Author: Petite Stag

Library Love Buyers Guide

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Library Love Buyers GuideWho doesn’t love a trip to the library?  Or have fond memories of searching through a card catalog for a book?  Or that amazing smell, something like newly sharpened pencils and musty paper?  Here are some pretty awesome gifts for the book lover and librarians in your life.

Library Card Pouch |Library Card Socks | Library Card Tote | Personal Library Kit | Library Book Stamp Pillow |  Library Stamps Tee |Library Book

I am sort of obsessed with Out of Print Clothing, they have so many fantastic things.  It is the perfect place to find gifts for your friends & family who love books.  So many unique shirts and just all round bookworm goodness.  Also, if I am missing any fabulous library gifts let me know in the comments below.

Happy Shopping,

Erin

Library Love – Part One

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Library Love Part One

Here in the Pacific Northwest it’s the time of year where the weather gets a little drizzly and we find ourselves seeking out indoor entertainment on those really rainy days.  That is where our deep love and appreciation of the library comes in.  Here are some of our favorite books about libraries.

The Boy Who Was Raised by Librairians The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians –  Carla Morris has created such a sweet story about a little boy named Melvin, who visits his library frequently and his three librarians help him learn all there is to know about all of his changing interests.  This story places a true emphasis on what a fantastic librarian, or in Melvins’ case a team of fantastic librarians, can do to support a young mind.  They show him books, websites, and a general interest in everything that Melvin wants to know about.  Such a great story, the ending is fabulous, you going to have to check it to see what happens to Melvin.

Check out this link to a YouTube video.

<a href=A Library Book for Bear (Bear and Mouse) – This is an incredibly cute book, by Bonny Becker, about a bear who is convinced that he already has enough books at home, he is convinced by his pal Mouse to go to the library and although he is one picky bear when it comes to his literature choices, he has a most enjoyable time.

If you want to know more about Bear, he is a very interesting character, read his most recent interview with a certain Mr. Pig from The Little Crooked Cottage.  Mr. Pig ask some very thought-provoking questions you might have been wondering about yourself.

No Pirtates Allowed Said Library LouNo Pirates Allowed Said Library Lou – Argh Matey, Rhonda Gowler Greene, has written this fantastic story about a strong-willed librarian named Lou, who can handle anything that comes her way.  This is a silly story about a pirate and his parrot too, they come to the Seebreezy Library looking for buried treasure.  Pirate Pete is not prepared for the adventure he encounters when he meets Lou the Librarian.  If your petite loves books and pirates you are in luck this book is a fantastic story.  This would be a great read for a little one who needs reminding about library behavior and manners.

Activity: It might be a fun time to make a treasure map for your little one with clues about finding a certain book, maybe even this book.
Bats at the LibraryBats at the Library (A Bat Book) – I’ve written about this lovely book before, Brian Lies has written this amazing story about a colony of bats that has quite the fabulous evening at the library.  What my girls love about this book is that the bats just can’t wait to get into the library and enjoy their time reading books and exploring.  This book is so much fun, we have had some great conversations about what the bats might look forward to the most, and what would happen if the library was open every night.  My favorite is when we talk about what book we would jump into like the bats.  The illustrations make this book so special, Brian Lies is a new favorite author in our house.

Activity: Brian Lies has this awesome bat story activity: http://www.brianlies.com/Activities/activities_fold_a_bat.html this is an incredibly cute activity where your petite to color a bat and talk about their favorite book, or make a whole garland of bats with their favorite books.

 

Stay tuned for the next installment of Library Love!

Library Love Part Two

Baby Shower Activitites

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Welcoming a new little one into the world is always cause for a celebration.  Here are a few ideas of activities you could do at a baby shower that are not only fun, but functional.

Onesie Decorating

Onesie

This is such a fun idea, however, not everyone is artistically inclined and can wield a bottle of puff paint into a wearable masterpiece.  I happen to be that mom that feels guilt if I don’t use or dress my child in something someone gives me, with that said I personally had a hard time trying to make a lovely onesie for a petite that she could wear out in public when fabric markers and puff paint were my only option.  I still love the idea of decorating onesies, just maybe a different version.  Another reason this is such a cute shower activity, is because it’s an incredibly cute decoration to hang on a string with small clothes pins holding up the onesies before they are decorated and after.

