One. Those birthday celebrations we're recovering from? A certain someone turned five this week.
In the interest of keeping things fun and simple (why do I feel this has been a trend for me lately?), we did not do a huge "friend party." I know my limits, and while I am totally the type that would have fun throwing a big themed party, I am not the type that would have fun doing it in a tiny house with two little brothers begging for things (like, you know, their basic daily needs of food, sleep, and diaper changes) all day long.
And you know what? I want to enjoy my daughter's birthday, too. We are going to have a very fun celebration with family next week, so on her actual birthday-day, we just invited a few friends over to play. No presents. No organized games. No favors.
But we did decorate cupcakes.
Perfect balance of effort and easy. Super fun. And this little five-year-old is now ready to attack her sixth year with gusto.
Two. For Easter, we've begun the tradition (which you can read about here) of giving the kids only two things: a new church outfit and a new book. Cambrie's book this past Easter was Charlotte's Web, and we just recently finished it for the second time.
I love reading chapter books with Cambrie. I love to have her snuggling up to me. I love to see James playing around us, half-listening as well. And I LOVE having books to read that are just as entertaining for me as they are for the kids.
Luckily for me, Charlotte's Web is far more than entertaining. I had never read it before (I know, shame on me), and I was truly touched by it's simplicity and beauty.
In Kate DiCamillo's introduction to the book, she shares a quote from E. B. White that illustrates the reason I love this book so much. "All that I hope to say in books," White wrote, "all that I ever hope to say, is that I love the world."
And oh, the beauty of the world and his love for it is so wonderfully transparent within the pages of Charlotte's Web.
So. There you go. Do yourself a favor and go read (or re-read) Charlotte's Web.
Three. Want to know what this week's nomination for the 2014 Carlson Family Toy Awards is?
(Okay, now that I've typed that out, I should seriously make that a thing.)
Here we go:
Yes, my friends, that is a map of Kentucky. Last month we were driving home from my brother's home in Ohio and Patrick thought it would help entertain the kids the in back seat. Since it's adoption, it has helped find Grandma's house, lost children held captive by monsters, and, most recently, "true love---real true love! Let's go find it!!"
Four. I was talking to my mom the other day and she (being the doting mother that she is), was telling me how she loved reading my blog. Our conversation turned to other neat blogs, and since my mother has been reading my blog since day one I asked, "Oh, and have you read any of the Women in the Scriptures blog I wrote about?"
My dear mother started hemming and hawing as though I had asked about an unfinished homework assignment. Now, I really don't care what she reads during her few moments of spare time, but I thought I might put another plug in for some of the awesome stories that I had never even known existed.
So here's your thought for the day: Most lay students of biblical history are familiar with the major patriarchs and their wives in the Old Testament. You know, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Rachel (and Leah and so on).
But have you ever thought about Jacob and Rachel's beloved son, Joseph, who was sold into Egypt as a slave and ended up saving not only his family but also the entire country from seven years of famine? What about his wife? Whom did he marry? After all, she would have borne and raised his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who ended up heading two of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Curiosity piqued? Good! Her name was Asenath, and you can go read all about her here.
Five. For a few days this past week Cambrie has been crawling into bed with James. His bed is actually just a mattress on the floor in the corner of the room, but he's so tiny he can easily curl up on one end while she sleeps on the other. I love to see them together like this--I know down the road their age and gender differences will make it a little harder for them to relate. Especially as her world suddenly expands when she enters kindergarten this fall, eventually she'll get old enough that it might be a little less ideal for her to share a room with a little brother.
For right now, though, it gives me all sorts of warm fuzzies when I realize how much they love each other.
Happy Friday, all!
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