Book Review: The Caboose Who Got Loose

The Caboose Who Got Loose by Bill Peet is another family favorite here. First it is a fantastic story full of whimsy and imagination. I must say it is really fun to read aloud. Secondly, it is illustrated by Bill Peet! He is an amazing illustrator. I think it is important to give children examples of high quality art whether it is in books, the music you listen to, or places you take them to experience architecture, design, fashion, etc. Of course, books are an easy and economical way to share the world of art and imagination with your kids.

Favorite Things: Afternoons at the Park

We are lucky enough to have a park right across the street from our apartment. It is not the best park by any means neither in playground equipment or setting but it is wonderful to have a park so close to home. Even though it is the middle of winter we are still able to go frequently. Sydney loves running around playing, Vi enjoys being outside with new things to look at and explore, and I am thankful for a few moments in the sun with my girls and a book. I do realize that as soon as Violet figures out how to crawl these moments of sitting on a small blanket with a book will be over. Our time at the park will become chasing her around and taking all sorts of leaves and dirt out of her mouth but for now I am loving it.

Book Review: Yummy Yucky

I have always loved reading and I aim to pass that love of books onto my girls. There are lots of great resources out there to learn ways to make reading fun for kids but I think one of the most important is to just spend time every day reading with your kids. I have been falling a little short on this lately so I thought that doing little reviews on the blog might help motivate me to get back into the habit of sharing books with the girls. We will just see how it goes. This first one is going to be simple!


Yummy Yucky, by Leslie Patricelli, is one of our favorite board books. It was given to Sydney as a gift a few years ago from Courtney. I love that it is simple both in words and pictures, making it easy to flip through the pages with an infant who is not too interested in reading yet. Plus, it is a funny way to teach a toddler about what's ok to taste and what is definitely yucky, like the trash can and blue crayons. Look for it at your local library or purchase it for lots of giggles with your toddler.

Preparing for a party

Sydney turns 4 in one week! I can't believe that my little babe will be 4, but it is true I checked her birth certificate to make sure. haha

We are having a party on Saturday for her. Of course, she is super excited. We made her a paper chain to keep track of when the party would be so each evening she runs around the house yelling about how many days are left. On the other hand, I am sort of wondering why I decided to throw her a themed party while 36 weeks pregnant. Call me crazy if you must. Since Sydney is an avid reader and artist I decided to throw her a birthday party all based around Eric Carle's books and artwork. I will try to share all the inspiration and pictures after the party but today we started preparing.


These will be cut up into shapes for the kids to use to create Carle inspired butterflies. More to come soon. I am going to try and post more in the next couple weeks because soon I will be distracted by a new bundle of joy.

Thank you Shane!

My wonderful husband gave me some birthday gifts yesterday. First he bought me some of these fabrics!!! I am so excited. Plus, since Shane bought me some last year too I am thinking that receiving Anna Maria Horner fabric should be a new birthday tradition. What do you say Shane? He went above and beyond and also bought me her new book. If you haven't seen it yet, GO GET IT! It is fabulous. I already have spent lots of time looking through it. It is beautiful, personal, and inspiring. Sydney gave me a new set of crochet hooks. I am excited to experiment with different gauges for the blankets soon.

Tonight Shane is taking me out to dinner with a couple close friends. Yummy Mexican food here we come. I am telling you....that handsome man knows the way to my heart: fabric, a good book, dinner out, and no dishes!!

Two great books

I just recently became the proud owner of Amy Butler's book, Midwest Modern: A Fresh Design Spirit for the Modern Lifestyle. It is so inspirational. I have added many sewing projects to the to do list because of it. Jamie just recently met this fabulous lady and you can read about it here.


Second, I bought this book when it came out a few weeks ago and I highly recommend it to any parent or anybody that spends time with kids. It is so full of great ideas and advice, I hardly know where to start. I just love how Amanda Soule is so open about being creative with your children and really modeling that behavior. Another great thing is how everything is so easy to implement and how quickly our house is becoming more creative already.