What you will need:

  • printer
  • copier
  • Iron on Adhesive, like this one, or if you happen to be near a fabric store I am sure they have lots of options
  • Iron
  • Fabric Fat Quarters (with smaller patterns or designs)
  • scissors
  • onesies

You can choose just about any image that you would like to use and print it our and blow it up to the size you want.  Then just have the images cut out and ready to go at the party, I would say one for each guest and maybe a few extra images.  Here are some examples of images that might be helpful or fun.

Butterfly Cat Crab Dog Fish Lobster Shark

Iron on For Onesies1. Print  images on heavy cardstock and cut out.

2. Iron fabric square onto adhesive paper following directions on packaging

You can pre-cut the fabric to match the sizes of the images or let guests do it

3. Outline image on the transfer paper side

4. & 5. Cut out the images

6. Iron it onto the onesie

Ta-da, a lovely onesie for the petite.

If you are thinking your guests, might prefer to just iron on pre-made cuteness, then you’re in luck, check here and here for already put together packages.

Hair Clip Making

Baby Shower Hair Clip Activity

A good friend and I made a huge box full of hair clips for a little petite a few years ago and in the process decided it was so much fun that we ended up making some for our petites too.  This is a quick and easy fun activity.  If you can cut and glue you’re on your way to cute hair clips.

What you will need:

  • ribbon (Target dollar bins have cute little rolls of ribbon for scrapbooking that could be used to make these clips)
  • felt and buttons
  • hair clips, I like these, these and these
  • hot glue gun
  • scissors

Pretty minimal if you ask me.  What is so much fun is seeing all of the creations people can come up with, little bow and flowers, or just plain wrap around designs.  The options are endless, you can make them as frilly or classic as you like.

BowBow Clip Tutorial

1. fold ribbon into a circle and glue together

2. cut off excess ribbon

3. with glued area in the middle pinch ribbon to form a bow shape

4. fold extra piece of ribbon in half and wrap around the center of the first folded ribbon, glue it down once you get the look you’re going for

5. glue it to the clip **make sure the clip is open before you glue**

6. put glue on the clip and press the bow down onto it

 

I like these two activities because the end products are cute and functional, but more so because everyone no matter their level craftiness will be able to participate in making the new petite something special.

Happy celebrations!

Erin

Let’s Take a Bite out of a Great Book

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Petite Foodies

These charming food focused books are definitely worth a trip to the library to check out.  We love a good meal in my house and even more we love a good book about food.  In a recent post, I shared about how my girls love to cook and be in on the food prep in our house, whether it’s helping us choose fresh foods and new foods to try at the local market, or it is actually getting aprons on and spoons ready to help make the food.  Sometimes it isn’t possible to have little helping hands, so I like to make sure that we can spend some time reading about food to inspire future cooking projects.   Here are our top picks in books about food:

Julia, ChildJulia, Child – Kyo Maclear with illustrator Julie Morstad have created one of the most charming books I have picked up in a while.  Everyone is familiar with the name Julia Child, this book is not so much about Julia Child, but about a little girl who loves being a little girl and loves cooking with butter.  It is a sweet story about two friends who don’t want to grow up and through their love of cooking may just create a solution to never growing old.  This book would be a lovely pairing with a boeuf bourguignon!  Check out this fabulous video of the one and only making one of her signature dishes.  With the weather getting cold this might be the perfect multi-step dinner to make with the petites.

 

Food Trucks!Food Trucks! –This quirky book is perfect for the hip petite foodie who has a severe love of food trucks.  Living in Seattle, we definitely have a love affair with out many food trucks, we religiously follow them and know their weekly locations so we can get a quick fix of delicious food.  Mark Todd, does a fabulous job of showcasing these delicious trucks.  My petite loves the pretzel truck page and how silly the truck looks.  I think this book does a great job of talking about different kinds of foods, my hope in this is that the fun pictures will provoke curiosity and interest in trying these new foods.  One other aspect that is so fantastic is there are fun facts on each page.  Who doesn’t love fun facts about food and food trucks?

Food Truck Detail

Bee-Bim Bop!Bee-Bim Bop! – Linda Sue Park and Ho Baek Lee have created a classic that is loved by so many children and parents alike.  This book has a very rhythmic text that just begs to be read aloud.  This book shows the preparations that are necessary for making this delicious dish.  As a parent, I also feel like this book is incredibly realistic, with the rushing to the store, hurrying to make dinner, I love that Linda Sue Park decided to make this  fantastic but very relatable story.

I love this book because it shows how much fun it can be to go shopping and make food with your family at home.

