Every day angels

"When we speak of those who are instruments in the hand of God, we are reminded that not all angels are from the other side of the veil. Some of them we walk with and talk with—here, now, every day. Some of them reside in our own neighborhoods. Indeed heaven never seems closer than when we see the love of God manifested in the kindness and devotion of people so good and so pure that angelic is the only word that comes to mind." Jeffrey R. Holland from this talk

I wanted to share an experience today of answered prayers and angels among us.

I decided to do my big grocery shopping trip a day ahead of my "normal" day, to beat the snow and cold they are forecasting. Of course my list wasn't made yet, so as I'm planning meals and writing up a list this morning, my boys are going from room to room leaving messes in their wake. I know that it typically takes more than an hour to do my shopping and Ethan had preschool at 1, but I decided to set out just before noon.

Half way through our trip, Grant is wiggling out of the "car" cart and Ethan is asking for candy, I resituate Grant and put a ring-pop in the cart for Ethan. Then down the next aisle Grant is again crying and trying to get down. I decide to give him his sucker ahead of time and just hurry and finish the shopping. When I go to check out, the store is packed (I guess everyone it trying to beat the storm) with 4 or 5 people in each line. I know that our hopes in getting Ethan to school on time are lost. And then Ethan announces that he needs to go potty (I did ask him about it when we were close to the bathrooms at the start of the trip--but of course he only has to go at the most inconvenient times). I don't want to get out of line to take him and lose our place in line and make him even more late for school. And I can't send him by himself--he's only 4 and it's half way across the store. So I tell him to hold it and I'm trying to think of what to do. All of a sudden a friend from church pushes her cart up to the line to check out and I quick ask her if she will watch my cart (and sticky Grant--from his sucker) while I run Ethan to the bathroom.

As I'm walking with Ethan to the bathroom, I realize what an answer to prayer this woman is. It wasn't a huge service she provided to me and didn't take a lot of time or energy on her part--but it meant so much to me. This woman was my everyday angel. I am thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who knows our needs and puts certain people in our lives that help and bless us. And I hope that I too may be an instrument in God's hands to help someone else in their time of need.

Story-time

My boys love books! Which is a good thing because I love them too--although the majority of my reading nowadays is textbooks or parenting/child related. We also love attending story-time at the library! It started when Ethan was less than a year old down in the Douglas Co. libraries with Miss Jo--she was so great with the kids! And while I'm not quite as impressed with the story time here--we still enjoy going weekly!

Because of our love of books, Ethan and I have put together a list of some of our favorites! If you're looking for some new ones, try looking for these at the library or bookstore! (and in case you don't know, at most libraries you can request books online--so you don't have to search the kids section while lugging your kids along!)

So here's our top 25 current favorites:

1. The Three Little Rigs by David Gordon: a takeoff from the 3 little pigs

2. Alpha Oops! The Day Z Went First by Alethea Kontis

3. Hickory Dickory Dock by Keith Baker

4. The Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hart

5. Piglet and Mama by Margaret Wild

6. Click, Clack Moo, Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin

7. Mouse's 1st books (a series with ones for the seasons and holidays) by Lauren Thompson

8. The Cow that Laid an Egg by Andy Cutbill

9. Big Wolf and Little Wolf by Sharon Phillips Denslow

10. Who Hoots? by Katie Davis

11. Maisy books (another series) by Lucy Cousins

12. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr., and John Archambault

13. The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

14. Beetle Bop by Denise Fleming

15. Armadillo Rodeo by Jan Brett (we like her other books too!)

16. Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson (we love the series of books about Bear and his friends--and the illustrations by Jane Chapman are great too!)

17. I Love Trains by Philemon Sturges

18. Machines at Work by Byron Barton

19. Hello, Day! by Anita Lobel (great illustrations)

20. Pigs Over Denver by Kerry Lee MacLean (a must read-or buy-if you have ties to CO)

21. Hugs and Kisses by Christophe Loupy

22. When We're Together by Claire Freedman (another one illustrated by Jane Chapman)

23. What a Good Big Brother by Diane Wright Landolf

24. Stormy's Hat: Just Right for a Railroad Man by Eric A. Kimmel (based on a true story)

25. If You're Happy and You Know It by Jane Cabrera

Happy Reading!!

planning ahead

The other night, this was a conversation Ethan and Jon had:

Jon: Alright, now that we brushed your teeth it's time for bed.

E: I can't go to sleep. Dad I really can't go to sleep. I don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

Yes, he has decided right now that he wants to plan out his life! Or it could just be another stall tactic--he's been using a lot of those recently...need to go potty, need a drink, not tired, what's that sound, what's mom doing, let's talk about our day, etc.

By the way, his top 2 choices right now are: fireman or an "army man."

Ethan also informed me the other day that we should have 87 more babies! When we asked where they would sleep, he answered in Grant's bed, then changed his mind and thought we should build our house bigger. Then we asked him where they would fit in our car. And he thought we should get one of these:

That would have plenty of room for all those car seats, right?