book of Knowledge set. Not the New Book of
Knowledge -- the old set, before the arbiters of new decided that
everything new was better than everything old. I should start haunting
flea markets and such for an old set for Zane so he can come to
Grandma’s and Grandpa’s in the summer, escape new, and spend his days
making crossbows and fashioning little bits of furniture with mortises and tenons,
discovering electric currents, and all those things boys love to do. Or
would discover they love to do, if we could pry the video games out of
their hands.
Zane and his family, and I and my sister and her family, went to
the Denver Zoo on Friday. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the
sky, hot, crowded, and although not Zane’s first time at the zoo, it was his
first time being thoroughly fascinated by everything he saw:
There were lots of babies out with their mothers ...
As well as majestic adults (I wasn’t the only grandmother, either) ...
Beautiful gardens (not all terrestrial) ...
After a few hours in the sun, first snacks, and then naps were required by everyone.
I knew that yesterday couldn’t be the devil’s day just because the
date was June 6th! And not only for the reasons already mentioned, but
yesterday was Zane’s birthday, two years
old already! His party was at Chuck E Cheese (I dreaded going, because
I am not a crowds and noise kind of person, but it wasn’t as bad as I
remembered it when my children were little. Maybe I am mellowing with
age, LOL). I couldn’t believe I haven’t posted pictures of Zane since
January. I think I was a little preoccupied this spring. Anyway, I
discovered that I don’t take pictures in a dark room with lots of
flashing lights nearly as well as I do outdoors. But, I did get a lot
of good ones of the back of Zane’s head. ::: sigh :::. Here they are:
1. That Chuck E Cheese sure dances funny! 2. Playing arcade games with Grandpa. 3. I may be two and growing fast, but I am still not tall enough to reach the games by myself. 4. Playing skeeball with the other set of grandparents. 5. What is a party for a two- year- old boy without cars cupcakes?
6. ... or presents?
7. ... or friends?
8. I don’t care which game we play next, Grandpa, I am tuckered out!
He sure has grown a lot in one year! Happy birthday, Zane!
There was another death in my daughter’s family last week, two in one
month - her grandmother and his grandfather. It has been a hard month
for them both. The funeral was yesterday, in a city of some distance
away. I took care of Zane all day, from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. He is a
happy, fun, mischievious bundle of non-stop energy. Obviously I didn’t
get anything done, LOL. Except swinging, and running, and tossing
balls, and making lunch, and cleaning up, and making snacks, and
cleaning up, and reading books, and watching Finding Nemo, and napping,
and running some more.
Looking at it that way, I need to correct myself. All the important
things got done, LOL. The laundry will still be here today, filling
orders will still be here today, and making jam will still be here
today. But Zane will only be 22 and 3/4 months old once in his life,
and I got to spend a day with him at that moment. It was a wonderful
day, even if I am a bit sore and slow-moving today, LOL. (How I did
this every day when my three were toddlers, I do not know. This is why
we have our children when we are young, LOL.)
Zane and his momma and I went to Qdoba for
lunch yesterday. Zane, who just turned 20 months old yesterday, is
learning to hold an adult’s hand while crossing streets and parking
lots, and not go running off. So he had ahold of my hand with one hand,
and his momma’s hand with the other, as we were crossing the parking
lot from the car to the restaurant.
He jumped the whole way across, while giggling. Having two adults
holding your hands on either side of you means you can jump so much
higher, and get some swinging in besides before hitting the ground
again.
The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.
Zane didn’t think about
whether he could trust his momma and nana before leaping up, he just
did it for the sheer joy of it. Kind of like how I can trust the Lord
without analyzing everything to death. Thank you for reminding me of
what’s
really important in life, Zane. :)
Our daughter, son-in-law, and Zane are
coming tonight for dinner. I am making honey-baked chicken, and rice
and broccoli, and my daughter is bringing cheesecake. It was my birthday
this week, and we are celebrating. I can’t have regular cake because of
the flour (I am gluten intolerant), but homemade cheesecake doesn't
have flour in it, if you make the crust with almond meal instead of
graham crackers. Restaurant and bakery cheesecake has flour in it, I
have discovered.
Anyway,
I am posting recipes over at this side of heaven. I have my camera out
to get pictures of Zane, which I will post. He has added two new words
to his vocabulary this week: cookie and cracker. He is getting the
important words down, LOL. He also says water, cheese, up, out, Mama,
Dada, Papa (that is my husband) and Nana (that is me, although it can
also be banana, depending on context, LOL). And he also says “shh,”
heavy on the “s,” which can mean shoes, kitty, or shh, depending on
context. He is nearly 20 months old; I cannot get over how fast he is
growing up.
Me? I am one year closer to home with Jesus forever. I look forward to birthdays.
My sweet dh and I got to babysit Zane last night while his mom and
dad went out by themselves for a few hours. His grandpa is his favorite
person in the world, so the two of them played together almost the
whole time. I am his favorite person when he’s hungry, LOL. Let’s see,
they played cars, and did puzzles, and shared pizza and popcorn while
watching Mary Poppins, one of Zane’s favorite movies. He likes Chitty
Chitty Bang Bang too. It must be Dick van Dyke, LOL. I didn’t get any
pictures from last night, but here are some from our non-commercial Christmas which I
haven’t posted yet:
1. Full of Grandma’s sour cream sweet rolls and Mommy’s Christmas fruit salad. 2. “Curious George books! I love Curious George!” 3. My dh collected hot wheels cars from yard sales all summer. Zane loves playing cars. 4. “Oh boy, Thomas the Tank Engine!” (It is amazing the brand new stuff people sell at yard sales!) 5. Our son and his sweet friend.
Time to post more pics of Zane. He is fast losing his baby face and
looking more and more like a toddler every day. He will be 18 months
old next week! Click on the thumbnails to enlarge.
1. “I know I can figure this thing out ...” 2. “I love your chocolate cake, Grandma!” 3. My mom and her sweet husband (my dad is home with the Lord). 4. “If this shows up on your blog, dear sister ... ” 5. Zane loves to dance ... here he is getting his groove on. 6. Mighty pleased with himself for something! 7. Learning to do somersaults (but not on Grandma’s kitchen floor -- ouch!). 8. Practice makes perfect! (He hasn’t actually done one yet, I don’t think.)
... came in the mail yesterday. ::: sigh ::: I want one of everything, LOL. By the time Vision Forum starting producing its excellent adventure items for boys and girls,
our children were already grown past that age. I think Grandpa and I
will have to start a chest for Zane, so when he is old enough, he can
come to Grandma and Grandpa’s and play grand adventures ... the way
kids used to before TV and video games turned them into couch potatoes.
:)
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I am researching the holy days which were instituted by God as a celebration of the Messiah, instead of celebrating the holy days which were instituted by man to honor nature in place of nature's God.
:: Israel's Feast - Wooten
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