 

Green Eggs and HamGreen Eggs and Ham – Dr. Seuss needs no introduction, so I will tell you some fun facts and give you some fun pairings.  Green Eggs and Ham, according to Scholastic is in the top 10 best children’s books.  It currently sits at number seven.  Did you know that there are only fifty words used in the entire book?  It’s true, it was a bet between Dr. Seuss and his editor that he wouldn’t be able to write an intelligent book using only fifty words?  He did and won the $50 bet.

During its 50th anniversary in 2010 it was estimated that 200 million copies of this book had been sold.  Check out some of these super fun ideas for things to do when you’re done reading book.  For all the petite Seuss lovers, check out these fun activities that can be done.  Perfect for a rainy day activity.

I can eat a rainbowI Can Eat a Rainbow -Annabel Karmel does a fabulous job in this vibrant board book that has been a favorite of both my daughters, recently my five-year old was showing it to her little sister and was telling her all about the fruits and vegetables and which ones they like to eat and enjoy.  One of my favorite parts about this book is that the veggies and fruits shown are not just the standards, they have some fun foods that your petite might like to try.

Another thing that we love about this book is how they have made animals out of the fruits and vegetables, it makes it all the more fun for little ones to look through and see their favorite fruits as a rabbit or beans as frogs.  This book is also really easy for little fingers to manipulate, the color tabs of make it easy to turn the pages on their own.  I guarantee the petites will love this book and may even take a nibble out of some of the colorful images.I Can eat a Rainbow Detail

 

I find that when I take my little ones to the store (this of course, is not every time), when I spend time showing them fruits or vegetables and talking about what we are seeing they are so much more engaged in the food procuring process.  My five-year old loves to make complex dinners or desserts because there are lots of steps and opportunities for her to contribute to the meal prep.  I’ve even taken her to the store and let her choose a whole meal,  she had a blast picking vegetables and a meat and of course making silly suggestions.  I think the silly suggestions were her favorite part.

Of course, these are just a few of my petites favorite books.  They all inspire little ones to try new things, to be excited about shopping and making food.  Thanks for stopping by, and don’t forget to tell me about some of your favorite books about making food.  Let me know in the comments, I am always looking for new books.

Bon Appetit!

Erin

 

Ah Honey Honey…Adventures in Savannah

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If you’re looking for a unique tasting experience in Savannah, you must buzz on over to The Savannah Bee Company.  This little gem of a store is in the historic district and needs to be added to your list of things to see and do while in Savannah.  There is something so special about eating local foods when you travel.  We loved that you can sample every single type of honey they sell, my girls sampled over ten different types of honey.

honeyThe truly unique thing was that each honey has a different flavor and color because of the different flowers the bees visited.  Part of the samplings was raw honeycomb, which was my older daughter’s favorite.  During the tastings the honey purveyors were able to tell you about each honey and if you liked it or not were able to recommend your next tasting. They even had bar stools you could sit on to get a more in-depth experience.  If you prefer to sample on your own, they were incredibly perceptive and just let you move at your own pace.  Our top choices were: Tupelo Honey, Orange Blossom Honey, Savannah Honey and the raw honeycomb.  My only regret was we couldn’t get more honey into our suitcases.

 

The store is not just a place to buy the golden goodness, it is also a place where you can find amazing skin care products, books about all things bee as well as unique gift items.  Their logo is fantastic and can be found on any number of really neat products, shirts, tank tops, yoga bags, or canvas totes.  This store knows how to impress parents as well. A bee hive play area for small children with little stuffed bees, is sure to impress any budding beekeeper.  While the kids played, we shopped and enjoyed some sweet tea made with their everyday honey making this one of the most relaxed shopping experiences we have encountered.

The store owner, Ted, is so passionate about bees and education as well.  Every person who we encountered knew so much about honey and bees it was remarkable.  You could tell that everyone who works there is incredibly passionate about bees and educating people about their products.

Savannah Bee 1

Not going to Savannah anytime soon?  Don’t worry, many local stores sell their products and you might just be surprised at how close you are to tasting some delicious Savannah Bee Company honey.

