Pics from Christmas Morn

This one is my favorite. Out of all the gifts the boys got, they were most excited about the Hot Wheels Wall Track!

The Christmas Story 5

John 1:1-14

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Christmas Story 4

^{Luke 2:1-20}

1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ²(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Baby It's Cold Outside. . .

. . . And that's a great thing, considering our refrigerator has stopped working! We've moved all our perishables outside on our porch, so we're praying no "friendly" neighborhood animals decide to feast on our food tonight!

Six Six and Under

We had the Govig Christmas last weekend, and it was good and LOUD!! Here are 6 of the reasons for that:

Lauren (6), Meredith (2), my Dad, Eli (2), Kale (3 months), my mom, Kyler (3), and Micah (4).

And here is the traditional Govig silly face picture, taken at every family get-together. I tried to crop this, but it didn't take - you can click on it to make it bigger:

The Christmas Story 3

Matthew 1:18-23

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

The Christmas Story 2

Luke 1:26-38

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”

38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

The Christmas Story 1

Isaiah 9:2, 6-7

2The people walking in darkness

have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.

⁶ For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.

Christmas Comments 3

Finish this sentence: It doesn't truly feel like Christmas until . . . .

(Thanks to Jill for this question!)

Christmas Comments 2

Question: What is your favorite Christmas song?

(Dave: You are forbidden from commenting. Don't try using a fake name, either.)

Christmas Comments 1

I'm going to be asking several Christmas-related questions on this blog throughout the holiday season, and I encourage you all to participate by leaving a comment! This is a especially extended to all you blog "lurkers" - those who read this blog but never comment. Let this be your first time!

Question #1: What's the best Christmas present you've ever received?

(Note: Cheesy, intangible gifts, like "respect from my boss" are not acceptable. I'm looking for an actual present under the tree that you loved!!)

A Million Questions

I hope I don't sound boastful when I say that Micah is a very precocious child. His little mind is always working full speed. Frankly, it's a little exhausting for me to keep up with. He's constantly bombarding me with questions: "What does this button do? Why is that green? How do you spell. . .? What day is it? What does this arrow mean? What does that sign say?"

Don't get me wrong; I'm happy that he's so inquisitive and bright. But today, during a trip to WalMart, I was just too tired to continue to answer his constant output of inquiries.

Me, joking: "Micah, no more questions today! You don't always have to be so curious!"

Micah: "What does 'curious' mean?"

Take that, Mommy.

Still Thinking Pink

For those keeping score:

Pink eye: 3

Bardwells : 1

The Triumphal Entry

No, Christian readers, I'm not talking about Jesus' return to Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday.

I'm talking about this:



The glorious return of all the Thomas trains and track to our newly (re)carpeted basement! No more tripping over these darn tracks in our living room, dining room, or kitchen. They are all downstairs now. Hallelujah!

Our 2 1/2-Year-Old Teenager

Yesterday, as I was trying to assist Eli in the bathroom:

Eli: "Go outside! I need some pwivacy!"

Today, as I was trying to gently wake up Eli by opening his curtain just a crack:

Eli (covering his eyes): "No! There's alweady sunwight in here!"

The WORST

After struggling for 45 minutes with a freakishly strong 4 year-old and a bottle of eyedrops this morning, I've realized that pink eye is the WORST childhood ailment. Ever. Why has no one developed an oral medication for this?

Halloween Recap

Happy Halloween from James and the Firefighter!

Indianola has a great trick-or-treat time on the Square. Eli found the fire hydrant and struck a pose.

They have all these nice games for kids; here is Micah throwing a ball into the cauldron.

We ran into the Camwell boys on the square. Here is a photo from the rare window of time when they are all different ages: Micah is 4, Harry is 3, Bryton is 1, and Eli is 2.

Simpson also has a great trick-or-treat night, where you go through the dorms and get candy from the students. Here are the boys with their beloved babysitter, Abby.

After 3 rounds of candy-getting, our boys are super excited!!

How Most "Fun Traditions" Seem to Go in Our House. . .

Here we go, ready to carve our pumpkins!

