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!

Nursery Rhymes

We love our copy of Scott Gustafson's beautifully illustrated Favorite Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose, and perhaps the loving inscription on the inside of the front cover made by a dear grandmother makes it even sweeter! We delight in reading nursery rhymes, and the wonderful paintings that accompany this lovely collection truly set this book apart from the rest. 

There is so much to glean from the reading of nursery rhymes, and what sweet memories we have made with our oldest in sharing these lovely literary charms. Now what a joy it is to begin sharing these with our six-month-old little girl as well!

While the simple pleasures of reading together and reciting these lovely poems and songs are priceless, the developmental aspects that accompany the reading of nursery rhymes make this activity truly worthwhile! Here are a few things that I like to keep in mind when reading nursery rhymes:

1. Nursery rhymes serve as a wonderful introduction to classic tales. Some nursery rhymes have been around for quite some time, and what a benefit it is to develop a taste for traditional literature during the early years. The richness of the classic language, the rhythm of the poems, the choice of vocabulary, and the use of expressions from long ago make nursery rhymes both amusing and educational.

2. The rhythmic nature of these delightful poems and songs makes these a perfect introduction to beginning language skills. The predictable sequences and anticipated rhythm of sounds can enhance the early use of sounds and sentence patterns, as well as build reading skills later on.

3. These rhyming sequences are usually easy for little ones to remember, providing opportunities to enhance their memory skills.

4. The funny and oftentimes nonsensical themes make nursery rhymes a wonderful source for imaginative play. Think of Humpty Dumpty, Jack and Jill, or Hickory Dickory Dock--what fun these can be for a little mind to ponder and to incorporate into their play!

What fun nursery rhymes are! And what a joy they are to remember and recite together as you go about your day. I remember some time ago our oldest daughter was keeping me company as I tended to the laundry one evening. We had such fun reciting "Little Jack Horner," adding variations to the nursery rhyme and giggling as we did so. Perhaps Little Jack Horner was eating his yogurt, peach pie, or hamburger when he stuck in his thumb! What a joy it is to remember the precious sounds of her laughter!

Here's a great article about the potential benefits of reading nursery rhymes to your child: http://wikiparenting.parentsconnect.com/wiki/Nursery_Rhyme_Benefits

Sweet Pitter-Patterns

I love finding things like this. It fills my heart with joy to stumble upon sights such as these precious little shoes as I tidy up throughout the day. And what a delight to see the pattern that she created. How I have pondered the ways to naturally implement patterning instruction. I'm afraid she may be a bit ahead of me!

Seek the Lord

"I will bless the LORD at all times;

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul shall make its boast in the LORD;

The humble shall hear it and rejoice.

O magnify the LORD with me.

And let us exalt His name together."

Psalm 34:1-3

These Lovely Days

What sweetness fills our days! How thankful I am for you. I love you our baby girls. Thank you for making this day and every day so special...

Baking with Sweethearts

We love to bake at our house. I do enjoy cooking, yes, but baking is truly delightful. I love everything about it, except perhaps the tidying up afterwards. But the measuring of ingredients and the simultaneous estimations of a few things here and there, the anticipation that comes from tweaking the recipe a bit--does sour cream really work in carrot cake? (yes! try adding a dollop or two!)... I delight in using my Kitchen Aid mixer, and I love getting out my cookie scoop and remembering that my dear friend gave it to me as a birthday gift several years ago. I love tasting the batter for my mom's delicious poppy seed bread and remembering that this is what she has made as Christmas gifts for friends and neighbors for as long as I can remember. I love the aroma that fills the house as the sweet confections bake to perfection. And the first nibble of the cake that is now ready... carefully pulling at a few crumbs to see if that extra ingredient was really worth it. And the beauty of baked desserts: truly difficult to surpass! Shall I use my lovely fluted cake stand given to me fromby my dear sister-in-law several years ago, or shall I use that special Fostoria pattern that my mother-in-law saved for me...

Baking has long been a treasured pasttime of mine, and I hope to pass this delightful endeavor on to our little girls. But even more than that, I hope to make sweet memories with them that they will enjoy for years to come. Our three-year-old has truly become my "baking buddy," as I have often called her. What fun it will be when our youngest can join us as well!

We have spent many wonderful afternoons baking together and have learned a bit about what makes the memory truly lovely. Here are few tips to follow to make the most of your baking time and to ensure that it is truly sweet for both Mommy and Little Ones!

1. Find a way to bring your little one right up to the counter. We use a kitchen chair, but the specially made stools with siderails would be wonderful too.
2. Place a large towel under your child's chair. This will save a great deal of cleanup afterwards!
3. With that being said, relax a bit, and let your little one have fun! Prepare for flour-dusted noses, sugar-laden countertops, and a spill here and there.
4. Get all of your ingredients out before you begin. And make sure to grab the items that are stored farthest away from your baking area, so you don't have to walk away from your little one if possible.
5. Allow your little one to have a bowl of her own to freely mix her ingredients.
6. Provide some extra kitchen untensils, and try to include a few that are seemingly unrelated to your current preparations, just for fun!
7. Encourage your little one to help measure the actual ingredients. Teach her the technique for leveling flour and packing brown sugar.
8. Speaking of brown sugar, prepare for a little taste testing! This particular ingredient is quite a favorite at our house!
9. And, of course, savor the sweetness of the moment. Make sure to turn on some music, snap a picture or two, and have lots of fun!

Fall is in the Air!

I'm afraid it's still in the 90s here, but I'm quite sure that fall is on its way! We have been so blessed to have had such a wonderful summer, but oh, is fall so blissful! I love the crisp coolness in the air, the changing of the colors, the coziness that comes from being indoors, the smells that come from apples and cinnamon baking, the dragging out of last year's long-sleeved shirts that have been partially forgotten, and the anticipation of upcoming holidays.

September 23rd is our official start date, so perhaps we will be doing an informal countdown for the next several weeks. Nevertheless, this slight change in the air and the eagerness that comes with seasons changing does not stop us from getting out our cinnamon and apple spice tea. And we did just that! I enjoyed sitting outside with our little ones this afternoon, drinking hot tea that truly stayed quite hot, as the sun kept it wonderfully warm! Nevermind that we were also a little toasty from the lovely sunshine today, but we did enjoy reading a fall book that we recently checked out at the library. I hope to have more to share about this delightful season in weeks to come, but for now, we'll get a head start in our celebration of autumn with a peek at this latest fall selection...

and at our delightful cool weather tea (which was noted to smell like apple pie, as my little one stated)...

For now, enjoy the continued delights of summer... I do love to look ahead, but what a blessing it is just to enjoy today.