Today, I’m sharing a book recommendation with y’all. Don’t Make Me Come Up There by Kristen Welch is a great devotion book for moms. This is a collection of stories and reflections that SO many of us can relate to in our daily lives and in our faith walks too. I haven’t read it all yet, but every time I read a new chapter, I find myself nodding along. I recommend picking up a copy of this book or download it onto your e-reader. You’ll be blessed!

Last week was book fair time at Mariana’s preschool. She didn’t actually go to the book fair, but Mickey and I went and did some fun shopping for her. She got some really fun books like Clifford the Champion, Katie Loves the Kittens and Dinner with Olivia. Mariana loves books and loves to “read.” She rarely lets us read to her these days. Instead, she prefers to take the books and “read” them herself which means that she makes up the stories as she turns each page. The cutest part is when she turns the page around to show her “kids” just the way her preschool teachers do. Love it!! It’s really cool to see her have such an interest in books and to see her creativity and imagination in bloom.

Macey’s book fair is this week. Today we get to go have lunch with Macey and then visit the book fair as a family. This is something we do twice a year at her school and we all look forward to it each time. Last week her class got to go to a preview of the book fair and the children got to create their wish lists at that time. Macey’s list includes the following – Library Mouse – A Friend’s Tale, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick and Pinkalicious. This time, there aren’t any chapter books on her list, but that could be because she has a ton of them already. She loves reading all sorts of books. Macey loves reading and enjoys reading to us too. She especially loves when she checks out AR (Accelerated Reader) books from the library each week because she likes to see which grade level she read each time.  It’s really amazing to me to see both of our girls blooming in their love of reading!

I’m just as excited as the girls about the book fair. Yes, we already have a library full of books at home. We have plans to donate some of them. Our friend Annie is serving as a missionary over in Kenya and she has requested books for the orphanage where she is serving. So, we are going to go through our books shortly and find a way to get them over to the orphanage in Kenya. It’ll be a great opportunity for me to go through the books with the girls and determine which ones to send.

We also donate at least one book to the classroom each time. The teachers fill out wish lists and we choose at least one book from the list for the classrooms. The teachers are always appreciative and it feels good to give back. So, book fair really IS a fun time for the whole family. I can’t wait to go again today!

In other happy news, I have some more praises to post. This time about Miss Macey. When she came home yesterday, she was as happy as could be after school. She had been named “Character Education” winner for this month AND she brought home a great report card! Character Ed is an award her school gives to one child per classroom who exemplifies the attributes of the key character word of the current term. Macey’s character word is “commitment.” She is SO happy and so proud of herself for this award. Needless to say, we are very proud too! We sent in a 4×6 picture of Macey for the “Character Wall” at school. She also had her name read on the morning announcements yesterday and she will be in a group photo for the school newsletter. Also, we get to go and have lunch with her on Monday. We actually have the opportunity to eat lunch at school whenever we like, but this time it’s super special because we get to sit in a special area and have a special dessert. So exciting!! Macey’s report card was great too. She is just excelling in Kindergarten and absolutely loves it!

Mariana is watching her new Boz DVD (BOZs and 1-2-3s) right now. She got it as a reward for her potty training successes. She absolutely LOVES Boz! Both girls have loved him, but Macey is sort of hit or miss on it right now since she’s older and, thus, more sophisticated dontcha know?! Anyway. This new Boz DVD is a hit for Mariana. She asks for it every morning. So cute!!

Today is the 40th Anniversary of The Very Hungry Caterpillar being published. We love that book. Actually, we haven’t “met” an Eric Carle book we don’t enjoy. If you haven’t seen Google today, check it out. Their letters are shapes from the book. Very cool!! Here it is:

I hope everyone has a GREAT day today! Enjoy this Friday! And, hope everyone has a wonderful weekend too!!

Blessings,
Kelly