Micah is helping to remove the seeds.

How cute! Eli is sticking his hand inside.

5 minutes later, the boys have gotten bored/given up after being reprimanded for being too close to all the knives, and are playing with their toys in another room.

So Ked and I are left to finish the pumpkins. Actually, Kedron finished them while I gave the boys a bath.

Here are the finished pumpkins. Notice Thomas in the middle. My husband is freakishly talented at pumpkin carving. He carved the 2 good looking ones; I'll take the blame for the one on the right.

The BEST joke of Trick or Treat night

What did Mr. Spock find in the toilet?

(click on 'comments' for the punchline)

Care to Comment?

My Mom recently informed me that she has not been able to leave comments on my blog. Is anyone else having this trouble? I guess you can't leave me a comment to tell me, if you are indeed having this same issue. . .

Our Final Harvest

The first frost always makes me sad. But I'm happy with our final bounty of the year.

"The B Book"

This is one of our favorite books. Here is my just-turned-2 1/2-year-old reciting it.

(You really have to listen closely; despite his good vocabulary, his enunciation has a ways to go :)

On the fast track to Nerd-dom

As we were walking home from preschool today, Micah shouts, "Look! South Carolina!" After much questioning, I figured out that he was looking at some decorative "cobwebs" on a neighbor's porch, which did indeed look like the shape of South Carolina.

And the other day, Micah was intentionally biting his graham crackers into the shape of Nevada. . .

Where On Earth. . .

. . . Do I have to go to buy the big orange leaf bags that look like Jack-O-Lanterns? Are they sold at a secret club or something? I feel like I've looked everywhere.

To Read, or Not To Read. . .

I'm already starting to think about Christmas this year. I am NOT one of those people who gets mad at anyone who puts up their tree before Thanksgiving. . . though, I usually do try to wait until after to put my own up.

Anyway, I'm starting to think of gift ideas for the boys. I thought of getting Micah some kind of electronic reader toy. I think there are Leap Pads, and maybe something called a VSmile too? As you can see, I need help! Micah loves electronic things, and I thought it would be fun to get him something educational.

THEN, I went to WalMart and casually strolled by the LeapPad. SIXTY DOLLARS!! And the cartridge/books that go in it are like $20 apiece. Wow; you can buy a lot of regular books for that kind of money. Now I'm having second thoughts about whether he really needs one of these toys or not.

For those of you with older kids, do you own any of these types of toys? Do you like them? Is the Leap Pad better than the VSmile? Is it really worth the cost? Help!

This one's for you, Uncle Kevin

Micah is memorizing Bible verses for preschool. He brings home a little card to put on the refrigerator for each verse. And Eli, being the little parrot that he is, is learning the verses right along with his big brother. Tonight he pointed to one of the cards and said:

"Genesis one one. In the beginning, God created the Kevins and the earth."

Kale Beckett: New Cousin Extraordinaire!

The boys, my Mom, and I ventured up to northwest Iowa yesterday to meet the newest Govig: Kale Beckett! He seems to be an ideal baby, eating and sleeping quite well. Kyler loves his little brother and kisses him all the time. He told me, "I kiss him a lot so he won't cry." What a sweetheart!

Here are the 4 boy Govig cousins, sitting so nicely and gently with Kale. Micah is 4, Eli is 2, Kyler is 3, and Kale is 2 weeks.

OK, now we're getting a little more wiggly. . .

And. . . WAIT a minute! Did Kale just grow up??

Oh, that's just Ryan. Even though it was a short trip, we had a great time! It is fun to see the boys play together. We also got to go to an awesome, mostly FREE place called Pumpkinland, where Eli rode a horse for the first time. Fun was had by all!

A Day Out with Thomas

Guess how much fun these two had. . .

TiVO Recommendation

If you want to watch a show where the talent is so good, it makes American Idol look like a Middle School Talent Show (and I'm a big fan of AI), then set your TiVO for the Sing Off. It starts on Monday, on NBC, at 7pm CST. I can't wait!

