Audrey’s sweet dormer window reading nook would not be nearly as sweet if it were not for the adorable illustrated children’s books on display. For as long as I can remember I have loved picture books. As a child I would study the illustrations of my favorites – Blueberries for Sal, The Bremen-town Musicians, Caps for […]
Our No.3 son is at that in-between age where he’s just growing out of picture books and in to chapter books. So when he came downstairs with a stack of books and asked us to read with him, we knew there will only be a few more chances for this. He sat between me and Ryan […]
Need a super simple project to do with the kids? This watercolor wood block project is perfect. It’s also great for an unexpected baby gift or fun party decorations for a birthday party or baby shower or thrown in a bowl for chic accessory on your coffee table. Multi-use diy’s that are inexpensive and simple […]
For as long as I can remember, I have adored children’s picture books. The sweet stories, likeable characters, clever plots and rhythmic cadence are all appealing, for sure. But my very favorite are the illustrations. Our collection of picture books continually grows … I just can’t resist. And the kids enjoy us reading to them, […]
Some people go to tropical places for spring break. Others spend their week redoing the kids’ bathroom. I wish I was in the first group, but as I look at my typing fingers, I see lots of dried paint which pretty much gives my spring break activities away. I’ve posted about the kids’ bathroom before […]
We celebrated our little Audrey-girl with a pretty tea party that was every bit as sweet and happy as she is. Using a color palette of pinks, oranges, gold and black and white kept everything cohesive without being overly themed and made decorating really fun for me. I started with these cute tea-bag invitations: A […]
Our oldest son just turned 10 and loves to read. He’s not all that interested during the day, but at night, give him a good book and he will read hours past his bedtime. I’m always on the lookout for good books for boys and bought the first book in this series at the school […]
Like many homes built within the last 10 years, we have a large bonus room above the garage. It has served many different purposes in our home – playroom, media room, office, bedroom – but we’ve landed for now on making it into a comfortable family room. It is where the kids play xbox, build […]
Last year we tried something different with our gift-giving. Usually, we call Christmas an excuse to buy our kids a whole load of things they want and things we want them to have. We don’t go completely overboard, but with four kids and a handful of gifts each, our tree is usually overflowing with festively-wrapped […]
When I was a little girl, all I could dream of was being a mommy. Your aunties and I played dolls until we were way too old for it. We crafted baby books with photos torn from clothing catalogs to document our imaginary children’s lives. I spent hours daydreaming about how many children I would […]
A party hat is always a festive touch for a child’s birthday party. For Audrey’s fancy/crown/girly party, I made these paper crowns for the guests to wear. They were so simple to make and very cute on the little ones. Here’s what you’ll need: :: crown template {download below} printed on metallic gold paper :: […]
Our little darling turned three last week and we threw her a fancy party. {the invites as seen here} The theme was a mix of fancy/glitter/crowns/gold/silver/girly/ruffles/polkadots. How’s that for a concise theme? The table was set with a ruffled tablecloth {made painstakingly by me}, place setting paper placemats {from here}, silver vessels filled with inexpensive […]
This week is devoted to books. Each day I’ll share my favorites in different categories and I’d love to hear some of yours in the comments. On friday, we’ll do a link party. I’m really excited about this one. It will be a great way to hear about new books our internet-friends are crazy about. […]
Playdough is one activity that keeps my kids busy for hours {okay, fine, minutes}. But it does hold their attention for longer than many activities and I actually enjoy playing it with them. Every month or so we make a new batch of fresh playdough using a very simple recipe. Just a few pantry ingredients […]
Let’s start this week’s Instagram snapshots with this pretty image. One of the best parts of living where we do is the abundance of daffodils – which makes them very cheap. And that makes this girl very happy. After church last weekend, the kids and I spent the afternoon at my happy place. No. 2 […]
If you have school-aged boys, perhaps you’ll identify with this one … Legos are overtaking my house. We’ve got ninjas on the coffee table a knight protecting the entry table randoms on the tv room chair this awesome dude parked on my desk They even hang out in the bathtub {deadliest catch, anyone?}. For my […]
A few days ago we went to the library in search of early-reader appropriate books for my No. 2. #2 is in kindergarten and doing great with reading {beyond the BOB series, but not quite ready for regular children’s books}. I wanted to find a handful of books that he would be able to read […]
Country Living featured this version of a homemade memory game in the December issue. Since my little potty-mouth loves playing games, I thought it would make a special christmas gift. After thinking through different objects I could use on the cards, I decided on a photo of each of the kids in our extended family. […]
Last week we went on a field trip with No. 3’s preschool class to the local pumpkin patch. #3 is in a class with two of his best buddies {who happen to have mommies who are two of my best buddies, with older siblings who are some of #2’s best buddies} so we all went […]
This handsome dude is starting kindergarten in just a few weeks. He keeps having bad dreams about having to ‘sit on the wall’ or go to the principal’s office and he worries that his teacher will ask him to do things he can’t yet do. To say he is nervous about starting school is a […]
