Building our kids' library

As our kids get older, we would really love to build their library. We have enjoyed the days of Brown Bear and Goodnight Moon, but we are ready to move on. We really long to have books and stories that point them to Jesus (besides the story Bibles we have). Our plan is to give eah of the kids a book for Easter instead of all the candy and junk toys. Also, if you are ever wondering what to get us for any kind of gift...here is a list. If you don't live locally, Amazon.com is great. If you are looking for books for your kiddos, see if any of these sound good to you:

***We are not soliciting gifts. :) ...At the same time, you can print this list and save it for sometime in the future when you were planning to give a gift for birthday/Christmas etc.

Great Books for Kiddos

Children’s Favorites (Christian):

*My Birthday, Jesus’ Birthday–Davis, Munger

*ESV The Illustrated Family Bible

*Big Truths for Little Kids–Susan & Richie Hunt

*Egermeier’s Bible Story Book (Revised Edition)*

*Day by Day Kids’ Bible–Henley

*The Wonder Bible

*The Lamb–John R. Cross (goodseedpublications)

*Small Talks About God–Taylor

*God’s Good News For Children–Osborne/Wooding

*God Cares For Claire (must find used/out of print)

*Todd’s Day God’s Way (must find used/out of print)

*The Gospel for Children–Leuzarder

*I Believe in Jesus–MacArthur

*Big Thoughts for Little People

*Giant Steps for Little People

*Wise Words for Little People

*The whole Ella Lindvall series

*The Bible in Pictures for little Eyes

*Creation–Haidle

*My ABC Bible Verses-Hunt

*The Young Learners Bible Story Book–Simon

*A is for Adam–Ken Ham

*The Jesus Storybook Bible

*My Book About Life in Jesus’ Time–Baden

*Read with Me Bible NIRV

*Jesus Loves You–Dian Stoltz

*What Happens When I Talk to God–Stormie Omartian

*Day by Day Begin to Read Bible–Henley

*Wait Until Then–Alcorn

*Heaven for Kids-Alcorn

*Most of All-Jesus Loves You–Noel Piper (on the desiring God website)

*Shaoey & Dot–Steven Curtis Chapman

*Devotions for Preschoolers–Crystal Bowman

*God Knows My Name–Debby Anderson

*God Says I Am (must find used/out of print)

*Picture That Bible Storybook

*The Wonder Bible

*The Rhyme Bible

Swinging with Gramma & Papa

Gramma & Papa gave us a few hours to go on a date (which has been extra precious with Chris consistently coming home later). We went to lunch and had the best time...just talking and laughing. Chris said, "Why is it when the kids aren't around we have such deep discussions?" My answer was, "Because we can."

Not only is it wonderful to spend time together, but it a blessing to come back to our kids who have had the very best day with their grandparents who are so loving and fun. Here is a little video of Abigail trying to swing while her brother digs and dumps dirt (the bark to go under the play structure should be coming soon).

I cannot praise God for what a blessing my parents are to me and to our children. They have really invested in our lives. Here is my suggestion for you: when your parents retire, try to get them to retire near you (or at least get a 2nd home near you) so they can spend lots of time with the grand kids.

We are matched again...

We have been matched with another family to adopt their embryos through the SNOWFLAKES program. They have 9 embryos frozen (2PN) at OHSU since 1998. They are in 3 sets of 3 and are only just beginning to grow (their cells have not even multiplied yet). This means that we can not tell what "quality" they are (the doctors can not "grade" them or give us a % of them surviving to birth). After the set of 3 is thawed, they will be allowed to grow in the lad for 3 to 5 days before being put in. We will know then our "chances." Thankfully, we are resting in God not man (God has and always will have control over each precious life, and we will live to bring Him glory no matter what His plan is for us/them). It is weird (and kind of cool at the same time) that the family lives about 45 minutes from us. They are open to our families meeting sometime in the future and are really one the same page as we are. From everything we read in their autobiography, they seem to love the Lord. They are much older than us and their 3 children are 17 and 11 (older one, natural/younger twin girls, IVF). Anyway, we want to be careful with what we say (to protect the family's privacy), but we want to say that we are very excited. Our first appointment with the doctor at OHSU is next Tuesday afternoon. Start praying...again. Thank you SO MUCH for you faithful love for our family.

Isaac's First Time Singing at Church

During Ladies' Bible Study on Tuesday mornings, we have been going through the book of Hebrews and really digging in to the truths about Jesus from the old testament and the new. During that time, Isaac has really enjoyed the children's program. Over the weeks, he has memorized 10 verses and a handful of songs. His most recited verse is John 14:6 (Jesus speaking), "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me."
I pray that God uses all these seeds to reveal to our son who He is and that Isaac would come to know Him as Savior and Lord at a young age. The kids performed for our brunch this morning. My boy is growing up!


