Loving My Sweet Husband

How precious is this husband of mine! I love him so much, and I am so thankful that he is mine. Tonight, as the three of us girls hugged our dear daddy after he returned home from work, I was reminded of how truly precious he is. As a mother of two small, delightfully lovely little girls, my mind is usually filled with the joyful tasks of tending to their needs. I strive to make each day so special for them. I truly want their childhoods to be so blissful, so fun, so rich, and so full of godly teaching and training. And yet tonight I was reminded of how special my husband is. While he is grown and strong and independent, full of wisdom and godliness himself, I want to remember how special every day is for him too. I want to make every day lovely, truly lovely, for him. I want these years, and every year, to be as sweet as can be, almost like a dream you might say. How blessed I am to have been given the gift of this truly special man.

December Daily

I'm just in love with this idea of the December Daily from Ali Edwards! I first learned about it from Stephanie at Playing House, and it looks like so much fun! What a wonderful way to savor the memories that the holidays offer. I'm not certain that I'll be able to get this going in time for this year, but perhaps I can pick up something soon after the new year starts--the "ordinary" days of February can be just as blissful as the lovely days of December!! I'll let you know if I decide to give this a try, but I certainly hope you'll enjoy it for yourself!

Pass Around the Coffee and the Pumpkin Pie



What a joy this holiday season has been, and it's just getting started! We delighted in spending time with loved ones as we celebrated Thanksgiving, though there were still many who I missed dearly and would have loved to have seen on that special day! We have been so blessed to be able to savor the scrumptious dishes that the holidays have to offer, but among our favorites, as it nearly goes without saying, are the pies. From chocolate pecan to traditional pecan and then to pumpkin, we have enjoyed these sweet pastries beyond words. Perhaps among our favorite memories so far this holiday season is simply grabbing a slice of pie in the afternoon and sitting in our living room, basking in the light of our twinkling tree and Christmas garland. What a joy, what a comfort the sweetness of holiday traditions brings as we cherish the memories of times past and delight in the making of new ones. So it is with the fondness of recollections that I think of our girls and I, as we sit together in our family room, cherishing the last bites of our pie, listening to Christmas music selections a little too loud, playing with our stable horses and brushing their riders' hair, lingering a bit too long before we need to continue on with our afternoon tasks, that I say,"Pass around the coffee and the pumpkin pie."

There's a happy feeling
Nothing in the world can buy
When they pass around the coffee
And the pumpkin pie
It'll nearly be like a picture print
By Courier and Ives
These wonderful things are the things
We'll remember all through our lives
These wonderful things are the things
We'll remember all through our lives

-Sleigh Ride 

A Scentsible Indulgence

Our girls and I enjoyed an afternoon of shopping at one of my favorite stores today, and I was delighted to pick up these new Scented Envelope Sachets from Greenleaf! I am so in love with these that I could not help but share the news of them with you! And I must add that I am not recommending these lightly because I am oh-so-choosy when it comes to fragrances. Just the wrong scent and I can think of almost nothing else but fresh air, but just the right scent, and I am trying to find out just how to purchase it! And to top it all off, these were only about three dollars per packet. Merry Memories and Velvet Woods are a definite must-have!

Thanksgiving with Little Ones

What a beautiful holiday this is! What a time for thanksgiving it is as we remember those who, long ago, made that courageous journey across the Atlantic to begin a new life in this wonderful land. There are some things that I just simply want our children to know as they grow older, things that they can't remember learning, really, just things that they have always known. This is one of those things. I want them to know about the first Thanksgiving and how it came to be. So here's a look at what we've been doing of late...

Playing with Our Little People Thanksgiving Celebration Set

 We love this new Little People Thanksgiving Celebration set! We found a great price on it through Fisher-Price, and, combined with their free shipping offer, we were able to tack this purchase on to some Christmas finds for very little. This was worth every penny!

