Book Reports

I've really been wanting to start a series of reviews of books I'm reading or have read. I want to do this partially for any readers of my blog to hear about these books and the ideas in them, but mainly I want to write up a little report so that I don't forget these books and what I got from them. I am specifically talking about parenting and education books. I am writing this post now to motivate me to actually do it :) So I'm going to commit to writing about the last three books I read this week. I'm going to write about them this week that is, I didn't read three books this week! Far from it! It probably takes me three weeks to read a book these days. Unless you want to talk about how many times I read 'Go, Dog. Go' this week, in which case that would 8,476 times :) I love having a book loving kid. Anyhow, I digress.

The three books I want to talk about this week are My Child Won't Eat, You Are Your Child's First Teacher, and Good Nights. Each of these books made a strong impression on me and I can't wait to share with them with you this week!

Apple Picking

Last weekend Q and I went to the mountains for our annual apple picking trip. The friends we usually go with weren't available so we picked a lot less than usual. I think we brought home fourteen bushels last year and this year just six. Six bushels is still a lot mind you. It was hard to restrain ourselves to six bushels too, apples are so easy to pick and the orchard we went to had so many great varieties in season right now.

I have lots of apple plans for the next few weeks, but this year baking won't be the main focus since I've given up sugar. boohoo :( I have so many favorite sweet apple recipes I will only be able to make for other people.

I love knowing where my food came from and picking it myself too. It was really a wonderful weekend filled with friends and family, we love going up to the mountains.

Q totally got in on the apple action too, he ate soooo many!

luckily if my plans go accordingly he'll be able to enjoy these apples for the rest of the year!

{This Moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by Soulemama.

Snack Bags

I'm finally going to post some of my recent projects. First and one of the simplest - snack bags! I loosely followed this tutorial

and I think they were a hit. Qais can't decide if he would rather carry them around to look at the 'ment mem' aka cement mixer, or if he wants the 'gookies' aka - cookies (which is any snack) that are inside.

{This Moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by Soulemama.

A Walk In The Woods

We are loving this cooler weather, it makes us want to spend so much more time outside!

We have a new favorite hiking spot near our house and most mornings this week we've skipped our usual YMCA routine in favor of fresh air and trees (that are starting to turn!).

I love watching Qais explore the forest, he's so curious and content.

I also love that when we're in the woods he is free to roam - a free range kid - he can wack a stick around all he wants, he can make piles and stomp on them, he can pick up rocks (and leaves, and sticks and anything else) and throw them and he can run off the trail and go anywhere he wants.

Not only does he have a blast but he totally wears himself out (love those good naps). We still have to make sure we're home by about noon or it gets too hot for us but soon we'll be able to stay out longer and I foresee some daytrips to state parks.

So grateful for the cooler weather making this possible, bring on fall!

Long Weekend

We had a wonderful long weekend, full of family, babies and playing outdoors, some of my very favorite things.

I love this time of year so much, cooler weather, watching kids go to school and finding a new routine. The leaves around here look like the end of summer - over ripe, over saturated and a few are even starting to turn orange! It's so nice to finally be able to spend more time outside, our to do list is growing with activities that require cooler weather - beach trips, river trips, apple picking trips, trips to the zoo, museums, hiking, camping and more. We've also been spending more time in our own backyard. I'll post some pictures of what we've been doing later this week, but here's a sneak peak

our first backyard bonfire.

Wash Wednesday

We've been battling some crazy diaper rash here, and after a few days of disposable diapers we're eager to get the little one back in his cloth diapers. Inspired by Gardenmama's Wash Wednesday series here is a little peak into our backyard today.

There is something so beautiful about clean laundry hanging on the line in the sun, so much more beautiful than the awful diaper rash that brought this washing day on. I didn't think you'd want to see pictures of that :)

here's my helper, doling out the clothes pins

and for those who do cloth diapers let me tell you what we did today - we did a long soak in bac-out, followed by 2 heavy duty wash cycles with the washer's heat setting on 'sanitize' with a couple drops of blue dawn and then a bunch of rinses (until there were no suds), a final rinse cycle with vinegar before hanging them in the hot sun.