new favorites [a.k.a. we haven't done much more this glorious summer than read and snuggle]

i've not made my way to writing much lately.
mainly b/c i was spending this school-year trying to figure out HOW in the world to balance being a [part-time] teacher's asst.
while remaining a good mama to my sweet, sweet 'trio.

i didn't figure it out.

and now that summer has [FINALLY!!!!!] arrived
i have been hoarding every single moment, reveling in my 'babes--and doing a LOT of reading!  (=

'B is reading avidly now, and is racing through her reading logs already.  [library, barnes and noble]
L is able to read, but opts to be read to.
unless he is either reading over 'B's shoulder or listening to her read a story that i have already read to him; in which case he insists on filling in any pauses with the next word on the page.
and A is NEVER without harry potter.
i know she has read over 300 pages in the last 2 days.  and she is still going.  [book 5]

and when they are taking a break from that i am begging to read to them.
and delightfully,
they have spent the week obliging me.  (=

so if you have read any of my older posts you may remember me stating that
'i am a complete nut when it comes to the books our children read'.                                               '
and you may have read lists of some of our favorites.

well there are ALWAYS more books to be written, which means there are ALWAYS new treasures to discover.....so i am going to spend a few posts here and there, sharing them with you.

of no surprise whatsoever, this one has absolutely captivated me:

it is a BEAUTIFULly simple story of one sister, virginia, who wakes up feeling a little 'wolfish'.
and of the plight of the other sister to have ''the whole house lifted", and for "down to become up".
it portrays love and devotion and patience in such a way that sort-of takes your breath.
the story paints a picture of compassion and empathy far-surpassing what, i feel, our adult minds can rarely wrap our minds around.

love the beauty of a child.  (=

and isabelle arsenault's artwork is truly something i would plaster the walls of our house with.
[were it not already plastered w/our in-house artists' work]
seriously though, could you not just LIVE in that water-colored world?

i think i do.  (=

even aside from the literary innuendoes and real life word-plays, virginia wolf [by kyo maclear] speaks volumes.

i am TRULY obsessed with finding these fantastic books.
i love it that none of my 'trio feels [and i assume, given my pure ELATION over them, never will feel] too 'old' for these so-named 'children's books'.

“A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest.”
— C.S. Lewis
[my new disclaimer.]


more to come.

enjoy!
(=

learning through fear.

this week has been something else.

but from it i have a renewed sense of life.
i have a little more fear--but a little more fear brings a LOT more reliance on my savior.
and reliance on Him brings me more peace.
it brings me more PRESENCE.

i am more present.

and for that i am thankful.
so very very thankful.

and i am thankful for this:

amen.

beauty in diversity.

i just walked into a typical scene in our home:

wooden dollhouse decorated in ways that make me want to live there [green-striped hammocks and canopies--yes please!]
and piles of plastic animals, strategically and artistically tableau-ed here and there.

what strikes me today though is the diversity with which these animals are placed.
the diversity in which they are always placed.

there is the family of cats who have taken their roof-top friend cockatoo into their home because of the tornado looming outside;
and the dogs who are harboring the roof-dwelling pelican for the same reason.
down below in the place lovingly named the 'junkyard' there is a pack of dogs [mother, father, brother, sister, aunt and uncle] living alongside a fox and raccoon; 2 best friends who have raised a mouse and rabbit together.
the whooping crane and ballerina who have partnered to nurture the wounded owl and lizard family who were lost and without a home of their own.

these are scenes i am constantly observing as our sweet sweet 'trio expand and utilize their vast imaginations.

quite frequently i will be told that L or 'B, both dogs of course, have given birth to kittens--or squirrels, or my favorite, puppy eggs!
and daily i am being beckoned by one of them to notice the stray animal [they] who is wandering in the woods [of our dining room] and has lost their family [in random tragic event] and would i please take them in?
or they are a royal family and i am the lost one and they take me in.  (=



do not assume that these insurmountable biological feats are mistakes of 3 young minds.
they are not.
[we have a highly intelligent brood here in our home!  and they do not truly believe that mammals hatch out of eggs and wolves give birth to swans...but they do know that anyone can be a mother to anyone if they are in need of love and can show love.]

i am reminded of when A was a little one and would raaar at A2 like a lioness and rear her paws at him in the funniest fashion, or when she was 6 [highly intelligent remember] and asked quite honestly;

"exactly what color would L be when he came out of my belly?"

it is apparent that these are simply clear assumptions of the world around them.
we were privileged enough to have them grow up [quite a bit anyway] on a christian college campus where we were surrounded by mass amounts diversity.
and were blessed to have been able to create a family out of those people.
what a beautiful picture of God's love He allowed us to share in.

i think that is a huge reason that our children do not see color or differences the way that we have learned to see them.

they are confident that there are no stereotypical barriers--between man (or, humans, as the 'trio calls us) or animal!

and they know that when you find something or someone 
that is lost, you show them home.  


i am SO thankful for the eyes that our children have been blessed with.  (=