Enjoying a Cornucopia Filled with Play Food

 We found this one at Michaels, which, when combined with our coupon that we downloaded ahead of time from their website, made this a reasonably-priced purchase.

Having Fun with Crafts

We found the idea for this pinecone turkey at Enchanted Learning. The food collage was also a fun activity for our three-year-old. 

Snuggling up with Good Books

An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving by Louisa May Alcott, Illustrated by Jody Wheeler

The Pilgrims' First Thanksgiving by Ann McGovern, Illustrated by Elroy Freem

This First Thanksgiving Day: A Counting Story by Laura Krauss Melmed, Illustrated by Mark Buehner

and Eating!

We have enjoyed a number of festive treats, including a snack of popcorn with goldfish, since both popcorn and fish were served at the first Thanksgiving! We've also enjoyed eating our pumpkin and pecan pies. What a delight it is to indulge in just a small piece (and small is relative I might add!) of pumpkin pie with our three-year-old in the middle of the afternoon! Even our 9-month old enjoyed the teeniest of tastes of this beloved holiday treat!

At her request...

I am jotting down the sweetness of our three-year-old's kiss upon my ear. How sweet and tender are her "soft" kisses on my ear. I love just how her chubby little cheeks feel, so rosy and so sweet. How she loves a few extra moments with Mommy and Daddy just to herself. How she loves to "hide" with Daddy just before bedtime, just so her little sister and I can find her. What tenderness, joy, love, and sweetness fill your precious soul, my little sweetheart!

Sweet are the days

Loving this weekend filled with the delights of

Saturday morning French toast and Sunday afternoon lunches,

 princess dresses, princess songs, and princess shoes,

baby giggles and big sister hugs, 

cuddling with my hubby and snuggling with our little ones as they drift off to sleep.

Loving these days...

Betsy Ross in the Fall

 This is why I love homeschooling... because it was not Flag Day, President's Day, or Independence Day. It was, on this truly special day with our precious little girls, just in all actuality, an ordinary day. Learning about Betsy Ross was the occasion on this seemingly typical day.

I love to browse through the children's section at our local library, sometimes searching for something in particular, but more often just trying to uncover those special literary treasures that might make their way into the little hands that work and play here. Recently, then, I selected Betsy Ross by Alexandra Wallner (I am in love with this collection of historical books, by the way! A Picture Book of Helen Keller, written by David A. Adler and illustrated by John & Alexandra Wallner, was also a recent favorite.).

So Betsy Ross was, on this particular day, a welcome guest in our home. And it was, much to my delight, that our concidental afternoon of beginning a sewing project further illuminated the life of this notable woman. Our oldest enjoyed cutting out her stars for a lovely flag (and there are only four, instead of 13, as you may note, since there are only four people in our family... that is why I love this little girl!).

She delighted in the patriotic festivities that surrounded this most ordinary day as she learned a bit of our nation's history. What a joy it is to begin teaching these little ones of the rich history surrounding this wonderful country. And how fulfilling it will be to learn more and more of this over the years, Lord willing. But for now, I will let these little tidbits of our country's past rest upon their hearts and in their minds as they develop an appreciation for the happenings of long ago, learning, as we would have it, these events in light of God's power over all things.

I was just thinking...

Loving My Family

Classical Music for Little Ones

I love classical education. I love that it is just that: classic. I love that subjects are studied in light of history, and I love that literature is selected for its beauty and richness. And I love that music education is a part of this course of study and that it is the finest of classical music that is appreciated. As I write this, I must confess that musical talents are not mine to claim. I'm afraid I dearly love to listen to beautiful music. The soothing notes of jazz pianist Beegie Adair are a treat to me even at this very moment. And how I love to sing spiritual hymns with other Christians, and even to our little ones throughout the day. How wonderful God is that He takes notice of the heart when we sing, rather than our voices! (Ephesians 5:19,20 and Colossians 3:16) And how beautiful are our children that they should so allow their eyelids to gently close at the day's end, as songs of our Saviour and God's bountiful love drift toward their listening ears and rest upon their tender hearts.

