My 3 Favorite People

Favorite Easter Books for Kids

I've recently come across two kids' Easter books that I really like.
One is called The Light of the World: The Life of Jesus for Children, by Katherine Paterson. It starts with Jesus' birth and goes through his death and resurrection. It has beautiful illustrations by Francois Roca and is written in very simple terms. It's a longer book, but Abby sat and listened to the whole thing.
The second is J is for Jesus: An Easter Alphabet and Activity Book by Debbie Trafton O'Neal. Abby is really into alphabet books, so she loved this one.

I also love Crystal Bowman's series of Christian-themed books for all the holidays. We have the Thanksgiving, Easter, and Valentine ones. They are large board books and they rhyme. Abby enjoys them.

Animals All Around Us

Tonight we were sitting at the table eating dinner and there was a squirrel right outside the window. Rick told Abby to look at it, and Abby informed Rick that it wasn't a squirrel, it was an animal. And "animals are all around us, Daddy". So I asked her what other animals were around us and she said "cheetahs". Rick asked if she'd seen any cheetahs in the backyard lately and for some reason that cracked us up, so we were both laughing. But Abby just went on listing animals....fish, buffalo, elephants....you never know what animals are "all around us!"

Dinner and a Book!

I lead a once a month Christian fiction book club at my church called "Dinner and a Book". (We have a potluck dinner and discuss a book at each meeting). Susan sent me this picture we took at our last meeting...we are going to send it to the author of the book we read (Mindy Starns Clark) in the hopes of winning some free books! I absolutely love my book club friends!

Back row...Anne, Ann, Theresa, Barbara, Rena, Wendy, Lori

Front row...Susan, Steph, Karen

10 months!

It is so hard to believe, but Andrew is 10 months old. He is on the move, that's for sure. He is starting to "let go" for a few seconds and stand on his own. He is also taking a few steps while holding on. He can crawl at the speed of light and seems to sense when a door is open to a forbidden room. He particulary loves to sneak into the dining room. He loves to eat his baby food and cheerios and is starting to cut back on the bottle. He babbles and squeals constantly. He loves to play with a ball but by far his favorite toy is the "cow truck" he got for Christmas.

The big boy!

Some shots of Andrew playing with his truck:

Testimony of a Bookworm

Several months ago I was asked to write an article about Christian fiction for our church's monthly magazine. It never made the "cut" but since I worked hard on it, I thought I would share it here!

Testimony of a Bookworm
By Stephanie Whittington

I have always loved to read. I remember getting “in trouble” when I was younger for bringing a book to the table and trying to read while eating dinner. My parents were great about always making sure I had good books to read. When I hit my early teen years, though, it was tough to find books that I enjoyed that were not too graphic for my age. At that time, my Sunday School teacher introduced me to Janette Oke. I devoured her whole Love Comes Softly series! This was my first experience with Christian fiction, and it was a good one. However, I didn’t have the benefit of a large church library and did not realize how much good Christian fiction was out there. I kept reading secular books, but I was always bothered by some of the things I read.

A few years ago, I was excited to see that FLO was offering a Christian fiction book club. I loved all the books we read in the first few months and would read more by those authors. I couldn’t believe all the wonderful and interesting Christian fiction that was out there—contemporary and historical, humorous and profound, thriller and romance. As time went on, I became the leader of that group. I really enjoy researching books for us to read and finding new authors. I continue to be amazed at the fantastic stories and characters, and how great it is to read books where God is recognized and praised! I still read some secular titles, but much more Christian fiction. They lift my heart and spirit while engaging my mind!

Our church library has many great Christian fiction selections. My all time favorites are Candle in the Darkness by Lynn Austin, Magdalene by Angela Hunt, Last Light by Terri Blackstock, Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, and Front Porch Princess by Kathryn Springer. I would encourage all those who love to read to consider looking for these books in our church library. I also hope you will consider joining us for our “Dinner and a Book” book club, which meets once a month for potluck dinner and book discussion. We have a wonderful time enjoying fellowship and talking about the books. The list of titles and dates can be found at www.fbcrichmond.org/flo.

Circus Day

Friday was Circus Day at preschool. The kids could dress up. Abby wanted to wear this outfit and be a "circus dancer". So we also made her hair crazy and gave her some cheeks! She looked so cute!

We want to wish Grammy a Happy Happy Birthday!