Archive for the ‘read it’ Category

Don’t you just love laying out your quilt blocks to see the progress?  It also helps me to see what my quilt needs as far as color and pattern.

I’ll finish this quilt in bits and pieces.  I love setting a goal of how many blocks to make a day.  10 blocks is my goal.  It’s a humble, doable goal-  one I can accomplish with only a minutes a day.

Yes, I know I’ve already shared this more than once.  But it’s finished.  I need to wash, block and frame it now… and I’m daunted by that, as I never was when stitching.   The embroidery and the quilt above will be in the same room… and I love seeing them together in photos.  I loved every stitch and really was heart broken to finish.  If you are interested in the pattern, it’s available from Sarah Jane Studios as a PDF download.  I traced it because I was too impatient to go to the store, but you could be smart and use a printable transfer paper.

For the frame, I feel like I should make something, you know, make it do.  But we’ll see.  I don’t know any old homes or barns being pulled down where I could salvage some window-pane wood, so I may just buy a frame.  The 8″ x 8″ shape may mean a custom mat.

Summer is rolling along at such a fast pace, but at least we are getting in some wonderful reading…

Thanks to a reminder from a reader, I went down to my storage bookshelf and dusted off my old copy of The Secret Garden and am reading it to my girls.  It’s an illustrated copy by Graham Rust, that my mom gave me for my 17th birthday.

The girls love the Secret Garden as much as I hoped they would.  It’s such a lovely read aloud.

The boys are reading Fablehaven by Brandon Mull.  My son tried to read it on his own last summer, but gave up because it starts slowly.  My husband is reading it aloud this summer.  He said it took 50 pages or so to really get going, but now they are totally hooked.  They are already on book two and they can’t get enough.  We read it around the campfire late at night and it was a wonderful campfire book.  He read it on his own for miles while we drove.

My husband and I also started listening to the A Game of Thrones audio book for our long drive to the Tetons and through Yellowstone.  The book was my husband’s choice, and I was SO skeptical since fantasy isn’t really my cup of tea.  Well, I did love Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, so I’m not totally against the category.  But I was skeptical none the less.

But guess what?  I’m hooked.  Weeds in my garden beware, I get so much more weeding done when I have a good book I’m listening too.

I’m also reading Plate to Pixel by Helene Dujardin.  It’s a wonderful read for anyone hoping to improve their food photography skills.  I hope it makes a difference in mine.

It’s time to get serious about school clothes and bags.  I’ve been working on a school bag pattern, which I hope to have ready by next week sometime.  I just need to clone myself.  Instead of working on it today, we’re off to the swimming pool with our cousins…. so patterns and sewing will wait.

Just in time for summer reading and by special request here is our list of favorite read aloud books for girls.  I wrote about our favorite read alouds for boys here.  Most of my daughter’s favorites were loved by my son and vice versa, so be sure to check out both lists.  I’ve included a few duplicates if they were absolutely beloved.

Time spent reading aloud to my children, in the quiet of the evening, is among my most treasured memories… and I’m so glad we still have more memories left to make.  I love the time spent talking about the books we are reading, the world of ideas and experiences that are opened to us.  Now that my children are getting older, we are choosing our read aloud books with more and more care… knowing the finite time left to us.  Each book read is a treasure.

These are books that have been read aloud and are not necessarily reading age appropriate.  This is also not a complete list… since it would be too long.

Age 1:

• Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
• Piggies by Audrey and Don Wood
• You Are My I Love You by Maryann K. Cusimano
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? By Eric Carle

Age 2:

• Our Nest by Reeve Lindbergh
• We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury -read about my kid’s real life “bear hunt” here.
• The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear by Audrey and Don Wood
• I’m as Quick as a Cricket by Don and Audrey Wood

Age 3:

• Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae
• Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
• Wild About Books by Judy Sierra and Illustrated by Marc Brown
• Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson Illustrated by Axel Sheffler
• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr., John Archambault and Lois Ehlert

Age 4:

• Emma Kate by Patricia Polacco – We couldn’t help but love this book, since it’s my daughter’s name…
• Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes – Again my daughter’s name… but also a wonderful book.
• Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell Illustrated by David Catrow – perfect for the vertically challenged like us
• Angelina Ballerina by Katharine Holabird
• The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson Illustrated by Axel Sheffler
• The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson Illustrated by Axel Sheffler

Age 5:

• Fanny’s Dream by Caralyn and Mark Buehner – One of my all time favorites, but I still getting choked up when I read it- darn it all.
• Nonsense! by Sally Kahler Phillips – What to say when someone says something not true about you.  We still use the skills learned by reading this book!
• Odd Velvet by Mary E. Whitcomb – It’s OK to be different… and learning to accept others who are different from you.
• Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
• Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Age 6:

• Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave by Marianna Mayer Illustrated by Kinuko Craft – This maybe a bit scary for a lot of 6 year olds, but my girl’s loved and still love it.
• Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood by Mike Artell
• Dove Isabeau by Jane Yolen
• I Wish I Were a Butterfly by James Howe
• Mercy Watson to the Rescue by Kate DiCamillo – This series was my girls favorite early reader chapter books too.

Age 7:

• The Spider and the Fly Based on the poem by Mary Howitt and BEAUTIFULLY illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi
• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
• Little House On The Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Harry Potter books 1 and 2 by J.K. Rowling

Age 8:

• Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
• The Ordinary Princess by M.M. Kaye
• The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
• Harry Potter -the rest of the series by JK Rowling
• The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

Age 9:

• Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
• Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery  – the book we are reading now… there are no words for how wonderful it is.

“There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.”

— Jacqueline Kennedy