It’s been a crazy week, and I have not kept up with blog posting or reading as much as usual. However, I do still have a few great finds for this week’s Surfing Sunday!

Books by James Mayhew–As part of “Kids’ Picks” hosted by 5 Minutes for Books, Stephanie at Olive Tree recommended these books by James Mayhew that teach kids about artists. They sound like great resources for helping children appreciate fine art.

13 Ways to Celebrate Spring–From Happy to be @ Home, this is a fun list of ways to celebrate the new season. I for one am glad spring is here, and it’s definitely worth celebrating!

Insect/Spring Songs–We love to do seasonal songs, and singing gets all of my kids involved. I was excited to find this long and lovely list of spring themed songs at Music Makers.

Welcoming Spring with Egg Carton Flowers!–Finally, here is a cute craft for spring with easy to find supplies from Skip to My Lou.

Have a great week everyone, and happy Spring!

Wow, it has been a few days, but we are still here! The kids have been sick again, but are feeling better now. We made two trips to doctors, one last Sunday and one on Monday. In addition to having a sinus infection, JonDavid is cutting his top molars. Needless to say he has been a bit grumpy lately and we’ve been going through Motrin, teething tablets, orajel, even the occasional Benadryl on a couple of really rough nights. OK, we are not druggies and please don’t report me, but the poor little guy has been truly miserable!

On Tuesday, Jacob felt better and wanted to do some schoolwork. He finished the last chapter book in his 2nd grade Hooked on Phonics kit. Yes, he is finished with Hooked on Phonics! He has learned to read so easily, and he is enjoying it more and more. He is reading chapter books on his own during his quiet time and at bedtime. He is also reading to Skylar some, which is really cute to see. On Wednesday we jumped right into the Spectrum Language Arts workbook that I had bought to use after we were finished with phonics. I’m going to do literature-based reading lessons along with it, but I don’t have a definite plan for that yet. I’ll keep you posted on some of the things we come up with!

Thursday Jacob had another science test, on which he made an A. This one covered the spleen, pancreas, and gall bladder. Next…the bones.

Skylar is getting better at naming letters, and she has learned to write her first name. Not long ago she learned how to spell it, and now she is writing the letters well enough that you can tell what it says. She loves to spell her name: “That says Skylar; S K Y L A R!” She is also mastering playing computer games, and really likes doing that. Her favorites are on PBS Kids and Nick Jr. websites.

JonDavid is a real little mimic. He watches his brother and sister and copies what they say and do. There are definitely some good and bad aspects of that, as you can imagine! We have talked to Jacob and Skylar about that, and tried to help them realize how much they influence their little brother. JonDavid likes books, too, and will sit and listen just like Jacob always has.

Today we went to Charleston for my niece Cheyenne’s birthday party. You may remember that Cheyenne had a very rough start to her little life, but she is now a healthy little girl. She turned one year old this past week, and had a McDonald’s party today. The kids had a lot of fun playing, and we really enjoyed spending the afternoon with Cheyenne and others in the family.

Well, that is a little bit of what has been going on around here. It seems like something is happening non-stop and I can’t keep up, but I guess that is better than being bored!

Boris Ate a Thesaurus is definitely on our favorites list! My parents gave Jacob this book for his birthday, and he really likes it. It is about a little boy who is in class learning about synonyms. He gets really hungry and actually eats the thesaurus. He then begins to speak in synonyms and becomes famous, eventually being invited to the White House. In the end he learns that books are for reading, not for eating.

This book is very cute–the story and the pictures. It is also great for increasing vocabulary! If you know Jacob, you know he has had a vocabulary beyond his years since he started talking, so this book fits him perfectly. It gave us an opportunity to talk about what synonyms are and what a thesaurus is, as well as the meanings of some new words throughout the book. It’s a funny story that kids can also learn from, and we recommend it!

There is also an activity guide from Rainbow Bridge Publishing that you can print out and use. We have not done that yet, but it looks like it has some good ideas.

For more Kids’ Picks, visit 5 Minutes for Books!

I tried a recipe once for homemade granola bars, and I was not happy with it at all. I did not like them, and neither did anyone else in my family. I have looked at other recipes occasionally, trying to find one that sounded like it would be better. I came across a recipe for “Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars” in an article by Emma Christensen at newsminer.com (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner). There are three recipes in the article, and the granola bar recipe is the second one (so you’ll have to scroll down a bit to find it).

The granola bars turned out to be very good, and the recipe was not difficult. The recipe says to toast the oats in the oven first. However, the oats I bought said they were oven-toasted, so I skipped that step. I also used butter flavored shortening instead of the unsalted butter. Those are the only changes I made to the recipe as it is written in the article. I baked mine for 8 minutes, in the middle of the time frame given.

These granola bars got a thumbs up from everyone, and about half of them were eaten for bedtime snacks tonight! If you are looking for a good recipe for homemade granola bars, I recommend this one. I am thinking of trying a variation (cinnamon-raisin, maybe?), so if I come up with something good I’ll let you know!

I hope you’re finding some good posts and maybe even some new blogs to follow from these Sunday lists! Here are a few favorites from the past week:

Easy Way to Wrap a Gift of Bread–I really like this simple and pretty way of wrapping a loaf of bread for a gift, found at Like Merchant Ships.( And I love the name of this blog!)

Candles and No Running Water–Shannon at Song of My Heart has done a wonderful study of colonial life and the American Revolution with her kids. I enjoyed reading about how they made candles, then spent an evening as a colonial family would have.

