Bible Basics

Joshua and Hannah added verses to the following song today. I'm glad that they know enough about their Bibles that they can do this. They were starting some other verses - the debate was between Pharoah and Jesus - but they ran out of time. Enjoy!

Who did? Who did?
Who did? Who did?
Who did swallow Jo-Jo-Jo-Jo-Jo?
(Repeat)
Who did swallow Jonah?
Who did swallow Jonah?
Who did swallow Jonah down?

Elijah, Elijah
Elijah, Elijah
He told the ki-i-i-ing
(Repeat)
There will be no rain
There will be no rain
To help the crops grow up!

Abraham, Abraham
Abraham, Abraham
God gave Abraham a family
(Repeat)
God gave Abraham
God gave Abraham
God gave Abraham a big family!

*My favorite because they sing the first two lines in triplets :)
Josiah, Josiah
Josiah, Josiah
Josiah fixed the temple
(Repeat)
Josiah hired workers
Josiah hired workers
Josiah hired workers to fix the temple up!

Building the Christmas Tree

We've never had a Christmas tree. Well, that's only partly true. I, Becca, had a tree each year as a child but I've never been the one to put it up. This year we, the Chew family, were blessed to borrow an artificial tree from some friends - thank you Morales's! It was particularly exciting because Joshua has been talking about building a tree for a few weeks.

"First we'll get a column, like this. Then we'll attach leaves to it," Joshua explained. I actually didn't know how artificial trees were assembled but soon learned that Joshua was right - I think he's on the road to becoming an engineer.

The Lord obviously knew how important this was to Joshua. I also figured it out quickly after his preschool teacher asked me one morning, "So, Joshua keeps telling me that you're building some kind of Christmas tree at your house?" That's when I actually prayed for a Christmas tree. It was one, maybe two prayers and a thought of "how nice would it be to get a tree this year", but the Lord heard and He answered.

Our dear friends, Jes and Steven, heard about Joshua's tree building idea and offered for us to borrow their tree this year. They even delivered it to our door, complete with a tree stand, lights, ornaments, and a star to top it off.

Today we built and decorated the tree. Joshua was hard at work from the beginning. He enthusiastically unpacked all of the branches, sorted them by color, and started distributing ornaments before we had even begun. He put each branch into the center column and was instrumental in making sure the ornaments were evenly distributed - otherwise we'd have two very low branches bearing the load of an entire tree's worth of decorations.

And at Family Bible Time tonight, Joshua and Hannah initiated creating a manger scene under the tree. They gathered the soft toys and dolls, even some blocks to pose for gifts, and set up the cast of characters: baby doll Jesus in a plastic manger, Mary (the lamb) and Joseph (a very large Pooh Bear), the wise men (two monkeys and a wombat) accompanied by their small but trusty camel, shepherds of various soft toy races and creeds, and - my personal favorite - a hippo dressed as a ballerina playing the part of the angel. As a writer of Bible curriculum for toddlers and preschoolers I was particularly proud of the efforts involved in this hands-on lesson.

So, without further ado, here is a video of our Christmas Tree building extravaganza as recorded by our budding photo/video-journalist, Hannah Chew. Enjoy! :)

Conversations

When you spend your days with a 4-year-old, a 3-year-old, and a nearly-verbal 13-month-old you never know where the conversations will take you. Many times they flop and other times they take flight in ways you never imagined would be possible.

Yesterday and today we had a few conversations that made me smile. I'm sure these aren't as engaging to you as they are to me, but in a few years I'll be glad to have a record of them.

Enjoy!

The Identity of Jesus
Hannah: "Jesus is the kinged of kings."
Joshua: "No, He's the Son of God."
H: "But He is the kinged of kings. (Pause) Jesus is the Majesty."
J: "No, He's not the Majesty."
H: "Yes, He is."
J: "No, He's not."
H: "Mommy, Joshua says that Jesus is not the Majesty. (Pause) Is Jesus the Majesty, Mommy?"
Me: "Well...yes, He is the Majesty."
H (singing to "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore"): "Jesus is the Majesty. Alle-yoo-yah. Jesus is the Majesty. Alle-yoo-oo-yah."

