Longing

In this story Bailey and Cody are still apart and dating other people while finding their place in the world. Bailey finds herself falling for Brandon.

I think this would be a great book for a young woman. To give them a good role model when deciding on who to settle down with and how to make the decision. It seems that first loves can be hard to get over. As bailey finds out.

Read:  June 2013

Vision in White

Do y'all have one of those friends where years go by without seeing or talking to them, but as soon as you see each other it's like you pick up right where you left off?  I totally do....  And reading Nora Roberts again after many, many years, it really felt like that!  Nora Roberts just write fun, easy to read books. I adore her trilogies (in this case quartet).

This is the story of a group of four friends who find love while running their wedding business. This story was about the photographer in the group. It was a sweet story. It took me back to my dating days with Aaron. Always fun!

Read: May 2013
Pages:  336

That's How!

Y'all this was a super cute one!  It is a story with a little girl asking a little boy how all sorts of different things work.  The boys gives some far-fetched and fun answers.  It was really cute to see how the boy answered and talk with James about them.  Then talk about how the things (like cars, airplanes, etc) really work.

I think kids of all ages would like this little one.  It is also predictable text which would be great for beginning readers memorizing text.

James' age:  4 years 2 months

Leaving

I picked this one up at the library recently. I hadn't read any Karen Kingsbury in awhile.  I was browsing the shelves and this one jumped out {probably because it looked new, am I a book snob?}. I thought it would be fun to read about Bailey Flanigan since I had read about her family in the Firstborn and Sunset series by KK.

For some crazy  reason it took me the full three weeks to read this one. But once I really got into it and had to hurry and finish before the due date, I loved it. I'm so glad I pushed through!!

This is the story of Bailey all grown up and about to leave the family nest for the first time. It was a sweet book and although I missed another series that gave a little background on the intervening years I followed just fine.

I think I also liked it because it  because Bailey and Cody remind me of Aaron and I in the early years. Friends who ended up dating other people and following different paths  before finding lasting love. :)

Read: May 2013
Pages: 328

Peek a Boo, Forest

It's so fun to get new things for Rachel.  My sweet sister-in-law sent this gem.  Rachel absolutely adores this book.  We do read it, but it's often a toy because it has lots of the crinkly stuff.  And it's well placed crinkly stuff.  I love this because it's not just a "toy book".  It actually has a good story to it.  Nice repetitive text.  So it's also good for James to help read to Sissy.  ;)  Little does he know he's working on his beginning reading skills, too!  Win, win!

I really like this one and would recommend it to anyone looking for infant books!

Rachel's age:  5 months

Where's Your Smile, Crocodile?

In my quest to help my sweet boy become a little more well-rounded, I grabbed this book during a library visit.  When we read it one night, James loved it!  Which made me so so very happy.  It's a cute little story about a crocodile who wakes up in a bad mood. He sets out to find his smile...in the end he finds it when he is helping someone else.  How's that for a nice sweet story with a good message?

The writing teacher in noticed the fantastic vocabulary.  You could totally use this when teaching word choice.  The author used a great variety of words for walking: crawled, plodded, clomped.  I loved how vivid her choice of words were.

So this book could be used for all sorts of ages depending on the purpose.  I highly recommend it.

James' age: 4

LEGO City: Catch That Crook

Disclaimer:  The next few posts are kiddy books...sorry if you are looking for adult suggestions...  life has been busy and reading has again taken a back seat...  I keep trying but it's not happening! ugh!

A few weeks ago this sweet little find jumped out at me while at the library {we may or may not have been having trouble finding something that did not have to do with trains...  wills may have been clashing...just sayin'}  and it was the perfect fit!  James is becoming increasingly obsessed with all things LEGOS.  It was a cute little story that was fun and easy to read.

If you, too, have a little LEGOS fanatic on your hands try to grab one of these.  We are on the lookout for the rest at the library,  But they are popular, y'all!