What he's singing:
"Jump, jump, jump into the light, light, light.
Run, run, run away from what's not right.
Jump, jump, jump out of the dark, dark, dark.
Run to Jesus, give Him your heart."

It is very simple & childish, but it is so rich with truth. It is my prayer fr my children.

When I Finally Make it Home...

Today when I was playing this song (see link below), my son wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight. I am reminded in 1 Peter 2:11 that this world is not my home.

Chris

Hit this LINK!

Sticker time with Papa

My parents graced us with watching the kids for two days and one night. I had such a great time going to 2 baby showers (kid-free), running at the gym, cleaning the house (uninterrupted with the music playing loud...not kid music) and having a fantastic date night (much needed) with my fantastic husband.

To give you a taste of what a great time the kids had...the picture is from "sticker time" with Papa. Isaac was putting the tractor stickers on the paper while Papa put the stickers on Isaac...he is adorned with glasses, a mustache, and a goatee.

When I picked the kids up, my mom even sent me home with food for Chris (a great soup my dad made). To top it off, my parents even volunteered to watch the kids a bit tomorrow, and my mom is watching Abigail on Tuesday morning while I'm at Bible study. Could my week get any better?!?!

Happy Easter 2009

But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him." ~ Mark 16:6

After we went to church, we had Easter dinner at Amber's parents' house. The Springers made a WONDERFUL meal and Hanna and Papa made dessert. Gramma put on a great egg hunt, craft time and had fun little baskets for all of the little kids. Isaac was REALLY excited about finding eggs (as you can see from the picture). Abigail did a good job herself...if only she was walking. :)

A weekend in central Oregon

Silly kids...they loved hiding in the little closet.

Can you believe we've been together over 10 years?

If they only knew how to fish...

We stayed in Eagle Crest for a weekend trip. Even though it ended up being a working weekend for Chris (because in this market, you have to do whatever you can to sell a home...even on vacation), it was still nice. The girl was sick, but we still took her to the pool (sorry to all the other parents who may have sick kids in the next few days (unless the chlorine killed off all the germs). :) The other highlight of the trip was going to Bend and playing at the local toy store. We will be going back with Tiff, Dan & the boys this summer and are so excited to ride bikes, swim and go to the little cafe near the resort.

Now and Then-Tulips

Isaac now holding his sister's hand, when before he couldn't stand without help

They were both doing the same thing on the tractor...3 years apart.

Look at how the level of the railing has gotten lower over the years.

As Isaac gets taller, the tractor becomes easier to drive. :)

Tromping through the tulips...

Abigail LOVES her brother so much

She's not walking yet, but she stands well with no hands.

Do you remember when you were doing this with me mom? :)

Isaac loved the old steam tractors because they reminded him of trains

Daddy wasn't there; that's why Abigail is touching a dirty wheel.

This is my favorite picture of the day (you can click on it to make it big).

I dragged Gramma to the Tulips. It was so fun. I am so thankful that she came with me; I have such a wonderful mom. Even though nothing was really in bloom yet, it was fun.

No jackets at the Oregon Coast?!?!

It's so nice to have a van that can fit all the kids together.

I actually had to put SPF 50 on his bum. :)

The boys had fun splashing in the fountain together.

Abigail & Kayla

My friend Bethany.

We had the most wonderful day at the beach last Monday. When the sun comes out, we make the most of it in the NW. We spent a wonderful day with our friends Beth, Johnny, and Kayla. Isaac and Johnny had so much fun playing trucks in the sand and surf. He got his shorts so saturated that they actually fell off and he was standing there in his underwear...it was so funny! Because the weather was so nice that we even stayed through dinner (nearly making it to see the sunset...but not quite).

"It smells like Home Depot!"

We went to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm (which are about a week from being in bloom...of you are planning to go) today and Isaac said, "It smells like Home Depot." That's what you get when you don't have a yard...when your child goes to a place that smells like grass, flowers, bark and dirt, he can only recall the familiar smells of the Garden Center at Home Depot.

***In the picture, the muck on Isaac's nose is ashes from burnt wood that was in an old steam tractor. (I'll blog about more later).

"No more sucking my thumb!"

We have been telling Isaac for months that, as soon as he turns 3, he will not be able to suck his thumb anymore. Well the day came. He has been doing such a good job. The first night he had to stop, he cried and said, "I want to be 2 again." He takes a lot longer to go to sleep and has completely missed a few naps since, but he will not put his thumb in his mouth. He asks almost every night if he can suck his thumb again, but when we remind him that he's too old...he actually obeys. We bought this special bitter stuff to paint on his thumb to help him but never needed it; we returned it to Rite Aid. As you can see in the pictures, it's his thumb and "Old Doggie" that he uses when he naps...now it's just the blue dog. Our baby boy is growing up!