I want to share the richness of beautiful music with our children. And so it is that we regularly enjoy classical music throughout our day. As I have been so encouraged by other mothers who freely share their educational goals, I hope that the passing on of a few ideas will also uplift any lovely readers of The Blissful Pear!

Here are a few things that really work well for our little ones:

We regularly listen to 25 Children's Favorites. As I mentioned, I'm truly a novice when it come to classical music. But in a short time, I have come to appreciate these selections. Mozart's Variations On Ah Vous Dirai-Je, Maman is among my favorites. I have found that I enjoy these traditional selections most in the morning time while I'm getting ready and our girls are playing. I have uploaded these songs to my iPod, and they are ready for us at any time!

We sing! We sing everything! We sing spiritual hymns and children's songs. We add music to common words and phrases to aid in the memory of new language. We sing the letters of our oldest daughter's name to help her to remember how to spell it. Even simple two-word phrases are uttered in song when teaching our youngest basic concepts.

We talk about music, and we identify instruments when we see or hear them.

And I love the website  PreKinders! What a help it was in getting us started!

And here are some great literature selections, as they relate to music education:

   Various renditions of Peter and the Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev

Zin! Zin! Zin! a Violin by Lloyd Moss and illustrated by Marjorie Priceman

Animal Orchestra, pictures by Tibor Gergely

For the Love of Music: The Remarkable Story of Maria Anna Mozart

by Elizabeth Rusch, paintings by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher 

  And while these selections still await us, they are worth mentioning, in part because they come with a CD.

Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saens, commentary by Barrie Carson Turner and illustrations by Sue Williams

Can You Hear It? by William Lach

  

I also love the Mozart Magic Cube by Munchkin. This is great for both Baby and Big Sister!

Upon the Land of Counterpane

What a sweet afternoon it was when, with all the elements of spontaneity, we read The Land of Counterpane by Robert Louis Stevenson. With the beauty of the verses fresh within our minds, our little girls and I crawled into bed, ruffled the covers so as to make pillow-hills, and began to make our own Land of Counterpane. The moment was so special with our two little girls sitting opposite each other pretending to be in the Land of Counterpane, that even searching for a camera seemed ill-fitting. It is moments such as these that only a mother can understand, the moments that sweetly rest upon the heart.

The Land of Counterpane

by Robert Louis Stevenson

When I was sick and lay a-bed,

I had two pillows at my head,

And all my toys beside me lay,

To keep me happy all the day.

And sometimes for an hour or so

I watched my leaden soldiers go,

With different uniforms and drills,

Among the bed-clothes, through the hills.

And sometimes sent my ships in fleets

All up and down among the sheets;

Or brought my trees and houses out,

And planted cities all about.

I was the giant great and still

That sits upon the pillow-hill,

And sees before him, dale and plain,

The pleasant land of counterpane.

This post is part of Make Believe Mondays at My Three Rivers Home

To travel...

Bonny and Owl

Bobby Shafto's gone to sea,

Silver buckles at his knee;

He'll come back and marry me,

Bonny Bobby Shafto!

Our little one loves this traditional English nursery rhyme! She delights in playing the part of Bonny Shafto, so we couldn't pass up on these matching sailor outfits! She regularly pretends to be Bonny, and she happily carries "Owl Shafto" along with her at times. She has such a fondness for this nursery rhyme that Mommy couldn't help but provide her with a homemade wedding veil to complete her dream!

What a joy it is to share in the delights of our little ones!

This post is a part of Make-Believe Mondays at My Three Rivers Home

Apple Picking 2011

We have a lovely fall tradition of visiting an apple orchard with our very dear friends. This year we visited a new orchard, which turned out to be so wonderful! The weather was perfect, the orchard was quaint and charming,

the apples were delicious, and the company was even better!