Prophet or King? And Other Curiosities
Joshua: "Obadiah was a king."
Me: "No, Obadiah was a prophet."
J: "Well, he was just a king."
M: "No, he was a prophet."
J: "Obadiah was a king."
Hannah: "No, Joshua. Obadiah was a prophet!"
J: "Well, when I was little, before I came home from the hospital, Daddy used to call me Obadiah."
M: "We never actually called you Obadiah, but Daddy thought we should name you that."
J: "But before I came home from the hospital you did call me Obadiah. And then Daddy put me in a car seat and I cried and then I fell asleep in the car and then I was home. And that was while Hannah and Abby were in your tummy, Mommy, after I came out."
M: "Ummm....Hannah and Abby were not in my tummy then."
H: "Yes, we were. We were in your tummy together."
M: "No, you and Abby were never in my tummy at the same time."
J: "Why weren't Hannah and Abby in your tummy at the same time, Mommy?"
M: "Ummm..."
Abby: (cries from the other room)
Me (thinking to myself): "Saved by the bell!"

Hannah's Creation Song

We had an outdoor church service today. We learned about creation through the Word, teaching, dance, music, and poetry. I didn't think the kids were paying attention, though. Somehow barges heading upriver demand more attention than Bible reading and creative demonstrations of the Word.

I was wrong, however. Joshua and Hannah were very attentive to the service. They let us know by telling us about our creation lesson on the way home, singing variations of the worship songs that we sang, and tonight they have been singing their very own creation songs as they go to sleep.

Here is a short excerpt of Hannah's creation song, sung with no particular melody but with a lot of enthusiasm. Enjoy!

"God set apart the light from the dark
Separated the light from the dark

Then Adam and Eve lived in the garden
It was their home
Then they had to leave
They ate fruit from the good tree

God separated the light from the dark
The light from the dark."

Up to No Good

I should have listened to the little voice in my head that said, "It's a bit quiet in the bedroom. Maybe I should go check on Joshua and Hannah." But instead of heeding that almost-always-right voice, I continued to prepare the afternoon snack.

When I entered the bedroom to call the kids to the table, I noticed that it was still silent and there was no sign of either munchkin. Where could they be? The best hiding spot in the bedroom is pretty easy to spot: Joshua's bed tent. I peeked inside expecting to find something from a mommy horror film.

Here is what I saw: Joshua and Hannah feeding each other a snack-sized treat from Hannah's birthday party. Nutella and cookie crumbs covering their faces, they looked pretty guilty. They knew that they weren't supposed to be eating on the bed. Neither were they supposed to be eating that particular snack. Why else would they be so quiet? And why else would they both be huddled into the corner of an already sheltered tent?

Normally I may have overreacted, but I was relieved to see that the scene held no more horror than a couple of Nutella mustaches. The kids, too, were relieved when they witnessed my reaction. As I laughed, the fear of being caught washed away from their faces. They smiled, smeared a bit of Nutella on the bed sheets on their way down from the bunk, and proceeded to tell me how wonderfully they were sharing with one another.

While I should have paid closer attention to the little voice in my head, I'm glad we have this little story to share - and praise God it is G-Rated. The Lord (and a few people who will remain nameless) knows that I've seen much, much worse - stories that would not be suitable for the general public. Unless of course any readers out there are also moms (or childcare providers) with at least a couple of curious and energetic kids under their watchful eyes. You may have some stories to compete with my humble experiences in the realm of childrearing.

Hannah Girl

Hannah according to Hannah
From a little activity we worked on during our "Car Preschool" time.


My name is Hannah Elizabeth Chew.

I am 3 years old. (Almost...Sunday is only two days away.)

I live in Hartdsale, New York.

My favorite color is green. (I think that's actually true, but she may have been inspired by the green construction paper that we used.)

I like to play with trucks. (Does this mean that she won't like the doll stroller we're giving to her for her birthday???)

