World Quiz!

My words will not do justice to the excitement and blessings of this day--the day of the World Quiz!  But, I will try to record some details so we remember.

Sweet Patti made some amazing waffles for us this morning, and we had such a wonderful time visiting with her and Dave over breakfast.  Travis and Erin and kids arrived and added to our excitement just before we needed to leave for the convention center.  They were going to come watch part of the Quiz!

Jeremy dropped me and the kids off and went to find our parking spot.  Other kids immediately came up to us asking if we could trade pins.  Many districts had created a pin and had given each quizzer some to trade with others.  We didn't manage to find our director to get ours to give/trade, but some kids were generous to give theirs out without getting one in return.  This boy from the Rocky Mountain District gave us a really cool F.R.O.G. (Forever Rely On God) pin, and his momma wanted a picture of him with the kids he traded pins.  The pin trading was a wonderful way to get the kids talking to each other and meeting other quizzers!!

Gram and Krampa drove down to Indy this morning and were waiting for us at the convention center!  

There were about 1700 quizzers participating today--1,036 of them in the Blue Level!

The rotating lighted globe in the main worship area is really cool!!

I was a scorekeeper for 5 of our NWIL quizzers, so I got to sit right there with the kids through the Quiz.  (Everyone else was not allowed on the floor with the quizzers.) 

The kids were pretty nervous before the Quiz...

DaVonne Lee has written little songs to go with all 120 Bible verses quizzers learn in the 6 years of Children's Quizzing.  She has recorded CD's and DVD's of them and was there with her team of helpers to lead worship with some of the songs today.  That was a fun way to help the kids relax some before the Quiz started.

Making new friends on our district has been a wonderful blessing of Quizzing!  We were so happy to have Gracie and Addie in the row with us today!

The Quiz had two rounds of 20 questions each.  Near the beginning of the 1st round, Caeden missed a question, and I could see the tears building up.  Every speaker and official who had spoken before the Quiz began had mentioned having fun, relaxing,  not worrying about missing questions...but all Caeden could think about was the fact that he'd set a personal goal of not missing any and it was ruined in his mind.  I tried to reassure him that he was doing well and to just go on.  He was so disappointed.  

At the beginning of the second round, the Quizmaster came out in a costume and said, "I'm sorry to be late.  I just got back from a short trip to Alderon."  That definitely helped Caeden to cheer up.  Then he missed a couple more questions and was near meltdown.  Tears and frustration built.  I began to wonder if we shouldn't have allowed him to quiz in Blue level at his young age.

Fortunately, the Quizmaster, Steve Grundy, was sooooo easy-going.  A couple times, the correct answers were shown on the screen as soon as the questions went up.  The kids started to realize that they were already winners just by being at the World Quiz.  All they've learned through the book of Acts this past year is really so important, and really immeasurable.  Steve continued to be fun and encouraging, and even Caeden (who missed 3 more questions in the second round) loosened up and just had fun.  Steve was definitely the right person to give the questions at this quiz--very much a blessing to us!

The last question of the quiz had the same answer for all 4 choices, so many kids held up all 4 of their answer cards, and the whole room erupted with cheers!  Totally fun way to end the Quiz!

While we waited for official scores to be tabulated, we had a super fun time of worship!

It was cool watching the big cameras pan the room.  The kids saw themselves on the big screens several times!  

After each round of the Quiz, I texted Jeremy how the kids had done.  It seemed funny to be texting him in the same room, but it was a huge room, and there were thousands of people in it!   Besides, I was responsible for staying with the kids I was keeping score for, and no one besides scorekeepers was allowed to enter the quizzing area.

During the Quiz, our district quizzing director sent her daughter to give us a bag of trading pins.  Caeden started trading from the Quiz floor before awards.

It was really amazing to see huge groups of hundreds of kids go forward to receive their awards.  

All these kids have learned so much about the Lord in the book of Acts!!  Awesome!!

Sylvia and Caeden both received Gold Level awards!  Sylvia missed only 1 question!

So proud of these kids!!!

There were fewer than 100 kids who had a "perfect" 100% Quiz and were in the Gold All-Star Level. 

It was so exciting to see Annah among those Gold All-Stars!  

Proud of our girl!  

They were so relieved it was over, I think...and so tired of me trying to get just one decent picture!