What special memories we made this year!

Autumn Anew

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.

~Albert Camus

Shared by The Quote Garden

With thankfulness for a delightful summer, we enter into this most glorious season of autumn! The leaves have begun to change here, with beautiful hues of yellow and orange appearing. The air is starting to cool, and our fall traditions of apple picking and pumpkin gathering have already begun.

One of the joys of having children is that everything seems so much more beautiful. The seasons themselves become more apparent, the activities become more vivid, and the anticipation of a new day awaits with eagerness. With thankfulness for the dawning of autumn, I cannot help but pass into a new season without remembering the delightful days of summer.

For both my enjoyment now, and, Lord Willing, for our little ones to recount with

fondness in the years ahead, here's a look at Summer 2011...

Toddling with Fractions

Our 3-year-old loves her bathtub crayons! Not only are they great for making bathtime masterpieces and for painting fingernails (and yes, she really has done that!), but they are also wonderful for helping her to learn fractions! Our little one sometimes has trouble remembering how much of her milk she is allowed to drink while she is waiting for Mommy to finish preparing a meal, so I use one of the bathtub crayons to incrementally mark the side of her cup. I then let her know which marking she is to drink to. She is not only learning fractions along the way, but she's leaving a little room in her tummy for dinner!

Imagination

There are those special moments during the course of motherhood that cause you to pause for an instant and, with thankfulness in your heart, delight in the joys that are beheld. The warmth that ensues upon being allowed to enter into the imaginary realm of bumblebees and ladybugs, princesses and horseback riders can hardly be explained, but what a joy it is to catch a glimpse of the thoughts that travel through the mind of a little one...

Perhaps to the passerby the sight of a bubblegum pink stethoscope draped over a doorknob may simply indicate a landing place, a place where a child's toy was left as its owner scurried to the next activity.

But as I look upon the memory of this stethoscope draped casually over a doorknob, I consider that this was completed with the fullest of intentions. Perhaps our little girl who delights in playing with her medical kit, who becomes giddy at the first sight of an "injury," who places countless Band-Aids upon her imaginary scrapes and bruises, hung this stethoscope carefully in her medical office for use later, when an emergency required its services. Perhaps it is just one of the greatest joys of motherhood, to enter into this realm of whimsy and sweetness, of imagination and delight...

This is part of Make Believe Monday Link Up at My Three Rivers Home.

Thank you for visiting!

The Sweetness of Little Minds

There is hardly anything so precious as a newborn baby. How sweet it is when these delightful souls grow and grow and grow a little more, even to be able to communicate their thoughts and intentions with us. We no longer have to wonder what they might need. A verbal exchange is shared, and a lovely conversation is sparked... farm animals, princesses, ladybugs, and bumblebees. How beautiful is the mind of a little one.

And how sweet they are, how especially precious, so undeniably innocent even before they reach that stage of verbal proficiency. Sometimes, though I must admit, not enough, I try to think about what our little ones might be thinking. This evening, as I was so thankful to be sharing a few moments with our 7-month-old as I tended to things in the kitchen, I was imagining what might be passing through her mind. We have delighted in the moments when she has begun to use a new word, but her smiles and outstretched arms and cries for Mommy are still her primary mode of communication. She is so wonderfully, so beautifully, so extraordinarily precious.

So tonight, I wondered, as I continued to talk with her, what was she thinking about? As she examined the toy turtle in her sweet little hands, I began to share the story of the tortoise and the hare. Initially, I was thinking of her budding language skills, but then I was reminded of her. Just her. Without the hopes and dreams surrounding language and grammar, math and literacy. Instead, I imagined what she was thinking as she listened to her mommy talk with her. I'm quite certain that her thoughts were not really on whether the tortoise or the hare won the race. Instead, she might have been thinking of how happy she was to just be near Mommy, to hear her voice, to know that she was explaining something to her.

