Cheerios

Cheerios.  To some people it is just a breakfast cereal but  to me Cheerios are a symbol of motherhood.  This food is a mandatory pantry item.  My daughter has a bowl of Cheerios before eating whatever I am making for her brothers.  One of the first sounds I hear on Saturday morning is my 2 year-old daughter getting this cereal out of the pantry.  I wait a minute and a bowl and a box of round wonderfulness will appear at my side of the bed with a hungry kiddo attached to it.  Once that bowl is filled and on the dinner table I am guaranteed at least 10 extra minutes of laziness.
Ever stop and consider all the places you have found Cheerios in your house, purse, car, etc.?   Kids may not leave tacks like most wild animals but this kid "track" makes me smile.  I am eternally grateful to the wonderful person that came up with Cheerios!
 When the kids are small this magic finger food provides hours of concentration and entertainment.  I am enjoying the Cheerio stage of life.

Children's Books

My kids love to read/look at books.  Reading is a habit that I love to encourage as much as possible.  It is so much fun to have one or all of my children come sit in my lap or snuggle next to me to see the pictures.  My Aunt Jocelyn is an amazing resource on children's books. She has given the kids books for years for Christmas and birthdays.  It has been fun to see what books she picks and my kids have loved them. I wanted to share with you some of her favorites.  (Thank you Jocelyn!)  I plan on checking the library and paperbackswap.com for all of these.

BOOKS I HAVE LOVED READING WITH MY KIDS AND STUDENTS  from  Jocelyn :)


Alphabet Book by P.D. Eastman -- just a basic simple abc book with an alliterative phrase for each letter. I began enjoying this book with my kids when they were very young. It was a fun way to introduce them to the alphabet and they were soon "reading" the book to me!


Jamberry by Bruce Degen -- A delightful preschool book with delicious language and cute illustrations.


A Hole is to Dig by Ruth Krauss -- clever and sweet


The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear by Don Wood -- written in an "interactive" (the character and reader are engaged with each other) style, this was definitely one of my kid's most favorites.... not too many words and great illustrations (watch the mouse's facial expressions)


The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone -- another "interactive" style book... silly fun (Sesame Street Characters)


Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes -- We love most of this author's books. His illustrations are so endearing and the characters a sweet and spunky


King Bidgood's in the Bathtub by Audrey Wood -- Another amazing book by Don and Audrey Wood. This husband and wife both write and illustrate and this particular book is so clever. The illustrations, while dark in hue, are fascinating.


Chickens Aren't the Only Ones by Ruth Heller -- This author/illustrator has written many many many educational books and each is done in rhyme. Her illustrations are bright, bold and beautiful. This is the first book of hers that I discovered and I think it is great (since reading it I have never forgotten the meaning of "oviparous")!


Color by Ruth Heller -- I have always been so thankful that God did not create the world in black and white. What a wonderful gift He gave us when he created color. That's probably one of the reasons I love this second book by Ruth Heller. So well done!


The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston -- I read this sweet story to my kids every Christmas and never made it through the book without getting choked up (my kids actually got a kick out of that).


When I was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant -- Written in a very similar style to the story above. I obviously have a weakness for these nostalgic stories with wonderful illustrations.


Hunting the White Cow by Tres Seymour -- OK, this is the last one in this same genre. Love the illustrations... definitely lends itself to fun voices by the reader!


The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas -- a fun and clever twist on the classic


Heidi by Johanna Spyri -- this is a classic I enjoyed reading to my class each year. It has adventure, suspense, endearing characters, animals... what more could you want? But the thing I like best is that it is the story of a sweet girl sharing God's love with her bitter hardened grandfather.


A FEW NEWLY DISCOVERED BOOKS I LOOK FORWARD TO SHARING WITH MY GRANDKIDS:


An A to Z Treasure Hunt by Alice Melvin -- I can't wait to spend an afternoon with Annabelle adventuring through this one!


Good Egg by Barney Saltzberg -- Such a fun preschool book!


Do Your ABC's Little Brown Bear by Jonathon London -- Can you tell that I have a thing for alphabet books?


Do Unto Otters by Laurie Keller -- the most fun book about manners and kindness that I have ever seen!


Hope you enjoy all of these as much as I have!!