Wake Up!

I woke up one early morning to Sophia screaming, “Wake up, Mama.  I wake too!!”  I think my little girl thought she was the only one still in bed at 5:45 a.m. She was so distraught over missing out on what everyone else was doing.  Ha!

A few minutes later I heard the rattling of her door, which sent me scrambling.  How did she get to her door?

We had a climber on our hands. 

Needless to say, we converted her crib to a toddler bed that weekend.  I was nervous after the rough transition we had with Caleb, but overall it’s been a really smooth transition.  There was the time she got out of bed to get a sticker off the floor, and she’s fallen out twice, but overall she’s very proud of herself for staying in bed until Mommy comes to get her.  (And very proud of the sticker she gets to wear for staying in bed.) 

And she hasn’t sprung the springy door stop once!

Books We Didn’t Want to Return to the Library

Of course if we actually purchased all the books we didn’t want to return, our kids couldn’t afford college, nor would they have room to sleep in their bedrooms.  Here is a sampling of the books we’ve been enjoying lately!

City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems
It took us a week to crack this one open, but it has been a favorite at naptime and bedtime lately.  A great story about friendship and grief as well.  Caleb: “Can you imagine a dog saying ‘ribbit?!’” 

Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? by Susan A. Shea 
If a duckling and turn into a duck, can a car grow and become a truck? Great book for kids who love to say “no!”

Richard Scarry’s Busy, Busy Town 
Great quiet time book for Caleb for several days.  It kept him looking for all the strange and funny things going on in the illustrations.

Yo! Yes? by Chris Raschka
Simple, sparse text, but a strong message about friendship.  One of Sophia’s favorites right now. 

King Jack and the Dragon by Peter Bently 
This is another of Sophia’s favorites.  It’s great for the imagination. 

Sea of Dreams by Dennis Nolan 
Pictures only.  No words.  Another book that captured Caleb’s attention for several days during quiet time.  Also great for the imagination.

The Legend of the Golden Snail by Graeme Base 
As a result of reading this book, Caleb has said when we’re driving: “Go straight.  Keep going…to the ends of the earth!” I love how this book highlights truly heroic character traits, intertwining compassion with bravery.

Animalia by Graeme Base
An alphabet book and search and find all in one.  Simple enough for Sophia to enjoy and yet complex enough for Caleb to be challenged. 

The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt and illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi
I love the illustrations accompanying this classic poem. While I’m sure the moral is lost on my kids, I still love reading it to them.

Thank You, Volunteers!

58 people.

58 people who don’t get paid.

58 people who love to love kids that don’t belong to them.

And that’s not all of them! 

I have been blessed this past year to help organize the children’s program with my church’s moms group.  I started the year thinking, “How do these volunteers do it?  How can I bribe these people into coming back?”  I quickly realized that 1) I can’t pay them enough for the work they do and 2) they wouldn’t take payment.  They love loving kids and by extension, loving the kids’ moms.  And that has been such a blessing!  They’re not reluctant to hold your child while he screams for “Mama!” They don’t complain about runny noses or squirrely boys.  They have given their time and energy and received very little in return. 

As a result, over 200 kids heard about, sang about, and/or crafted about Jesus, his love for them, what he did, and what he taught.  Because of the volunteers’ willingness to watch and teach these kids, about 120 moms heard the gospel (without distraction), encouraged one another, and left the morning refreshed and equipped to parent their children.   When you spend all day with young children, you realize how meaningful 1.5 hours of calm can be!

As we close out the MOPS year and take a break for the summer, I’ve been praying for these volunteers, mainly that they would be blessed through their generous giving to our moms group.  I pray that as they’ve rocked babies, separated fights, sung the Hokey Pokey (again), and talked about spiritual truths on a simple level that God has drawn close to them, showing them his love and truth all over again. 

Three!

We are excited to announce there will soon be three little munchkins running around our house on a regular basis!

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When Caleb first learned about this, he was certain he wanted a baby sister.  “And her name is Norah,” he said. 

Sophia, on the other hand, wanted a baby brother. 

Now they’re unified.  They both want a baby brother.  “And his name will be Joey,” Caleb affirmed.

Good thing God already has the gender figured out.  And hopefully Luke and I can come up with some more unique names.  (Joey is one of Caleb’s close friends, and Norah is his sister.)

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In the slideshow on our digital picture frame, we have a family picture that was taken on Sophia’s due date.  Caleb loves looking at that picture and has said multiple times, “Mommy, look! You are so full!”  Yeah, you just wait a couple months.  Then you’ll see.

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Caleb also thinks there should be 6 in our family instead of 5.  Is he really hoping for twins?  Thankfully, God already has that figured out as well!