Theology Lessons

Grant has a lot of questions about God and heaven and death.  He catches me off guard a lot with random questions at the oddest moments.  I decided to record some of his insights.  If he ever becomes the next Billy Graham I hope I'll be able to show quite an evolution in his theology from his early years.


Asked while riding in car - "Is God married?"


Asked today while riding in car - "Will we have to walk on clouds in heaven or will there be carpet?"


Asked while riding in car last week - "Will I be able to take my toys to heaven?  If I die holding on to them will they go with me?"


Asked while riding in car (obviously the down time while strapped in a carseat lends itself to some deep soul searching) - "How do my toys get to heaven?  Does the package man (aka UPS man) deliver them?"


Said while being put to bed - "I'm taking my ball blanket and music box to heaven with me. That's all I'll need in heaven.  Will God let me take those?"


Asked many times - "Will Dad die first since he's the oldest?  Then you...then Emily...then John...then Grace?  I get to die last since I'm the youngest, right?"

Asked after Kitty died - "Will Kitty be in heaven now?  If Meg dies, will she go to heaven too?  Will I see them when I die?"


There are times it is hard to anwer his questions.  Sometimes I'm just not sure what to say.  Sometimes it's hard to answer because I'm trying not to cry.  No matter.  The fact remains this kid is mildly obsessed with dying and heaven right now.  This is one phase I will not miss when it has passed.

Tea Time

Meet Julie

Julie and I were invited to tea in Grace's room.

The glider rocker's foot stool was transformed into a tea table for three.

Grace was the perfect hostess.

It was a fun time,

but this was the moment that stole my heart.

Yes, I cheated and took a picture

instead of doing prayer hands as the kids call it.

I think God knows my heart.

He knows I'm thankful for the pretend tea.

He surely knows how thankful I am for the little girl who shared her pretend tea with me too.

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John and Emily are super tired this week.

They left Friday after school and went with about six hundred kids to Northern Kentucky University for a christian youth conference called BELIEVE.

They went last year too.

I don't think these kids sleep from the time they get there until they get home on Sunday.

I know the schedule said they would be eating dinner Friday night at midnight.

Yes, midnight!

It is a great time of play and learning and worship, and I am so glad they get to participate.

Grantisms - More

A collection of silliness as heard from the mouth of a five year old.......



Wow Mom.  Being a parent must be a lot of work.

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Grant to his dad - You be a cowboy so when we grow up you can come visit me on your horse.

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Should I be a lifeguard, a zookeeper or a cowboy when I grow up?

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Grace and Grant talk about half birthdays and being 'five and a half' as being older than 'just five'. This was Grant talking to Grace about a preschool classmate  -  I don't know if Audrey is 'and a half'.  I just know she's five.


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I wish Meg would have more babies.  I want her to make dinosaur babies next time, not puppies.

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I'm wearing my red underwear today.  It matches my red shirt and red shorts.  Will people know that they match?

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I'm wearing my dinosaur underwear today.  Today we are learning the letter D at school.  Can I tell them dinosaur starts with D?

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No quotes from Grace, but I have to note that she is really into telling jokes right now.  She is always telling knock knock jokes or some silly joke she heard at school.  About half the time they make sense.  They always deserve a laugh though, right?!

Farm Show and Family Fun

Horses are still alive and kicking.

They seem to be surviving the winter nicely.

David's bounty while on a hunting trip in Louisiana with brother Todd

Poor little birdies!

After killing their limit of birds they went after the fish.

This makes me miss our days in Florida.

Meanwhile back on the homefront we've been shopping for tractors.

I'm not sure the record for the most tractors owned by a family who DOES NOT make a living doing anything agrarian, but I am sure we must be getting close to the record.

I think last count I had we own three tractors

give or take one. 

I'm honestly not sure anymore.

They really weren't looking to buy.

David took the boys down to the Farm Machinery Show for a little fun one evening.

It was definitely a fun trip by any five year old boy's standards.

I think my twelve year old boy and my overgrown boy husband enjoyed themselves as well.

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Hope you are feeling okay Bethany.

Glad to see the car is the only thing sustaining major injuries.