The World Quiz was a wonderful way to celebrate our study of the book of Acts.  I'm so glad the kids have learned about how God began to grow the Christian church...and so appropriate that they studied it this year as we've been part of planting and growing a church too!  

We met back up with Jeremy and Mom and Dad for congratulatory hugs in the foyer outside the worship area.  They enjoyed watching the Quiz and were all so proud of the kids too.

As we walked through the convention center, we saw Carol and Will.  It was so wonderful to chat with them for a few minutes!  Carol is always so encouraging to me!

Nazarene Communications Network is putting out daily review papers during General Assembly, and here is their little article about World Quiz.

Going to Indianapolis

We drove Indianapolis this afternoon.  These kiddos dutifully studied the book of Acts most of the way.

Jeremy played the license plate game and saw about 20 different states in our less than 3 hour trip.  (And more than 30 by the time we returned home Sunday.)  We also saw two of these giant dump trucks.  We thought they looked exactly like the big metal Tonka toy dump trucks--so cool!

We went straight downtown to find the parking spot I reserved online, then walked about a mile to the Indiana Convention Center.  We made our way through lots of people, and before we could even get to the Quizzing check-in, our friends the Benjey family saw us and came running up with hugs.  

We checked in at Children's Quizzing and got our t-shirts and info, then checked in to get our lanyards and bags.

Since Jeremy hadn't eaten today, we left the convention center and found a Qdoba on the way to Dave's and Patti's house.  They were so generous to allow us to stay with them for the weekend in their beautiful home!

Rain Day Studying

Last night, after we had tucked the kids in bed, I received an automated call from the school district office saying that school would be canceled for today.  The flooding is so bad in Colfax that the water and sewer systems cannot function well enough to have hundreds of children at school.  So, we have not a snow day, but a RAIN day!  I don't think the kids think it's quite as fun, since they can't go out and play in the sloppy wet muddy yard, but they were glad to sleep in and have the whole day off.    I had gone up last night and told the girls to turn their alarm off, so they slept in.  I didn't tell Caeden, because I wake him up for school.  So, he slept in too.  When he got up, he decided to make pancakes, all by himself. He did it, and they were yummy!  Yes, he made a big mess, but he felt really good about being able to do it all by himself!

After breakfast, we sat down to study and prepare for the Quiz tomorrow.  We've been working hard to learn the details of the book of Acts since September.  It has definitely been the most difficult book the kids have studied in Quizzing, and that includes Exodus, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1st and 2nd Samuel, and Matthew.  

Quizzing has been great for all of us.  We've all learned so much through studying God's word this way.  If there is a downside, I would have to say that with the kids realizing they are really good at the quizzing part, they put a lot of pressure on themselves not to miss questions.  That has made it a bit stressful to study, because they get very disappointed in themselves if they miss any questions.  It's kind of a double edged sword, because that causes them to study hard and really learn God's word.  But, I want them to love God's word and not to feel forced into studying it.  Anyway, sometimes it can be a little tough to spend a whole day off school studying instead of playing.  So we try to come up with ways to make it a little more fun and to relax while we learn...

Acts Quiz #2

Whew, the book of Acts is good stuff!  Whew, the book of Acts is tough stuff for kids to get through and understand and remember!  Whew, we are learning a LOT about the start of the Christian church!

Admittedly, we did not use our time wisely over Christmas break as far as studying for Quizzing, but we have really struggled getting through Dig Sites 8-14 since the 1st Quiz over Acts in November.  Paul traveled to so many places and met so many folks who helped spread the gospel.  It is really cool stuff to learn about, but it can be quite confusing.  

We've tried to work through each section carefully over the past several weeks, and a Dig Site a day starting last week.  Still, we didn't feel prepared after this week. So we spent pretty much every waking moment from the time the kids got home from school last night until they went to bed studying hard.  Then we studied in the car all the way to Peoria this morning, and for about half an hour after we arrived.  The kids worked very hard to understand the difficult passages and questions, and we had some great discussions about what was happening in the book of Acts.

But honestly, they weren't super confident going into the quiz this time.  