Fostering the love of cooking in the petites

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When I was small I used to spend a lot of time having sleepovers with my Gram and Papa.  We would spend time watching public television and specifically we would watch three shows that I remember vividly.  The Frugal Gourmet, Cooking with Julia Child and Victory Garden.  I remember these times so vividly that recently I was watching Downton Abbey and heard the beginning intro and welled up because I so fondly remember watching these shows with my Gram.  Gram was a great baker, I remember making cookies and cakes sometimes pies and breads.  I remember the rituals that would go into each of these recipes, how we would wash our hands and lay out the ingredients, these are rituals that thirty years later I am working to create with my petites.  Since Z was little I have put her on the counter in her bumbo chair and have her watch while I explained step by step the items I was preparing.  Now, it is something that she chooses as a choice activity – cooking projects.  She loves them.  z

I, strongly believe in the importance of spending time cooking together in the kitchen with the petites. I think that it helps them to understand what goes into eating healthy food, it promotes conversations that I don’t believe would happen otherwise and it spurs creativity.  Since Z was big enough to hold a spoon, she has been helping me stir.

My petite likes to try new foods, since she was small we’ve had a rule that she has to try everything and we call it an adventure bite, usually this is said louder in a sort of Mighty Mouse tone and I like to throw in a festive right arm air pump.  This little gem has worked, she has never, seriously NEVER refused to take an adventure bite, we might have to be persuasive or loud about the ADVENTURE BITE, but she does try everything.

Now I try to make sure that we do cooking projects at least weekly if not more.  This week we are making a German Chocolate Cake.  This is by far one of the most delicious cakes I have ever made, if you like German Chocolate, you have to make this…you will not regret it.

I’ve been looking at the different sites and pins on Pinterest about cooking with kids, and the specific recipes, but honestly, in my opinion I think that if you’re up for it then you should cook any recipe you want.  I’ve given my daughter cooking magazines and had her look at the pictures and then we’ve made the recipe together.

Benefits of cooking with the petites:

  • working on basic math skills
  • fine motor skills benefit heavily benefit from cutting skills
  • working on sequencing – following directions and steps
  • talking about food and how it’s made promotes healthy eating habits
  • making food give children a sense of purpose and accomplishment
  • promotes healthy discussion about food
  • this is life long skill you’re promoting
  • kids are more likely to eat the foods that they’ve helped to make
  • promotes healthy eating habits
  • creates memories
  • creates other interests: finding out where food comes from, growing your own food and general excitement

Cons of cooking with petites:

  • It’s a little more messy
  • It takes a little more time

As you can clearly see the benefits outweigh the cons

When you think about all of the benefits and how enjoyable cooking can be this is really something I feel strongly about promoting in my girls.  I think that by showing them how to make healthy meals they will have a better relationship with food as they grow older.  Not to mention being able to make an amazing birthday cake that tastes better than a store-bought cake….well yes please, now that is a skill I want to foster in the girls.

What are your favorite things to cook with your petites?

Perfect Presents for Petite Engineers

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Perfect Presents for Petite EngineersIggy Peck Architect

I have been very intrigued by these really unique books for young girls and boys that are written by Andrea Beaty with illustrations by David Roberts.
Iggy Peck, Architect was published in 2007, this book is intended for 4 to 8 year olds, however, after having read this story, this would be a great read aloud for the classroom, up through 8th grade, possibly an art class if students were designing structures.  Iggy Peck is a curious young boy who builds structures out of just about anything, diapers, fruit, he is quite resourceful.  This book is ideal for young ones who like to build and create.  The illustrations are colorful and inspiring, I imagine they look like the images that would flow through an architects mind.  I guarantee you’ll be pulling out graph paper and colored pencils to help your young Iggy Peck’s draft their creations.

In 2013, Andrea Beaty created another stunning picture book featuring a cleaver young girl Rosie Revere, Engineer.  Rosie  is a shy young girl who builds amazing things but hides them away afraid of failure.  Until her great-great-aunt Rose comes for a visit and helps her to see just how amazing her engineering is, even if at first, it’s a flop.  She helps Rosie to understand that even a flop is a good thing and that trying again is no failure.  The lyrical patterning to these stories makes them very fun and engaging to read.  My daughter loves this book, she loves looking at the designs Rosie creates.

These are books that you want your kids to connect with, to feel inspired by.  These are stories that might help the young dreamers and tinkers believe that anything is possible.  I love that it is a great story with characters you can connect with and a resounding message that anything you put your mind to is possible.

Let’s get to it, I love reading a story with my petite and having her jump up to get working on her inspirations.  These engineering toys would be perfect to support your petites in their own engineering pursuits.

