In Less Than Thirty Hours

Mid-afternoon, Sunday:  stuff packed in car; kids packed in car.  I think we might leave soon.

Michaela's ready, and she doesn't mind me taking her picture.

Christian is ready (six hours ago!), and he does mind me taking his picture.

Eliana doesn't really know we're leaving on an overnight trip, she's just glad we're all together.  She also doesn't mind me taking her picture.

It's a good thing, since if she asked me to stop I might cry.  Look, she's just a picture waiting to happen.

Mike gets his stuff loaded in the front, so he can do some work while I'm driving.

(My timing needs to get better; he was smiling just before and after this picture.  In the photo he looks as though he were searching for his wallet and none too happy not to be able to find it.  I'm here to tell you, that isn't the case.  Wallet-check!  Happy-check!)

Let's get on the road!

Um, where did she go?

I'm beginning to think that we are, in fact, not going to leave after all...

But eventually we are all in the car and we head down the road.  Houston, here we come!

Now, as exciting as the Terra Cotta Warriors are, we are mighty tempted to stop when this sign appears...

Who can pass up "awesome restrooms"?!  They are also touted as being "the most famous" bathrooms in Texas, as well as being likened to a throne for weary passers-by.  It's a hard call, but we drive on.  The old clay guys are waiting for us, but not for much longer!  We only have until midnight before they close the doors on this exhibit.  Pedal to the metal?  You are talking to the right person.

We think the traffic might hold us up a couple of times, but eventually we make it to downtown Houston.  It is as black as night, folks...

because, well, it is night.  We race on.

Our adventure continues as we try to find first the museum and then a parking space at the museum.  Mike has taken over the wheel for the last few minutes of our journey, and I am so glad.  I hate finding things in the dark, and I hate parking.  It is perfect timing!

The kids have been great and are relieved to get out of the car.  I'm not sure what is going on here, but it looks like Christian is taking care that Eliana heeds this warning.

We all make it safely inside, in spite of the many dangers we encounter as we walk up the sidewalk!

In the main hall of the museum stands a replica of the First Emperor of China (as opposed to the real First Emperor of China; he'd be pretty, um, unpleasant to have around at this point).  The kids are thrilled to get their picture taken with this statue.  (Look!  Even Christian!)

We are close now, but have yet to eat dinner or buy tickets.  Since it's almost 8:00 and the kids are a teensy bit hungry, we feed them.  Conveniently, there is a McDonald's located in the museum lobby, where Eliana beholds something so wonderful, so amazing, that she can't take her eyes off of it. 

Yes, tiny Build-a-Bear Workshop bears in the Happy Meals; try comparing what some call the Eighth Wonder of the World to that!  You just can't, people.  You just can't.  She is so taken with those bears, she wants to get them out of there, and tries.

Unfortunately for her, going behind the display gets her nowhere, but I think it is a smart thing to try.  She has good brains, she does.

There are so many fascinating things just in that entry hall that we could stay there for a couple of hours, not pay a thing, and head home with happy kids.  They think it is great fun to crank the handles on the machines that flatten out and embed an image on a penny, even though we haven't paid for it, so the handles just go round and round, making a fabulous grinding noise.  They spend ten minutes doing this.  And not on just one machine, either. 

We run into a horseshoe crab, which is randomly located right outside the IMAX theatre in a smallish aquarium with no other tanks around.  I think this is strange, but it keeps them entranced for quite a while as Mike waits to buy the tickets, and as he determines whether or not to get a museum membership, and then finally makes the purchase.  Christian thinks this guy is pretty funny, as the crab goes back and forth across the side of the tank, climbing the thermometers and showing us his underthings.

This is about the time when Christian turns around giggling madly and tells me he just saw its weenie.  And right after that Eliana says with the biggest smile rounding out her round little cheeks,"Its weenie!  Its weenie!"  I really hope that Ms. Carey is prepared to explain to the Co-op next week what a weenie is.  Or maybe her classroom of two-year-olds will already know, and she can just move right along, move right along.  There's always going to be that kid in the two-year-old class with an older brother...

Do horseshoe crabs have weenies?