Hannah's Head in a Pail

I don't need to say much more. Enjoy! :)

Acts 1:8

There are a hundred posts that I've wanted to put up in the past several months. There just isn't time! So, instead of trying to catch up I'll just start with something recent - and hopefully I'll keep posting so that this isn't so out of date.

So, here's Hannah, who was very proud to recite the memory verse from our church nursery - Acts 1:8. I actually had no idea she could do this until she took the picto-verse from my teaching folder and started "reading" it. Good job, Hannah!

"I Have Decided..."

Hannah started singing this today. If you're wondering, the toy she is holding up is meant to be a camera - she was taking a video of herself. :)

Enjoy!

Humpty Dumpty as Told by Joshua and Hannah Chew

The kids are well-versed in Bible stories but seem to be nursery rhyme illiterate. Here is their version of Humpty Dumpty, or Hunty Dunty as they say. Please note that text in italics is from Hannah. The rest was told by Joshua.

Enjoy!

Sat on a farm. Hunty Dunty.
Sat on a wall. Hunty Dunty.
Had a king. Hunty Dunty.
All the king's animals. Hunty Dunty.
All the king's horses. Hunty Dunty.

The Train

The kids are traveling today. Grand Central Station, White Plains, Costco, and Montana. And they are visiting a host of friends and family. "I'm going to call Pastor Linda, Rebekah, Rich, Pastor Joyce, Daddy..."

Here you can join Joshua and Hannah on the train to see "Gampa and Gampa in Montana.

Enjoy the ride! :)

Bed Time

Joshua and Hannah often spend a bit of time talking and singing to themselves as they drift off to sleep. Tonight they're more awake than normal, so Claude and I are getting an earful. But what a wonderful earful it is!

From Joshua...
A song.
"Jesus. Jesus. I love you. I love you. I love you, Jesus. You died on the cross for sins. For sins. For sins. For sins. Jesus, I love you."

Immediately followed by...
Another song.
"The wheels on the bus go round and round all day long."
"The Jesus on the bus goes bye bye bye all day long."
"The disciples on the bus go bump bump bump all day long."

And from the other room we hear Hannah singing...
"The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, all through the town."

Tonight we also heard the following...
After naming a large number of our dear friends from Westchester Chapel Joshua concludes, "These are all our family." I couldn't agree more! :)

And to top off the night (both literally and figuratively)...
I looked over at Joshua--he goes to sleep in the living room while Hannah falls asleep in the bedroom, otherwise no one would ever be sleeping around here!--so, I noticed that Joshua was zipping up his footed pajamas.

"Joshua, what are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm just feeding my baby," he replied matter-of-factly. "And now I'm going to work."

Apparently he was not only feeding his baby--which is really a stuffed lamb--he was breastfeeding his baby. Claude had a short conversation with him about the impossibility of the situation. It went something like, "Um, Joshua... Only mommies can feed their babies like that." This was followed by a suggestion that Joshua use a bottle to feed the baby.

After using the bottle he came out with this song...
"It was hard feeding my baby. It was hard breastfeeding my baby. And it was hard going to work."

I guess Claude and I spend a lot of time saying how hard our working and breastfeeding lives are??? I hope not!

The talking and singing haven't ceased yet and we're about an hour in to bed time. Perhaps there will be more to add to this post. :)

Pretend Play

Now that they're both entering the age of pretend play, I love listening in to the conversations between Joshua and Hannah. And since they read their Bible and Bible stories more than anything else (with the exception of books about vehicles of all sorts), much of their pretend play involves characters and places from the Bible.

Over the weekend, Joshua came rolling into the kitchen on a small ride-on car. "I'm entering Jerusalem," he said. "Here I am. I'm coming to Jerusalem on a donkey."

Hannah has been telling me recently how Jesus does his morning responsibilities. She says, "He puts on his pants. He puts on his shirt."

This afternoon I overheard the following exchange from the kitchen:
Hannah: "Look, it's Jesus on the train."
Joshua: "It wasn't Jesus, Hannah. He's on in the air."
Hannah: "Bye bye, Jesus! See you later!"

