What My Child is Reading

One of J's favorite activities is reading books and I absolutely love cuddling him on my lap and reading. I like to link up to What My Child Is Reading blog link-up. Not only is it a great way to record the wonderful books we've read, but I've found so many new good book ideas by visiting each week. Click on the button below to see what others have been reading!

Bright Stanley by Matt Buckingham
I recently discovered a series of books called Tiger Tales and they are really fun. I love the bright and colorful pictures and the whimsical stories with a variety of adventures and different animals and characters. The stories in the "Under the Sea" series are so fun, like this one. Stanley one of the brightest fish in the ocean, yet one day he loses his school. The story follows him on a journey to reunite with his bright fish friends.

Diego's Arctic Rescue by Erica David
My son enjoys Diego's adventures and I like what he learns about the environment and caring for the animals in it. In this book, a mother polar bear gets separated from her cubs due to the ice melting. Diego finds a way with the help of a Beluga whale, his friend Dora and others to rescue the baby polar bears and return them to their mother.

M is for Monster by Mike Wazowski
My son watched Monsters Inc for the first time recently and was thrilled when we found a book from the movie. This one is an alphabet book written by one of the characters. I watched several times when my son picked it up on his own and was reading through the alphabet on his own.

Nova the Robot Builds a Friend by David Kirk
J has been getting into robots lately and the Nova books are really fun. This book is all about shapes. On each page, he has to identify which shape Nova is looking for and then Nova adds it to his robot. Nova ends up making a dog robot when all the shapes are put together.

Planets Around the Sun by Seymour Simon
I'm teaching J about the planets and he is fascinated by them! After a little search at the library, I found this great book. A very simple look at the basics about the planets in our solar system. We love the pictures too.

This is the Day by Nancy White Carlstrom
This is a ZonderKids book based on Psalm 118:24 (This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.) Each day of the week in the book brings another realm of God's creation to be thankful for. The pictures encourage an appreciation of nature and all that God has made and also teaches the days of the week.

Tiberius and the Friendly Dragon by Keith Harvey
This is the second Tiberius book we have come across now. Tiberius is a cute little mouse who has adventures with a friendly red dragon. In this adventure, the people in town are afraid of a scary red monster living on the edge of town. The only one who volunteers to investigate is Tiberius the mouse. What he ends up finding instead of a scary monster is a new friend. It teaches such a lovely message about the value of friendship and reaching out to those who are lonely.

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Hedgehog by David Kirk
This is another cute robot book with Nova the robot. In this book, he's created a little hedgehog robot but he has long spikes that have electric current. All the hedgehog wants to do is cuddle with the other robots, but each time he tries he gives them a big shock! Nova has to find a way to help and after re-wiring him, he's finally able to cuddle up to his friends.


Thanks for visiting!


Here are links to a couple other fun book reading link ups:





As an affiliate of Amazon, I will receive a small commission for any books purchased from the links in the widget above!

The Little Joys of Summer

^{Psalm 24:1-6
1} The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
² for he founded it on the seas
and established it on the waters.

³ Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place?
⁴ The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not trust in an idol
or swear by a false god.

⁵ They will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God their Savior.
⁶ Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, God of Jacob.

I've been wondering what to do in a personal post for some time now. The summer has kept us so busy and in the last two weeks our family has been hit by a nasty cold. J even had his first-ever ear infection. As we recover, we have been spending time relaxing. This morning I was watching Barney with my son and they were "listening to the night time". While watching it I got my idea, to write a post on the little things I love about summer. It reminds me to slow down and thank the Lord for these little blessings he sends my way. The verse above goes well with this post.

*Lightning bugs flickering around the yard

Seeing the lightning bugs takes me back to being a kid and all the playing we did outside around dusk and after dark. I loved watching the fire flies flickering everywhere you looked. I still do. It is just amazing to me to see their little bodies light up as they fly around. It helps me to slow down and just enjoy these creatures of the summer. It is fun watching my son enjoy them too.















*The hooting of a Great Horned Owl outside our home
Earlier this summer while working on the computer late at night, I became aware of a sound in the night. As I stopped to listen more closely, I realized it was an owl! I just love owls. I think they are incredibly fascinating animals. I used to hear them outside my bedroom in the house I grew up in but I never heard any here where I live. I looked online and found out what I was hearing was a Great Horned Owl. See this link: Owl Sound.













*The feeling of a warm, evening breeze while outside watering the garden at night.
I love going out in the evening right at dusk to do my watering. The sky is lit up in different colors and the air still holds the humidity of the day. Often there is a warm, refreshing breeze blowing through. I love just feeling the soft wind on my face and thinking about the Lord's goodness.












*The wonderment of seeing little animal babies
We had a baby raccoon visit our yard the other day. He waddled around and then climbed up a tree and sat there a good part of the day. I couldn't get any decent pictures (this was from Clip Art), but take my word for it that he was cute. Late in the day, he came down off his perch and was heading quickly toward our busy 4-lane road. I ran outside to head him off just in time to see him scoot into the sewer into the safety of the underground pipes. We have also had baby birds and enjoy watching them flitting about and crying out for food as their parents tend to them.












