Z Bits of the Week

February 24, 2012

Vol. 4

Hostess Comments:  This week you will inevitably see the love the kids have for their new cousins.  In addition, an important lesson that Dawson learned.  Again, I was blessed as Nathan really wanted to write his blog in the car, Peter sat on my lap with his hands on mine as I typed as though he was typing it himself, Dawson opened up and shared from his heart, and Hannah once again wrote it on her own and turned it in to me.  I love these kids and the work God is doing in their lives!! 

Peter’s Playground

When we went up to my cousins, they got twin sisters from Haiti.  It is like you are in an airplane going away from the devil and Haiti is the place where God is.  We were excited when we were about to see them and it was at night when we first got to see the twins.  We only got to see them for a little while when we had to go to sleep.  When we woke up in the morning we ate breakfast and then got to see the twins and play with them.  Then we had to leave.  It was a five hour drive home.  We ate at Long John Silvers around 1:00 p.m. and then made it home.  We are glad that we got to stay there for four days.  Here is a picture of our new cousins.

 Pete’s Playground Rule of the Week: Never aggravate your mom in school if you are homeschooled.  If you are in public school or private school on the way home, don’t aggravate your mom and when you get home ask your mom if she needs your help.  Please read this to your kids parents.

Nathan’s Nighthawk

When we were going to my band practice, we stopped by the park and I had a wonderful time there until I had sort of like 5 seconds to do my blog.  We finally made it to band practice.  I had a wonderful time there.  Wednesday we got back from seeing the twins.  As you know Peter talked about them.  But I wanted to say the twins are cute.  Here is a picture of me holding Raphaella.  As you can see in the background is their play area and bedroom. 

Night Flying Technique: Have you ever adopted a child from Haiti?  If you haven’t visited the website Keys for Kids you need to.  Every day we listen to it, it is like God is talking about us.  The man who tells the story is named Uncle Charlie. 

Dawson’s Dugout

Hi,

This is Dawson.  Sorry I missed last week, but this time I have something to say.  Last week I had my first Destination Imagination (DI) competition.  My team was very unique because each member had different talents.  It was cool to see all of us use our talents.  We spent a year working on preparing for the competition.  Our challenge was to build a structure that had to hold 24 golf balls and a certain number of weights, yet the structure could only weigh lighter than 75 grams. 

We were all excited when Saturday finally came. I woke up ready to go, but I had a horrible ear ache.  I didn’t tell anyone because I was afraid my mom would not let me compete.  So I went on acting like everything was okay while in extreme pain.  The time came for the competition and we all did our best.  After we finished the competition, I headed straight to my family who were on the bleachers watching the competition.  I could stand the pain no longer.  I told my mom that I couldn’t stay for the second part of our competition—the instant challenge.  So we went home and I took some medicine and began to get well. 

Dawson is on the far left.  I couldn't crop it down

I waited all afternoon and early evening to hear how our team scored.  Finally, the news came.  We won 2^nd place out of 14 teams!!!  I was so excited to see the trophy on Monday, but instead we went to our cousins house to help take care of them while their parents were in Haiti getting their twin girls.  So now I can’t wait until this Monday to see the trophy because I still haven’t seen it yet.  We are also having a celebration party for how well we did on Monday too. 

There were some down times in the preparation for our competition.  One day in particular everyone would not work on our goal, but would play.  We were all getting frustrated and everyone wanted to quit.  But we pushed through and did a great job at our competition.  This relates to the Christian life as well.  We have to push through tough times to get to the one goal which is God.  Sometimes we think we can do it on our own, but we can’t without God. 

From the Dugout:

Have you ever competed in a competition before?  If you have please let me know what you did because I am sure it is amazing.  On the spiritual side, try pushing through tough times.

Hannah’s Hideout

As you know we got our new cousins and I got to hold and see them.  

The first day the twins were in their new home, they met the dogs.  The dogs scared the girls half to death.  What happened was after Wanna and Raphaella ate their oatmeal, we put them down from the bar stools.  The Chihuahua dog, named Chica, barked at them.  The girls began to scream their heads off until we picked them up.  Chica reminded me of the devil.  The devil is always trying his hardest to scare us into doing wrong and we need God to help us and pick us up.

Song: You Raise Me Up

Scriptures: 1 Thessalonians 5:23 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely.  And may your spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Applications: It is better to lift others up than to tear them down.

Fun and Interesting Fact:

Weekly Challenge for you: Try to help someone overcome their fears.

My Heart’s Prayer:  Lord, thank you so much for the privilege of raising these children according to your ways.  I ask that you continue to speak to their hearts in ways that they will understand, comprehend, and desire to listen and follow.  Thank you for the uniqueness you have placed in each of them and the fun they bring to our household.  May you be glorified in and through them.  In Jesus Name, Amen.