Tuesday's Top Ten [10 Wonderful Children's Books for Counting to 10]

One of the best ways to help a toddler learn to count is with books! These are a few of our favorites!

1-3. Over in the Garden or Over in the Meadow or Way Up in the Arctic (or any one of these particular books written to the same tune, rhyme and give wonderful information about the world we live in!)

 

 

4. How Many Kisses do you want Little One? by Varsha Bajaj and illustrated by Ivan Bates is a wonderfully cute counting book all about night-night kisses.

5. My Remarkably Sparkably Purse by Hayley Down is one of my daughters favorites because it's a little girl filling her purse with all the things Brielle loves (like tiara's and shoes and necklaces).

6. Turtle Splash: Countdown at the Pond by Katherine Falwell is one I like because (like it states) it counts down from 10, changing it up a bit.

7. Ten Apples Up On Top 'cause you can't go wrong with Dr. Seuss!

8. Five Little Ducks - a classic illustrated by Penny Ives - is one that I recommend. I realize it only goes to 5, but it's still worth reading!

9. How Do Dinosaurs Count to Ten? is another great one. I love any of Jane Yolen's "How Do Dinosaurs...?" books. They are pretty fantastic.

10. The M&M's Counting Book because who doesn't love counting with chocolate candy?!

If you're interested in finding others, here's a longer list with a few books I can't wait to check out myself!

A bonus:
 I've Got an Elephant by Anne Ginkel, illustrated by Janie Bynum, is a cute counting book where the character adds an elephant every time she does something - all because they get lonely. What does she do when she hits 10? Perfect book for counting, predicting, and laughing.

30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude (Day 10-16)

I'm a little behind the times. I planned on posting this Saturday, but we got a new-to-us computer and my dad was busy setting it up. I find posting on my iPhone difficult, time consuming, and totally not worth it, so I waited and am now EXTREMELY grateful for this wonderful gift. I might not be out of the stone ages completely, but people - I HAVE A MONITOR THAT DOESN'T TAKE UP OVER HALF OF MY DESK! Woooohoooo! That's something for which I can most definitely be grateful. It makes this "job" of posting and publishing that much more enjoyable.

Day 10 was "Nature" and as I was walking around looking for a good nature shot I realized that my flower garden still has blooms! It was beautiful, because colorful leaves had found a resting place in and around this particular plant and I found myself (once again) grateful for fall and all the colors.

After taking that shot I found myself wishing I had a worthy camera, and although that isn't a bad thing to wish for, I also chastised myself a tad. Instead of being grateful for the camera on my iPhone that does take remarkably good pictures considering, I was wishing for something else. Thank you Lord for providing me with the iPhone and all it's capabilities.

Day 11 was "Something Old" and this one wasn't hard. I display these antique books used by teachers and students from the 1800's and early 1900's. Occasionally I'll gingerly open the pages and peak at the handwriting, names and dates. They're falling apart, but it's so interesting to see what qualifies as "early readers" today vs back then. We are far, far, far behind the times. My 7th graders would've struggled with a 3rd grade reader. Makes me sad.

Day 12 was "Hands" and this one was a no brainer. I picked an old picture JUST because I loved my little Beans hands in it from the moment I took it.

Day 13 was "Written Words" and I chose John 21:25 for many reasons: 1. When my friend Deb pointed it out to me it blew my mind and I've been thinking about it ever since. 2. I'm studying the book of John with a high school student who asked me to help her learn God's Word and study it correctly. Since we started with John it's been at the forefront of my brain these last few months. 3. Our Pastor Hod taught chapter 6 of John to us in church one Sunday morning and it.blew.me.away. and I'm forever in awe over what the Bible is teaching me. Wow.

I wrote: "Wow! What He reveals to us is all we need to know for the moment. He gave us this 1 book for here and now." The way John states that last paragraph is so matter-of-fact and simple, "I suppose..." and the thought that the world could not contain the books had everything Jesus did been written down - blows me away (yup, that's a common occurrence as I study the Bible). It makes me wonder what we'll be learning in eternity. If one paragraph in the Bible "blows my mind" I imagine we'll be spending all of eternity learning about our great and awesome God. Seriously can't wait.