We finally make it upstairs and just outside the area where the Terra Cotta Warriors are, there are several glass-enclosed scenes of wild animals from different parts of the world.  Eliana is rooted to the spot when she sees the zebra; you may notice the Terra Cotta banner behind her, but what can sway a two-year-old from the wild animal kingdom?  Certainly not an amazing archaeological discovery that is over 2000 years old.  How can that compare to a stuffed zebra?!

And this is where I have to set my camera aside because no photography inside the exhibit is allowed.  I am sad, but I understand why.  I also obey...I do not sneak any pictures.  It is all so interesting; Michaela really appreciates the significance of the experience.  Christian does think the sword and daggers are cool.  Eliana just wants to walk, and shake the glass enclosures that are protecting the 2000+-years-old historical artifacts from damage; this results in a restraining order (or just getting carried by her dad) so she neither appreciates the exhibit nor thinks it is cool.  Note to self: toddlers + delicate ancient pottery = stroller ride.

She does enjoy seeing the life-size horse, but that might be it.  Until we make it back out to the zebra.  And the crocodile.

As far as the exhibit goes...I feel like I have had a little nibble of some wonderful dish, and while it was a great experience it left me wanting more.  After seeing the pieces that were on display as well as the murals that were on the walls throughout the rooms of this exhibit, I can only think that to see the pits where the discoveries have been made in China would be phenomenal.  It's amazing that these things have survived to this day (and probably would have been in even better condition had looters not robbed the tomb of some of its treasures shortly after the emperor's death), and that those who are working on this project have been able to do the restorations that they have been able to do.  It's fascinating. 

I have to say that one thing that stands out to me as I walk through and look at the warriors' faces, each one unique, is that they all look happy.  Proud.  There is a slight smile about the mouth, dancing at the corners.  This intrigues me.

Michaela takes her time, writing things down in her journal, and drawing pictures of different things (taking pictures-not allowed, but no one said anything about drawing them...).  She makes comparisons and reads the information.  I enjoy watching her take it all in.

I take Christian and Eliana in to the gift shop, which has a video running depicting life at the time of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi.  Of course, it is a battle scene and Christian stands for a second watching before I change  his direction; that's just what I need for him to see at 10:00, right before he goes to bed.  He keeps trying to sneak a peek.  I try distraction.  We discover a neat clock, and for the life of me I cannot think of what it is called or find info about it, so, sorry, that's all you get about that.  We also go back to the wild animals and look at all of them six hundred times while waiting for Michaela to be done.

We leave the museum and get in the car and as Mike and I note what time it is (10:38 p.m.) we look at one another and both are like,"That's it?  It feels like it's three hours later."  It has been quite an experience, and one we don't regret at all, but we are exhausted.  Eliana is asleep in a few short minutes, and it is pretty quiet on the way to the hotel.

Mike has gotten a sweet deal on a nice hotel room, and it so happens that the only kind of parking there is valet (I think that was included in our sweet deal-he's savvy like that).  We drop off our car and haul our stuff upstairs (actually, someone takes it up for us, this always makes me feel super weird), and get the kids changed, brush teeth, and put them in bed.  By this time Eliana is awake, and having had a twenty minute nap, she is ready to go.  Unfortunately, I am done for the night, and just want to tie her up and set her under the covers (with her head sticking out!)...her energy drains down pretty quickly, though, and she goes on to sleep, as do I.  There are a couple of things I want to take a picture of, but I think the camera is in the car and we have no convenient access to the car.  I stay in bed and drift off.

Just a side story...Right before all of this, I am in the lobby with the kids and Mike finishes unloading the car and comes in to check in.  He has a couple of things in his hands and isn't sure where to put them.  I say,"I'll take the camera and hang it on my shoulder."  I see it with my eyes.  I offer to carry it.  And then I totally forget that it is with us once we get upstairs, since I don't see the camera bag. 

I realize that we have the camera in the morning as Mike starts shooting pictures of the kids in the hotel room.  I exclaim,"I didn't know we had the camera up here!  I thought it was in the car."  He reminds me of our conversation the previous evening, with his head tipped to the side and his eyebrows raised. 

Where is my brain?  Can someone please return it to me at the soonest possible time?  I am lost without it.  Thank you.

Back to taking pictures of the kids...

They love to be in a hotel, at least for a little bit.  It's so new, and different, and...well, I don't really know why it's so much fun.  There are a couple of beds, a desk, and a seating area all in one space that isn't very big.  But somehow that adds up to very interesting.