Goldie Blox and The Spinning Machine Goldie Blox and the Parade Float Goldie Blox and the Dunk Tank

Goldie Blox and The Spinning Machine | Goldie Blox and the Parade Float |  Goldie Blox and the Dunk Tank

 

Engino Structures and Bridgerpulleys
Engino Structures And Bridges  | Engino Mechanical Science: Pulleys

I am so excited about these Goldie Blox sets, they feature a book and lots of pieces to complete the task, whether it is skill building or an engineering concept.  They are designed for young girls ages 4-9.  In thinking about girls, we unfortunately have many young girls who lose interest in science and math at a very young age, the goal of these Goldie Blox activities are to inspire girls to become engineers and builders in a predominately male dominated field.  Another great resource for engineering toys for kids is Engino, they have created kits for building structures, cams & cranks, gears, wheels, pulleys, simple machines and levers.  The Engino kits are geared toward a slightly older age set 6-14.

I am always looking for our next favorite book, are there other books out there like Rosie Revere and Iggy Peck that you and your petites love?  Tell me about them in the comments, I would love to check them out.

Happy Monday!
Erin

 

 

 

Halloween Books for the Petites

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Halloween Books

It is that time of year, when there is a chill in the air, when cardigans become your fashion staple and an afternoon is made all the better with a pumpkin spice latte.  When October rolls around it marks the start of the holiday season.  For years, I have been collecting books for the petites for the holidays.  Some holidays I have just a few books, others I have quite a few.  Halloween is one of those holidays.  Yesterday, marking the first of October, I pulled out the holiday book box and was rather surprised to see just how many books we’ve collected over the past five years.  I am so excited to share with you some of our absolute favorite books for Halloween.

Happy Halloween, Biscuit!, by  Alyssa Satin Capucilli, is a favorite of my petites.  This cute little book has flaps that fold out to find a hidden Biscuit; our lovable curious little pup is certainly a favorite of the petites.  It has thicker pages making it easier for smaller hands to turn the pages and explore the flaps in search of Biscuit.

Lady Bug Girl and the Dress Up Dilemma, by Jacky Davis and David Soman is another fabulous book about Ladybug Girl.  This book highlights the dilemma of what to be for Halloween.  Last year this was such a success that my daughter decided to be Ladybug girl – after all she really is the best.  I will say this is a little bit different from the other Ladybug girl book formats, there is not as much plot as Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy, or Ladybug Girl at the Beach.  However, if you love Lulu, like we do, then you will love this title too.

Sweet and Spooky Halloween, this Disney Princess Halloween book, with its glittery cover and princess laden pages will be a hit with any princess loving petite.  This book features: Ariel, Belle, Cinderella and Snow White.  All about what each princess does to help contribute to the Halloween festivities.

Olivia and the Haunted Hotel, in story, Olivia and her friends use their imagination to play hotel during a sleepover, they use the thunder and lightning storm as the perfect backdrop for their Haunted Hotel.  Olivia’s brother is quite sneaky and adds some spooky fun to their game.

Mouse’s First Halloween – You might be familiar with Lauren Thompson’s series of books Mouse’s First.  This little mouse is very nervous about all of the shadows that he is seeing until he uncovers what they really are and then he isn’t so scared after all.   (the one we have is a hard cover, this link is for the board book)

Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin Pie, this is part of the Picture the Season books, by Jill Esbaum.  This non-fiction book is about all things pumpkin.  It would be a great book to use if you plan to plant a pumpkin seed and see what grows, or if your petites are curious about where pumpkins come from and how they grow.

Inside a House that is Haunted, by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, is a level 2 reader.  Perfect for 1st or 2nd grade readers.  It is a really fun story, that has repeating patterns (similar to an old lady who swallowed a fly) in the wording and great context clues in the illustrations for your young reader to pick out the new words.  It is really fun read along book.

Scaredy Squirrel Prepares for Halloween, leave it to Melanie Watt to create another hysterical Scaredy Squirrel for our reading pleasure.  This time he needs to come up with some very serious safety rules to be prepared for Halloween.  I love all of her books, and encourage you to check them out if you haven’t yet.  You will be in hysterics reading the story to your petites.

The Witch Who Was Afraid of Witches, written by Alice Low with illustrations by Jane Manning, is a favorite in our house.  This book has some of the cutest illustrations of a little witch, Wendy.  She has two older sisters who aren’t very kind named Polly and Wog.  It is broken into five chapters, perfect for 2nd to 3rd grade readers.  This book is so sweet, the two older sister end up needed the help of their little sister to save the day.  I am already getting excited to read this one tonight.  This continues to be one of out family favorites!