Day 14 was "Movement" and I captured Kyle playing tug-of-war with Quigley (his favorite game). Quigley is so strong!

Day 15 was "Technology" and I chose the keyboard. I'm forever grateful for the computer and keyboard, it's makes writing a breeze! The keyboard was a fantastic invention for all writers. It's much faster than a pen and paper and the delete button is so much easier than repairing mistakes on a typewriter. I'm thankful for the ease I can write up a blurb about -whatever-whenever- I want.

 

Day 16 (today) was "Animals" and I have 2 dogs that will forever crack me up, keep me on my toes, and show me the true meaning of unconditional love: Marley and Quigley. Marley doesn't believe he's a dog or that he's small. Quigley, on the other hand, doesn't understand how big he really is, therefore, Marley is the dominant one who is forever bullying poor Quigley. Cracks.Me.Up.

Marley (in an attempt to show dominance?) likes to sit on Quigley. Despite how difficult this is for him, he insists on doing it. The logic doesn't make sense to me, but this is a glimpse into the world of Marley. Haha.

Tomorrow (Day 17) is "Memories" and I'm really going to have to think on this one. There could be a ton of options here.... hmmmmm... I have a lot to be grateful for, so stay tuned, and join me on this photo gratitude challenge. It's never too late to start!

30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude [Day 7-9]

This weekend was not a fun weekend. I ended up with a stomach bug that forced me to lie in the fetal position all day Saturday. This weekend I was grateful for one thing: my amazing husband who selflessly took care of me and his daughter allowing me to spend my time on the couch or the toilet. (TMI? Sorry...)

Due to that fact I did not participate in this challenge over the weekend. I'm picking it up today with Day 10: Nature. I did participate all week up to Day 9 so I'll share those with you!

Day 7: Something Funny
This might only be funny to me (typically that's how it goes in my world), but I couldn't resist sharing my Halloween socks, googly eyes and all. On the back of these adorable polka-dot socks were fuzz ball lady bugs, complete with antenna's, googly eyes, and a cute little button nose. It went perfectly with my lady bug costume that I wore in conjunction with my daughter's love bug costume. (You want me to share? How can I resist?!)

Isn't my little love bug the cutest love bug ever? (Yes, I'm biased, but seriously...)

Day 8: Favorite Color
I do not have a favorite color. So I took a picture of some leaves I've gathered when I'm outside with Briella Bean for a Pinterest Project. I picked them because I like the colors! It seemed appropriate. Color is one of the reasons I enjoy fall so much.

Day 9: Inspiring Person
I've engrossed myself in Milton Vincent's book "A Gospel Primer," it's this 97 page book that I'll probably read a portion of every day. Seriously. He has inspired me to make the gospel message the central focus of my day-to-day life - from the moment I get up until it's time to lay my head down at night. Heck, I hope to dream gospel! By doing that task (I refuse to call it simple, because it just isn't) my life has changed in so many ways starting with TRUE thankfulness, peace, a new eternal perspective, etc. etc. I'm beyond thankful that Milton Vincent shared how preaching the gospel to himself daily changed his life, because it has most definitely changed mine as well.

Doing this gratitude photo challenge has added a new dimension to my thankful journal I've been doing with my sisters for almost a year now. I not only encourage you to jump on this photo challenge bandwagon, but I encourage you to begin a thankful journal as well. You'll find that instead of being thankful for the "surface level" -things- in your life, you'll be thankful for everything BIG and small, which will ultimately change the way you think in such a positive way. Trust me, being thankful in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18) will change your life.

Fall Fun at Fanny's Fruit Farm

This weekend we took Bean to a pumpkin patch at Fanny's Fruit Farm in Gurley, NE. She had so much fun and was exhausted at the end of a very busy day! I recommend checking this place out if you live in the surrounding area.

The price of admission was only $7 and pumpkin prices varied between $1-$5 depending on the size of pumpkin you picked. I thought it was worth the price considering how Briella Bean enjoyed every last minute of it.

They have little bitty goats that Brielle absolutely LOVED!

THE moment she saw the little goats she started to giggle and it did not stop until they were out of sight. I love this picture because it captures her utter excitement!



When they approached her (they were perfect -Bean- size) she wasn't too sure about them at first and stayed hidden in Daddy.

