My Top 3 Picks for Baby Toys

Here are my latest favorites for babies...

The Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Learning Home has been a hit for both Baby Girl and Big Sister!

 

And I love our Colorpillar Sorting Mat by Lakeshore Learning as well as

our set of Schylling Musical Handbells pictured in front. The Colorpillar Sorting Mat comes with a great set of manipulatives to place on the caterpillar mat (I've added some extra toys in this picture). 

Thanks to Grandma for these sweet gifts!

Savoring Spring's Beautiful Blooms

Percy Bysshe Shelley, "The Sensitive Plant"

I am in love with flowers, simply smitten you might say. I stand in awe of God's magnificent creation. The blooms that graciously follow the changing of the seasons are simply stunning. God, in His infinite wisdom, is a Perfect Designer. Each bloom follows the next, looking nearly exactly like the others, with a consistent number of petals, and is of a shape and pattern that only escalates its beauty. Its color ranges from the palest of hues to the most vibrant of shades. It is simply beautiful.

We have adored heading outside to savor the beauty of these early spring days. And it is to my delight that our oldest little one at her tender age of three, has developed a love for flowers, carefully selecting some of the season's loveliest blooms for her mommy. And so I was delighted when she noticed that our lovely cherry tree had just starting displaying its beautiful pink blossoms. We snipped a few of the choicest blooms and then made our way to the stunning dogwood trees that grace our yard. Our little one gathered the finest bouquet of spring blossoms, making for lovely arrangements in our heirloom vases and fluted dishes throughout our home. I love to pass by these gorgeous blooms adorning our rooms as we go about our day!

Make sure to visit a bowl full of lemons to see what other projects await.

And don't forget to join this extended link party to share your latest project!

Spring Days

We are loving these splendid spring days! The weather has been gorgeous, and the season's prettiest blooms have been gracing our yard for weeks. Wagon rides and bubble blowing have been quite a priority, and outdoor picnics have been a must. What a blessing it is to enjoy these precious days with my family in the midst of a most gorgeous season!

Little Ones

How beautiful little babies are! Their sweetness, their softness, their adorable smiles. Our Heavenly Father, the Giver of all good blessings, has blessed mothers and fathers so abundantly with the gift of little ones. This afternoon, as I savored the sweetness of our youngest who recently celebrated her first birthday, I could not help but think of what a delightfully precious, wonderfully special little baby she is. Oh, how I just love to love her. She is chubby and soft and sweet. I love her dark little curls that graciously turn out as the day passes, her beautiful brown eyes that are bright and full of joy, and her sweet little cheeks that seem to be made only for kisses. I love that her smile spreads across her face so easily, almost as though she was born to do just that. She is cuddly and loves to snuggle with her mommy. She bounces across the floor so joyfully, following after her daddy, and she admiringly imitates the playful nature of her beloved sister. She is truly so precious.

What a blessing it is to enjoy this time in our lives, to delight in the sweetness of our children. Our God is such a loving and magnificent Creator that He made these little babies to be just as they are. They are nearly irresistible it seems to mothers and fathers and their doting grandparents. Who can help but lovingly adore the baby who offers a newfound kiss, who squeals with delight when she sees a familiar person, or who waves goodbye for the first time? God has blessed us so richly, allowing us to delight in the smallest of things. As mothers, we savor these precious moments, often scrambling to try to jot down the cutest of little whims in our memory books. We cannot help but share these smallest steps with our husbands when we see them at the day's end, and we must share the latest of their smallest accomplishments with dear friends and adoring grandparents. God has called us to raise these precious souls according to His Word (Ephesians 6:4). He could have made this the simplest, most ordinary of tasks. But He is so gracious and so loving that He has allowed us to delight in these little ones with a joy that can only be known by those who have children. Let us praise our God for His most bountiful blessings.

A heart's toll



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I recently stumbled upon a copy of Joseph Slate's The Great Big Wagon That Rang at our local library. I couldn't help but add this to our borrowed collection of historical finds, as we have been delving into American history. Our oldest little girl and I have been having such fun trying to learn the forty-four presidents who led our nation. And even our little one has enjoyed the review as we make our way through the list! And so with a renewed appreciation for our country's history, this title seemed like a great addition to our studies.

