soaking it in

favorite book friday

i am so excited to share with you my most favorite book of all time (or at least it has been for the past couple of months- there are too many great ones to choose just one ). pelle's new suit written by the amazing elsa beskow, is the pinnacle of books for spring. it tells of a little boy named pelle (pronounced like bella) that is in need of a new suit. the story follows him as he sheers his sheep and goes through the process of making his new suit. as in all beskow books, i love how gentle this story is and how empowering it is for the child reader. pelle is imaginative. he is a hard worker. he is respectful. he sets his mind to a task and accomplishes it (with the help of some loving adults).

this book is a treasure!

the one with all the pictures

oh man...i'm behind in blogging...where to begin? oh- i know- just jam all the info into one mega-post!


day out with thomas



he's the cheeky one











a couple of weeks ago we headed up to grapevine, tx to spend a day out with thomas. and i know, with all the anti-consumerism i spew out around here, it may be a surprise that we'd fork out the funds to hang out with thomas and his friends- but- confession time- i love thomas! i love the open ended play my children experience with their tracks and engines. we had a wonderful day together!



day out with jack













the only thing that could trump our day out with thomas was the next day when we got to spend the day with our nephew jack. is he not the most precious? this baby is so special to me. i had the honor of being there when he was born and watching (via the internet) him grow over the last couple of months. this was the first time john and the kids got to meet him. don't you just love that shot with jack and his buddy? oh man, it melts my heart...




easter

this is the first time i have been really proud of something that i've made for moonpie. that little dress was pretty simple and the fabric is too cute! she of course deemed it 'not fancy enough' and added her bead necklaces. ah yes, now that's the fanciness we were looking for!

every year we celebrate easter with our good friends the deerings. they throw an all out easter extravaganza! there's egg decorating, egg toss, sack races, easter hat contest, egg baseball, major egg hunt, and worship. it is so much fun, and we all look forward to it!

with all this action, we've also had plenty of time to just hang out in the beauty of spring. i mean we are outside. all. day. i can't get enough of it. or of this girl:

favorite book friday

in honor of the beautiful spring weather we are having around here, i have chosen miss rumphius by barbara cooney for today's favorite book friday.

as a little girl, alice rumphius is instructed that whatever she chooses to do in life, she should really only aim for one goal- to make the world a more beautiful place. there is much wondering about what makes a person successful, and this is the message i want my children to hear. that a successful person makes the world more beautiful. period. what a lovely, open ended charge to give someone. making the world more beautiful is up for much personal interpretation...and i like that. around here we talk about how we can make the world more beautiful on a daily basis, the little ways- showing kindness, respecting someone's wishes (siblings, ahem), working in the garden, making bread for a friend, picking up trash...every day is a new opportunity to make the world more beautiful.

favorite book friday

children of the forest by elsa beskow is a wonderfully, gentle book, perfect for the first day of spring! we love all of her books, but right now, this is one of our very favorites!

happy spring, everyone!