Goat Kisses! I LOVE this picture as well!

She followed this white one around for quite a while. She was obsessed and tried so very hard to give it aw-aw-aw's! She only accomplished grabbing it's hind quarters, haha.

Trying to give it aw-aw-aw's.

Little pats are included in her aw-aw-aw's.

There was a little chair in the goat pin and the goats flocked to her after I set her in it, first there was one...

... eating her shirt...

... then there were two...

... not sure what to think...

... she's had enough, but she's hysterically giggling still...

... trying to get away and still has belly laughs...

I don't know which she enjoyed more, the goats or the pumpkin patch itself!

I thought the buildings were so cool and had to share them with you...

Goat Barn

Chicken coop

You could gather eggs if you wanted... Bean wanted one so bad... anything round she slams on the floor (in her world that's playing catch) and we had to quickly leave the premises so that we didn't have a mess on our hands and she wasn't very happy that mommy wouldn't let her have one... so enough with the chicken coop.

Bean wanted to go back to the Goat Barn!

But we went to the Corn Maze instead...

We stopped to take pictures on the haybales located in the middle of the maze. I'm glad we did. The sun was intense and no matter if you were facing it or had  your back to it, pictures were  hard to take with an iPhone. Still, I think they turned out pretty good.

Kyle's really good at these things. Every single time I'm in a maze Kyle gets us out in no time flat, I don't know how he does it, but I always, always, always follow him, and sure enough his parents took a different route and Kyle had to guide them out... haha... just trust me when I say, "follow Kyle!"

View from inside the Corn Maze of Fanny's Fruit Farm.

We have yet to get family pictures so whenever there's a chance I ask someone to take one of us! I love how it turned out!

After making it through the Corn Maze we ventured through the Pumpkin Patch. Again, I don't know which one Brielle loved most: the Pumpkin Patch or the Goat's.

Lots to choose from...

Perfect Bean-Sized Pumpkin!

She loved it (she's giving pumpkin kisses)!

Giving it love pats.

Oh.my.goodness. look at those chubby hands!

Brielle was in Pumpkin Paradise!

There were pumpkin's everywhere and Bean wanted them all!

Trying so so hard to pick it up.

This is what she does when she loves something: puts her hand under her chin and rocks back and forth while saying, "aw-aw-aw" and then points at whatever gets her affection. In this case it was a very large green pumpkin.

Giving it "aw-aw-aw" love pats.

Aunt Sydnie searched the patch for the perfect pumpkin. Whatever one she picked, Brielle loved.

She wanted nothing to do with the stroller. She wanted to walk! However, with the ground being uneven she'd fall and trip every couple steps, but you can learn a lot about life by watching her walk: fall down, get back up, try again, fall down, get back up, try again... over and over and over again.

The stroller did serve its purpose.

We loaded our pumpkins and Bean up in a wagon and went on our way.

She kept grunting and making this face. At first we thought she was filling her diaper, but then realized she was trying very hard to pick the pumpkin up! Haha!

My mother-in-law and I took Bean on the hayrack ride while Aunt Sydnie, Grandpa and Daddy went to the Haunted Hollows.

I didn't mean to cut Brielle out of the picture, but it was a good one of Tammy and I none-the-less, so I had to share it!

Patty Cake is always a favorite game.

"I do it myself!"

The day was winding down, but we had to stop at the little play house and browse through the gift shop. I'm surprised Brielle held it together because she was already showing signs of being a sleepy baby during the corn maze with a little eye rubbage, but she seemed to enjoy the little playhouse, play horse, and all the things for her to do.

The playhouse smashed the witch!

She LOVED this! It inspired Grandma and Grandpa to get theirs out of storage for when she comes to visit them.

Sydnie and I had fun in the gift shop trying on all their hats. I EASILY would've purchased one of these because they were so stinkin' adorable! But Kyle said I didn't need one, I'm not sure what he meant by that... ;)

arrrrrrr....

If you couldn't tell from the pictures we had a marvelous day. Thank you Fanny's Fruit Farm for providing a wonderful place for us to get out as a family and have a fun filled fall day! After days like this I feel beyond blessed for the life God has given us and the people He's put in our lives, I have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season.