*The sound of the cricket symphony in the evenings of summer
It is a refreshing activity for me to tune into the sounds of the outdoors and nature. I especially love listening to the crickets at night. This is another thing that takes me back to my childhood. It is such a relaxing sound and I love to think about the little creatures that are making it. I always miss it when the crickets disappear when winter comes.


Hope you are enjoying the sights and sounds of summer too!
Thanks for visiting :o)


Photos: Courtesy of Microsoft Clip Art

Tiny Talk Tuesday

**J is 37 months old**

*************************************************************************************
Tiny Talk Tuesday is a way to share the fun and interesting things our kids are saying. I love joining up for this blog carnival at Not Before 7. Click her button above to see what kind of Tiny Talk has been overhead in the homes of others!
*************************************************************************************

Lately, J has made a game of taking off the marker caps and putting them on his fingers. He'll say, "I want to do funny fingers mommy!" Once they are on each finger, he waves them around and even makes up little songs.

J came up to me out of the blue one morning and said, "I'm going to touch your cheeks 'cuz they're really cutie!" He says this as he takes his little finger and presses it to my cheek. Awwwww!

I went to a dinner party for a mom's night out and daddy took care of J. I came home and my little one came running to me. I picked him up in my arms and just squeezed and squeezed him in a huge hug. He took his little hands and cupped my face saying, "You are precious, mommy." (Tears.)

One time when I stepped away to do some laundry and J realized where I went, he said, "You are a funny dickens. You snuck downstairs to do laundry you funny dickens."

Lately, J and I have been playing a rhyming game. He will ask me a question asking, "What rhymes with ____, mommy?" Some of the examples:
-What rhymes with flippers? --- Slippers!
--What rhymes with shells? -- Bells!
-What rhymes with sandals? -- Candles!
After each of my responses, J would just laugh and giggle having so much fun. I love to play rhyming with him!

What My Child is Reading

One of J's favorite activities is reading books and I absolutely love cuddling him on my lap and reading. I like to link up to What My Child Is Reading blog link-up. Not only is it a great way to record the wonderful books we've read, but I've found so many new good book ideas by visiting each week. Click on the button below to see what others have been reading!

Can You Move Like an Elephant? by Judy Hindley
I didn't know just how interactive this book would be. My son had me re-read it over and over so he could crawl around like a tiger, slither like a snake, swing his trunk like an elephant and other fun animal antics. I loved reading and then watching my son act it out!

Clinks the Robot by Christianne C. Jones
This is just a simple story about a boy and his toy robot but it was a hit here. The books takes you through a day following the boy and his robot and then at night the robot has fun. J is just starting to get interested in robots and he had fun with this one.

Ducks go Vroom by Jane Kohuth
I was drawn to the title since J uses "vroom" as a verb too when he talks and plays with his cars and trucks. It was a little too simple for him, but he liked the cute pictures of the ducks in the car and visiting Auntie Goose. I liked how it rhymed too.

Franklin and the Tin Flute by Sharon Jennings
We just recently found Franklin books and I like them as much as our love for Berenstain Bears books. The stories tell wonderful lessons, like this one where Franklin finds a tin flute in his home and ends up trading it for a fancy green marble. He later finds out this flute was a special toy his Grandpa gave his father so he goes on the hunt to get it back. He goes to one animal friend after another finding out the flute was traded again and again. He almost loses hope but with his father's help, they are able to get this wonderful heirloom back. I also like the variety of animal friends Franklin has too.

Grandma's Garden by Mercer Mayer
I loved Mercer Meyer books when I was little and now I get to share that with my son. This was a new one for us and we enjoyed it since it's about gardening. J likes to come out and water with me and watch things grow so it was fun reading a story about planting, watering and watching the seeds turn into vegetables. Then the best part, eating them. It's a cute story of working in the garden with their Grandma.

I Dream of an Elephant by Ami Rubinger
This is a great book for naming colors as each page shows you an elephant in a new, fancy color. The words are in a wonderful rhyming rhythm and they lead the children to guess the color by leaving the color word out. The pictures are so colorful and it led to some great conversations about the colors around us. Not to mention the elephants are cute as they match their surroundings.

Little Cricket's Song by Joanne Barkan
This is actually a Reader's Digest book I found when searching their book list. We love how it has plastic crickets on the front that you can click, just like in the story. The pictures are very colorful and it's a great story about how the crickets click and make their own little song.

Pest Fest by Julia Durango
My son has really loved this book! I am teaching him that all God's creatures have value, even bugs and we are finding some good books to have fun with this theme. In this book, the bugs are having a talent show and it's the pesky house fly that ends up winning! My son was inspired to have his own talent show using musical instruments after several readings of the book. He also wanted to sleep with the book in his bed!


Thanks for visiting!


Here are links to a couple other fun book reading link ups:





As an affiliate of Amazon, I will receive a small commission for any books purchased from the links in the widget above!

Back on the Blog!