What a blessing it is that God has entrusted us with these little ones. I hope that in this journey of home education, and perhaps even greater, in this journey of motherhood, that I will remember that the academics are secondary. The time spent together pursuing these educational goals is far more important than the education itself. And in the end, we want to train these little souls to serve their Father in heaven and their Lord Jesus Christ. May I always consider the hearts of these little ones and the thoughts that travel through their minds.

All Things Scissors

The number one crafting item at our house these days (and many days before that!) is scissors. Our three-year-old, who is wonderfully responsible with these, will cut just about anything! And fortunately, she is quite good at asking for permission prior to cutting something new, so I am thankful to report that, to date, we have avoided any serious mishaps. With a snip here and a snip there, she will add her special touch on anything from paper and plastic to cardboard and thread. And as she has been quite diligent about her habit these days, I have observed how her fine motor abilities have really increased in this area.

If you have any young children who are ready for some fun with scissors,

you might consider a few things that we have learned along the way:

Provide a pair of child's scissors that are appropriate for her hand size and are a comfortable fit when considering her hand preference.

Make the scissors readily available if you think your child is ready for this step. Right now, we have her scissors in a decorative pail that we keep either at her easel or in her play area in the kitchen. This would also be a good time to lay some ground rules for the use of scissors.

Provide a variety of scissors. I purchased a number of Fiskars scissors years ago, but I noticed that a number of sets are available on Amazon, such as these Kraft Edger scissors sold by Wayfair. Our little one has such fun trimming the edges of her crafts with a variety of decorative edges!

Provide plenty of material for cutting. Try to think outside the box on this one. A stack of white paper is not terribly exciting, but a small assortment of colored sheets is much more interesting! Also, try writing things on some of the papers for your little one, or draw interesting lines and shapes for them to cut out. And, of course, you can prepare a craft ahead of time that would allow for more structured cutting.

Offer some instruction on cutting, but try to allow for a little room to get comfortable with these new crafting tools in their hands. They may not do it perfectly at first, but they'll get better with lots of fun practice!

Enlist the help of your little one as soon as you think they can safely cut things for you. For instance, tonight I left a new puzzle for our little ones to discover in the morning. Instead of removing the packaging, as I would normally have done, I left it on there and will let her open it for us!

Encourage your little one to clean up after herself. This is a tricky one. I definitely think that little ones need to learn to clean up after themselves, but if you have had any experience with a budding scissor user, then you know that tiny little scraps will end up all over your kitchen floor! I encourage her to clean as it's appropriate, but I definitely help out with this one. I want to make sure to encourage her craftiness, not to discourage it by making her do more than she's able. We have also started keeping a scrap box nearby to aid in clean-up. 

And needless to say, make sure to supervise your little one . Safety (and the avoidance of a hair styling mishap) comes first!

Coffee with Your Cereal?

I loved reading Amelia Bedelia stories as a child, and I was so delighted to check one out from our local library during a recent visit. What a joy it was to read this with our oldest, as she found Amelia Bedelia's charming series of misunderstandings irresistable. In Come Back, Amelia Bedelia, by Peggy Parish and illustrations by Wallace Tripp, Amelia Bedelia begins her work as a housekeeper. When instructed to bring coffee with cereal for breakfast, Amelia Bedelia innocently serves the cereal in the cup of coffee! A string of silly mistakes sends poor Amelia Bedelia on a continual quest for employment, securing this as an undeniable hit with our little one!

She wanted to read this again and again, so you can imagine my excitement when I came across cream puffs, which were a notable confection made by Amelia Bedelia in this story, in the frozen foods section at our local grocery store! We then planned our evening of silly "mistakes" on Daddy, who was so kind to share in the fun! As you'll notice in the photo above, the coffee is laden with cereal and was served prior to a delicious array of cream puffs. We also enjoyed "pinning" up Mommy's hair with safety pins and pretending to heat a can of soup (literally, of course--can and all!). What fun we had, and what a learning experience this was. We even enjoyed thinking of how Amelia Bedelia might respond to comments of ours. We will be delighted to look for more of these fun titles during our next library visit!

