Last Minute Vaca: Day 2

Monday we enjoyed visiting with friends & family.

Sue stopped by to visit with us & brought us precious little presents she made for our sweet babies.

Here’s Micah’s:

She’s so thoughtful & such a sweet servant of Christ. She is always looking for ways to brighten other’s days & has such a neat ministry with children at the after-school program she works at and with the youth at her church. I know if I was a parent I’d be glad to know that Sue was a friend to my teenager.

We were also delighted to spend some time with Great Uncle Ray (my dad’s dad’s little brother) & Aunt Betty who came over to visit. Debi & I ran to the store & came home to find Uncle Ray with Carter & Grandpa with Ivory walking up from getting the mail. Ivory loves getting the mail with Pa and apparently Carter was not about to be left behind! I wish we’d had the camera on hand—it was such a precious sight to these momma’s eyes.

My Uncle Ray & Aunt Betty have become like grandparents to me, especially since mine have all passed on. They are two precious people & Ivory thoroughly enjoys them.

Last Minute Vaca: Day 1

After church last Sunday Ivory and I headed south to see this cutie:




And his gorgeous momma:



We loved getting to see Carter & Debi! Just wish they lived closer. *sigh* Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa who made the visit possible.

Grandpa thoroughly enjoyed having his girls & their babies for a visit.

Ivory is still very much Pa’s girl when we visit. I could hardly pry her away from him. If he ever left the room she immediately searched for him and asked, “Doing? Pa? Go? Doing?” She even slept in (G)anma & Pa’s closet (huge walk-in) & went up for nap & nighttime without a single whimper. Pa would say, “Ivory, time to go to bed.” She’d stop what she was doing, grab her blanket & head on up the stairs. I could barely get a hug & kiss from the girl! Pa & Ivory would take turns reading bedtime stories & then she’d ask for bed. I was nervous how she’d handle being without mommy, but apparently no need to worry--she loved sleeping near Pa. As sad as it was to leave, and as much as I enjoyed the break, I have to say I’m a little glad we’re away from Pa so I don’t have to share all Ivory’s snuggles! I was beginning to go through Ivory withdrawal.

Carter's Early Birthday Gift

My adorable nephew Carter turns one in April. Since he came down to visit us I just had to make him a little something!

I love applique!

My first try at corduroy pants:

Now I need to make some for Micah!

Current Reading List

I have this habit of hardly reading anything and then reading everything I can get my hands on--basically one extreme or the other. I started reading The Excellent Wife which came highly recommended by my friend Mrs. Patti, who's an excellent wife of many years & amazing mother to 8 children. I have been very challenged by this book and would encourage a wife at any stage of life to allow its contents to sift your heart. Well, starting that book inspired me to read more and more and more!

Our church members were challenged to start the 40 Days of Loving Jesus (written by a pastor friend of our pastor) on Valentine's Day. I decided I'd do the Love Dare challenge along with this challenge. They've both been fabulous so far!

I read a section in the Mom After God's Own Heart book (new mom gift from my friend, Christina--thanks!) the other night that convicted me about reading the Bible to Ivory more and to continue quoting/teaching Scripture to her even now.

I'm striving to read the Voice of The Faithful every night before bed.

My Mom's group is starting Beth Moore's book So Long Insecurity and I'm super excited about studying this with them! While definitely not a typical Beth Moore book/study, two chapters into it I'm loving it!

My Wednesday night middle school girls are going through this study:

Although I can't participate in the small group lately, I'm at least trying to keep up with with what they're learning. Esther has always been one of my favorite biblical characters and I read this book over and over as a little girl, yet I'm still intrigued by the new discoveries I've made while reading this study.

What's been on your adult reading list lately?

Little Golden Favorites

Ivory & I are both huge book fans--as you can see by her avid reading skills. ;-) Here are three of my personal favorites--two from when I was a little girl. I highly recommend adding these to your child's (or any child for that matter) bookshelf.

This is a new favorite:

I love how they show the children involved in the household's daily activities and the satisfaction and joy they find from being included and needed.

They take care of not only their own needs, but also help serve their family.

They show them being industrious and helpful as if that is the norm.

Ivory likes to "read" this page by singing the clean-up song.

Ivory also says, "night-night" or "bed" when she sees this page.

When I was a little girl this was my absolute favorite book. I wanted to be just like this little girl.

I loved playing mom to my baby dolls--guess I came by that honest, huh, Mom?

I was fascinated with how she did everything just like a grown-up.

Tea parties were a favorite of mine as a little girl. I look forward to tea parties with Ivory!

As a little girl I was known to tuck my dollies into their beds before heading to bed myself.

This probably came 2nd on my list of favorites as a little girl:

In this book the little girl discovers a photo of a baby and spends the whole book asking her mom the question, "Where did the baby go?" My mom always told me I was just like that little girl with how curious I was and how I asked a million and one questions all day long.

And of course in the end she found that she's the "baby" in the picture.

What are some of your favorite children's books? Some of Ivory favorites include the classic Goodnight Moon, The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry & the Big Hungry Bear, Oh Baby, the Places You Will Go, and her little Eric Carle board books with one picture & one word a page that she "reads" accurately.

Bibs

When we visit my mom & dads it's always nice to pack as little as possible. They have been great about buying some baby gear & toys, so I decided to donate my little bit to the cause by making some baby bibs for the grandkids.

Does this fabric bring back any memories, Debi? Never thought when you bought those AE capris back in high school that one day I'd make a bib & spit-up rags for our babies, did you?! Gotta love recycling!

Wake A Sleeping Baby?!

I walked in one afternoon to this:

Now tell me, would you want to wake that precious baby?

Unfortunately, we had to for a doctor's appointment. *sigh*

Thankfully she woke in a good mood and was a sweet girl even when she received a painful shot. I love this sleeping beauty.

President's Day

With Monday being President's Day our teenagers had the day off from school. The Baptist College of Florida, however, did not. This created the perfect opportunity for us to take some of our older teenagers for a visit to our alma mater.

Ivory and I decided to join them for this mini road trip.

Ivory thoroughly enjoyed the company of some of her favorite people and was happy the entire drive even without her Elmo videos & music!

The morning started out rainy & somewhat dreary, but cleared up post lunch.`

Our pastor let us borrow their mini van--thanks Bro Mike!

Our excellent driver.

His thoughtful co-pilot who sincerely enjoyed not turning around ever 2 minutes to attend to the needs of Ivory Rae.

Stephen enjoying some tunes.

Beautiful Aliya--if you ever need a fantastic babysitter, call this girl up!

The adorable Ivory Rae. How I love this little girl.

We met up with Cassie and enjoyed some delicious cheese wontons & tiny spicy chicken at the wonderful Super Canton. How I love me some cheese wontons--but only the Super Canton makes them to my satisfaction & great delight.

We enjoyed a delicious meal, then returned to campus in time for the students to sit in on a Christian Doctrine class taught by the brilliant Dr. Rathel--one of my favorite profs. Ivory and I enjoyed some outdoor sunshine while they sharpened their minds. Jason was proud to make a 100% on the quiz without prepping or reading--way to go, babe! I think he's studied just as much out of college as when he was in college. He's such a great student & teacher of the Word!

Ivory enjoyed playing a game of "fetch" with her felt apple.

Thought she kept telling me a firm "no" as I took pictures.

We were glad to be able to tag along for this trip and I'm proud of how well Ivory handled an entire day out with zero fussing--way to go, girl!