This week at the book fair, A. entered a guess in the “guess how many fortune cookies are in the jar” contest and today he found out that HE WON, HE WON, HE WON!!! He was sooooooooooo excited and as soon as we got home it was fortune cookie eating time. Usually I don’t make much of what the fortune cookie has to say, but today’s fortune hit home…
We could all learn a little something from the cookie!
xo,
Kristie
This week I was washing some lettuce in the kitchen to make a salad when I said to the boys, “how’d you like to be the official salad makers in the house.” I got a BIG, “YES!!” followed by, “we’re going to be salad makers, yeah, yeah, salad makers, yeah, yeah, yeah” (most things turn into a song in our house). So, I brought the lettuce right over (and this is when a miracle occurred), M. grabbed a piece of lettuce, asked if he could try it and then gobbled it up!
Okay, it’s not a miracle to most, but in this house, it so is! My boys are two of the most pickiest kiddos this side of the Mississippi. It’s really not their fault though, they come from a looooong line of picky eaters. Truth be told, I am a card-carrying member of the picky eaters club (I could possibly be the president)–if it was socially acceptable for adults to use divided plates, I would and so would my dad probably. See, the cards were stacked against M. and A. and that is why I am celebrating the salad!
Every night since M. had his first piece of lettuce he’s asked, “mom, are we having our salads tonight?” He gets his little bowl and adds is lettuce-only salad to it and then gobbles it up. Then A. says, “I think I will try lettuce tomorrow” when tomorrow comes, he thinks he should wait one more day. Ha! Maybe tomorrow is the day…
I had to share an image of the salad eater and his salad, it’s pretty cute sitting on his favorite placemat from Crocodile Creek (although it looks like it could be Quigley’s food mat). If you end up having a salad today, enjoy!!
These just make my heart smile….
I can so relate too–I was the BIGGEST stuffed animal lovin’ kiddo there ever was!! And actually, my stuffed animals were my first subjects. I would spend hours posing and taking pictures of them. Lots of film went to that project!! I’ll have to find an image to share on the blog. In the meantime, I think I’ll go hug one of M & A’s stuffed animals.
Hope everyone is having a HAPPY Thursday!
There once was a little snail, who lived in the city. He loved all the tall buildings, but had always hoped for a family to love him. One sunny day his wish came true. A family came to visit the city and found the little snail all alone under a bench. They gathered leaves and sticks and made their new friend a comfy home. The little snail seemed so happy and felt so loved. The family decided he needed a name and so they called him, “Snailey.” It was a great day for Snailey! The family was sad to leave their new friend, but they thought of him often and visited him every time they were in the city and that made Snailey the happiest snail on Earth!
To my dear friend, A., Snailey and I love you!! xoxo
Yes, that mom is me! With summer coming to an end and kindergarten fast approaching (how can that be??), I thought I’d share a little bit about these boys of mine.
Confession #1: When the mood strikes them, my boys love to help in the kitchen. This week they’ve been all about using oven mitts to help take things out of the oven. So, we had just removed something from the oven, they’ve got their mitts on and I turn my back to grab a few things out of the fridge and I hear, “come on” from one of them and, “you want a piece of me” from the other one. I turn and they’re boxing. It’s not quite George Foreman vs. Muhammad Ali (thank goodness), but it’s definitely boxing. So, in our house oven mitts double as boxing gloves!
Confession #2: Recently my boys were on the couch while I was in the kitchen putting away dishes. I’m not sure how it happened because it doesn’t take much, but before I know it they’re wrestling on the couch. So, I say, “okay, guys, let’s keep our hands and feet to ourselves.” They totally ignored me and rolled right off the couch onto the floor, still wrestling. So, I say, “boys, that’s enough.” Still wrestling and still ignoring me, it starts to escalate. So, I say, “HEY BOYS! that’s enough!!” Ignore, ignore, ignore. In a total mom move from out of no where, I grabbed a pot and a pan and banged them together to get their attention and guess what, it totally worked. Now, if I would have seen a mom do that prior to my motherhood, I would have totally said to myself, “that will so never be me!” Ha! Well, that’s me, the mom who has to occasionally bang a pot and a pan together to get her boys’ attention! Hmmm, I think I might have that made into a bumper sticker!!