Then the Quiz started and there were some very difficult questions right off the bat.  I was keeping score for another team and could see lots of kids struggling.  (Since I study with my kids, I usually know the scriptures and questions really well too, and I was thrown off by some of the questions given today.)  After the first two rounds, the kids were feeling pretty deflated about missing some questions and having troubles.  I reassured them that they were asking some really tough ones, and that they were doing just fine.  Caeden was starting to tear up, when I reminded him that his daddy said there were to be no tears if answers were missed.  He told me, "I don't know if I can handle another round!" but went back to his seat and did his best.  I noticed another boy who is always among the very top quizzers having a similar discussion/reaction with his dad and knew it wasn't just my kids having trouble.

The third round was just as difficult, and I think everyone was glad when it was finished.  There were questions about cities that Paul visited when what we studied were the names of the countries, and other questions that were vice versa.  (Guess I should have bought the map!)  There was even one question that seemed like it was from the book of Matthew, which we quizzed on last year.  It was was a super tough quiz!

After the questions were done and I finished totaling my row's scores, I joined the kids and Jeremy.  We talked about how they needed to keep their composure and be grateful even if they received a 3rd place ribbon, because they worked really hard to get through those 60 questions.

When the awards ceremony began, we were very surprised that there was only one quizzer in the Red level who had a single perfect round.  Then, in the Blue level awards, the group of 3rd place awards was big.  2nd place was big.  There were no ties in the top 10, like usual.

And, we were pleasantly surprised when 6 of the top 10 quizzers were from our PoC team--including Annah, Sylvia, and Caeden!  The girls were the only ones who had a single perfect round each, and Annah was the top quizzer for the day!

We were certainly proud of all the kids and their hard work.  It is a privilege to learn God's word, and always such a blessing.  We praise and thank Him for helping us!

Immediately after the awards the church had to empty out, as there was a funeral beginning minutes later!  We headed over to Chick-Fil-A for lunch with the Benjeys.  It was right at noon and at a mall on a Saturday--so crowded the kids sat at one table and the 4 of us adults squeezed into another all the way across the restaurant.  It was yummy though!  

"Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right." - Acts 10:34-35

Acts Quiz #1

We had a great time at the Quiz in Sterling today!  

Caeden quizzed in the Blue Level for the first time today, so the three of our kids got to sit next to each other.  I was a scorekeeper for the row behind them, so I was able to watch all 3 of them quiz.  Jeremy had a spot where he could see them well too.  They were cool as cucumbers today.

PoC had 7 quizzers today, and they all did GREAT!  Little Liam did his first quiz ever, and placed in the Top 10 Red Level.  Karly received 2nd place in Blue.  Savanna and Sierra each had a perfect round and were in the top 14 Blue.

There were 8 NWIL quizzers who had a "perfect quiz," and Annah, Sylvia, and Caeden were among them!  So, these 14 kids all received 1st place today.  What an exciting day!  We praise God for helping us learn His word!

Yesterday, Caeden called something a "whatchamacallit," and I mentioned something about the candy bar.  He didn't realize there was a Whatchamacallit candy bar, so we looked it up online to see if they still made them.  (I haven't had one or really paid attention to see them in years.)  I mentioned to Jeremy that Caed and I were talking about Whatchamacallits, and how I told Caeden that Daddy and I used to eat them in high school.  So, when we stopped to get gas and a carwash, Jeremy picked up 3 for the kids to try their first Whatchamacallit.  They thought they were "amazing," of course.  

This evening, while Jeremy was setting up at church, the kids wanted to play a game.  (Sylvia and Caeden were not allowed any screens this weekend, because they were disrespectful and whined against eating their supper one night this week.)  So they decided to learn how to play Scrabble.  They discovered that it is pretty tough if you use short words, but decided that they liked it.  Caeden even said, "I can see that we're going to have a lot of good memories playing this game!"

Friday

Annah finished her pyramid and turned it in today.  She used texturized cotton squares to cover it, and it made it look like bricks.  Then we sprayed it with Glimmer Mist to make it look more like sand/stone colored.  Her teacher told her that she hates the feel of cotton, so I hope that won't count against her grade.  I'm proud of Annah for working hard on this project.

My friend Dawn and I went shopping today!  She dropped me at my dentist appointment, then when I was done we checked out the Bergner's Community Days sale that PoC sold coupon books for over the past few weeks.  That sale was a complete bust, and I realized why I never go to Bergner's.  But, we had a nice lunch at Panda Express, yum!  And Kohl's is having some great sales!  It was fun to have a day with my sweet friend!  What a blessing!