As we prepared to read this book, I could not help but reflect upon a visit to the Liberty Bell that my family enjoyed when I was a young girl. My father loved our family dearly, and he loved our nation's history. He loved taking us to see the sights of some of our country's most honored places. And perhaps one of the things that I remember most is his love for finding a priceless remembrance of our trip. And they truly are priceless, these small souvenirs that have stayed with me all these years.

It has been a while since I last reflected on these special memories, but what a joy it is to now have this small remembrance of the Liberty Bell displayed in our bookcase once again. What a joy it has been to ring this little bell for our children to hear, the bell that many years ago was placed in my hands by my loving father. And how precious, even still, to be able to speak to our girls of their late grandfather who would have loved them so much had he lived long enough to see his grandchildren. My heart ached this very evening thinking of my father. How much he would have loved to have seen his family through the years. What a blessing it is to hear my sweet little daughter as she joyfully asks, "Are you going to be excited to see your daddy in heaven?" Oh what a joy it will be!

Love One Another

We talk a great deal about caring for one another. The girls and I regularly visit Matthew 22:37-40, letting the words of Jesus settle in our hearts: "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind...You shall love your neighbor as yourself,'" And we turn quite often to Galatians 5:22-23, in which Paul exhorts us to "walk by the Spirit" (v.25), exhibiting "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." And we cannot help but remember Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 13, as he explains just how to love one another.

And so it is that the training of little souls requires diligent nurturing and patient attention as the days at home quickly turn into weeks, and the weeks inevitably turn into months, and the months gradually turn into years, and quite suddenly it must seem that that they were born just yesterday!

We love homeschooling... learning to count plastic hearts over breakfast... practicing reading lessons in our imaginary Irish cottage... delighting in the latest of our library selections over lunch. It is just so fun. With all of the attention to these ever-important subjects, it is easy to neglect that aspect of spiritual training that comes from serving others outside of our home. But it is just for this reason that I still love homeschooling... because even when there is a week when the completion of core subjects seems to be ill-accomplished, there is a reminder that there are things that are truly more important.

I'm so thankful for a certain dear friend who is such an encouragement to me as she strives to tend to the needs of both older and younger Christians. She is terrific when it comes to visiting older members of our local congregation, and she is so thoughtful to prepare a meal for someone and place it in the freezer in the anticipation that it might be needed. What a blessing to have such a loving Christian sister! And so it was during a recent afternoon, that while the diligent pursuit of scholastic proficiency seemed to have eluded us, it is with full conviction that I can say that a great deal more was learned while spending the afternoon encouraging a dear sister who is advanced in years. The girls and I had such fun, and if it means that our afternoon's reading and writing activities lay untouched for the day, it was all the more gain to us. How often it is that when we set out to encourage another, we ourselves are the ones who are truly encouraged.

All in Green

Last Year's Leprechaun Visit

What a fun day it was! Our girls awoke to find that a leprechaun had visited while they slept. Green footprints trailed through the kitchen, claiming our cabinet doors, chairs, and floor. And how they delighted in finding everything awry... chairs were misplaced or tipped over, plates were overturned and sporting four-leaf clover cookies. Glasses were upside-down, and a small place had been set just for Mr. Leprechaun in our high chair. And as would be expected, his food was green, and he was quite brazen to have had a small glass of green sprinkles to drink! And while I do not offer to claim any dealings with this display, I was quite surprised to see that a certain Daddy Leprechaun had contributed to the fun while I slept! How fun it was to delight in the whimsy of the day. We even enjoyed a trip to the bookstore to begin our St. Patrick's Day book collection. Here's what we found:

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How thankful I am for the smiling faces and joyful hearts that made this day so precious!

A season in which...

Welcome back to The Blissful Pear! I'm excited to be writing once again after having enjoyed a bit of a break with my family during the winter months. What a lovely time it's been, and I'm excited to say that we've been diligently pressing on with our homeschooling efforts. I hope to share more about our latest endeavors during the coming weeks, so please stop by again soon!