Remembering the Fallen

 Let us remember the fallen. Let us ponder for a moment the emotions of those who sat in terror on the planes as they headed for the World Trade Center.
Let us ponder how those who huddled in stairwells, fearing for their lives,

felt in the last moments of their time here.

Let us consider the families that have been left behind. Let us remember the mothers who have mourned for the children that they have held so dear, the wives whose hearts have ached with pain unimaginable for their husbands who would never return home, the husbands who have pressed on for the sake of their children.

And let us remember those who have given their lives in service to this country. With gratitude, let us remember those who have honorably fought overseas since the September 11th attacks, and those who have fought to defend our country in years past.

How sweet it was to read All Those Secrets of the World to our little ones this evening. Jane Yolen shares this beautiful narrative of her experience as a young girl as she watched her father leave to fight in the war. She recounts how her family coped after his departure and how they lovingly welcomed him home two years later.

I am so thankful that I was able to sit with our little ones as we read this story and remembered the fallen. What a blessing it was to have our oldest sitting next to me, listening so intently to learn about young "Janie," and to cradle our youngest in my arms as we read, feeling her little face buried in my arm. How sweet to have a husband who loves us so much.  Let us remember those who have given their lives to make these moments possible.

And let us come before our Father's throne with thanksgiving for our freedom, for our lives, and for this very moment that we are privileged to enjoy.

The Blissful Pair

What a delight it was to share my day with our little ones! Fall is still a week or two away, but the joy that a new season brings now surrounds us. The air is a bit cooler, the patio is lightly covered in a smattering of green and gold leaves, and the appeal of jeans, which we haven't worn in some time, is undeniable. A day at home just seeemed to be calling to us.

I share this in part because I want to remember the sweetness of this day, and also because I want to share it with our girls some day, and perhaps, while every day is special in its own way, the simple delights of today were just that: quite simple. Our oldest enjoyed "writing" notes to Mommy on pages from her Dora coloring book, carefully cut out with scissors. And then again, as this is one of her favorite activities, she enjoyed cutting out remnants of an empty sticker sheet for a birthday card for Daddy (though is birthday was really in March, but it was still special to her). We played a make-believe game of "Dackledoo," which, if you might be interested, would have to ask our three-year-old for its exact definition. But I will say that this included spinning around in the kitchen with a canvas cooler trailing after her. And should it be a concern, she carefully and lovingly moved her little sister, who was sitting in her Bumbo, far enough away so as not to hurt her. Nevertheless, despite her attempts, she did "hurt" herself, which, I might add, is another of her favorite activities (just for fun, of course--no real injuries). Nevertheless, one of our stuffed dog's jackets was borrowed to use as a splint. This splint later accompanied us to the local grocery store, where we made a quick stop to pick up a few items to make chili. Today marked the first of our many pots of chili this season, Lord willing, and how delightful it was.

While our chili cooked, we stepped outside for a few minutes, only to see that a beautiful vine of Morning Glory had crept up a small tree. What a joy that was to see our oldest amongst the leaves, plucking off the flowers for our hair. And how sweet to share a "first" with our youngest. The sharing of a flower, the softness of the petals, and the fragrance that is often present, seem to be as sweet as unwrapping a lovely gift when shared with her. Perhaps God's beautiful flowers were among His finest creations here on earth.

May I always remember to thank Him for the sweetness of days such as today.

