Simple Kids: Inspiring Readers in a Digital Age

I'm talking about how to get kids interested in reading despite the draw of more exciting electronic pastimes, and how to use technology to develop reading skills at Simple Kids today.

Come read more about it?

Project Life {January 1-7}

Welcome to Project Life Tuesday! I'm attempting to take one picture a day all year. All the little things that tell our story.  I'll be using the digital version of the Project Life kit, and linking up to The Mom Creative each week.

For the first week of January, I'm going to mix pictures that I took here at home with my husband's pictures from their trip around the Caribbean circle.

Patrick took our good camera with him so all the good pictures are on their website: Adventure Pilots.


But even fuzzy pictures of Miles are cute, right?

{Monday, January 3rd, Miles got this little chair and footstool for Christmas and he LOVES it.}

{Tuesday, January 4th, Miles asked me to take a picture of Stanley (the train) while he was in the tub. "Mama tate a pitcha?"}

{Thursday, January 6th, So this is now Miles' favorite thing to do. He gathers his toys and wants his picture taken, and then wants to look at them over and over. He cracks me up!}

 

A Deeper Story

Did you see? The start of something beautiful today. My girl, Nish, is the mastermind behind this special project and she graciously invited me to be apart of it all.

Please stop by A Deeper Story today.

Hush Little Baby

Light slants in through the cracked door, lullabies hum from the stereo, but someone can't sleep.

“Mama go nigh-night, too?” the tired lad pleads.

I drag George-the-giant-stuffed-monkey over as a makeshift pillow, curl up and slip my hand through the crib rails.

“Okay, baby, Mama go nigh-night, too.”

I close my eyes, hoping my ruse will tempt him to sleep too, but I feel his tiny warm fingers start to trace my fingernails and pat my hand.

Oh sweet boy, why do you fight sleep so? When I’m just hoping my pretend-sleeping doesn’t become real-sleeping on this hard floor.  Waking at 2 a.m. on his zebra print rug would not make a happy teacher tomorrow.

His hands still, so I dare a peek.

My just-like-my-Grandmama’s green eyes meet the wide open just-like-his-Grandaddy’s blue ones.  Nope, not yet.

And so mine flutter closed again and I breathe deep his little boy smell and try to will his eyes closed with my mind.

I must be magic because his breathing slows and evens and I crack a lid and oh-holy-night-he-is-sleeping!

But suddenly my to-do list fades away as I sit in the semi-dark watching this miracle that God created, but I carried, be carried away by dreams of Thomas the Train. 

I count the bare piggies peeking out from his precious blankie, just like the night he was born. Only now those legs seem so long.

With a deep sigh, eventually I creep from his room, closing the door gently, silently.

Sometimes motherhood is hard. But not tonight. 

Family Pictures

While we were home for Thanksgiving, I enlisted the talents of Jamie Swetnam from Life as a Photo to take some family pictures for us.

I think Miles might have won the Least-Cooperative-Toddler award that afternoon because he was SO not into having his picture taken. 

No amount of coaxing or prodding convinced him that it was fun.

Given that fact, I think these pictures are amazing! You can't even tell how ornery he was acting.

And yes, he did have that plastic helicopter in his hand the entire photo shoot. Any attempt to remove it was met with shrieking. Ah, toddlerhood. You are so unpredictable. 
 

Those eyelashes make me swoon.

It's possible that this kiss was forced. Maybe.



Thanks again, Jamie!