James' age:  4 years

Bloom

Y'all know I love me a memoir....  Seriously I think I may have a problem!!!!

This is the story of Kelle Hampton who was told when her second daughter was born that she has Down syndrome. This book documents the roller coaster of her daughter's first year.

 I loved this book. I love how real Kelle is. It's nice to think if we were delivered devastating news, we'd react well. But human nature tends to show an uglier side of us. I love how her family chose to love their sweet little girl and not let her specialness dictate her life.

Pages:  288
Read: April 2013

I Read Signs!

What a super fun book that I grabbed at the last second during a library visit. James loved this one {which means I did, too!}. After we read it we have been on the look out for signs while driving non.stop!!!!  We really like the do not enter sign!

Another fun and easy one. Read this one, y'all!!

James age:  4 years

Sparkly Green Earrings

Oh my goodness y'all this one is a must read. If you have kiddos of your own you will laugh.out.loud!  Big Mama is amazing and I felt like I was sitting out by the kiddie pool with my BFF comparing parenting notes. Total bonus the author is also an Ag. :)

Y'all seriously I loved this book. It is a quick and easy read. I feel like you will appreciate it more if you are a parent. And you gotta love a memoir if you are going to like this one... (KV that means you probably won't like it.  ;))  and you know I am a sucker for a memoir!

Read:  March 2013
Pages:  221

Ed Emberly's Trucks and Trains

We saw this one in passing at the library and grabbed it. Can I just tell you it.is.awesome!  I am the worst artist in the world. Like my stick people even stink!!  This book has helped me draw in a way that people can tell what I am drawing without me labeling my picture. ;).

After we {I mean me...} drew some trains and trucks, James drew a railroad truck {a truck with a railroad instead of a bed} and I totally knew what he drew without him telling me. This is rare my friends, he takes after Daddy and I. ;)

He told me he wants the one that helps you draw people next time. Can't wait. These are totally fun y'all.

James age: 3 years 11 months

The Power of a Praying Parent

A sweet lady at church gave this book to me when I had Rachel. I have been reading it ever since. Y'all this book is awesome awesome awesome!!!  It gave me so many ideas about things to pray for for James and Rachel. I never thought about praying about their relationship. Now I totally am. I also pray for their faith and anything I feel led by God to pray about. I also love how she talked about having God reveal what is troubling your children when they are troubled.  After I finished this book, I read that the one thing we will regret the most after we die will be not praying enough. I'm determined to pray more...

Y'all this book is a keeper!  I suggest getting this book quick!

Read: November 2012-March 2013

Pages: 224

Cool Cars and Trucks

Are your kiddos really into Legos?  James is obsessed. Mostly he just plays with Duplos but he can't wait til we buy him the real thing.   I'm trying to broaden his reading horizons a bit and found this beauty at the local library{just about every Legos book was checked out, y'all!}.

James loved this book and tried to make all sorts of new things out of his Duplos after reading it. I can't wait til we have real Legos and can build some of these fun cars and trucks.  

This is definitely a super cool book for little ones. 

James' age:  3 years 11 months 

Rachel's Favorites 0-4 months

Rachel gets read to just about every day..  Sometimes it is only at bedtime though...  Juggling 2 is definitely different than just having one to entertain!  HA!  

Here are some that she loves in no particular order:

Who Do You See?  (she loves this because it is a soft book that she also loves to eat!!!), Night-Night, Baby, What Does Baby See?, baby giggles.

My Face Book

So mostly in true 2nd child fashion, Rachel reads books that we already owned from when James was little.  But during our library visits we have been looking for new books for her as well.  This is one of our great new finds.  Rachel absolutely loves looking at the kiddos in this book.

When we brought it home I noticed the writing at the top...huh???  Yeah it's a bilingual book English/Burmese... They have it in all sorts of languages apparently, our library just happens to have the English/Burmese one.  Kinda random...  I'll be honest I don't even know where they speak Burmese.