HenCam

We enjoyed checking out a copy of Tillie Lays an Egg recently at the library, and what a find it was! This charming book about a free-spirited hen named Tillie who continues to lay eggs in peculiar spots was written by Terry Golson and includes photographs by Ben Fink. And what a delight it was at the end of the story to see their HenCam mentioned. I decided to check it out online at HenCam.com, and it shows live feed of their farm animals, including their renowned family of hens. And just for fun (perhaps this, as with many things about homeschooling, is truly more fun for Mom!), I enjoyed hiding a wooden egg from our children's play foods... did Tilly really lay an egg in the silverware drawer?!?!

Clouds

"I think we'll use the clouds as our nature find today."

...As spoken by our little one on this very afternoon.

What a joy it was to spend a few minutes outside today! The temperature is cooling sightly, the feeling of fall is in the air, and our bare feet made this wonderfully spontaneous time spent in the front yard that much more enjoyable.

What a delight it was to see the radiance in our newest little one's face as she felt the newness of grass against her sweet, chubby little legs, and as she grasped it in her sweet, chubby little fingers.

And how sweet to see our oldest as she enjoyed the beauty of God's creation, delighting in the clouds themselves, perhaps thinking of how she could save just a piece of them for her nature journal. 

What wonder fills our souls when we stand back

to gaze upon God's beautiful creation.

Just for Mommy

This post is just for Mommy, as I strive to cherish the sweetness of these delightful years. Oh how I love my husband and our little girls. I hope any dear readers of this post will pardon me for getting a bit sentimental at times, but one of my aims in maintaining a blog is to perhaps hold on to our sweet memories, remembering them in the best way that I can as the years go by. I do a bit of journaling here and there, I try to take lots and lots of pictures, and I do save those special mementos that will cause us to remember just a little bit more in the years ahead. But here, with this blog, I hope to be able to share just how much these special days with our young family mean to me. And perhaps, down the road, our little girls, when they are not so little anymore, will cherish these thoughts and ideas, knowing just how much we love them. And maybe they might even use an idea or two as they raise their young families.

So this one's for me:

Thank you my precious husband for how much you love me, for how much you love our girls. Thank you for leading our family in service to the Lord. Thank you for taking care of us, for working so hard to provide for our family. And thank you for delighting in what's important to us. How excited we are to see you at the end of the day! And what a task you have trying to shower each of us with affection as we try to clamor our way to you. Thank you for reading books and playing with horses and stables and farms, and thank you for taking our little ones for walks outside. What precious memories we have. Thank you for all of the wonderful years we've had together.

You are the love of my life.

And thank you, our little girls, for being so precious. You are so sweet, so lovable, so beautiful. Your sweet little souls fill my heart with joy. You make my days so full and so rich, and you give me such purpose. How I love having you with me as we go about our day. I love our sweet moments at home in the morning, our sweet outings in the afternoon, and our sweet snuggles at night. I love your smiles and your hugs. I love that you both love Daddy and Mommy so much. I love you, our oldest, for loving God so much and for having such a sweet, loving spirit that you try to do just what He asks of you, even at such a tender age. I love you, our littlest, for getting so excited about our Bible studies, for sitting so sweetly, looking up at Mommy and holding your little Bible, eyes filled with wonder and joy as we sing our Bible song.

I love you our little ones.

How thankful I am for God's richest blessings.

How He has made my dreams come true!

Paper Shapers

I mentioned in my previous post that Etsy is my new favorite online shopping site--what a gem to find such special handmade treasures! Well, I must say that after our little one's birthday party, I added a new favorite to my collection of crafting supplies as well! The Paper Shapers Scallop Circle Nesting Punch was perfect for making these lovely tags designed by Latoya at Paper Party Passion (PaperPartyPassion.etsy.com)! I enjoyed hanging the tags from balloons, tying them to the party favor bags, and attaching them to the children's honey bear bottles (for drinks, no less, as this was a party with bees as its highlight!).

