What We're Reading Now

I've actually seen a couple of posts lately on other blogs that list the books that their little ones love and it gave me the idea to put one together of what we are reading right now!

Little L LOVES books!  Which is good because my favorite thing to buy for her is books!  I've discovered the books at Goodwill and Savers (a thrift shop).  They are all $0.99 or less and I've gotten quite a few for $0.49!  They're usually in pretty decent shape and it really doesn't matter that they aren't brand new since even new books don't look too new after a few reads through by Little L.  :)  So here are her favorites right now.

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

Little L absolutely loves this book!  For months she made us read this book before every nap and every time she went to bed.  She even took it to bed with her most nights!  Her favorite part is when "all the little girls cried 'BooHoo! We want to have our appendix out too;"  She always laughs at the sad face I make when I read that line.  This is the first book that she really "read" to me.  It is amazing what she can remember!

Corduroy by Don Freedman

I'm loving the fact that some of Little L's favorite books are "classics"!  This is another one that Little L was having us read every night for awhile.  I think her favorite part is when Corduroy accidentally ends up on the escalator and thinks he's climbing a mountain (I always make the book go up and she loves that!)

Shiver Me Letters: A Pirate ABC by June Sobel

This one has moved up the list to her number one favorite right now!  I found it at Goodwill for $0.49 and thought it would be a fun read.  It's about pirates that decide they need other letters (besides 'R' of course!) to help make them tough.  The best part is both the hubby and I get to practice our pirate voices when we read this one!

Freight Train by Donald Crews

Yet another Goodwill find!  The copy I got is actually an old library book but it is in great condition.  This one has a really simple story but the pictures are so amazing!  Little L loves pointing at each type of car on the freight train.

Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner

One of my favorite bloggers (Amanda at ohAmanda and Impress Your Kids) had mentioned this one in a post of hers and so when I saw it at Goodwill I had to have it!  This is another one of those fun voice books.  I get to use my best Hispanic accent when I read it to Little L and it always makes her laugh!  (me too!)

Well, that's just a short list of some of our top read books in Little L's room.  Now on to what the hubby and I are reading.

The hubby is in the middle of reading Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back by Todd Burpo

He said it was a little slow to start off with but he has been enjoying it a lot!  Last night he read about the Throne Room of God and said it was just amazing to read!  I'm planning on reading it when he's finished.

I have been feeding the 12 year old girl that lives inside of me by reading the Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery.  

I actually found the first three books (Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, and Anne of the Island) in a box my parents had brought me from home a few years ago.  I thought I had read them before but when I started reading them I realized I never had!  They have been such great reads that I haven't been able to put them down!  (And I was greatly relieved when Anne and Gilbert finally got engaged at the end of Anne of the Island!)  Now I just have to go get Anne of Windy Poplars from the library since they don't have it as an ebook on Amazon (they have all but 2 from the series as free ebooks). This is definitely a series I will be reading with Little L when she gets older!  (Along with The Chronicles of Narnia and The Little House on the Prairie books!)

Well, I hope this gave you some inspiration to go pick up a book! 

Little L's Elmo Second Birthday Party

Sorry for the long delay in posting but we have been keeping ourselves super busy (posts and pictures to come)....

For Little L's 2nd birthday party I decided to keep it pretty low key but I wanted to make sure she knew she was being celebrated and I wanted a theme!  Grandma S flew into town that morning and then we started the day at the MN Children's Museum (yes, I will never stop singing the praises of that place!) and met our friends Mrs. M, Miss E, Mr. E and Papa J!  Then we had a "special" McDonald's lunch!

Grandma gave her gummy bears and they ended up on her face!

This is the cupcake shirt I made for her...it turned out better than I expected but not quite as cute as I hoped!

McDonald's Birthday lunch!

She LOVES the water!

Grandma S got Little L her very own kitchen so we put it together while she was sleeping and this is her checking it out!

That night we had just a few people over.  Little L's Grandpa G and Grandma C (the hubby's parents), Grandma S (my mom), Mrs. M, Miss E, and Papa J, plus S and D!  Not a huge party (and only one other kiddo) but still lots of fun!

Like I mentioned earlier, I decided to go with an Elmo theme, which mostly just meant an Elmo balloon, some printouts of Elmo on the wall and, drumroll please.......... Elmo cupcakes!

They really didn't take that long to make and it was fun (although the icing never really got to a true "Elmo" red!)

The girls eating supper at a table that is just their size!

The innocent start of the cupcake eating....

My girlfriend kept egging Little L on until she got the red frosting all.over. which led to...

an impromptu bath!