Dem Bones, by Bob Barner, this book is so silly, I didn’t know if my daughter would like it, but she loves it.  It was read more times than I could count the last two Halloweens.  When she saw it yesterday she started singing the song.  Basically it is an illustrated version of the classic song.  The really fun part about this book, is that is has these little captions that give you information about the bone featured in that verse of the song.  As a three and four-year old she wasn’t really interested in the anatomy lesson provided, but we will see this year.  A great book that offers more than just song lyrics.

petite-stag-favoriteRoom on the Broom, by Julia Donaldson and illustrations by Axel Scheffler is one of my absolute favorite Halloween books.  I love the rhyming and the illustrations.  This book is so much fun to read and enjoy with your petites.  It’s quite the magical broom that takes lots of friends for an exciting ride with an unexpected ending. This is a perfect book to add to your Halloween collection.

Creepy Carrots!, by Aaron Reynolds, let me first start by saying, this book is dark, I would suggest this for older kids.  It could be frightening for some of our younger petites.  Okay, you’ve been warned.  This Caldecott Honor-winning picture book is really funny, Jasper has been ripping carrots from the ground, until he notices that they are following him; they are everywhere.  I personally loved how the story was black and white except for the carrots.  I could see this being a fun read for a 2nd or 3rd grade cause and effect lesson.

Bones: Skeletons and How They Work, by Steven Jenkin, is a great non-fiction book, not necessarily for Halloween, but I wanted to add it in because I love this book and you can make the connection to Dem Bones.  My petite was interested in skeletons and bones and I thought why not let her explore this Caldecott Honor Award Winner.  This book shows a comparative view of bones from the human and animal bodies.  This book is geared for 2nd to 5th graders and is so informative I think it could even be used with older kids.  The book breaks down the body into parts, comparing hand bones of humans and animals to the full skeletons.  It has pull out pages that make it even more fun to get on the floor and explore.

petite-stag-favoriteBats at the Library, by Brian Lies is going to be a new favorite in our house.  I picked this fabulous book up yesterday and I have already read it three times by request.  It is about bats who are bored and sneak into the library after hours and explore.  Brian Lies, does an amazing job with his illustrations, they bring this story to life.  These little bats have so much fun they lose track of time and suddenly realize dawn is coming.  You must check this book out, I will not be putting this one away with the rest of the Halloween books in November.

For the tiniest of petites…these board books will not disappoint

Halloween Board Books

Five Black Cats, by Patricia Hegarty is so cute, we love the little black cat illustrations.  The five cats stick together and go exploring through the town.  They meet a little white mouse who leads them to a very fun party with lots of colorful treats to eat.  My one year old likes pointing to the cats and turning the thicker pages on her own.

Halloween Faces, by Nancy Davis was a surprise.  My daughters love this book.  I do not use the word love lightly here, this book has tattered edges and has been thoroughly enjoyed.  With fun pages that allow you to change the childrens masks from cat to vampire it is a favorite.  I am sure your little ones will agree.

Frankenstein: An Anatomy Primer, by Jennifer Adams,  I love these babylit books and what is not to love about learning anatomy from Frankenstein?  Everything about this board book is so incredibly cute.

Dracula: A Counting Primer: let’s count castles, wolves, ships, heroes, tombstones and boxes (coffins).  This classic remade into a board book is well worth your time to look into.

Five Little Pumpkins, by Dan Yaccarino, follows traditional “five little” songs, a really fun book to share with your little ones.  The lyrical pattern to the words makes it an enjoyable read.

Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin, by Tad Hills is a very silly read about Duck and Goose who are on a mission to find a pumpkin.  However, they are looking in some pretty silly places until they get a little help from their friend.  As always the illustrations are fabulous.  Sure to become a Halloween favorite.

Alright friends, that is our list of Halloween books that have been huge hits.   I am sure that there are others out there that I haven’t come across yet, let me know, in the comments section, if I have left off one of your families favorites.  I am always looking for another book to add to the petites collection.

 

 

Perfect Presents for One Year Olds: Part 1

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Sometimes it is really hard to know what to get those cuddly little petites in your life.  I know before I had kids of my own, I would sometimes struggle to find the perfect gift or know what was really age appropriate.  Now, that I have two kids of my own and numerous others that I buy gifts for, I am starting to find a pattern in my gift giving.

I love to give a book, shocking I know, an English teacher who likes to give children books.  Books are really fun, but when you’re one, you always want a toy too.  So I have been choosing a book and then a toy that goes along with it.  One of my dear friends has the sweetest little girl who just loves books.  We got her, what I think is a pretty perfect present.  Although the pages are a little delicate for one year old hands, I think that reading a child a book of any format at any age is perfection.

