What I Did On My Blog Vacation

You know how when you came back to school in the fall, you always had to write a paper "What I did on my summer vacation." Well I figured since I did take quite a bit of a blog vacation, I'd give you snippets of what I was up to on my time off. This being the first. To make it more interesting, I'll use visual aids found on etsy or my own photos, whichever is more fitting.

So what I did on my blog vacation was read a few books. Two series actually. The first was quite enjoyable... Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati was the first in the trilogy. Outdoorsy... late 1800's... the English and Indians... Oh my!

This photo from CreationsAnew is such a breathtaking view of the river and snowcapped mountains, it reminds me of the ruggedness of the books.

The second series I read, was one that has been much hyped. My SIL happens to have the books and so since they were there I thought I'd see what all the talk was about. This was after my mom had read them as well as a few friends. Maybe it was overhyped or just not my type of reading, I'm not sure but I wasn't as in love with it as many are.

This button from Geek Details sums it up wonderfully! In a lot of ways this is exactly how I felt about these books. Suppose this is why I shouldn't give into the hype... at least all the time.

Reading and the art of tackling

Today was a day spent working on some chores. Hubby came home early and so we spent the afternoon looking at houses online. With the way the market is, there may be a way we could afford to buy something on his one income. That would be a nice treat to own our house. Talked to our daughter about it and she liked the idea of being able to paint her room, "blue and yellow and purple!" We'll see when we do own our place if that would be the case.

Then it was off to the library. Got a book recommendation from a friend, Water for Elephants so put it on the list to receive a copy when available. I love the internet age in that you can just go online and request a book. Saves a bit of the searching in the library, which is hard to do with my two in tow. We picked a few books for them, and my reserved copy. Now we will see if I can finish a book in 3 weeks!

Overall it was just a nice family day. Tackling ensued after dinner. Kids, daddy, Oli and myself all partook. Everyone tackled daddy, then me then hubby and I divided and conquered the kids. It's funny how my daughter suddenly just makes the oddest sounds instead of words when tickled. Then she'll stop long enough to say "Pleeeeese stop tickling me..." Whereas my son will come up to you "Tickle... tickle... tickle..." big dimpled grin asking for more.

Flip ruffed up Oli a bit as well. They're getting along so well these days it's fun to watch. Flip is still a bit cautious because of the size difference between the two, but Oli jumps on his back like he's the "big" cat in the house. Guess we'll see how they do when they're closer in size.

I leave you with a pic of Oli while I head off to work on a custom order, and read some of my book. When was your last family day?

Mail Time!

My kids watch Blues Clues so just saying that makes me think of the song! Anyhow, normally it's not a big thing getting the mail. But yesterday I was pleasantly surprised by having 3 packages to open! And I still have one more thing on the way :)

Two were from Etsy. Ordered a great checkbook cover for my hubby. May have to use it myself, but we'll see. The one I have is leather and has spots for everything. My hubby doesn't carry the checkbook all too often but he was complaining about needing it and not having a cover. So here's one for him, an adorable tribute made by bethjt. She has an amazing shop with so many different things to choose from. Pretty soon here, she'll be competing with me on the crochet front I'm sure! Check her blog to see! So cool to see how quickly she's picked it up.

The second from Etsy, was from BubbaRye. A beautiful card shop. The picture doesn't even do justice to how lovely the cards really are. I got a 2 pack of cards and she threw in some of her new monogramed stationary. It'll come in handy! My daughter loved her little card she sent out with her package as well. Although she didn't like that it already had wording on it! She did ask what it said though. It was very nicely written, just like her blog. A favorite one of mine to visit and see how her days are going.

Lastly, my FIL and his wife sent the kids some new books. It came with a note saying Happy AnyDay! Our kids love books and so it was a nice treat. One was for my daughter, a princess book. It's sort of like a mini scrap book really. Came with a few things to do with it and lots of ideas to put stuff in it. May be a little old for her now, but she'll grow into it soon enough. There is a page you can dress up the princess, which she really likes so it works. I think we'll have to see if we can find her a SuperHero one as well so she can continue to have both things in life.