They are happy wherever we are, for the most part.

At the end of our time, I can say,"Houston, it was short, but it was fun...see you next time!"

And there will be a next time...we got a membership.  And there is a Chronicles of Narnia exhibit.  Oh, yes, we'll be back.

Twenty-three hours after we begin this journey, we set out for home. 

Why, yes, yes we are crazy.  But it's so much fun! 

One of These Things...

So many people love this time of year, and who wouldn't with all of the glorious colors, the lovely weather (some in the Northwest would beg to differ, I'm sure, but Dallas...it's nice here), the football (I'm not into it, but I get it that some people are).  There are all the wonderful sights of autumn that we expect to see and look forward to enjoying.

Gigantic pumpkin arrangements...(that are gorgeous, by the way)

the changing leaves...

creepy Halloween decorations...

the football-fan free-for-all...

the occassional bag of seasonal M&M's...(my mommy loves me)

the pink flamingoes (or flamingos if you prefer) strutting around the yard...

Wait.  Did I miss something?

Standing the Test of Time

I have posts backed up in my head so that if you could see inside there it would look like the Dallas Tollway at 5:08 (I don't know why 5:08...it seemed like a good and horrible, stopped traffic time).

The truth is that there are things I have to learn about before I can write these posts.  So you will just have to wait.  Hopefully it won't be too long, because what I want to put up is so darn cute.

One thing I have been meaning to mention is that we may be going to Houston.  We are going to try really hard to get there because there is something quite worth making the trip.  There is an exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science on loan from China; they have shared some of their Terra Cotta Army with the world and it is traveling around, making pit stops in places like OUR BACKYARD (practically), and therefore we must go see it.

I am determined to go see the Terra Cotta Warriors.  We didn't go see the King Tut exhibit when it was here earlier this year (totally my fault, I concluded that it cost too much; what a dip-it's King Tut for crying out loud!); we didn't know U2 was going to be in Dallas (not that we could have gone, but...maybe!); we found out last week that this exhibit from China is at the Houston Museum of Natural Science...until Sunday!  It's been there for months.

Here's where I can see how being a planner would come in handy.  Planners find out about things.  Planners know where the action is.  Planners...wait for it...PLAN. 

Can I get some different genes, please?

Really, that doesn't make much sense, because if my mom is anything she is a planner.  She would already know when, how, for how long was our next visit together, and what we were doing each day, if I didn't get in her way.  Since I AM NOT A PLANNER.

Wait a minute!  Dad!  Are you a planner?  Are these genes coming from you?  Hairy legs and the non-planning genes...and my brother got the long eyelashes.  Why, oh why is it so?!

I do not want to miss this!  Do you know about the Terra Cotta Warriors?  Let me tell you about it-it's pretty amazing.

In 1974 some farmers drilling a well came upon parts of clay figures, and this discovery quickly caught the attention of archaeologists; after excavating the site they found that it was part of the first emperor of China Qin Shi Huangdi's tomb.  It wasn't just a simple old tomb, however.  He had had his people build him an underground city full of soldiers standing guard (they think there are around 8,000 warriors), each of them different.  The soldiers are dressed for battle, and are different heights with distinct facial features.  They can tell that they were painted when first made.  There are horses and chariots, as well as other animals and human figures.  All of this was to carry on and protect the life of the emperor after he died.  They have not fully uncovered the whole thing, but they have built a museum around (or nearby-I'm not entirely clear on that) the site and are working to piece things back together that have deteriorated.  It is unnecessary to say what a big deal this discovery was for China, as well as for World History.  I think it's pretty unbelievable.  Oh, did I mention that it dates back to around 210 BC?  

Michaela studied this emperor while reading in her history text The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer; Christian learned about him and his clay army as well when his class learned about China last year.  How  many opportunities will they have to see something like this?  Maybe they will again, but it seems to me that it's something not to miss. 

So we are planning on squeezing in a visit to Houston this weekend, even if it is a day trip!  That sounds like so much fun...who doesn't love driving eight hours in one day to see some guys made out of clay? 

