REVIEW: Whatever You Grow Up to Be by Karen Kingsbury, illustrated by Valeria Docampo

Another book that I have the pleasure of reviewing for Zondervan is Whatever You Grow Up to Be by Karen Kingsbury, illustrated by Valeria Docampo.

This story is told from the perspective of a Mother talking or writing a letter to her baby boy.  She talks about the wonderful times they'll have together as he grows up, and how she will love him, whatever he grows up to be.  It's really a very sweet, beautifully illustrated story that would be appropriate for kids age 5 and up.  Actually, I think it would BEST as a gift to a new mother to have as a keepsake to pass along to her son.

This is one of those stories that says all of the things that new mothers have been too tired to find the words to express.  But it's not too sappy that you break down crying every time you read it.  I read this one to Ellie, but had to be careful that she didn't get a hold of the pages.  They're glossy and a nice heavy weight, but still just paper and I do not trust my 16 month old with paper pages.  But she did enjoy looking at the illustrations, which are awesome.  They're vibrant and whimsical and adorable and I love them.  And my very favorite part of the whole book is that at the bottom of each picture scene is a scripture that goes along with the story text on that page.

See?  How cute is that?!  I love it.  This is such a sweet book.  There's actually nothing about this book that I dislike.  I love it to pieces and I don't even have a little boy!  I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a gift for a new mom or one soon expecting a little boy.  And Karen Kingsbury does have a similar book that's from a dad's perspective to his daughter that's called "Always Daddy's Princess" just in case you'd like to gift it to someone having a girl - or twins!  Both are available at Zondervan's website.

Disclaimer: Zondervan provided me with a free copy of this book for reviewing purposes.

Easter & Anniversaries

Well, life has been pretty ... eventful ... around here!  First there was Easter ...

First Easter Egg Hunt at the park across the street!

Second Easter Egg Hunt at church!

Figuring out how the eggs work

Opening Easter Basket (Bucket) from Pappy & Gramma

Making the pinwheel spin!

Opening Easter Basket from Mommy & Daddy - a new flap book!!

Family Easter picture taken with the self-timer!

And just for fun, we got to visit the same Easter Bunny as last year....

Then, our town celebrated it's 250th anniversary and we got to check out all of the festivities happening at the park that is right across the street from our house!

First, there was a parade that lined up right outside our front door...

... and then we walked out to our mailbox on the main street and watched the show ...

Then, there were fireworks in the park!  We sat out on a blanket in the front yard and enjoyed the view...

We also enjoyed watching everyone try to get their cars out of the teensy parking lot and head home all at the same time while we chatted with some friends and then walked inside to go to bed.

A few days later, Civil War reenactors  set up in the park...

...we took a walk through their camp, and then around the park for a bit.  That's when I saw this, that completely made all the cannon-fire worth it...

Dear Mr. Civil War Dude,

Pretty sure those are for children.  Also, nice Civil-War-Era cell phone.

Best.  Walk.  Ever.

Also, we saw this little guy, which means it's time for another NATURE QUIZ!!

Tell me...

...What kind of a snake is this??  Obviously it's a baby, but we weren't sure of the kind because babies often look quite different than adults.  The second picture is just to show how tiny it was compared to my feet.  He was still alive and sunning himself (thermo-regulating, as Andy gleefully pointed out) on the path.  We didn't move him, but there wasn't anyone else out walking/running/biking along the path, so hopefully he didn't get squished!

So anyway, that was pretty much it for our adventures with Easter and the 250th Anniversary of our town.  It was really cool to live here for such a special event.  I mean, pretty much everything happened right in our front yard.  Which on the one hand was awesome (Andy got to see the reenactors have a skirmish and take the town!  Ellie and I were out shopping.) but on the other hand was kind of annoying when you're trying to get a cranky toddler to bed, but there's a Civil War Era Dance going on right across the street (it was louder than you would think).  All in all, it was a really great view of everything and we were able to see more of it than we would have if we even lived a block from here, just because we're lame and don't usually go out to things like this.  So it made me really happy that we ended up in this house.  Moral of the story: Husbands, listen to your wives - they really do know what they're talking about!