Mel and Andrew just drove up to the top of the hill and parked their cars. Dad followed them up. It's supposed to snow, starting tonight, from 4 to 12 inches. We are supposed to go down to Westcliffe tomorrow to visit friends and supporters, but it's supposed to snow down there, too. We'll see what happens!

I'm holding Eithnee as I type. She's propped on the table and my left arm. My hands are free to type on the keyboard, altho I keep having a problem hitting wrong keys with the left hand due to the angle. :-) But it's worth it to me, just to hold her a bit more.

Eithnee must weigh over 8 pounds now. She is definitely growing like a weed. Her little cheeks have filled out, her arms and legs have filled out - but she is still very little for 10 weeks, or is it 11 now? She may be little, but believe me! She has personality and attitude. She is a grumpy little thing at times, but we think it's because her digestive system is still trying to catch up and she's a bit colicky. This past two weeks she has decided that she is a mama's girl and doesn't really want her Grandma Cindie very much. She is intrigued by the males in the house - loves to just lie in their arms and stare, stare, stare at them. But Grandma Cindie is only ok if she has a bottle to feed her. Now, it seems to me that Eithnee is very young to have a fixation on her mama. Usually this starts somewhat later - like around 8 months or later? Her Oma agrees - I guess she's not too fond of her Oma right now, either.

Actually, it seems to me that she is doing several things very early. From about 3 weeks of age - meaning before she was even supposed to be born yet! - she's been holding her head up by herself. She definitely has a "bobble head" but she holds it up just fine. She just can't control it very well yet as to whether it goes to the side, but front and back - yep.

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A new day! Kara came back upstairs last night and we sat and talked and I never got this post posted, so I'll finish it now - - I hope!

By the time we went to bed last night, it was kind of raining and snowing at the same time. This morning we woke up to at least 6 inches on the ground and heavy snow still falling. It's thinned out a bit in the last 45 minutes, but has also grown much darker. For almost 8 a.m. it looks like late evening instead.

I often tell people in Ukraine that we get the most snow from March to May. Well, it's the end of April and we are having our usual "April Blizzard". Good thing Mel, Andrew and Dad took the cars up last night!

There is a fire burning in the woodburner, but not much wood is up from the woodshed. Mel will help Dad (if Dad will let him) get up a couple wheelbarrows full after Dad runs the snow blower. My Dad is so darned independent that he hates to ask for help and will often just 'disappear' and go do things without telling anyone or asking anyone to help.

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I got a special thing in the mail yesterday. Well, actually it came via FedEx Ground.

For several years I've received a catalog from The Teaching Company. "The Teaching Company brings engaging professors into your home or car through courses on DVD, audio CD, and other formats. Since 1990, great teachers from the Ivy League, Stanford, Georgetown, and other leading colleges and universities have crafted over 250 courses for lifelong learners like you. It's the adventure of learning without the homework or exams."

A few years ago I ordered a course on the history of the English language for Mel and we both really enjoyed it. At the same time I ordered a course on the history of Rome for myself. Mel and I have both listened to about half of it. I hope to finish it when we get back to Ukraine. (I really enjoy the professor on this one - he has an interesting sense of humor.)

Last week I ordered two courses, "Cosmology: The History and Nature of Our Universe" and "Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy". The box arrived via FedEx Ground yesterday. I opened up the box to to make sure that everything was there, but I didn't open any of what was inside. Now I'm excited to open up the two packages inside and take a look at the course book. There are several DVDs and I'm really, really looking forward to getting into them. There are supposed to be several hundred photos from space.

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Ok, it's gotten so busy in here that I have to quit. It's been one interruption after another as I write and I can't keep a straight line of thought going for writing. I feel like it's all jagged bits coming out of my head and I can't really express myself very well. So, hopefully, I'll get back to another post before too long!

On Learning

Mel just finished reading a book called An Introduction to the Old Testament Template, by Landa Cope. He told me yesterday, while we were out walking, that he'd started reading it before we went to the States, but just couldn't get into it. He decided to start it again. This morning he interrupted me while I was reading and asked if he could read aloud a long paragraph to me. He said he thought I'd like it. Sure, I responded - go for it (I like it when Mel reads to me :) ).

He was right. I did like it. So, here it is for you, too! (He has some problems with the book over all, said he needs to think more about it before he can give a recommendation on it yet, one way or the other.)

pg 124
A NOTE TO ALL BELIEVERS:
Do you love learning? God does! Are you interested in everything? God is! If we are to model Jesus to those around us, part of that modeling will be His passion to know His Father in every area of life. One of the most tragic effects of the split gospel is the loss of interest in most of life. Often it seems that the only thing a believer can talk about is church, prayer, heaven, and hell. Not that those are not important. They are! But, were Jesus here, He would be ecstatic to be in the first generation to actually see through the Hubble telescope a star being born, or dying. His Father created that and He would worship Him in all that the heavens are still teaching us. He would stand in awe at the way His Father created the DNA of the human species. He would ponder the fact that every cell can reproduce every other human cell and what that says about the nature and character of God. Jesus would love the idea of going to other planets and discovering more of what the Father has made. He would be reading, listening, eager about what is going on in His Father's cosmos and He would be excited about what we are learning and how God wants to use that insight.

God has made us with the capacity to learn - or refuse to learn, to know - or to refuse to know. From Genesis to Revelation God portrays Himself as the Lord of knowledge, revealed in all the truths of the universe. Choose to think like God! Choose to be interested. Model Jesus' love of learning and you will make those around you hungry for more.

Children love learning unless they are taught to be afraid of it. All it takes to learn is willingness to admit you don't know. That is the humility of a child. Children naturally ask questions. They have to be taught to feel foolish about the eagerness to know things. God loves questions and calls us to "ask, seek, knock" ...and become like children again.

Oh! How my heart resonates with this! I don't know what else she has written in this book, but this section alone is worth the price of the book for me. :)