Sunday Smile

Found this while sorting files back onto my computer.

Had to laugh when I saw it.

My how time flies!!!

I don't publish many pictures anymore of this kind of activity on the blog.

The kids are getting too old for this to be cute.

I could not resist blogging this though.

Sorry ahead of time for the poor picture quality.

I was just taking pictures of the kids for our own family and not really thinking about quality for posting pictures here.

Seldom do Grace and Grant get in the  T  U  B   together, but they did tonight.

That was the reason for taking pictures in the first place.

I figure their days of coed cleanliness are coming to a rapid end.

(Sorry for the weird wording, but if I type words like   B  A  T  H  and  K  I  D  S   together in a post, I get perverts clicking on my blog pictures)

Grace was showing me how her Barbie's play together.

Yeah, and how they kiss too.

Grant played with his train set most of the time.

The next thing I know I turn around and see Ken making his move on Barbie.

Honestly, I do not know why she did this, but Grace had them posed like this when she got out.

Pretty cozy looking, aren't they?

Just to continue the theme for the evening

I found this charming group in her dollhouse sharing a moment the other night.

I thought it was funny enough then to take a picture, but never did it.

Tonight I went and checked and they were still there.

Sometimes I would just like to know what is going on in their heads when I see the things they do while playing.

Grace and Grant 'sharing' the cat.

This was their way of settling a disagreement over who got to hold the cat while watching television.

I think everyone except Jet was happy with the arrangement.

A real estate agent came to the house Wednesday to tell us what our house was worth.

I had cleaned it up before he arrived.

Do you think he would have lowered his assessed value had he seen it looking like it normally does like this?

A day in the life of Grant

Since Mom is busy takin' naps and snappin' pictures

Grant must fix his own meals when the big kids are away at school.

He was so proud of himself for making his own sandwich one day.

With him being the only child home and the house being so quiet during the day

Grant doesn't like to be alone on any floor of the house.

He wants to be where I am all of the time.

When I'm doing laundry or ironing in our sitting room

that means you can usually find him playing in his room down the hall

or sometimes playing in our shower or tub close by.

If I'm working in the office, he spends most of his time parked in the living room or play room with toys.

Angry Birds has been a favorite the past couple weeks.

It is the perfect game for a five year old boy.

First, they get to build something.....

then

they get to destroy what they built.

What could be more fun than that?

He is always glad when Grace gets home from school though

He'll ask me many times a day how much longer until she gets home.

Cat Houses and Cow Pastures

Home construction has become a part of the Shupe life.

We're building cat houses from cardboard boxes

and decorating them.

The cats use them much to the delight of Grace and Grant.

I think the cats like the placement of the cat houses.

They rest atop the heat vents in the kitchen floor.

Sweet deal for the cats, not so great for heating the house.

When they're not hiding IN the houses,

they prefer to lie on top of the houses.

Exciting times at the Shupe house I tell you.

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In other news, the shupe family is talking about building.

We are putting in more fence this spring on the farm....

fence that will hold our horses on different pasture and

fence to contain the calves we are talking of getting.

We're taking orders for beef if anyone is interested!

Actually, you might want to wait and see if we can keep them alive

before you send your deposit check.

We are sort of new at this.

Actually, we're really new at this.

Thank goodness for neighbors willing to give solicited and unsolicited advice whenever the chance arises.

Moo!

Psalms 119:9

"How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to Your word."

It's great that Grace can read most things now.

She can help the older kids with their memory verses.

And they can help her with her own verses too.

one a week

every week

This summer will be Grant's turn to start memorizing.

Their minds might as well be filled with memory verses instead of other things that aren't nearly as useful in life!

Someday I hope they appreciate what they've got stored in their heads.

Right now I'm sure they would much prefer to be doing other things instead of quoting verses to one another each evening.

Valentine 2012

Thank you grandmas and granpa for the valentine cards and gifts.

Your thoughtfulness made the day extra special.

A few sweets helped make the day special too.

Flowers from kids to mom.

Guess whose idea that was?

Flowers from Dad to Mom.

Isn't he a sweet guy?  He hasn't missed a year in twenty years of marriage.

Hope yours was special too!