Favorite Children's Books

I co-hosted a baby shower this weekend.  In lieu of a greeting card, we asked the attendees to write a message to soon-to-be mom, dad and baby in the front cover of their favorite children's book. That got me thinking about a few of the favorites around this house, that we love to read, during our bedtime reading rituals.

 Have you read this one?  I feel like it flies

way under the radar, but it is such a fun

read, with a great message about being humble.

 It is sooo good!

This has been a favorite of mine since I was a

little kid.  I remember going to a book store in

Minnesota to meet the author and illustrator,

and we still read the copy that was signed 

to me, as a kid. 

An honorable mention by this writing and illustrating 

duo is, King Bidgood's in the Bathtub. I also have

the signed copy of this book from my 

childhood that we often pull out. 

I had never heard of this book or the author, until

we received a small stack of her books when Logi

was born.  This quickly became our favorite and we

still read our copy of this tattered little board book often. 

Honorable mention by this same author is Barnyard Dance. 

It is still a favorite to read allowed to the kids

(I dig deep and put a little twang in my voice when I read this one!)

This is such a fun and clever read!  This was

introduced into our reading rotation just last

year and it is absolutely a favorite! 

This is MY absolute favorite!  I learned to recite it

when Logi was just a few weeks old and it is still

one that I tell them when rocking them back to sleep in the night.

Our taped up board book shows just how much we love this one.

I am so thankful for the joy of books as the four of us pile into our 

bed every night to read.  It has been such fun, this last year to have 

Logi take on some of the reading aloud. Although, she still much prefers 

us to read to her at bedtime, so she can snuggle in with Benny.

Oh, and I can't sign off without a big, huge shout out to the Berenstain Bear books.

They are a forever favorite.  I remember sitting in my childhood bedroom, on the

phone with Zac (who was back in his childhood bedroom), before we got married,

going through our stacks or Berenstain Bears books, creating one pile of books without

doubles, for our future kids.  A week has not passed, since we had our kiddos, that 

hasn't included the adventures of this fun loving bear family!

xo.

Papa's Forest

 Like a postcard, this is the drive into Papa's Forest!

We headed back to Minnesota last month to spend some precious
time with my in-laws. My most favorite day of the entire trip was spent
carefree up in the woods. Here are a few pictures I snapped of the
kiddos and Zac from that glorious day.

 Given the chance, Benny would spend all day on the

big tractor.  It truly is his happy place, even though

it is sitting idle in the barn.

Zac and I went for a long ride through the woods on the 4 wheelers.

It was so amazing.  It is always fun to go off and feel lost in the woods.

Then Zac took Logi for a ride.  She loved it until they saw a huge

animal (a bear-squirrel, as described by our 5 year old love) and 

was scared on any subsequent ride.  Zac still has zero clue what

animal they encountered, so it is safe to assume it was Harry.  

Yes, yes that Harry!

Off they went.  Seriously, this was the best day.  Our trip 

home to Minnesota was overshadowed with the sadness

of my father-in-laws battle with pancreatic cancer, but on this

day nothing seemed to matter but the wind in the trees and

the cold on our cheeks and of course, Harry!

Kitchen Remodel: AFTER

 

Ahhhhh, this is my new kitchen.  I am obsessed.  I can't quit baking. OMG.

Here's a sneaky of the way it used to look, just for a refresher.

Little stainless shelf above range was cut to size.

I inherited the idea from my friends, Adam & Jade.

It's an under $50 find from Ikea.  Love.

Why yes, I did plan the cabinet hardware to mimic

the appliances.  Again, obsessed.

The counter (peninsula) that separates the kitchen

from the dining room used to be a full wall, with

an arched doorway, that led into the dining room.

I am so thankful that we took that wall down.  

I am even more excited that the walk through

was roomy enough to support my metro rack 

of random things.  There is a chunk of 

kitschy, old lady that lives in my soul and she just

loooooves kitchen sh!t...

Let's be real, my favorite things are favorites for

great reason!!!  My grandma's juicer, random bowls

I found at garage sales or acquired from my mom, milk

bottles that held flowers at our wedding, a hand blender I scored a flea market

in Seattle, when I took the train up to see a friend when we were newlyweds 

in Oregon...and on and on.  I loooove this stuff. 

One of my favorite things about having this wall gone 

(yes, this was the wall), is the amazing sight lines. I can

see the kids playing in their tent (which was lovingly crafted by my in-laws).

 I used to have to peek around the corner every few seconds, just

to make sure they were playing okay.  Now, they play in peace, while I 

prep dinner.  Very much a win/win on that front. 

I am equally excited about the great work surfaces, which the old set up lacked greatly.  

The microwave/convection combo was a must have, as I didn't want to lose 

our limited upper wall space to a microwave, and I love the idea that I have 

an additional oven, when I am on a roll and can't shove everything into the

main oven.  Priorities, my friends...priorities.

 

Can you now even stand that a wall used to stand

here?  UH-mazing, right

So...come visit.  We'll get our bake on!!!