Bible play even shows up in cooking. Yesterday Joshua picked up "The Joy of Cooking" cookbook and stated, "I've got to read this fat book!" He went on to "read" aloud this recipe, "One half quarter teaspoon flour. One mushy banana. The glory of God."

The very first pretend play that I overheard was from Joshua when he was about 18 months old. At the time his favorite story was Esther, so I'm sure it was fresh in his mind when he started calling out, "Mordecai, where are you? Come here, Haman!"

I'm sure that many more amusing episodes will occur over the next several years, especially once Abigail is old enough to participate. I look forward to recording as many as I can remember as the days go by.

Hannah's Prayer

A car ride conversation...

"Jesus is alive!" Hannah exclaims.

"The children at school are learning that," Joshua adds after seeing a school bus drive past.

"Well," Mommy says, "I'm not sure if they are learning that at school, but we could pray that they do."

"Lord Jesus, help them. Help them learn about Jesus," Hannah prays.

"Yes, Lord! In Jesus' Name. Amen!" Mommy concludes.

The Bible According to Hannah

True confession: I enjoy eavesdropping on the little guys. For insight into the world as they see it to a good laugh, it's just fascinating and endlessly entertaining to me to hear what they're thinking and see what they do when they think no one is watching.

Yesterday morning I sat on the couch while Hannah read out loud to herself across the room. Recently the only three books she reads are her Bible and two books about Jesus. She spends a minimum of one hour reading every day, and some days her reading exceeds two hours.

But, let's be honest here. Hannah doesn't actually read...yet. But she has a very good handle on scripture none-the-less. So, here's some of what I heard her "reading" to herself. I even caught a glimpse of what stories she was looking at and was surprised at her accuracy as well as with her interpretation. Do keep in mind that she reads by flipping pages, stopping when something catches her attention and then flips some more. There seems to be no method to this Bible story flipping, but she generally stops on the same stories several times.

The Bible According to Hannah, approximate age 23 months

"Read 'bout Hadam (Adam) and Heve (Eve). Hadam and Heve lived in garden." (Creation and Fall accounts)
"Jesus came back to my life." (Jesus' Ascension to Heaven)
"'Peter, go visit me,' said Jesus."
"Here's Jesus sleeping." (Jesus Calms the Storm)
"There's Hannah." (Hannah's Prayer)
"That's Abraham. That's Abraham tent. Abraham find Sarah." (Abraham and Sarah)
"Angel said, 'To garden.'" (The Fall)
"Touch his clothes." (Woman Healed from Bleeding)
"'Come out,' said Jesus." (Lazarus Raised from the Dead)
"'Go my sins,' said Jesus." (Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar)
"Peter came out the boat. Uh-oh!" (Walking on Water)
"David put his stones." (David and Goliath)
"Jesus came back. Uh-oh! Uh-oh! Uh-oh! Uh-oh! Peter did came out so help him get off my boat." (Walking on Water

Hannah's Prayer

"Lord for Jesus. Help me. Jesus' Name, Amen."
-Hannah Elizabeth Chew, 1 year 10 months old

Joshua's Path to Literacy

Joshua and I have been working on letters for a while. Slowly and not very consistently, but he has learned all of the letter sounds and can identify them in many different contexts. This week I'm trying to step up the school-related activities so that once the Little Three is born (and we're out of a routine and not planning many activities for a while) Joshua and Hannah will have been working toward some small and realistic goals beforehand.

The post is mainly about Joshua, but Hannah is doing really well. She can identify about half of the shapes on our learning objectives list and a few of the colors. As always, I'm never convinced that she's paying attention or understanding what we're talking about, but she jumps in and surprises me at nearly every turn. As an example, we learned about circles last week. Each time I asked her what shape was in front of her she would say the name of a color or answer "triangle". But then this week she is looking around her and identifying circles left and right. She is enjoying copying everything Joshua's learns as well. That means when he's learning to read, she sounds like she is too! :)

Joshua is working on counting (that's counting objects, not saying the memorized number sequence), number recognition, and phonics along with some readiness skills like using scissors. Counting has been a sore spot for us. He doesn't seem to want to count anything, even though he has on a number of occasions. I suspect there's a huge element of him staying in control that leads him to refuse to do what I've asked. But we're getting through it and he's starting to request to work on counting.