Tea Rex by Molly Idle

I have written about this book before, Molly Idle has created some of the most amazing illustrations in Tea Rex.  This book is so cute!  I really love this story about a T-Rex who comes over to have a spot of tea.  He is just a little bit too big for a proper tea party, but that doesn’t stop him from joining in.  To go along with this fabulous book, is possibly one of the cutest toys my daughter has: the Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Say Please Tea Set.  It is so incredibly sweet to watch a one year old use this tea set in her playing.  She pretends to eat, rather she chews on the petifores and takes sips of tea.  So precious.  My five year old even plays with her taking turns pouring the tea (it makes a pouring sound); which makes it all the more fun to have a tea party with.

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This little teapot sings catchy little songs like, “Would you like a spot of tea, one for you one for me, lets take turns and always say please and thank you”.  Yes, I’ve heard it a few times.  Did I mention it is in a British accent?  Adorable.  It also has an off switch, which makes it priceless.

If you like this post, check back in again, I am going to add a few more post about my favorite gifts for petites.

What are some of your favorite toys to give little ones?  Tell me in the comments section, I’d love to hear what your favorites are.

 

 

Boiled Peanuts and Sweet Tea

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Ocean

We just returned from a trip to South Carolina.  We used to live there many years ago for a very short period of time before we got incredibly homesick for family, foggy mornings and mountains.  However, both my husband and I have started to look back on our time in SC in a very romantic way.  We talk about the huge moon rises we would watch on the Isle of Palms connector, the sound of cicadas and of course our love affair with the food.

Now that almost a decade has passed we made a return to our beloved South Carolina.  It was an amazing trip, we learned some very important things in the first few hours of it.  Number one: babies don’t like to sleep on the red-eye.  Number two: when your baby doesn’t sleep on the red-eye, people around you get moody.  Whoopsies…lesson learned.  Number three: spending time with family and loved ones is really what it is all about.

We stayed with family on Pawley’s Island and loved every minute of it.  I had nightly cooking lessons by my husbands great-aunt, and surprisingly enough neither of us needed to diet when we returned…even though many sticks of butter, pounds of side pork and fat back were used in the making of our suppers.

Another thing that we learned or I suppose confirmed is that the ocean does really have a restorative power to it.  We were able to walk across the street to the beach daily and enjoyed building sand castles and playing in the surf.  Even when the petite encountered a jellyfish and got a pretty substantial sting on her leg – she still rallied and wanted to go for swim in the waves the following day.  We had such a fun time exploring places we used to go to all the time and ones we thought the petites would like the best.

We stayed in Pawley’s Island which is a slice of heaven, there is no place that I have seen that has such deep blues and such stunning greens, the sunsets that can literally take you breath away.  In the afternoon storms roll in and just for a moment it becomes so dark it would appear to be night, but then the sun shines through and blue skies prevail.  It is one of my  favorite places.  Of course like most places it is the people who you are with that make it so incredibly special.

toes in the sand

For our small day trips we drove south to Sullivan’s Island.  We used to go there all the time to different bars and restaurants.  This time we stopped in at Poe’s Tavern.  It is a super cute little restaurant and bar, themed with fun Edgar Allan Poe things, after all Poe was stationed at Fort Moultrie where he spent 14 months, it is said that during this time he came up with the idea for The Gold Bug about a mystical beetle who leads people to treasure.  They have some really fun swag and when we lived there I never ended up buying anything, so our trip was mainly to get me a Poe’s shirt…mission accomplished.  The beach at Sullivan’s Island is also really gorgeous, same goes for the beaches at Isle of Palms.  All very close to fun bars and food.  Yum.

We also of course wanted to drive by our old neighborhood and check everything out, I couldn’t believe how much things had changed in 10 years, at numerous times I had to ask where we were, and was totally lost and confused.

In Charleston there are just so many incredibly fun places, we only spent a little bit of time there, but we did go to some pretty fun places that you might want to check out if you happen to find yourself in Charleston.

Battery and White Point Gardens – this is a great place to walk along nad see the water, check out the ships and just explore a little bit.  If you are a history buff this is a great place to start, there are civil war cannons along this defensive seawall.  You are able to see Fort Sumter in the distance, if you walk along the promenade you will have views of some spectacular mansions.  In White Point Gardens you can rest under the shade of gorgeous oaks and even sit in a lovely gazebo.  It is a fabulous place to start your Charleston adventure.