Seriously, I am looking forward to this more than even I realize.  I think it will be phenomenal, and I can't wait to see and learn more about these warriors and the emperor they were designed to watch over, which by the way they succeeded in doing for two thousand years, until some farmers came along with their shovels or drills or whatever they were using to make that well.  The armies do fine every time until the farmers come along...

What?

The actual tomb of Shi Huangdi remains unexcavated-out of respect for the emperor as well as for the items that may be buried with him, which would probably not be able to survive exposure after such a long and well-protected burial, at least with the techniques that are available today.  (That's what I read, anyway.  I'm not such a smarty-pants that I just know that.)

I found this article to be helpful and interesting (I will say that I have not read extensively, so I honestly can't tell you if it's the best one or the most accurate).  There are many things about this online, if you felt interested in reading about it; what I saw was all pretty brief as well.  The pictures are worth looking at, and you could check out the remaining tour to see if the exhibit is headed your way.  Here is a pretty official looking website for the traveling warriors, if you wanted to check that out.

Once we're back and I stand corrected on any given information I will pass that along...and if I can take pictures I surely will! 

XXX

This morning I took Eliana to school.  Before we left the house she wanted to say goodbye to her daddy, so I found him, she told him bye, and he said to her,"Are you going to school?  Are you going to see Ms. Carey?" with a big smile.  She nodded her head, smiling as well.

As we walked up the sidewalk shortly after that, I followed up his questions with some more happy talk.  I asked her the same questions, in the same excited voice, and then I told her that Ms. Carey loved her.  I asked her if she was going to play with play-dough, and do a puzzle, and see her friends.  Then I named her friends as she smiled and nodded at each name.

We got to her classroom door, which was open, and Carey was standing in the doorway.  I set Eliana down on the floor and kissed her cheek; she then turned to the classroom, headed toward Carey, gave her a big hug, and never looked back.  NEVER LOOKED BACK.  There were no tears, not even the slightest fuss.  She was just fine walking into that class, and I felt like such a huge obstacle had been overcome; there was such a great feeling of relief and gratitude that I actually cried as I walked away and headed to my Bible study.

With each day that passes, her independence, or at least her desire for it in many ways, grows.  Sometimes it seems that it does so exponentially.  Of course there are the moments when she wants me to hold her and nothing else will do (often when I am trying to make dinner, so I avoid things that are very complicated and that involve using two hands).  More and more she is stepping away, though, and after she does, she'll turn around for a second, smile, and then say,"See you later, Mom."  And she actually does say that.  It's both endearing and heartbreaking, since I know that these first steps are just that...the first ones.  The steps will get farther and farther away, the independence will grow. 

This experience isn't new since she's our third child.  But that doesn't make it any less of a challenge.  There is a double-edged difficulty here; the letting go is hard, without a doubt (even though she's only two, and it's not like I'm sending her to a month-long overnight camp), but then there is the challenge of knowing the world that she is headed into.  And not just her, but all three of my kids, and the other kids we know...all  children, in fact.  What kind of world are they inheriting?

There was a talk at our church tonight about the XXX-culture that our kids are growing up in.  I missed the first twenty minutes, but during the part that I was able to hear I was astounded at the statistics.  The percentage of teens having sex, the percentage of teens exposed to/checking out pornography, how easy it is to access the pornography.  Kids, and grown-ups for that matter, are bombarded with images and ideas, a worldview which tells them that things are or ought to be a certain way, and really these images and the ideas that are put forth are not true or accurate.  Kids are face-to-face with lies about sex constantly.

Each time I go through the check-out line at the grocery store, I glance at the magazines on either side of us, as well as at the entrance to the line, and the covers are full of sex related topics and issues.  The pictures are sexy, the stories are about sex, either inside or outside of marriage or a relationship.  The mall is the same way...there are ads that show off sexy bodies selling sunglasses, and of course there is the Victoria's Secret window, or Abercrombie and Fitch.  Driving down the street we pass billboards that use sex to sell everything from Dr. Pepper to air conditioning companies.  I just love passing Condoms To Go when my kids are with me in the car.  Sex is impossible to avoid; we truly are bombarded (the term this presentation used) with it everywhere we go. 

Even at the pediatrician's office...our doctor (just being funny, of course) asked Christian if he had quit kissing girls (since some of the warts on his neck went away).  Christian got this goofy grin on his face and said,"Yes."  So the doctor said,"You were kissing girls?!"  And Christian giggled and said,"No!"  Then he went on to say,"I never did kiss girls.  Except her!" and he pointed at me and started laughing.