Eli's World

Eli, in the bathtub playing with the foam letters that stick on the side of the tub: "C is for cookie! And I is for. . . Icah!" (Micah minus the M. . .)

Me, as I was getting his shoes on today: "Eli, I know you like these shoes, but they might be too big for you."

Eli: "They're not too big. They're too medium."

Here he is, perfecting his Iowa Homeboy look. This is really how he chooses to wear this hat. If you try to straighten it, he gets upset.

Impressed.

Micah has had 4 days of preschool now. We've heard from several parents that we'd be impressed with his preschool (Victory Christian Academy) and how much Micah would learn there. In my naive mind, though, I've though, "Yeah, right. Micah is pretty smart anyway; he already knows numbers and letters so we'll see." Well. . . his newsletter today said they'd learned all about God creating the world in 7 days, and that we should quiz our kids on what He did on each day.

Me: What did God do on day 1?

Micah: God created the light. He just speak-ed it.

Me: Wow! How about day 2?

Micah: God created the sky and the sea. And the air. God's friends wrote the Bible.

Me: What about Day 3?

Micah: I don't know. (giggling) On day 7, God took a rest!

Me: How about the land? Did God do that on day 3?

Micah: No, that was day 5. God speaked it and the land pushed up out of the water.

That was as far as we got. I'm officially impressed!

Twins for a Day

This is probably Eli's last day fitting in to this shirt, so I snapped some pics while I could! I hear ALL the time how much alike the boys look, yet being their Mom, I usually focus on the differences in their appearances. But even I will concede they look nearly identical in some of these shots.

FIRST 1st Day of School!

Today, Micah had his first official day of formalized education. Here he is, in his FIRST 1st day of school picture, all dressed in Thomas shirt and Thomas backpack.

On the walk home after school, he told me, "Did you know that all the letters have a name? Like CAPITAL I." He also told me that they read a Clifford book, and that there was a boy named "Steel" in his class (Ked confirmed this, though the spelling is different). All right, then.

He seems excited to go back on Friday, so we'll count this day as a success!

Blast from the Past

My Mom is cleaning out our childhood items, and came across several old record albums. I do remember belonging to one of those record clubs, where you tape a penny to the postcard, send it in and get 8 for the price of 1, so I'm assuming I'm responsible for most of these:

Michael Jackson - Thriller

Flashdance

Tiffany

Amy Grant - Unguarded - still one of the best Christian records in my opinion

Hall & Oates

Cyndi Lauper

Whitney Houston

Chaka Khan

Stray Cats

Twisted Sister

That's right, Twisted Sister. Wow.

Happy Birthday, Micah!

Micah, minutes after he was born:

Here's our super smart, particular, strong-willed, passionate, silly, creative, Thomas-obsessed, wonderful 4 year old today!

I guess you can tell what our favorite restaurant is. . .

Micah will soon be moving to a "real" (translation: twin sized) big boy bed. So today I had him look online at some sheet sets that he might like. We got caught in the character-themed section, and he enjoyed looking at the Thomas, Cars, Tinkerbell, etc. sheet sets. THEN, he saw this beautiful set:

Micah: "Look! PIZZA RANCH sheets!"

E Eats Everything

Our littlest Iowa Boy loves Iowa Sweet Corn!

And. . . blackberry smoothies too. . .

Mud Room: Before and After

This room has had the biggest overhaul yet. It is such a pleasure to see Ked becoming such a handy guy! The "before" pics don't totally do the room justice for how awful it looked. We'd started cleaning (believe it or not) when I realized I hadn't taken pictures yet. So. . . here we go!

Before:

After:

This room is L-shaped. His where we enter from the garage.

The washing machine area:

The absolute worst part of the mudroom was the carpet. WHO ON EARTH puts carpet in a mud room?

After ripping up the carpet and seeing all the gross, bumpy adhesive underneath, Ked opted to lay some new laminate flooring. Now, to me, it looks like the prettiest flooring there ever was!

I cannot tell you how much we love having a mud room, especially after not having one in our other house. And now after this makeover, it's one of cheeriest spots in the house!