Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Favorite Book Sets (Ages 0-3)

Book sets make awesome gifts for little ones. All of these would make great Christmas gifts, but they would also be fantastic for a baby shower. It's so great to add books to a shower gift to start building their little libraries. 




There are lots of great Eric Carle sets out there. This one is my favorite because there is less of a chance that a family has one of these books. I don't want to say these are "lesser known," because they are really popular books. But, this set doesn't contain The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Panda Bear Panda Bear etc. So I'd say there's a good chance that the 4 books in this set will all be new to the family. The set includes Rooster's Off to See the World, Papa Please Get Me the Moon, Pancakes Pancakes, and A House for Hermit Crab. 





There are several great Sandra Boyton sets out there ranging from $12-$15. All of them would make awesome gifts. This particular set includes Blue Hat Green Hat, and Doggies which are two of our fav Boynton books.



Anything from Bright Baby was a winner at our house from about 9-18 months. The pictures are bright and the textures are fun.  The size of this particular board book set is great for little ones to handle. They contain llots of basics and first words. When we originally purchased ours, they came from Walmart rather than Amazon. When writing this post, I found this Bright Baby set at Walmart. This is not always true, but there are many times when Walmart has the same price as Amazon. Does anyone else get on Amazon to price check an item before you buy it in the store?

Anyways, this set would be so perfect if you're buying a Christmas gift for a baby who is only a few months old, because they will be loving these in no time.



This little set has 12 books for about $13. Pretty great value for an Elmo lover in your life.



If you aren't familiar with Indestructibles, then you should definitely check them out for the baby in your life. They truly are indestructible little books. The pages do have the texture of thick paper, but they are totally meant to be chewed and drooled on. They really do not rip or tear, and they clean up well! They are the perfect first book for a baby. Our Indestructibles our currently enduring their second round of baby gums, and they're holding up well.

There are so many of these books on Amazon, at Target, etc. I liked this one because it is a cute little animal themed set of the books. The only bad news, is that this set isn't on Amazon Prime. There are plenty of individual ones on Prime, though.





This little set contains a few Dr. Seuss classics includinHop on Pop, Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!, Ten Apples Up On Top!, and The Shape of Me and Other Stuff. 

Nothing like the classics to build a little one's library!


Friday, November 27, 2015

Friday Favorites

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!! Linking up with Friday Favorites today.

**Updated. The She Reads Truth Links are now working!**


I have SO many favorites to be thankful for.


Thankful Favorites


I'm so thankful for this amazing husband and father. And I'm thankful for lake days.



And it basically goes without saying, that I'm grateful everyday for the gift of two absolutely amazing daughters. 

Finally, I am SO thankful for God's word. Having the Bible so easily accessible is a gift I don't take for granted. If you like the little scripture print above, in the girl's picture it is from the She Reads Truth website. 

She Reads Truth is an awesome website. If you are looking for a study to get you into God's word daily, it is an awesome free resource. I'll be honest, ever since Bible Study Fellowship started up for the year, I don't usually do the She Reads Truth studies, because BSF has a good deal of homework. 

I still love getting on their website to buy scripture prints for my home. Some of the scriptures prints come as one single print on watercolor paper. These are really nice.

The ones pictured here are from the ABC Scripture Card Set. They are on nice card stock instead of the watercolor paper, but I think they still look great framed.  This set is also cool because there are a couple of background colors including light blue, mint green and grey.




Can you spy them in Caroline's room?






This week, I wrote about some of our favorite potty training books. If you've got a child in your life that is close to potty training, these book recommendations could help you out.




This week I also wrote about some of our favorite counting books. Amazon is having some awesome book sales for Black Friday, so it's a great time to buy some gifts!






Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Current Favorite Counting Books

I blogged a tiny bit during my first couple years of teaching. I enjoyed it at the time, but in the end I just couldn't keep up. I never thought I would blog again in my entire life. When I quit working, I felt like I needed to channel my passion for children's books into something productive, and I really like writing about books! 

So, having said that, I never intentionally took pictures of my girls with books. However, looking back, I have hundreds of pictures of Caroline with books. They've just crept into our pictures over time.

One of my old favorites of her reading One Sunny Day.

I'm totally off track already! So, today I wanted to highlight a couple of our favorite counting books. To be honest, Caroline is not super into counting books. She can identify 23 uppercase letters, but cannot identify any numbers. Bless her, she's my child. 

So, I love finding counting books that she truly enjoys.


My First 123 by Jane Horne

This little counting book snuck into several pictures. It has been one of her favorites for a while.