It seems so innocent, but I don't want my kids to have boyfriends and girlfriends when they're six, seven, nine, or ten.  In the world we live in today, it may be dangerous to start talking like that with kids who are so young.  I don't want to sound like an alarmist; and I can certainly go that route.  But I do want to proceed with great caution.  Parenting in our sex-saturated culture is a huge responsibility.  I want to teach our kids about the beauty of sex.  I don't want them to learn about sex from the world; the world is teaching the wrong lessons.

God created sex, an amazing and profound and intimate bond, that was meant to be shared by a man and a woman; he declared his creation of man and woman very good, including this unique way of connecting both physically and emotionally, of becoming one flesh.  In spite of all that is wrong with the world, that union is still sacred and meant to be a blessing.  God has a design, he has fashioned things to work in beautiful ways...if we allow ourselves to be guided by him we can know goodness and fullness of life. 

I pray that we will take our part in this seriously, and that we will give these kids our open ears, hearts that don't judge, a strong foundation, honest answers, and our involvement to the point of being obnoxious but loving.

And a few good books on S-E-X.

Just kidding...

I have to say there are questions and conversations that I'm not looking forward to.  (I have my own issues.)  I'm grateful that I'm married to someone who balances out my fearful, irrational thoughts with more measured ones.  He is steady when I am teetering on the edge of insanity. 

As I consider all of this, and think of our children and how they are innocent and yet savvy already at such young ages, it could be easy to feel weighed down.  Instead I am reminded that they are not ours, and the One who is holding them is stronger than me (us); he's more good than I am (we are); he even loves them more than I do (we do).  Their heavenly Father is so much more capable of protecting them than I ever could pretend to be, that I have no choice but to trust him.  Oh, I'll do my part; he gave me the job, after all.  Mike and I will do it together (no pun intended, thank you very much).  But we'll be leaning heavily on the grace that we have found in the Lord, and give our children over to that same incomprehensible grace.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord,"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11

I wanted to add a few thoughts after reading some comments and pondering these things some more.  I hope that I didn't sound self-righteous with what I wrote...I am speaking from experience in many ways; I did some pretty stupid things that still hurt me to this day.  When I think about the teenagers that I know, and hear stories about what's going on in school bathrooms or on schoolbuses or wherever, it breaks my heart because it isn't meaningless.  It isn't harmless.  I was just as confused as any normal teen, with crazy hormones and friends doing wild things.  And I was (I believed) a Christian.  One commenter said that it's talked about more now...that's true, and I think it has to be that way.  Kids growing up need adults who they trust to talk to them about all these things.  Honestly, not weirdly.  I think back then a lot of adults just didn't realize.

I also know that there are lots of positive things, there are plenty of young people who are choosing to wait.  There are solid, healthy marriages out there.  There are families who are committed to raising a generation of conscientious young people, giving them a good foundation and an "inner moral compass" (another term this speaker used) that will help them make the right choices when faced with tough decisions. 

As all of us are imperfect, I think that raising kids can be both a scary and a hopeful endeavor.  It's scary because we know what it's like to be young and to be faced with choices that later seem like no-brainers but at the time are very difficult.  We know what the choices are, what the consequences can be.  But it's hopeful because we are on the other side of those decisions now, and maybe we made good ones or maybe we made bad ones and learned from the experience.  Either way, we can pass that along to our children.  We also hope in the Lord, who made us and loves us, and wants our best. 

I hope this makes sense...I know it's kind of a hot topic.  I appreciate any helpful comments and dialogue.  "We're all in this together!" (ha, ha, to quote a brilliant piece of Disney's work) 

Together

I've said this before...I always wanted a sister.  I love my brother so much, but growing up I really wanted a sister, too. 

It seems like there's such a special bond between sisters (I know that isn't true in every case, but the potential for tight friendship is there).  Girls growing up in the same family, experiencing their parents and siblings in similar ways as well as in ways that speak to their differences and uniqueness.  Playing together.  Giggling together.  Telling secrects together.  Just being together.

Eliana wants to be wherever the big kids are...

but it's true the other way around, too.