Little L had so much fun and got so many great gifts!  She is so high tech we even opened gifts with Grandpa M on ichat!  One of the best parts has been listening to her talk about her party in the days and weeks after it happened!  She wanted to keep getting presents in the days that followed (if you even mentioned the word she would pipe up and say "more!")  She also kept talking about her "birthday cake"!  My favorite was when she started talking about the cupcakes..."Eat Elmo's eyes", "Eat Elmo's nose", "Eat Elmo's mouth"!  I never really thought about that fact that making Elmo cupcakes meant she was eating Elmo!  It was too funny!  :)

All in all, we had a great time celebrating Little L's big day!

What I think about...The Velveteen Bible

I recently had the opportunity to review Thomas Nelson's newest children's Bible called "The Velveteen Bible".

First, here is a little blurb from Thomas Nelson's website about this Bible.
"A sweet addition to the Tommy Nelson Baby/Toddler Bible line, using an adorable image of a flocked velvet bunny.

Inspired by Baby's First Bible with the adorable fuzzy duck cover, this new offering for little ones, The Velveteen Bible features soft fur and a fuzzy tail! Inside, the New King James Version scripture is accompanied by whimsical images of bunnies and other baby animals, colorful borders, and lovely sentiments from the scriptures. The Bible is packaged in a keepsake treasure box."

This Bible is so sweet looking and a great size for little hands.  The velvet flocking in the cover is a sweet touch that really makes you want to run your hands over it!  Inside there are 3 sets of 4 pictures painted in watercolors that have a bible verse to go along with them.  They are so fun and add a little color which is always good in a children's Bible. 

At the front of the Bible there is a dedication page and then a place to write in the child's brothers, sisters, and grandparents names and birth dates.  There is also a page for the important dates in the child's life like dedication, confirmation, etc.  I think that addition makes it feel a little like a grown up's bible in a fun way.

This is a full Bible in the New King James Version so it is not something that Little L will be reading on a regular basis just yet but I still think it will make a nice addition to her Easter basket this year!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

We're Back!

I know that there aren't a ton of you out there just sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for me to post something again but I do know that a few of you actually look forward to seeing pictures and hearing what we've been up to (especially Little L!)...so to you, I apologize for my lack of posts.  But I'm back now and will hopefully be posting on a more regular basis!  (Oh, and I hope you like my new background...I think it really represents how we all feel around here about the weather!)

First I'll give you a quick recap of everything that has gone on in the last three months!

Little L turned 2!!! (I'll have a post for her party up soon)  It is hard to believe but she is definitely leaving behind the baby stage and turning into a full fledged toddler!  Her vocabulary is crazy!  She is entering the parrot phase and it is so fun to hear her using phrases like "See you later".  She loves to say hi to everyone we see at the grocery store (and if the person she is talking to doesn't hear her she will just keep saying hi until they do!)  I think my all time favorite though, is that lately she has started praying over her food.  It usually goes something like "Dear God, thank you mumble, mumble, mumble, mumble in Jesus name. Amen"  Cutest.thing.ever.

Singing is also a new hobby that Little L has picked up!  She loves to sing a lot of Veggie Tales songs (the theme song, "Barbara Manatee", "Song of the Cebu", "I Love My Lips", and "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" are some of her favorites).  "Frosty the Snowman", "The Eitsy-Bitsy Spider", "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and the ever popular "ABC's" are some of the others that are in heavy rotation.

In other news...the hubby started working full time as a union electrician again just over a month ago.  The job is a real blessing since it is located only 10 minutes from our home, is an inside job (so no working in the yucky weather, hot or cold), and it looks like it could last for a while.  While we are thankful for the new job, it definitely put some twists into our daily lives.  For one thing, my daddy daycare had to close up shop so we needed to find a new place for Little L to hang out on the two days that I'm at work.  I also had to travel to a Yoplait plant out near Boston right after the hubby went back to work so my mom ended up flying in from CA to spend a week with us and watch Little L while I was gone.  It was a huge blessing and a lot of fun!  Little L always loves it when Grandma K comes to visit since she knows she is gonna get a little spoiled (for instance, now Little L has a favorite new treat...Jelly Belly Jelly Beans!  Thanks Grandma!)

After some research and about 5 interviews, we found a great spot for Little L to go while I'm at work! She is at an in home daycare that Mrs. K has been running for almost 30 years (and bonus...it's directly on my way to work only 5 mins away)!  There is another little girl that is just a month older than her plus 2 that are younger and a few more that are older.  Mrs. K is great and even does letters, numbers, books, crafts, etc.  Little L had so much fun her first week and I know she is looking forward to going back next week!

Well, I guess that is about it for all the fabulous stuff that has been keeping us on the go!  Here are some pictures of Little L to leave you with until my next post!

So stylin!!

Who me?!?!

This is a classic Little L look when she is trying to get away with something!

Dialing some friends

Driving the van!  (one of her new favorite things to do!)