Debt-Free U  by Zac Bissonnette

I liked this book and found it informative.  I would recommend it to parents who anticipate helping their child(ren) with college expenses but don’t feel prepared to do so.  Most of the information will be helpful for parents with kids in middle/high school but some of the concepts can go younger (i.e. teaching your young children about the value of hard work and money).  There were some topics that he rattled on and on about, and I got a little bored BUT in his defense, I was already on his same wavelength and didn’t  need to be convinced of his points (usually).  This is a “read as required” book; I’d never choose it as entertainment literature

Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider

Talk about a challenge in binding!!  Tsh lays out a very appealing picture for what a simple life can free you up to do and then maps out a path to help you get there.  I wish that I could say that my cleaning/purging kept pace with my reading, but it would be a lie.  It was a helpful book, and a good read if you are in need of some organizational motivation or know-how.  The book offers a clear day-by-day route to a less cluttered existence, but if you’re in a busy season of life, it’ll probably take more that the 10 prescribed days to accomplish this feat.

Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches by Rachel Jankovic

If you only have few minutes to read but really need some encouragement, I’ve found your book!  This book was such a refreshment for me – an honest, practical, God-honoring glimpse into mothering young children.  Although I was trying to do as little of this as possible, I might actually purchase this one.  Jankovic sums her message up well on the last page and I’ll just give you a little taste:

               …if you accept your lot and rejoice in your toil, God will give you the kind of overwhelming joy that cannot remember the details.  Motherhood is hard work.  It is repetitive and often times menial.  Accept it.  Rejoice in it.

If you’re short on reading time or just aren’t much of a reader, I’d highly recommend this book to you, but I’d say that any mom of little ones would benefit from reading this book.

I have just removed four trees, one girl, two horses, one cow, two traffic signs, a building and its roof (all wooden train pieces) from the inside of a guitar.

And here is the culprit!

Look at that!  It’s a day early!

*Note: I probably won’t do it until after church so don’t expect it until 10 or so

Jack is as loud as Daniel is quiet.  We tried to make a list of all of the words that he can say but gave up around 125.  He is a talker!  Most of the time, he speaks in 4-5 word sentences.  My favorite speech development is when he says, “I not the bed,” instead of “I don’t want to go to bed.”  It’s so cute to hear him express himself in this incorrect way.  ”I not the eat dinner.  I not the go inside.  I not the big mess.”  It’s just too cute, and I love this little verbal phase.

All of his motor skills are on cue.  He loves to color and climb (boy, does he love to climb), stack and ride his little tricycle.  He hasn’t quite mastered pedaling yet but he probably will within the next few months.  For now he just uses his feet to scoot around behind Daniel

Jack loves to “read” his picture books.  He’ll point at and name things for as long as you can sit there listening and loves to turn the pages for me when we’re reading together.  He also loves.loves.loves. trains and tractors.  I am always being asked to make a track with a tunnel (one that loops under the corner of the bed!) and fix (aka replace the batteries in) his battery-powered Thomas the Tank Engine.

Jack loves his family so much.  He is so used to being at home with me and Daniel that he is sincerely sad when we’re apart.  ”IT’S DADDY!”  is the happy cry that we hear every day at lunch and again when Mr. Thompson returns home from lunch.  Jack just loves for us to all be together.  He and Daniel have begun to have their first fights; I know that this is to be expected but it makes me so sad.  We’ve been having lots of talks about not fighting for sinful reasons and I suppose that those discussions will continue throughout their lives in our home.  I must say that some of the “fights” are really just Jack being a little over-sensitive.  Mr. Thompson was teasing him the other day and tussled his hair, and Jack cried out, “Mommy, Daddy is fighting me!”  It was hilarious, but we had to contain our laughter because he was taking it very seriously!

A random accomplishment: Jack learned this week to blow his nose!  That is just a wonderful thing; goodbye aspirator!

We are so, so thankful for Jack and his little personality!  There are difficulties in every stage of childhood, but  also so many precious joys, gifts from our Father above.  We love you, Jack!

Here’s the story in as few words as possible while being coherent.  Daniel received a really fun liquid-filled ball at Christmas which he bit into the following day.  Great.  I scoured the package for warnings (only a choking  warning) and tried to call the company (closed for Christmas) so we decided just to be observant and wait.  Fast-forward about 8 hours.  Daniel’s been acting and eating fine.  In the middle of the night, Daniel wakes me up calling for me.  Hmm.  5 am: Daniel starts throwing up.  That’s the warning bell.  7 am: we are checking into the ER at Pitt Memorial.  I tell this story several times and produce the ball (in a baggie) from our bag along with the company’s information.  Daniel gets all hooked up to an oxygen monitor and blood pressure cuff (he didn’t appreciate this at all), given a dose of Zofran, and falls fast asleep.  Five hours later, they inform us that the contents were non-toxic and that he just happened to have a nasty virus that caused him to start vomiting.  WHEW!  I never knew I could be so thankful for a nasty virus that causes vomiting!  He’s still miserably sick BUT that’s all.  Praise the Lord!

Between his nap and checking out of the hospital, he colored in the activity/sticker book that his Sunday School teacher Mrs. Janet gave him for Christmas, and I sat beside him coloring or reading Better Homes and Gardens (depending on the moment).  A mom/teacher likes to be prepared