My hiatus ended up being quite longer than I thought! But we've really been enjoying our summer. I feel so blessed to stay at home with J and the variety of activities we are able to do, many for free. God also opened up a unique opportunity to serve and minister to a family that helped us through our rough period, so this is a season of spending less time here as I get a chance to give back. I will be back as often as I can with our highlights.

Here are a few of my favorite summer pictures so far:

Enjoying a morning at the annual Breakfast on the Farm

We took a trip to the Milwaukee Zoo with daddy and Aunt Carrie.
It is a great zoo (although not free like ours) but so many animals to see.

Enjoying the Cosley Zoo while on vacation with extended family.

Picture of me with long hair in braids.

Picture of me with my new haircut.
I got brave and after the heat of summer during vacation, I decided to chop it myself.

Having fun at the Splash Pad in our community.

We have a restaurant called Ella's Deli and Ice Cream Parlor which is a kid's paradise.
It has a carnival-type atmosphere with animated figures and even a carousel to ride.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Little Summer Hiatus

We have been enjoying a little vacation time visiting my extended family down in the Chicago suburbs this past week. Our vacation will continue through the middle of the 4th of July week. I miss posting and look forward to returning to blogging when we are home.

In the meantime, I pray you have a wonderful and safe holiday!

Picture credit: Microsoft Clip Art

We Love to Learn Through Play and Tot School

I love being a stay-at-home mom and feel really blessed spending my days with my son in this way. I also love taking pictures of all the things we are doing and sharing them with other moms doing the same. We've been on the go during the months of May and June so it's been a while since I've posted something. I combined a lot of pictures from those weeks here. I love that we have so many fun things to do where J is learning too.

**J is 36 months old**

Piano Horn

I continue to introduce new musical experiences for J, and found this piano horn on Amazon. He loves it. I also have a little accordion that he usually asks me to play. He will get out the instruments when daddy gets home and tells me we're going to put on a concert for daddy. Something daddy enjoys.

Getting Outside

On this day, J wanted me to set up the bowling pins. His interest didn't last very long though, and we moved on to kicking around and chasing the ball.

Coloring is still a favorite

Coloring never fails to be something that J loves to do. I printed out a picture for God Made the Summer coloring page at Ministry to Children, a website I have been visiting a lot and J says, "You're going to love this one mommy." He told me he was going to use all kinds of colors. I have this one hanging up on our kitchen cupboard. Markers are his all-time favorite to use, but he just can't remember to put the lids back on and too many were drying out. We switched to colored pencils and now he loves those too.

Sorting with Tongs

I love these Triceratops tongs that we found at the Learning Express Toys store at our mall. He is getting really good at picking up things like these little pom poms and sorting them. He has also had fun trying to figure out what else he can pick up with them. He's learning that some things are heavy and some things are light, like his blankie.

Playing with beads, stones and colored stars

In the first picture, J took the little half moon stones and said he was making a moon tunnel. We had all the beads in a bowl and he was stirring them. I like how he then took the colored beads and put them around the wooden spoon. Then he was sorting them by color.

Eastern Tent Caterpillar

A caterpillar hitched a ride home one day. We found him on the hood while getting out of the car. I decided to keep him and after a little research discovered he was an Eastern Tent Caterpillar that will turn into a moth. We were feeding it buck thorn leaves which it seemed to like, but after several days of that he ended up dying. My son seemed to forget about our little experiment, so I haven't mentioned that our little caterpillar didn't make it. I'll be keeping my eye out for caterpillars this summer, since this is a fun project.

Doing Puzzles

This continues to be a good activity for J since it really challenges him, and challenges his patience. He sometimes needs a little help with this particular puzzle, but today for the first time he put it together completely on his own.

Discovering the Squirt Bottle

J discovered the squirt bottle! This has provided hours of endless fun. He loves toting it inside or outside and squirting things like the carpet or the wall. In the first two pictures, I let him squirt in the bathroom and nothing was really off limits since it was just water. He had the most fun watching himself and squirting the mirror. Now he will follow me out to the garden when I'm watering and always has to bring the squirt bottle. He tells me he's going to help make the plants grow by "watering" with me. It is so cute to see him out there with me squirting away at the plants as I water them with the hose. The picture above is the gear he puts on before we go watering. I just love it (Thomas boots, "Cars" gardening gloves, bug net, fire helmet).

Mr. Potato Head

He still enjoys playing with his Mr. Potato Head. This time he had fun putting his stickers all over it.

Fine Motor Play and Color Sorting

We found my old pillbox that I (thankfully) don't have any use for now after my depression. J just loves opening and closing the little boxes. It has several rows of varying colors with yellow, pink, blue and purple rows. He brought it out and asked me to get my colored beads so he could put them in the matching window. We also used colored pom poms and he has been doing this over and over again, sorting the beads/pom poms into the right colored box. He even took it with him in the car one day to play while we were on the road.

Finger Painting

We haven't done finger painting in a LONG time! I loved watching J's expressions as he started out the project and then saw his progress. He would select the color and show me where he wanted it and then he'd mush it around and have a ball.


See what others are up to at The Play Academy on the Nurture Store blog.

Thanks so much for visiting!