As the summer activities start winding down it’s time to start getting out the books and doing a bit more reading.  Dallas Clayton, the author and illustrator of An Awesome Book, and I thought it would be a great end-of-summer treat to give away his very awesome book!

I am super excited to share this really fun book with you. It’s about dreaming big, and you know I love that!  My kids  and I have read it a hundred times, so we came up with some silly & fun questions together.  Mostly they are about dreams and bedtime and reading.  All good stuff.

Big thank you to Dallas for sharing a little bit about himself and his dreams. You can watch a short video about the children’s literacy foundation that he set up around the book here, and read An Awesome Book online for free. Also check out  the mural he was commissioned to make on a children’s clothing store this month. It’s pretty rad.

As usual, the sewing request start coming in during the first week of school. Of course, I am happy to oblige.  I’ve been wanting to make the little snack baggies and napkins for a while and was excited to get the request. I’ve also been asked to make new place mats for lunch time. I’ll be showing you those tomorrow.

I had to share this funny picture of my guys.  It totally cracks me up. They wanted me to take a picture of their lego creation (a constant around here) and we chanced upon this funny head eating lego creature. Now we are on a mission to do more trick photography.  We tried a few in Oregon that I will share later.

I’ve also been working on a project that involves a bit of embroidery.  A nice meditative project to do after a busy vacation.

Only 2 days of school left.  What am I going to do all summer, stuck in the house because of the heat, with two active little boys?  Wish me luck, or even better, send some ideas my way!

We just finished E’s teacher gifts. He has one teacher and an assistant which helps out in his montesorri classroom.  They are both awesome and we are so lucky to have spent time with them this year.

We painted little clay pots with chalkboard paint and inside we put a packet of basil seeds with a special note stuck onto it that reads, “Thanks for helping me grow”. Then we put in a felt flower and felt leaf topped pen, a couple more pens, some chalk (to write on the pot with), a painted rock bug and a chocolate bar.

Once these next two days are over, that means my guy will be a 4th grader!! Can you believe it? I sure can’t.

I decided to paint our pantry door with chalk board paint.  The hubby was skeptical, but he’s learned to trust my home decor ideas.

I used chalk board paint to cover our very old and shabby white door. I think it looks so much better now.

I have regular chalk and I bought some chalk ink markers that are WAY cool.  They wipe away only with water or cleaning wipes.  We are using the regular chalk to make daily changes to our board and the markers for the more permanent stuff.  So fun and a great idea for an organized family!!

Check out all of the great chalk board ideas on google..WOW!!

Have a great weekend~

I had planned on making my little I-guy some felt food for his birthday, but time got away from me. Fortunately, my lovely sister came to the rescue with some felt food for him from Oceantribes on etsy. Yay! There were more veggies in the mix, but they are missing in action.

I made a burlap bucket (pdf pattern from Maya Made)  for him to keep all his play food in. He uses it to “go shopping” and it fits perfectly under the sink of his play kitchen.

You can’t really tell from the pictures but it rained all day, was gray and cold. But that didn’t damper or darken my little guy’s day.  He has a light of his own that he shines brightly every day. Always happy, chatty, funny, and ready to go anywhere and do anything without complaint.

He woke up early ready for the much expected abundance of love from mommy, daddy and brother.  He is very much loved every day, but today was extra special of course because of the presents, specially requested food and all the cards in the mail from loved ones.

He didn’t ask for much, just a penguin made by me. So, every little gift was a big surprise.  He said, “Everyone must love me A LOT!”  They sure do, little buddy!

I made these little name plaques for a friend who will be visiting her nephews this weekend. She wanted to give them a gift for their rooms.I finished them up with ribbon for hanging.

We also picked up our CSA produce today to find these giant rutabagas. The box said, “do not fear the rutabaga”. Ha! I thought that was cute. We peeled them, and cut them into “fries” and roasted them with a bit of oil and salt. They were very yummy–nothing to fear at all.

Like our caterpillar book?  Made it with my I-guy.  He LOVES Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar book and he wanted to make his own version.  See the leaf with little egg?

Originally, I was trying to remember how to join square pieces of paper so that it folded into a little book.  I had made these when I was little (grade school).  Once I figured it out, I put I-guy to work decorating it.

He loves doing projects like this and was very happy to oblige. Especially because I opened up my art supply box. He really loves getting into the art supplies.

We very carefully and slowy wrote our own story.  We read it often and he has been ever so pleased to share his book with anyone who will look.

It took me forever to get a christmas package together for my dear little niece Ruby. I finally sent it off last Thursday and she received it in the mail today! Hooray!!

I had wanted to make a wee wonderful doll, but that didn’t happen. I couldn’t handle the idea of making little clothes, at the time, but would love to tackle the project at another time when it is less stressful.

I made another barrette holder too, with sweet little felt covered barrettes.

They were so much fun to make. I might have to make a few for me, just cuz.