While I certainly hope to use this lovely new crafting tool to make perfectly scalloped party tags again, I thought this would be useful at any time of the year for a variety of crafting projects. Maybe I'll have a picture or two down the road to accompany this list, but for now, here are a few ideas:

Memory Matching Game
By punching out a small number of tags from cardstock, you can easily add pairs of matching stickers for a homemade memory activity. Try a twist on the original idea of identical pictures and create "pairs" using opposite items, upper- and lower-case letters, or related items (such as socks and shoes or bread and butter).
Seasonal Craft Projects
These tags would be wonderful as a bouquet of spring flowers. Try punching them out, adding pipe cleaners, and placing them in a flower pot for a lovely seasonal activity!
Stencils for Painting
Instead of tossing the border that is left behind after punching out your tags, use them as stencils. Tape them to a piece of paper, and let your little one fill them in with paint.
Gift Tags
What an economical and fun way to add a personal touch to your holiday or birthday gifts! Try attaching them to a gift with a cute piece of ribbon.
Cupcake Decorating
Try placing the outer border that remains after punching out your gift tag over a cupcake and sprinkle with powdered sugar or cocoa. Then carefully remove the border, and you have a delightfully embellished confection!

Happy Birthday Precious!

 

To our dear little girl...

I love you so much, our dear little one. Please pardon my delay in writing this post just for you, but I cannot help but share a few things before another year quickly passes by. You are growing so much, and I'm afraid my attempts to keep you small are to no avail. I'm so proud of you. Your sweet spirit is so lovely, and your love for God and His Word even at this young age encourage me so much. Thank you for being our oldest little baby. We love you, and we cherish you. I'm afraid words cannot fully describe every little joy I have with you, every moment I have cherished, every time I have kissed your sweet, soft little cheek, lingering just an extra moment to savor the sweetness of you., how my heart skips a beat now and then out of delight for your sweet little whims. How I have tried to write down so many special memories, and then with the rest, I try to cherish them in my heart. You are truly a joy. Thank you for being who you are. God has certainly blessed Mommy and Daddy in that we have the privilege of loving you.

And to the rest...

We had such fun celebrating her birthday this year! It is truly to my delight that I have the blessing of planning another party for one of our little ones! Perhaps it is just one of the sweetest joys of motherhood to me... the planning, the cutting, the sewing, the gluing, the baking, the writing, the endless pondering of the little details for an upcoming birthday... I just love it! We had such a fun time celebrating with bumblebees upon bumblebees! But perhaps one of the greatest joys of all was that we were able to just enjoy her on her actual birthday, with fun festivities the day after! What fun we had playing with new horseback riding accessories from Grandma in the "round booth" at one of our favorite little restaurants... and seeing the delight in her expression later when she wore a sombrero at our favorite Mexican eatery--truly sweet! Perhaps that is one of the greatest lessons learned on my part: regardless of the number of things that seem to be endlessly adding themselves to my to-do list around the time of a birthday, simply setting those things aside--even at the expense of much-needed sleep--is worth it to me just to be able to enjoy these beloved babies of ours!

And a note or two regarding my new favorite online store... Etsy!
I just love it! I hope to have more on the details of a thing or two about the party coming up, but for now, I want to make sure to credit the designers who made a couple of the lovely items in the pictures noted above. Latoya from Paper Party Passion(PaperPartyPassion.etsy.com) made some lovely bumblebee templates (at a wonderfully economical price!) that I used for the gift and drink tags pictured above, as well as for her invitations and birthday banner. A template for folding cards also came with this order. And the beautiful bumblebee birthday clips that we used as party favors were made by Kelly at All Things Girly (http://www.etsy.com/people/AllThingsGirly?ref=pr_profile). These were just adorable!

Happy birthday to our little bumblebee!

Raising Butterflies

What a treat this was for our little one to see her caterpillars change into butterflies! Insect Lore's Live Butterfly Garden provided a terrific first-hand look at this amazing process, and what a privilege it was for us to observe how wonderful even the smallest of God's creatures truly is. We will look forward to purchasing this butterfly garden again next year!