Joyfully Weary

I had a lot of fun making this toy list. I strongly believe that play is children's work and that through play they learn a lot. Therefore, I think toys are important. I believe they should be open ended and well made. Our children are ages 2.5 to 6.5 and these are all toys we have bought or would buy for them. Under $25 Steppers  $11 -  I have yet to meet a child who doesn't like these. Very affordable these provide a lot bang for there buck. A great fun way to improve coordination and balance. They are also safe to use on most floors which makes them great for dreary winter months.  Doctor's Kit  $25-  Boy or girl I think every child needs a doctor's kit in their toy box. This one is a great bargain, lots of fun tools and very durable.  Duktig Tea Set  $10  - We've had this tea set for several years now. It's stoneware so it is breakable but we enjoy how "real" it feels. The kids have broken a few pieces (we have...

This was the first year we held Thanksgiving in our home. It was just us and one other guest which was perfect because it meant I didn't stress too much over all the cooking. I actually enjoyed spending the day in the kitchen. Jeremy had a brilliant idea of posting a little sign on the door frame so the kids would know who's turn it was to be helper and who had to stay out. Everyone did a little something but Mini Man enjoyed helping the most and as result spent the most time in the kitchen. We ended up splitting our feasting in to two meals. Around lunch time we had pumpkin soup, cranberry-spinach salad, and bread with maple bacon cookies for dessert. Then several hours later we enjoyed turkey, ribs, and a bunch of sides. We aren't huge pumpkin pie fans so the final course was pumpkin chocolate chip cake and apple pie with fresh whip cream. I have a ton to be thankful for; not the least of which is my three crazy, adorable, funny kiddos. Here...

We haven't been able to focus on Thanksgiving these past couple weeks as much as I would of liked but we have done a few activities and read a couple great books. For the most part I've focused on reading appealing historical literature such as: Squanto's Journey , The Thanksgiving Story , Three Young Pilgrims , and Across the Wide Dark Sea . We have, however, also enjoyed a few humorous favorites like A Plump and Perky Turkey . It's a story about a group of townspeople who try to trick/capture a turkey by holding a turkey themed art and craft fair - in the end it's the turkey who tricks them. After one reading of the book the kids and I decided to craft our own turkeys. Our Supplies : paper lunch bags , old newspaper, pipe cleaners , white glue, feathers , scissors, paint chips, orange and red paper, and  goggly eyes .  Step 1 : stuff paper bag with newspaper  Step 2: twist top of bag to form a neck, fold and glue down tip, & then twist ...

It's probably since Thanksgiving is just around the corner but this past week all I've wanted to wear were rich fall colors: orange, wine, deep turquoise, eggplant, etc.  necklace: gift ( similar $33 ), turtleneck: h&m ( similar $30 ), dress: anthropologie boots: piperlime ( similar $160 )  jacket: gap ( similar $98 ) sweater: thrift ( similar $20 ) necklace: charming charlie , skirt: banana republic ( similar $16 ), shoes: old navy ( same ) Want more? Check out these link parties to see lots of other ladies having fun with their clothes:  Watch What I'm Wearing ,   Monday Mingle ,  Style Sessions,    What We Wore ,   What I Wore Wednesday ,  and  Friday's Five .    

I little late getting these up this week. I fell asleep with my children (at 8:00!) a couple of nights...being a mommy is exhausting :) So better late than never, here are a few  worthwhile things I've stumbled upon while wandering the internets. Favorite quote  of the week. 100 Ted Talks broken down into five minutes of reading. Good resource for finding which ones you want to take the time to listen to.  Ippo the Zonkey (half donkey, half zebra) is very cute.  Is the rise of social media causing a loneliness epidemic ?  Samantha was my favorite American Girl and now I have a pretty huge girl crush on Kate Middleton; turns out their might be a connection .  A beautiful tribute to stay-at-home moms.  Looking for a good book? Here is a list of the 2013 National Book Award Winners.  I always been a bit dubious about food/behavior connections but this research has caused me to give it some serious considerati...

cardigan: crazy 8 ( similar $25 ), shirt: hand-me-down ( similar $40) , pants: thrift, shark shoes: hand-me-down ( similar $32 ) This kid has the craziest imagination. He is always pretending to be someone or something. This morning he told be he was a werewolf bunny. As he was running off:  "they look little and nice but they're really strong and fast!".  shirt:  old navy  ( similar $12 ), pants: gap ( same $35 )  shoes: target (same) This is the same shirt Big Buddy wore last Sunday. I had hung-up a church outfit for him but he didn't see and put these cloths on all by himself. I was so impressed/proud that he didn't try to get away with  sweatpants and superhero t-shirt that I didn't say anything other than, "great job!".  shirt: hand-me-down ( similar $40) , skirt: old navy ( similar $6) leggings: old navy ( same $8 ), shoes:  target You can really see the "damage" that her self-inflicted bang ...

Visiting the Field Museum was on our to-do list for this fall, so when I saw that they were providing an opportunity for bloggers to visit their 1893 World Fair exhibi t, I jumped at the opportunity. We tossed around the idea of taking all the kids but in the end we decided to make it a special day for Big Buddy.  It's rare that both Jeremy and I get time together with just one of our children. Big Buddy loves information and facts so he was definitely in his element and we enjoyed getting to focus and dote on him alone. Before visiting the museum both Jeremy and I felt like we were pretty knowledgable about the 1893 World's Fair.  While reading Devil in the White City several years back I got a bit consumed and did some of my own research and, as an architect/professor, Jeremy has studied the history and effects of the fair's architecture. We knew that the buildings that currently house the Museum of Science and Industry, and the Field Museum , were born ...

This post is part of weekly series inspired in part by Bob Bennett's song "Small Graces". these are the small graces, little moments when the miracles come... small graces leading me to the larger one... sometimes they slip by without notice sometimes they are very hard to see other times it's very clear when they are happening to me This past week was a good one. Lots of fun family time including some sweet one-on-one time with each of my kiddos. The weather has taken a bit of a nasty turn but we were lucky enough to kick off the week by making the most out of Autumn.   leaf fights hotdogs and s-mores  Little Lady is currently going through a stage where she wants to be exactly like me. She follows me around a lot during the day copying whatever I'm doing. She also likes our outfits to match and loves to try on my jewelry and clothes. Jeremy and I took Big Buddy out for a date day. We frequently split up and have...