Little Blue Truck 3rd Birthday Party

Ry's favorite book is Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle. He has it memorized and loves all the sounds the truck and farm animals make. To celebrate his 3rd birthday, we got down on the farm.

I wasn't as on the ball with this party as I usually am, but we had fun anyway!

Riding his new 'tractor' with some help from Dad. (Can't quite reach the pedals yet!)

Invitation
I found this free printable. It was easy to download the graphic, and add it to a Word document. I added the "Moo Cluck Peep..." etc. animal sounds and the wording.

50 Books for Babies

If you know us at all, you know we LOVE books! I've been reading to Ry pretty much since he was born, and now that he's almost ready to start preschool, I thought it was high time I posted a list of our favorite books.

This is a list of books Ry loved to look at from birth until about 18 months of age. There are a few we occasionally still flip through, but they're not as 'favorite' now as they were during his first year and a half. There are SO many books we could have chosen to list, but these books are the ones we've read over and over.

A note about our book choices:  we prefer to focus on books that are rooted in reality, as children don't develop the ability to distinguish between fantasy and reality until they're about 3 years old. As a result, they're aren't many books on this list featuring animals that talk or wear clothing, fairy tails, monsters, superheroes or other fantastical situations.

I also prefer to choose books for babies that have beautiful illustrations or photography or are visually stimulating.  We borrowed many of these books from our local library and purchased our very favorites or received several as gifts. 

Critters

1. Wild Animals (Baby touch and feel) by DK Publishing
2. Animals (Baby Touch and Feel) by DK Publishing
3. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
4. Knut the Baby Polar Bear by Juliana Hatkoff
5. My Big Animal Book by Roger Priddy
6. I Went Walking by Sue Williams
7. Who Says Quack? by Jerry Smith
8. Baby's Animal Friends by Phoebe Dunn
9. Look at the Animals by Peter Linenthal

   10. Baby's Very First Noisy Book by Usborne

Ry is just in love with animals. We've had so much fun naming animals (both vocal and ASL), and learning their sounds. My in-laws gave Ry this Usborne noisy book when he was just a few months old. The illustrations are very simple, but Ry enjoyed turning the pages and pushing the buttons to hear the animal noises. It's one of the few books we had out constantly for almost 2 years. (Note, Usborne doesn't sell this particular book anymore, but they have several other very first noisy book variations, such as farm, train, zoo, etc.)

Ry also loves the Baby Touch and Feel animal books. He enjoys feeling the different textures on each page and actually still flips through these ones from time to time.

30 Before 30 Update: September 2013 Edition

As you might imagine, my days as of late have been chock full of baby stuff... but I did manage to wake up long enough to read a couple of books and overhaul a few recipes in my recipe file.  If you're just joining us and are thinking, "What's 30 Before 30?", check out my original post here.

So, this month my fun book was Jacob's Way by Gilbert Morris.  I've been reading Gilbert Morris books since I was in 8th grade, so this was a re-read for me.  All the same, I enjoyed myself.  Basically, the story is about a Jewish girl and her grandfather who emigrate from Russia to the US shortly after the civil war.  They become peddlers, meet some very interesting characters and search for the truth... is Jesus truly the Messiah the Jews are waiting for? I enjoyed the story and found the details about the Orthodox Jewish traditions interesting.  There's some great dialogue between Jacob (the elderly Jewish man) and Sam (the middle aged civil war vet) throughout the last half of the book that you won't want to miss.  And of course, what would any Gilbert Morris novel be without a love story woven through it.  This one doesn't disappoint and there is a happy ending for everyone.  I figured there would be a happy ending, but getting there is all the fun - there's plenty of twists and turns along the way.  Recommend this one for sure.

My educational/devotional book this month was The New Dare to Discipline by Dr. James Dobson.  I read this book back in college as part of a child development class, but M and I borrowed this book from my parents a while back and have been re-reading it together.  I don't necessarily agree with every single thing in the book, but I do respect Dobson's years of experience (both as a psychologist and a father) and advice.  The man does know what he's talking about... This is not a book you can just fly through.  It requires a lot of thought, and it inspired many discussions as M and I agree together on the discipline measures that will help us accomplish our goal of raising a happy, healthy, responsible, godly, independent, hard-working person.  A daunting task, really, and I'm very overwhelmed at the prospect at times, but Dobson's work was a great place to start the discussion. We'll be implementing some of his techniques as Ry Guy gets older, too. 

There are so many things I'd like to be doing (like quilting, or scrapbook, or continuing with my great Recipe File Makeover), but let's face it... sleep is my primary leisure activity right now.  I hope to get back into those things again soon and will keep you updated on the progress. 

The search is on for some new books to read.  Any suggestions?   What's the latest thing you've read?

30 Before 30 Update: April 2013 Edition

Here's an update on my 30 Before 30 list.  Read some great books this month! 

My fun book for the month was The Whitney Chronicles by Judy Baer.  It was an easy read...and hysterical, to boot.  The main character, Whitney, is bummed about being single and 30, when suddenly, she's being pursued by 3 eligible bachelors!  Throw in some challenges in her best friend's life, a menopausal mother and crazy office co-workers, and what's not to love? Along the way, Whitney learns some things about waiting on God's best for her life while not putting her life on hold in the meantime.  I felt it was a well written novel and very entertaining.  I must have laughed out loud a dozen times. 

I'm looking forward to the sequel... that's next month's fun book!

On Our Bookshelf

Very excited about my birthday gift... I LOVE these books!

I blame my love for the written word on my parents (thank you!), who are REALLY big into reading themselves.

I was cleaning my office the other day and opened up a storage bin that contained some keepsakes from my childhood... some of which are my favorite books.  There was Mandie staring up at me.  I had to smile. I have fond memories of my mom reading us a chapter in the morning before school if we were able to get ready to go a few minutes early.  That was enough incentive for me to be early.  And at six years old, my love for books began.

The suspense of a mystery, the excitement of a new adventure, the emotion of a love lost or found... I've traveled the world and the centuries through books I've read... and I've loved every second of it.

After we'd been dating a while, M and I started reading books aloud together.  Partially for "speech therapy" for me and partially because it's something we enjoy doing.  While he was in grad school, the reading together really slowed down, but now that he's all done (hurray!) we're looking for a new book to read.  Any suggestions?