Andy Rowell

Church Leadership Conversations

  • Allie Milestones 7-9 months old

    Here are some milestones from Allie (as best as I can recall) from 7 to 9 months.

    at 7 months: she crawled (which is earlier than the boys did); and started eating Cheerios, wet Crispix (bad choice, parents–very sticky to clean up) and baby food; buzzed her lips; and got two front bottom teeth.  

    at 8 months: she waved, pulled herself up in her crib and everywhere else; and began to eat almost everything with her hands (meat, vegetables, fruit, bread); said dadadada and lots of other expressive things; and began to wave her hands to signal stuff; followed the boys around everywhere crawling and getting into their stuff; usually napped 9:45-11:45 and 1:45-3:15 pm and then went down to sleep (after the boys) at 8:30 pm and slept until 7:00 am.  We give her pacifiers in her crib.  We often put on static on the radio to drown out the rambunctious boys but didn't use the static at night. No allergies–hallelujah.  We started regularly using the barrett to keep her hair out of her eyes.     

    at 9 months: she began to cruise including sheer surfaces like a wall; and began to get two front top teeth; began to signal "more" with Sign Language; can get down from couch by letting herself down legs first on her tummy.  She is not too into music, books, or the sippy cup yet.

    The pictures below are from 8 months (January 2011):

     

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  • What’s in the Bible DVD’s and JellyTelly from VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer

    We would recommend the “What’s in the Bible” DVD’s.  We have watched the first three DVD’s (6 episodes) with our three and five year old.  They seem ideal for elementary school kids–maybe 7 is the ideal age as some reading capability is useful though not necessary.  It is a project of Phil Vischer who created VeggieTales.  The first three DVD’s give an overview of how the Bible is structured, Genesis, Exodus, and (amazingly) Leviticus.  We have checked out the DVD’s from our church library.  I guarantee that adults would learn a lot as well.     

    You can also watch the same characters online at JellyTelly–which hopes to be edifying television streamed from the internet–“easily-accessible, high-quality, Biblically-sound online entertainment.”

    Back in 2000, Westmont College theology professor Telford Work wrote a nice piece called “VeggieEthics” on VeggieTales back for Theology Today in which he generally recommended the early VeggieTales stories.  “Evangelicals are learning to be “fiddlers on the roof,” conserving both their christological center and their commission as God’s ambassadors to a world that needs redeeming. VeggieTales are a sign that they are beginning to get the hang of it.”

    He mapped them this way:

    Faith: Rack, Shack, and Benny; Dave and the Giant Pickle.

    Hope: Where’s God When I’m Scared?; Josh and the Big Wall.

    Love: Are You My Neighbor? God Wants Me to Forgive Them? Madame Blueberry; King George and the Ducky.

    Prudence: Dave and the Giant Pickle; Where’s God When I’m Scared; Rack, Shack, and Benny.

    Justice: God Wants Me to Forgive Them? Are You My Neighbor? Larry-Boy and the Fib from Outer Space; Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed; King George and the Ducky.

    Temperance: Madame Blueberry; Rack, Shack, and Benny; The Toy that Saved Christmas; King George and the Ducky.

    Courage: Rack, Shack, and Benny; Dave and the Giant Pickle.

    See also Vischer’s memoir for the story of how, “Big Idea,” the company Vischer started, went bankrupt and was sold to Classic Media in 2003 so that Vischer lost editorial control of VeggieTales.

     

     

  • The best places to go with kids in the areas surrounding Durham, NC

    Having listed the best places to go with kids in Durham, NC, I also wanted to list some other places worth visiting within driving distance.  

    Here are the best day trip activities I know of for children (in the order of distance from Duke University’s east campus):

    1. Kidzu Children’s Museum in Chapel Hill, NC (20 min from Durham, NC)

    This is a small (but they are expanding) storefront “museum.”  It is more like an educational play area.  But it is great for little ones.  They charge $5 per person (including adults unfortunately).  It is closed Mondays and is free Sunday afternoons.  It is on the hip Franklin Street frequented by the UNC Chapel Hill students.

     

    2. Morehead Planetarium at UNC in Chapel Hill, NC (20 min from Durham, NC) 

    This looks fun for older kids. 

     

    3. North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh, NC (25 minutes from Durham, NC)

    I just wouldn’t miss this.  The 2011 N.C. State Fair is October 13-23.  It is always about that time.  The mother and child animals, the pig-racing, the model train, the petting zoo–it is fun.  Park at Carter-Finley Stadium–it’s free and close if you drive as close as you can to the fair entrance in the parking lot.

     

    4. Monkey Joe’s in Raleigh, NC (29 minutes from Durham, NC)

    “Wall-to-wall inflatable slides, jumps, and obstacle courses”–we have gone here for 6 year old and 4 year old birthday parties and it has been fun. 

     

    5. Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, NC (32 minutes from Durham, NC)

    Tickets are $10 for adults and only $1 for children 10 and under. Schedule page, the home page, and About page and the Facebook page.  Races typically begin at 7:00 pm (Qualifying @ 5:45 p.m and racing starts @ 7 p.m.) and ends between 10:00 and 11:30 pm.  (I found this info in the Facebook comments). 

    Earplugs or noise-blocking protective headphones “ear muffs” are recommended. 

     

    6. North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, NC (34 minutes from Durham, NC)

    This free museum is just great.  (It is all indoors and should not be confused with the Museum of Life and Science in Durham though they have a similar ethos).  The Meet the Animals sessions where the kids get to touch the animals are great.  There are dinosaurs skeletons and other great museumy exhibits.  We also like the free nature movies.  You have to pay a tiny bit in downtown Raleigh to park at the outdoor parking lot next to the museum but it is like 50 cents an hour or something like that.    The Museum shop is amazing–your kids will want everything. 

     

    7. Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh, NC (36 minutes from Durham, NC)

    This is an awesome children’s museum.  Go.  Fun.  Not that educational or museumy.  More like playing.  Not too expensive ($5) if you don’t do IMAX.

     

    8. The New Hope Valley Railway at the North Carolina Railway Museum in Bonsal, NC or New Hill, NC (45 minutes from Durham, NC) 

    They have train rides one Sunday a month.  Regular ticket fare is $10 per adult / $7 per child age 2 to 12.  We went and it was fun. 

     

    9. Hill Ridge Farms in Youngsville, NC (50 minutes from Durham, NC)

    Hay ride, barnyard animals, train ride, slide, fort and teepee.

     

    10. Greensboro Children’s Museum in Greensboro, NC (1 hour and 0 minutes from Durham, NC)

    We’re looking forward to visiting it.

     

    11. North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, NC (1 hour and 38 minutes from Durham, NC)

    Fantastic zoo.  We have been there on a day when it was scorching hot and a day when it poured rain. Both were fun.  Get ready to walk.  It is great. 

     

    See also the many good resources at the Carolina Parent magazine website

     

     

    See also AAA recommendations:

    Overview

    Discover More Great Destinations in North Carolina

     

    AAA recommendations of Must See

    • Outer Banks
    • Asheville
    • Great Smoky Mountains National Park
    • Blue Ridge Parkway
    • Campus cruise in Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill

    AAA Links