Reading the farm page.


 
Reading it while eating barbecue.


Here is a better pic of the neat textured cover. Fun fact, I spent time wiping out all of those crevices yesterday because Molly Kate spit up all over it. (laughing cat emoji) Caroline loved playing with this book in the car, because the texture feels like pressing buttons.

The textured cover makes this book special, but the pictures and objects you count are bright and fun!  It also rhymes. That may be why Caroline likes it so much.

The bad news, is that I cannot find it on Amazon or on the Target website. I bought it at Target over a year ago, but I've seen it  on shelves many times in the last couple months. 





My Very First Book of Numbers is fun and interactive. The pages are split in half. The top half has pages that go in numerical order, while the bottom are mixed. Children have to match the number to the amounts of fruits pictured. I'll be honest, Caroline was probably only interested in this book at first because she liked naming the fruits, but we are working on the counting part now.



All of the little owl books are super super cute. This one is no different, and it's under $6 on prime. Woodland animals/forests are popular themes for children's rooms or parties these days, so this book would be a cute gift for anyone who is decorating with that style.




I was honestly a little shocked by how much Caroline likes this book. It is not near as basic as some of the other counting board books out there. It has basic addition, it counts way higher than most toddler books, and there is much more print to read.

However, I think she really enjoys all of the details in the pictures. Each illustration provides so many things to count. She also loves anything involving cats or bunnies, which are plentiful in this book.

We've been reading this book for months. Before she turned two, we didn't focus as much on the counting. Rather, she identified every item she knew in the picture. We worked on describing, etc. Now, we've moved into more counting.













Monday, November 23, 2015

Our Favorite Board Books: Age 1

With the holidays approaching, I thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite categories of books. 

Recently, my daughter turned two, so I was looking at pictures I took of her on her 1st birthday. I wanted to take pictures of her in the chair in her room, because I'd done that every month. Instead, she crawled out of the chair over and over to go for the books. At the time, I was frustrated that I didn't get any great shots of her on her actual birthday. Now I love them, because they show the books that she was most obsessed with at that time. 

1) Karen Katz: "Where is Baby's...?" Books


Hard to tell, but she's holding Where is Baby's Puppy?





These books are bright, simple and have plenty of flaps to lift. (and rip) Gotta hand it to Karen Katz. She found a formula that works and added in every item under the sun including, Where is Baby's....

Valentine?
Beach Ball?
Pumpkin? 
Christmas Present?
And more.

Toddlers love these. 

2) Madeline Board Books

Madeline books are classics, and you can find just a few of them printed as board books.





You can get a little peak of the inside of this book in these pics.



Madeline Loves Animals is so cute and fun. Many one-year-olds can start saying the sounds of the familiar animals in this book.

I actually liked the illustrations in this book so much that for a while I had it displayed on a shelf opened to the page that has a picture of Madeline and her yellow lab. 


3) Les Petits Fairytales




I will always be sentimental about this book, because it was her very first favorite book. She took to it instantly, and this book was our life's obsession from months 8-13. One of Caroline's first 10 words was "girl." because of this book right here. These little board books take the old classics, and add just one to two words per page, such as "girl", "chores", "mean stepsisters", "pumpkin" etc...

They are the cutest little books. You can add on as much or as little to the story as your heart desires. 






As cute as this book is, I did get really tired of it after the 900th time. I tried to hide in many times and Caroline would crawl around the books saying "gurrrl?" until it reappeared. When she got closer to one, she went through a phase where she would have to take it to bed every night. And not just put it in the bed, she also had to rock with it along with her blankie.

Eventually, we moved into other Fairytales. These are just adorable, and would make a great little Christmas gift for the baby girl in your life!



Friday, November 20, 2015

Friday Favorites


I'm so excited to link up for Friday Favorites!

Bobeau's Sleeveless Mock Cowl

I've loved Bobeau for a while now, but I've only ever bought their sweaters/wraps.  


Everyone has been loving this little wearable blanket for a while.

So, I have never branched out into any of their other clothing. Until, a few weeks ago, and I am just in love with this top This sleeveless mock cowl neck top is so classic. It fits really well. And, look at the back... 



I have the black. It's versatile, and it looks great with so many necklaces and skirts. I may add the Hunter Green to my wardrobe because it is currently on sale for $23.40!!! If you haven't tried any of their blouses before, you totally should!

Favorite ABC Books

Earlier this week I wrote about our current favorite ABC Books. 


You can read more about it in the post. If you have a baby or toddler in your life, this book would make a great Christmas present. 