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From there we drove to the City Market, we were in search of a few things.  My husbands great aunt had been referencing this cook book called Charleston receipts that was put together by the Charleston Junior League in 1950, it has 750 recipes in it and is one of those southern staples.  I just had to get my hands on one of these, so we headed to the market in search of the book.  (I will say you can buy one on amazon for a little bit less than the market, but you don’t get to say that you bought this awesome cookbook at the oldest city market in the south).  This market is amazing, they have so many fun things, you can buy sweet grass baskets here (although if you are driving north up 17 you would most likely find a better deal on the side of the road at one of the little basket stands.  If you are heading south, I got a great basket at Carolina Cider Company in Yemassee on the way to Savannah.  The market is also a place where you can haggle a bit, I’m not talking flea market haggle, but if you feel comfortable you can try to get a “deal”.  We also found that there was a vendor who was selling maps, old newspapers and Harper’s Weekly’s.  This is a really fun place to stop in and browse.  We ended up purchasing a reproduction of a Charleston map.  Read more about my map fiasco here.  This is a very busy place, you could easily spend hours here checking everything out.  They have something for just about everyone, it is a must stop.  The market is open everyday of the year except Christmas.  Monday-Sunday 9:30-5:30 and Friday – Saturday 6:30-10:30.

If you’re not going south to Savannah, you need to stop in at the Savannah Bee Company at the Charleston location – 216 King Street.  I am a bit obsessed with the Savannah Bee Company.  This store, brand and mission are phenomenal.  When I was first reading about the things we could do, I read a trip advisor review about honey tastings and I thought that would be really fun for our daughters, 5 years old and 1-year-old.  Who doesn’t love honey and our little hardworking buzzing friends?  So we checked it out, there were samples of all of their honeys that they sell.  It was delicious, I have never tasted so many different types of honey.  It was also a really neat place for us to show our daughter all of the hard work that bees do and why they are so important.  So this store, has an incredibly cute logo too, did I mentioned I am a bit obsessed?  They have all sorts of fun things, check out their website and you will want to order stuff right now.  You must taste the Tupelo Honey, it was my favorite and all the more special because the Tupelo tree has a short blooming period 3-10 days, so it is a rather special honey if you ask me.  Yum.  If you end up going let me know what you think?  Oh and what you ended up buying.  Also, if you are going to Savannah too, go to the shop there instead it is bigger and has more to offer, a play area for little ones so you can shop and taste in peace.

Charleston Museum – 360 Meeting Street.  This museum is great.  We took our girl there although they were not really interested in the main museum there is a part called Kids Story, where they get to try things out.  There is a little house they can play in with costumes (mainly for older kids 6-9 I would guess, they were pretty big on our petite 5-year-old), a ship where you can change and raise the flag, a lighthouse where you can push buttons and turn the light on.  It was great, they loved to play in the house with the tea set and had a fantastic time.  The museum is a great look at Charleston through the ages, they have one exhibit of guns that I found to be really interesting.  I was a little disappointed with the lack of exhibits and artifacts from the days of slavery, there were just a few things.  I am not sure if this is because there is The Old Slave Mart Museum or not.  We weren’t able to go to The Old Slave Mart Museum this time around, but I would love to go on our next visit.

Kids Story

Kids Story

raising the flagCharleston Museum 1

There are so many amazing places, you could easily spend a week touring through Charleston and not eat it all or see it all.  I think part of the fun is in just walking around and taking in all of the incredibly history in this city, from the churches, gorgeous old homes, vendors in the market.

Main places we didn’t get to this time but would like to go:

The Old Slave Mart Museum – an incredibly important museum, this building was actually used as a slave auction building.

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Fort Sumter – a delight for any civil war buff.

Philadelphia Alley – rumors are that this area is haunted…that there were many duels and that sometimes ghosts can be seen.  So fun!

Philadelphia Alley

Middleton Place – gorgeous rice plantations with grounds that are stunning, just check out the reviews from other travelers, sounds amazing right?

I am sure I am missing a ton of places…I realize I didn’t even mention all of the shopping…too many fun places and we only went to a very small fraction of them.  This is really just a half day in Charleston, like I said before, you could spend a week there and still not touch all of it.

If you’ve been to Charleston, what’s your favorite place to visit?   Please tell me all about it in the comments.  I’d love to hear all about it.

Erin