The Joy of Boys–This post at Passionate Homemaking was written by Laura from Heavenly Homemakers. She shares her thoughts on being a mom to four boys, and it’s just beautiful. (Note to my dear mother-in-law: you have to read this!)

ABC Uppercase and Lowercase Matching Game–Have you noticed that Chrissie at Flipflops and Applesauce is full of good ideas? Take a look at this game for learning uppercase and lowercase letters.

Have a great week!

We have rabbits, and two of them have recently had babies. We noticed that we never actually saw the mother rabbits nursing the babies, but it was obvious that they were eating and growing. My husband did some more research and found that rabbits only nurse their babies twice daily; once before dawn, and once after dusk. In the wild, she then spends the day away from the nest, so that she is only going to the nest when it is dark and predators are less likely to follow her and find the litter.

When he told me about that, my first response was, “Why can’t human babies be like that?” If God can make little tiny rabbit babies live and grow while being fed only two times per day, surely He could make human babies the same way! The thought of only having to nurse twice as opposed to 10-12 times per day…well, you can see where my mind was going with that! So, why the difference? I would never presume to know why God chose to make what He did the way He did, but I do have a humble thought, based on what we know about the differences between animals and people.

Feeding a human baby involves more than just physical nourishment. There is an interaction between the mother and baby that takes place at the same time. Holding and touching the baby develops a bond, a feeling of comfort and security. It helps both mom and baby develop their relationship before baby can speak or even understand what words mean. That interaction is so important for people. Animals do not have the emotional needs that we do. They don’t need to bond, interact, and develop family relationships like we do. They just need the milk. Our babies need more than that. We can’t feed them, leave them all day, then feed them again and be done. If we do, we are not fulfilling all their needs. Even as babies grow, this fact does not change. We are people, and we need to nourish our children physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. Yes, feeding a baby every two hours is tiring and demanding, but God knows His creatures and what they need. Our babies need more than milk. They need us.

For more WW, visit 5MFM!

I did pretty well with last week’s goal of getting clean clothes folded and put away on the same day that they were washed and dried. I did leave some in the dryer at the end of the day, but I kept them from piling up in baskets and on the couch. Overall, I consider it a success, but this was definitely a challenge for me!

If you read my post about the kids cleaning their rooms, you may be able to guess what my goal for this week is: we will pick up around the house every day before naptime and before bedtime. I really hope we can make this habit stick! If you want to join in or learn more about “For Just One Week,” visit My Ice Cream Diary!

Check out these great blog posts for some good reading and new ideas!

Flashlight Fun–At Blissful Kids, Amy gives some ideas for having fun with your kids and a flashlight. Simple entertainment!

Rainy Day Splatter Painting with a Toothbrush–This is another great art project from Flipflops and Applesauce. It looks fun, a little messy, and very cute!

Housecleaning the Easy Way–Lindafay at Higher Up and Further In describes her way of organizing housecleaning chores. I’m always looking for help with organization and with housecleaning!

Raspberries N’ Cream Muffins–The Muffin Mom shares a recipe for these muffins, which look scrumptious!

Look at What You Did!!–I just felt better after reading this post at Heavenly Homemakers. If you could use a little encouragement, click on over and read it now!

These are a few favorite discoveries from my blog visiting over the past week. I hope you can enjoy them, too.

This morning I told Jacob and Skylar to clean the bedrooms. Jacob was to pick up in the room that he and Skylar share, and Skylar was to pick up in JonDavid’s room. Now, we aren’t talking white glove inspection here. I just wanted toys in the toy baskets, books on the bookshelves, shoes in the shoe basket, trash in the trash can, and dirty clothes in the hamper. Is that all fairly logical and straightforward? Yes, to you it is. But you are not 6 or 3.

Jacob was more worried about whether Skylar was working than about what he was doing. Then he would pick up a few things, and want me to come and see how he was doing.

Now, here is a an example of how Skylar did. She came into the kitchen, and here is the conversation we had:

Skylar: Is JonDavid’s room clean now?

me: Are there some toys under the rocking chair to pick up? (I knew that there were, of course)

Skylar: No.

me: Go and check. (Skylar went into the living room and looked under the rocking chair in there.)

me: No, look under the rocking chair in JonDavid’s room.

Skylar: OK. (she looked and came back). No.

me: There are no toys under the rocking chair?

Skylar: No.

I went into the bedroom, and there were at least six toys under it. Assuming that she has just experienced temporary blindness, I pointed and said,”Look right there Skylar…see the toys under the rocking chair?”

Her vision suddenly returns…

Skylar: Ohhhhhhh….

Yes, we had to go through the whole room that way. And this is not the first time we have cleaned bedrooms. I have helped, demonstrated, and explained many times how to pick up and put away things. And yet, I get blank looks when I tell them to pick up in their rooms. I know they are young, but they are amazingly competent at things that they want to do, and amazingly incompetent at cleaning their rooms!

Finally, after…well, a long time…they got the rooms to an acceptable level. I now have fewer hairs on my head, but you can walk across the bedrooms.

I do realize that part of the drama of the morning room cleaning is my fault. I have just not been diligent in allowing time before bed to pick up each night, so the mess builds until it is overwhelming to the kids. We are going to try to do more regular pick-ups (ten-minute tidys) to keep the clutter of toys, books, etc. at bay. We are also working on putting things away when we are finished with them, but that is difficult with a toddler who carries things all over the place and doesn’t understand about putting things away yet. And just so you know, after all the exhausting work I made them do, they got to play outside and enjoy our beautiful weather for quite a while after lunch!