Righteous Foods Fort Worth

I also wrote a little post about Righteous Foods in Fort Worth. If you are looking for something cool and healthy near West 7th street, you'll love it!






Daring Greatly by Brene Brown and Gold Nails


This book knocked the wind out of me. Daring Greatly,  is such an insightful book on living wholeheartedly. It hit on so many of my struggles and weaknesses. The parenting chapter was especially powerful, and the way it discussed struggling with perfectionism hit home.

On a lighter note, I'm loving gold nail color that you can see a touch of in the pic above. I usually stick to OPI, but my daughter picked out the Sally Hansen shade seen in this picture. I love it, and it stays on really really well.


Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!








Thursday, November 19, 2015

Cowtown without Caroline: Righteous Foods

I love writing about literature, but I thought it would be fun to write a little outside the box from time to time! I love enjoying Fort Worth with Caroline, but there are plenty of things that are a little more enjoyable without a pre-schooler.

So, a few weeks ago, my aunt and I set off to Righteous Foods on West 7th. Their tagline;"A Healthy Dose of Friggin' Awesome" held true through the entire meal!

First of all, it's a great location. We ate on the patio, surrounded by fresh air and even fresher herbs. They grow 'em right there. It was lovely.

So, here's the deal: I like healthy food, but it has to be good. I can eat zucchini noodles and turkey bacon, because it is good for me, but those ingredients will never ever be pasta carbonara, to me.

Food just has to be good. I appreciated their food because it was so healthy, but it was really, really good. Here is their menu.



So, I had the  Wild Arugula Salad. And I absolutely loved it, and ate every.single.bite. (It's bigger in person than it appears.)  The  lemon dressing was SO fresh and I loved the radishes. (I have never said that I loved radishes every in my whole life.) Here is one draw back- it's on the pricy side. So the salad prices on the menu read as such:

Wild Arugula etc etc Salad....10    add Day Boat Scallops 12

So, don't be fooled. It is not $12 for a salad with scallops. You have to add the scallop price, making it a $22 salad. So yes, a salad with more protein is a lot more expensive than my normal Taco Bueno-fare. But, I will say, the garbanzo beans added protein to the salad to make it filling without the scallops. But, y'all, it was a great salad. I tried to recreate it the next week. Mine wasn't as good, but I'm thankful for my own personal renaissance with garbanzo beans.


But the real steal-of-a-deal for lunches are the "Grinders" or sandwiches. My aunt ordered the Chilled Curried Chicken Salad sandwich. It came with a hard boiled egg and a side salad for $12. The chicken salad was awesome, and I consider myself to be somewhat of a connoisseur  of chicken salad.


And, then we had the Lemon and Cardamon Cheesecake and it was just sublime. It wasn't too sweet, and I basically licked the raspberry puree off the plate. I'm pretty sure the crust is granola, not graham cracker, so consider yourself warned. But, I'm an equal opportunist when it comes to crust, and I loved this treat!!!




My Aunt would kill me if I put up her picture, but my other lunch date was pretty dang cute. 

We took a Blood Orange and Basil detox drink to go. Mylanta, it was tart, but SO good. It was my kind of thing.  I want to go back for the Grilled Lavender Lemonade. 

So, if you're prepared to cough over just a little extra cash than your normal fast-food lunch, this place  has really tasty food that will have you leaving feeling like you did something good for yourself.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Current Favorite ABC Books

We are always into ABC Books at our house.

This Play and Learn ABC book might be the greatest value of purchase ever made if you calculate the cost and times read. Honestly, I'm kind of tired of this book, because Caroline's been on a kick with it for 6 months.  However, some of this book's features lend itself to be done independently...

The book features a few textured pictures, flaps to lift, and includes colors and shapes. It's a pretty solid book all around for all of the words you would be working on with a toddler. 



We love our old ABC book, but this next book was too good not to share! I think your kids will love it.... A B See.... Look at that title?! Wish I had come up with it.

The letters are built from pictures of things that begin with that letter. Not only is this book super cute, but it is super awesome for identifying letters, working on words that start with that letter, or simply identifying pictures for toddlers.

And, it's textured which makes it even cooler! (and more appealing for kids!)



Caroline loves looking through each letter and finding all the items she knows. It has been a great carseat read for her. 

Now, a few of the letters have specific animals, plants or objects that were unfamiliar. Thankfully, the back has lists of what each letter is built of in case you need some help. ;-)

Both of these board books would make awesome Christmas gifts for any 1-2 year olds in your life!