Second book is simply adorable! It is called Pigs Over Colorado. The pictures are fun and interesting and cover vacation spots in the state. Several that I've been to. The kids seemed to enjoy it as well. It also has hidden animals on every page. Those sorts of books are fun once the kids realize they are there :) Well that was in my mailbox yesterday, and so I thought I'd share.

Iron on fun

We did our shopping, didn't find the yarn I wanted to finish the grapes, but managed to finish them with what I had. However, did pick up some canvas bags and iron ons to make a library bag for my daughter and a bag for toys for my son.

She sat down and planned out where things went. So I ironed them on and finished hers off with some sparkly paint for a library bag with flowers. We're planning a trip to the library and park tomorrow, hopefully it's dry by then!

My sons fits him. He is an angel and a devil all in one. With a winning dimply smile, who loves to say "CHEESE" when he sees a camera. His isn't quite right on the lettering, but whatcha gonna do eh? Not sure how I can peel up my mistakes!

The dress is simply one we'd gotten from my FIL for a birthday present. Since it was a little plain and we had extra iron ons, figured we'd shnazz it up a bit. Still have one more bag to do, but I think I'll let her go crazy with the puff paint and do what she wants with it. It's for her My Little Ponys (my husband and I bought a lot on ebay of them. Mostly old school, in pretty good condition and she loves them. There are just so many of them!

Birthday Parties Can Be Fun

So today was the day of the birthday party. My daughter requested that I make a purse that matches Lily the Pig and give those as presents. I also put together her book completely. Took awhile to cut everything, the printed labels as well as the posterboard (seemed to work well, and will be durable enough for a 3 year old). Now I will have to get our kids' books done sooner rather than later since I'm sure there will be requests after seeing Mack's book! At least I already have the supplies and some practice!

Here's a pic of how the final presents look, outside of the bag. I know the colors are interesting for the purse, but it's what she chose for the purse!

It was a fun day, just a few kids... about 10 ages 3 and under. And sugar! Always makes for a fun time right? Needless to say, I relaxed the rest of the day :) working on some new stuff) Her mom did get a jumpy castle so that was fun to see the kids bouncing about. They enjoyed the day, haven't spent all too much time with Mack lately so it was a good day. My daughter didn't even want to come home! But all good things must end. We'll have to setup more playdates.

Giveaway Done

Just wanted to say thank you to all who entered! I will be letting the winner know who they are soon. Gotta pull out my trusty hat and write down some numbers!

In the mean time, I've been working on an ABC book for my daughters friend. It's her 3rd birthday this weekend and so figured it was a good time to give it to her. I found directions here, instructions to make your own board book. This is the little girl who I used to babysit. So while she was here, we'd take pictures of different things to make a book! Got pictures of my own kids as well to do their books. So once I get hers all together, I'll get theirs done.

I think she'll really enjoyed it and it'll help to learn her ABC's since it is all about her.

I'd love to see how any of you decide to put together books too!

Reading

My daughter has an already larger than life love of books. She has own 2 sheleves on our bookshelf and we go to the library every few weeks to pick up new books. She picks them out, I pick out a few, but mostly it's what she wants. Of course from the children's section. Lately she has been wanting to read chapter books. When she was a baby, I'd read to her while she nursed. I'm not sure how she caught of the books or cared, but it was a nice and quiet time for the two of us. They were books I've had since I was a child. And we'd picked up a few more to read to her then, ones she could grow with and possibly learn to love as much as either of us had.

One such book is A Wrinkle In Time. It's one I'd not read till I read it to her, but one my hubby really loved as a child. She has been asking me to read it to her now. Now anyone who has read to a 2 almost 3 year old knows how that can go! But when it's just the two of us, she listens as hard as she can, and repeats a sentence or two every few paragraphs. I don't know how long it'll take us to get through the book, but it is rather enjoyable to do in the meantime.

Although her favorite these days is still a library book we've picked up about dinosaurs. She knows daddy loved dinosaurs as a kid, so she always looks for books with them on the cover. This one is a fun one since it has a dinosaur a page, which can be lifted out and played with. She has a fierce and scary "ROAR!" for such a sweet little face.

I guess this post was just to serve as a reminder to us all, the importance of reading and that you're never too young to dive into a book!