on Peter Spier, a favorite illustrator

for Claire, as she makes the necessary preparations to welcome her little one into this world

Found this little gem at a used book sale. This is the second, happened-upon book by Peter Spier that we've fallen in love with, that cost me the equivalent of what it costs to park on a public street in Pittsburgh for 10 minutes.

The first is a paper back that I am very sorry to say is out of print.  The Cow Who Fell In The Canal by Phyllis Krasilovsky is set in Holland, the birthplace of the illustrator, and has a story line as charming as the pictures that accompany it.

Mr. Hofstra's cow, Hendrika, is a good cow who longs to please her master by giving him plenty of good, creamy, white milk, but she secretly longs for adventure. Her adventure begins the day she falls in the canal. Spier's illustrations depict a 19th-century Holland in wonderful detail, full of bicycles, store fronts you'd like to walk in, windmills and wooden shoe clad Dutch folk.

Josiah memorized this book when he was two or three years old. I caught him talking to Curious George one night, long after the lights were out, retelling the story of Hendrika in near-perfect detail. Hendrika was also the first three syllable word Tamagn learned. Back in January he was requesting "Drika" daily as a read aloud.

I don't need to sell you on it. Pick this one up if you come across it. It is worth much more than the quarter I spent on it.

And So My Garden Grows is part of a little three-volume Mother Goose series Peter Spier illustrated. Set in 19th-century Italy, it follows two children on their daydream journey through the Italian countryside, gardens and century-old villas.

"Oh that I were where I would be, 

Then I would be where I am not"

I wouldn't mind skipping along with them down this long lane that leads to San Gimignano, a 14th- century medieval city overlooking the Tuscan countryside between Florence and Siena.  

Their journey takes them into the city and to a courtyard, the courtyard of the Town Hall where Dante spoke seven centuries ago. They rest along the Via Appia Antiqua, wander down the Avenue of the Hundred Fountains and into the magnificent gardens of the Benedictine Monastery in Tivoli. That's just a taste of the delights in this charming little book.

The other two titles in Spier's Mother Goose Library are London Bridge is Falling Down!, which takes its reader through 18th-century London (and which I have a used copy on order from Amazon), and To Market! To Market!, set on a farm in Old Newcastle, Delaware in the 1800s.

I have appreciated Peter Spiers' other books that we own, People,  Noah's Ark, and The Star Spangled Banner, but the two mentioned above hold a special place in my heart. Peter Spier has over thirty children's books to his name and I don't think you'll be disappointed with any that you choose to add to your personal library.

Any personal favorites by this author/illustrator? I'd love to hear your recommendations. 

one year home

I'm squeaking this post in. It figures. Been thinking about our one year anniversary post for a long time now and here I am throwing something together at the end of a hard day. It figures.

But really, I am so thankful I spent this September 9th at home with my three little boys! Granted, I wasn't the thankful mommy I wish I was, I griped that my husband had to work and certainly didn't drip with grace and gratitude because this day, September 9th, marks our one year anniversary of having Bereket and Tamagn home.

But I am thankful. And as we've seen this day approaching and prepared for a celebration with friends, I have been more reflective on adoption, God's faithfulness to our family this past year, the grace that He gives every new day, precious grace that I treat as commonplace.

In my musings on adoption, I pulled our big, green 1828 Webster's dictionary down from the shelf and thumbed my way to adopt. A Latin word, adopto of ad and opto {as in option}, meaning to choose, to desire. Here's Noah's definition from way back when:

adopt: 

1) to take a stranger into one's family, as son and heir; to take one who is not a child, 

and treat him as one, giving him a title to the privileges and rights of a child. 

2) in a spiritual sense, to receive the sinful children of men into the invisible church, and into God's favor and protection, by which they become heirs of salvation by Christ. 

Adoption is a good thing. Really good. I am so, so thankful God desired me. Chose me to be an heir of salvation by Christ.

And I am so thankful He called us and paved the way for us to share in the adoption of two little boys this side of eternity. And for those of you who haven't heard, we are close to mailing away our dossier again. To, by God's grace, bring a little sister home for these crazy boys.

Here is our first family photo from September 9th, last year.

And one year later, outside of Abay, the Ethiopian restaurant in Pittsburgh where we celebrated this weekend with friends. 

When we decided to start the adoption process I remember thinking how lucky that child would be for the community of friends and family they'd be gaining in the process.

Thank you again...

to Brandon for going with me and sharing in those 17 wonderful hours of bonding at 30,000 feet,

to Steve and Jeannie for caring for my biggest boy and for all those meals and dishes and everything you did that first week!!!,

to my dad for loving and taking care of Josiah on our first trip,

to all our friends in GC for the meals, and milk, and balloons and flowers and support! you showered upon us,

to Eliza, for serving us on a regular basis all year that first year and, really, helping in such a big way to make it a good first year,

to all of you who read this and have prayed for us, sent encouraging emails, loved us from a distance.

thank you!!!