Read for the Heart

I just finished Read for the Heart by Sarah Clarkson and want to recommend it to anyone looking for a good list of books for children and youth. Sarah is the daughter of Sally Clarkson, whose books I have really benefited from. Sarah grew up in a family deeply immersed in good literature and she shares that passion with her readers.

Sarah has arranged the book into several sections:

Picture Books

The Golden Age Classics

Children's Fiction

Fairy Tales and Fantasy

History and Biography

Spiritual Reading for Children

Poetry

Music, Art, and Nature

A short synopsis is given of each book or author/illustrator.

I've just made a long list for the upcoming school year and hope that my library will have most of them!

Mother and Daughters

Emily came up with a great idea when she suggested all of us girls get together for dinner before she flies away to Arizona for her two month internship.

So the three of us girls and mom met at Rick's Boatyard Cafe for dinner. It's the closest we can get to the New England/Long Island shore here in landlocked Indianapolis.

Since several of us brought our cameras, the outing turned into a photoshoot.

We had so much fun!

And the food was good too! Especially the creme brulee we shared for dessert:

The weather this week has been gorgeous -- cool enough to be outside and enjoying it!

We were supposed to be wearing high heels. Not all of us managed that, but a few did.

We are certainly blessed with much laughter and joy despite the trials each of us has or has had.
The lighting was perfect for photos.

Someday, this will be Rachel and Laura:
And maybe this will be me with Rachel and Laura. :) I am so thankful God chose to give us another girl. Although I missed having a brother, having sisters is one of the best things ever.

Oh yes, we do have fun!

Even if we laugh at each other. :)

What's the deal with taking photos in our family????

Isn't this one sweet? (And, you wouldn't believe how dark it really was)
What a gift that we are all three in the same city for the present.

We couldn't stop marvelling at the beautiful sunset, changing all the time.

And here we are together:

A most delightful evening.
I think it should become a tradition!

Laura Turns 2 Months

Laura turned two months on Sunday.

She is such a sweet, happy baby and all of us are so thankful for her.

We're off for a checkup on Thursday, but I think little Laura weighs just over 8 pounds.

She had her first visit to the ER Saturday after vomiting and fussing for several hours and turning white as a sheet. After an xray and checkup she seemed fine and hasn't had a problem since.

The two sisters -- yay!!!

On other subjects, we are enjoying some gorgeous, cool weather here in Indiana. The windows are open and we can sit outside and enjoy summer.

More of Laura's Baptism

Here are a few more photos a friend took at Laura's baptism:

Apparently, this photo looks just like my mom's baby pictures:

Such a great picture!!! Rachel and Margie always have a good time:

Isn't this sweet?!

And The Winner Is....

#14: Stephanie

Congratulations! It's nice to "meet" you, Stephanie, and now you'll have to let me know an email address and:

-whether you'd like regular or decaf tea

-which flower you would like (choose one from my Etsy shop)

-I'm assuming you want the knitting patterns!! :)

-and whether you would like to have Mansfield Park or A Year in Provence as the book

Back to regular programming tomorrow. And, by the way, I've finally fixed it so anyone can leave a comment!

Post 500

According to Blogger, this is my 500th post. That calls for a giveaway!!! And, the giveaway includes things that represent what I like to post about here on Blackberry Rambles. The only thing not included is something to represent the children (hmmm....maybe I should award a free day of their company).

Here's what I have for the giveaway:

1 felted flower (color to be determined or of your choosing)

1 box of Irish Breakfast tea (regular or decaf)

1 set of food photo greeting cards

4 knitting patterns from Christina (3 cardigans and one lace scarf)

1 book (yet to be decided)

Now, for those of you overseas (beyond Canada), I'd be willing to ship the flower and the knitting patterns.

Also, if you happen to win, and aren't interested in the knitting patterns, we can award those to a second winner.

Just leave a comment and I think I'll pick someone on Monday.

Garden News

Remember these folks -- the Mallards? Well, guess who's chosen to build her nest in our front garden?!

Saturday morning I walked out of the house and yelped when Mrs. Mallard flew out of the bushes in front of me. That's when I had a look behind the bushes and there was a round indentation in the ground, still empty. But, later that day, this is what I saw:

And, she laid another egg on Sunday and another one on Monday. We'll see how many she goes for.

I sat the children down and gave them a very serious talk about the duck nest. We are all very excited, but we've made some rules about never going into that garden or behind the bushes. And they are not to tell the neighborhood children. I don't know what Mrs. Mallard was thinking when she chose our house (except that maybe she likes our bird feeder). I hope we can be quiet enough for her because we all can't wait to meet the ducklings!!!