As for reading, he has sounded out a couple of words before but never really "gotten" it. Today he asked to do counting on our white board, so once we worked through that I thought we'd throw in some phonics. We reviewed letter sounds and then we put a few letters together. I thought it couldn't hurt just to see where he's at with it. And wouldn't you know it - Joshua sounded out three words! He read them for Claude just before bed tonight. I think Joshua was pretty proud of the accomplishment - and so were his parents!

Joshua's words for today were: "up", "cup" and "dump". Perhaps they're not the first sounds that one might find in a book about teaching phonics, but they were sounds he was getting today, so I went with it. As I've probably posted before, this may still be a long road to full literacy, but I think the concept of reading by sounding out strings (or trains as we call them) of letters is starting to make sense to Joshua. I feel like his learning to read is an even bigger milestone than when he started walking!

And yes, he's very interested in writing and can trace shapes, lines, letters and numbers. So before we know it, Joshua will be reading and writing. And hopefully the counting will come along for the ride.

For Posterity

Kids always seem to come up with funny and interesting things to say. Today was a normal day for us in terms of humorous anecdotes from Joshua and Hannah, but I thought that I would put some of them down on (cyber) paper - for posterity's sake. Enjoy!

While visiting the store today, Joshua announced, "We want some TVD." I gathered that he meant that he wanted to watch some TV (there was a display television with a mother and baby walrus showing), but not fully knowing what a TV is, he decided to combine a few different media types (CD, DVD, TV...it's all the same, right?).

We also visited a grocery store today that has singing animals and other puppets displayed throughout. Sounds a bit creepy, right? Think of singing mechanical puppets on a ride at Disneyland and you have a pretty good picture. Cows are favored at this store, as they are with Hannah. And cows that are playing banjos and singing are particularly memorable. On the way home today, Hannah informed me that the cow was "singing to the Lord". It's song, which she very willingly demonstrated, went like this, "Moo moo moo!"



Also on the car ride home today, both little guys were saying, "T-t-t-t-t-t-t," repeatedly. When asked what they were doing they told me, "We're singing to the Lord."

During bath time, Joshua and I had the following conversation which accurately demonstrates his geographical grasp:
"I live at Montana."
"Where does Mommy live?"
"Mommy lives on Saturday."
"Oh, and where does Hannah live?"
"Hannah lives on Sunday."
"Okay. Where does Daddy live?"
"Daddy lives in school."

The following is one that I can't quite type but to set up the video, Joshua was looking for a specific truck of his. Today he couldn't find this truck, a paramedic truck, but it took me a long time to figure out what he was asking for. You'll understand if you watch the video!

Carry Me!

We went for a short walk this afternoon. Generally Hannah rides in the stroller but today I knew we would only be out for a short time and wanted her to get some exercise, so we all walked - Joshua, Hannah, and myself.

Now, Hannah is a girl who doesn't like to do one thing for very long. I'm not sure if she needs variety or just gets distracted, but walking hand in hand with her down the street means stopping every 30 seconds, switching hands every 2 minutes, and prompting her to look ahead so she falls once in every 5 minutes instead of once every minute.

Today she asked to hold Joshua's hand and wouldn't go forward until she could. Joshua was reluctant but with a bit of coaxing he consented and the two walked down the street hand in hand...for about one minute. But, as Joshua would say, that one minute was "precious".

Now on to the reason for the post. Since it was a hot day and we had already been sitting out watching trains and sweating like crazy, Hannah was tired. She and Joshua squatted on the sidewalk and refused to get up. Then Hannah started saying, "Carry. Carry." I knew I couldn't carry her the rest of the way home so I said she could walk. Then she pointed to my belly and told me, "Little Three." After that she stood up, held my hand and walked...for about one minute.

Photo Update

Just some photos from the last month or so. Enjoy!