Rachel's age: 4 months

Firefly Lane

So this was another Kristin Hannah book that I found at the library. This one was even better.

It's the story of an unlikely pair of best friends over their 30+ year friendship. I am a sucker for a good story of friendship. Seriously. It kinda reminded me of Beaches with one friend who shines and the one who lives in the shadows.

If you are looking for a beachy read (it is spring break and you might be going to the beach), I highly recommend it. I am finding Kristin Hannah very easy to read and fast paced enough to keep me interested.

Read: March 2013

Pages: 528

true colors

A friend of mine recommended that I try reading some Kristin Hannah books when I asked for recommendations recently.  So the next visit to the library I grabbed this one.  I have never read any Kristin Hannah books before this one and I must say that I enjoyed it.  It reminded me of Karen Kingsbury or Nicholas Sparks.  I can totally see myself reading more of these.  :)

But on to the book...  this is the story of 3 sisters and the ties that bind them together.  I could totally relate to the characters {which i think is the most important thing for me}.  It wasn't too long and not too short.  The book wrapped things up nicely and I just enjoyed it.  These would be great beach reads!

Read:  February 2013

Trains & Cars

I know you were probably totally shocked when you saw the title of this post, right. ;). Another lucky find at the library. They were definitely the books de jour when we brought them home. These are cute and easy. About one line of text per page. Good stuff for a little guy.

Y'all seriously the library is great because we only have the oops for a few weeks and then get new ones. Usually by *new* I mean a favorite that we are rediscovering. {I wish we had a toy library. Or I just need to get better at rotating toys so they seem new!}

James' age:  3 years 10 months

Learning to Read

I have had some people ask me recently how to help their preschooler learn how to read.  Although I used to be a Reading Specialist as well as 1st & 2nd grade teacher, I don't feel like I'm am expert (especially in preschool reading).  But here are a few things that I do know.

1.  Read to your child, every day if possible.  This is #1 on the list for a reason.  All research points to this as being super important in children learning to read.  From personal experience this has taught James tons.  Not only does it teach your child how a book works, book language, but also increases their vocabulary.  {This is awesome to do as part of your bedtime ritual!}

2.  Look for book topics that interest your child.  As you know my child loves to read books about trains, cars, and construction vehicles.  It doesn't always have to be the most high quality literature.  Just get books in your little ones hands.

3.  Reread their favorites over and over again.  This will help them memorize some books, which is the beginning of reading.  I seriously have memorized so many books because I had to read them every.single.day for months on end!  I know that it's not fun for us grown ups, but children thrive with routine.

4.  Let them "read".  I have written read in quotes because some of the beginning stages of reading are memorizing books and approximating text.  Your child will likely memorize his or her favorite book and that is amazing!  Another thing is to let them tell the story based on the pictures.  Using the pictures is a natural progression to learning to read. Sometimes you may find your child sitting on his or her own looking at the pictures rereading the book.  Encourage that!

5.  Have fun!  Learning to read should be fun.  If this is not a fun time for your family and most especially your little one, he or she will not want to engage in reading.  Don't pressure them, just follow their lead.

6.  Educational TV.  Seriously y'all PBS has some awesome, awesome shows to help little ones learn how to read.  Super Why and Word World are two of our favorite shows and I think that Super Why really helped James to learn his letters.  We all know our kiddos are most likely going to be watching tv {I mean momma has to shower sometime , right!}  so it might as well be teaching them something!

I hope that this helps.  The bottom line is reading to your child is important, but it should be a fun time of the day.  Don't worry about having your child read before they get to kindergarten.  It's your job to give them a foundation, but the teacher will teach them how to read.  {and have lots of books at just the right level!}

Boys Should Be Boys

So for a long time {as in all last year} this was in my car for me to read whenever I had a few minutes I needed to fill.  Mostly when I was waiting to pick up James from school.  So it feels like I read it for.ever!