This evening, we put together our new quizzing boxes, and went through all 7 of the first lessons to prepare for tomorrow's quiz.  The kids gained a lot of ground with understanding these scriptures tonight!

While Jeremy was reading questions to the kids, I enjoyed the fact that we were spending a Friday night together in our living room.

Sylvia is very into mismatched socks lately.  She rarely wears matching ones.

The Quiz is in Sterling tomorrow, which Google Maps says is 2 hours and 52 minutes from our house. So, we went to bed early, and will get up early to get there in time.  I think the kids should do pretty well, as they are understanding the questions better after this week.  

Hope & Happiness

This is how I love to start mornings... I get up around 5:30 a.m., have some coffee, and spend time with my Jesus.  Today I had some yummy pumpkin spice coffee and was encouraged by the book of Acts.  

Pastor Todd gave me two study Bibles the night before PoC Launch, and I am reading every note in my NIV Life Application Bible!  It is eye-opening!!

The kiddos made this video for Krampa this morning on his birthday:

This evening, we studied quizzing.  We're revieiwing the first 7 "Dig Sites" of our Book of Acts curriculum, as the first quiz of the season is on Saturday.  

The kids were crakcing up making their hair extra static-y on the couch while we studied!

God is really teaching me a lot through Acts.  The kids are learning a lot about the early church too.

Regional Quiz 2012

We had a great time in Kankakee/Bourbonnais yesterday and today at Olivet Nazarene University for the Regional Children's Bible Quiz!

We drove up yesterday afternoon for registration, and got settled into our on-campus apartment.  I called Travis, and he recommended the local restaurant Aurelio's.  We headed there with our fellow PoC quizzing' friends Brian and Jana, Savanna and Sierra.  The pizza was wonderful, and we also enjoyed the atmosphere!  Thanks for the great recommendation, Trav!

The Friday Family Festival scheduled on campus for the quizzers was moved inside because it was cold and rainy most of the day.  We checked it out for a little while, but didn't stay too long.

The girls found some silly disguises...

The girls and daddies competed in foosball. 

Caeden had to participate in the Mario Kart tournament...

But, it was pretty crowded with the festival being inside, so we decided to enjoy the gorgeous evening with a walk around campus.

It's a very beautiful campus.

Sierra, Sylvia, Caeden, Annah, Savanna

We witnessed a beautiful light show, provided by The Creator himself.  

We played at the clock tower.

We played "follow the gray brick road..."

And, of course, we had to take our traditional picture at the sign...

...and a not-so-traditional one too.

Then we went back to the apartment, and the kids played for a while.  We studied for the quiz some more before bed too.

Caeden was awake not long after 5:00 a.m. this morning, dancing and excited for the day.  We tried to get him to lie down with Daddy and be quiet so he wouldn't wake the girls--without much success.

We headed for breakfast about 6:50.  It was a gorgeous morning!

All ready for some QUIZZING!!!!!!!!

Brian prayed for/over the kids.   

Brian is one of our Point of Change pastors, and he led us in a team cheer for PoC in the lobby of the chapel.  

Red Level started at 8:30 a.m.  Here is our NWIL District All-Star Team, all ready to go!

concentrating hard...

After 3 rounds of 15 questions in each, the team did great.  Caeden missed a total of 2 questions and had one perfect round.  Here, he receives his participation medal.

We learned some VERY silly motions to Singin' in the Rain!!!

We're so proud of Sierra!!  She didn't miss a single question, and was one of 20 kids who received a "Top 10" trophy!

After lunch it was time for the Blue Level quiz.  Here is the Blue NWIL District All-Star team.

The team tied for 3rd place!

Each of the girls also missed two questions and had one perfect round.  We felt they did great!

It was a very unusual day of quizzing, as there were a number of interruptions that affected everyone's concentration.  There was a disappointing and deceitful set of unfortunate circumstances that we would just like to forget, but we will choose focus on the main reason we do quizzing--to greater understand the word of God and hide it in our hearts.  We are grateful for that opportunity!

Clearly, we were all completely wiped out by the end of the quiz, as this is what the ride home looked like....

"Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." - Psalm 119:105