Okay, one last thing to share… a conversation between brothers (yesterday in the car)…
M. talking to A.: Are we happy that we’re brothers?
A. talking to M.: If mommy and daddy weren’t around and we were in the woods and I passed out, who would carry me out (pointing to M.)? So course we’re happy to be brothers.
I couldn’t help but to laugh!!
And since a post would be oh-so-boring without images, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite images of the boys this summer.
A few from earlier this summer…
And, a few quick images from this week (hasn’t their hair got so long? I just love it!!)…
A. decided to take a little nap, well, not really, but he loved laying in the middle of the fountains while M. ran around him!
Hope everyone is enjoying the summer!!
xo,
K
Pets so beautifully demonstrate unconditional, uncritical love. They take us as we are, for what’s inside us.
–Betty White
A house is a home when it shelters the body and comforts the soul.
–Phillip Moffitt
The minute I stumbled upon that quote, I immediately connected with it. I have so enjoyed my time working with Katie on her project for the Blue Moon Trading Company. I have met some amazing families, who have been so wonderful to open their homes to me and my camera. And, I must say, I’ve truly been inspired. Katie’s philosophy is to create a home with a soul, no matter how large or small. It’s these soulful homes that bring such comfort and make you say, “I want to live there!!” and it’s completely possible to create those feelings in your own home.
I’m thrilled to share that “Studio Blue Moon” is now introducing, a series of workshops entitled: “The Soulful Home.” For more information, please contact the store at 813.839.2056 or stop by (warning: you won’t want to leave), Blue Moon is located at 4129 S. Macdill Avenue in South Tampa. Their hours are Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. You will absolutely love it!!
I’ve never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful.
–Author Unknown
Laughter can be more satisfying than honor,
more precious than money.
–Harriet Rochlin
Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday weekend filled with family, friends and lots and lots of LAUGHTER!
xo, Kristie
You may have tangible wealth untold:
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold,
Richer than I you can never be-
I had a Mother who read to me.
–”The Reading Mother” by Strickland Gillilan (1869-1954)
I just found out about an amazing early literacy initiative program that my good friend Monica shared with me and I want you all to know about it too!
Here’s the story… In 1996, Dolly Parton launched an exciting new effort to benefit the children of her home county in east Tennessee. Dolly wanted to foster a love of reading among her county’s preschool children and their families. She wanted children to be excited about books and to feel the magic that books can create. Moreover, she could insure that every child would have books, regardless of their family’s income.
So she decided to mail a brand new, age appropriate book each month to every child under 5 in Sevier County. With the arrival of every child’s first book, the classic The Little Engine That Could TM, every child could now experience the joy of finding their very own book in their mail box. These moments continue each month until the child turns 5-and in their very last month in the program they receive Look Out Kindergarten Here I Come.
Needless to say the experience has been a smashing success. So much so that many other communities clamored to provide the Imagination Library to their children. Dolly thought long and hard about it and decided her Foundation should develop a way for other communities to participate. The Foundation asked a blue ribbon panel of experts to select just the right books and secured Penguin Group USA to be the exclusive publisher for the Imagination Library. Moreover a database was built to keep track of the information.
Consequently, in March of 2000 she stood at the podium of The National Press Club in Washington, D.C. and revealed the plan for other communities to provide the Imagination Library to their children. And as only Dolly can say it, she wanted to “put her money where her mouth is – and with such a big mouth that’s a pretty large sum of money” and provide the books herself to the children of Branson, Missouri and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina – communities where her businesses now operate. If other leaders in their communities were willing to do the same, well something big might just happen.
You know what? It did!!
Here’s how it works:
A community must make the program accessible to all preschool children in their area. The community pays for the books and mailing, promotes the program, registers the children, and enters the information into the database.
From there The Dollywood Foundation takes over and manages the system to deliver the books to the home. Hundreds of communities are providing books to hundreds of thousands of children.
I so wish I could have known about this sooner, it’s an amazing program, and if you have a child or grandchild under the age of 5 you can register them today if you live in a participating community! It’s easy to find out if you do, just visit the Imagination Library website, select your country, then select “first time visitor” and go from there. Children receive an age-appropriate hard-cover book FREE each month from birth to age five (regardless of income). So, what are you waiting for??? If you are local and live in Hillsborough County, you are in luck, because we happen to be a participating community! Yea!! Click HERE to view the local contact information to enroll your child or to see how you can donate to this incredible program.
Thank you, Monica, for the inspiration this week! xo