Anyway I really liked this book and I am totally keeping it to revisit often as James gets older and older.  I loved how no nonsense this book was.  A lot of the advice seemed like duh...  but often knowing something and actually putting it into practice are two entirely different things.  I find that I need to be reminded of common sense often {especially while parenting!}.

One of the main things that I took away from this book is right now while James is almost 4, I am setting the ground work for our relationship for the rest of his life.  I need to take the time now to listen to him, to play with him, to cuddle with him.  If I don't do that now, then he is never going to want to come to me and talk when he is older.  And y'all sometimes it is hard to step away from the dishes, the laundry, the cooking, etc.  Especially when it involves playing trains again.... so not my favorite pastime.  But it is his favorite pastime.  And raising a healthy son is all about the example I set and the relationship that we forge.  It is all about investing my time in my son.

If you have a son this is a GREAT book.  I advise you to pick it up and give it a read.  I don't think that it will disappoint.

Read:  Sept. 2011-Feb. 2013

Pages:  287

Favorites of 2012

This year it was harder for me to pick a top 5. {and youll notice im a little late posting....  Lets just say new years was not rachels easiest days!}The top two were really, really easy. Besides that I liked quite a few of the books that I read, but not much more than the others.  Most of these books were not from my book club which is totally opposite of last year.

Here are my top 5 of 2012:

5.  A Seperate Country

4. Stories I Only Tell My Friends

3. The Secret of the Rosary

2. bittersweet

1. Cold Tangerines

The Dovekeepers

Y'all know that I am honest...  I really didn't want to post on this because it is another book that I just could not get into!  Boo!  I had really high hopes for his one.  But I just couldn't get into it.  It's about the fall of Jeresulum in 70 AD.  I love to read about fiction about biblical times, but I think that I couldn't get into it because there was an affair in this book.  I just had a hard time stomaching that with the fact that it was semi-religious...  Oh well...

Read:  (or not) Novemeber 2012

Pages: 528

I Spy! & Toyland Express

Do y'all remember these books from when you were little?  They were the best and apparently they still are. James, Daddy, and I all enjoy these ones.

It all started when we found Toyland Expess at the library. It's part of the Do You See What I See series. Truly amazing for a train loving little boy. We literally had the librarian searching the library for it one day because James was determined the get it and we knew it was there somewhere.

Every night at bedtime we read James a book or two. Then we leave him with a lamp on and one of these books. He's out in a few minutes but man he enjoys looking at all the little details.

James' age:  3 years 10 months

I'm Dirty!

I always saw the I Stink! book when I was a teacher, but I'll be honest I stunk at knowing good books for little boys. Recently at the library, I saw this one and thought James might like it. He sure does we read it 4 times in 6 hours!

This is a cute book about a backhoe loader. I think big boys would appreciate the humor lots, too. James mostly likes it since he's majorly into construction vehicles. He told Daddy tonight he wants to be a backhoe loader.

Age:  3 years 10 months

Recommendations

Sweet Rachel has been sleeping pretty well {knock on wood!!!}. So I am not passing out on the couch at 8 PM. Momma is ready to read some books. But Book Club is now Let's-Get-Together-and-Hang-Out Club since most of us have kiddos and are too busy to read. So I don't have a list of books to read for the first time in ages. Can y'all help a girl out and tell me what you've read lately?

Sunset

I just realized that I finished this just before Rachel was born in November and never posted about it.  This was the last book in the Karen Kingsbury set that I have been reading for a bit over a year now.

This is the last of the Baxter books.  It follows John as he is getting ready to mary Elaine.  He is selling the family home.  This is a really nice wrap-up of the Baxter family.

If you enjoy series books, then I suggest you look up the Baxter family.

{Not a lot of reading is going on here for the adult crowd...  just lots of reading to infants and almost 4 year olds!  If I have some time when James goes back to school I plan on blogging about some of my old favorites.  :)}

Read:  early November 2012
Pages:  336