Helping Families to Connect and Thrive

Spring & Easter Books for Kids

04.03.20

Hooray! Hooray! Spring time is here! We are ready for flowers and fresh air, and most of all, some sunshine!!! Today we are sharing some of our favorite Spring and Easter books for kids. These titles are all perfect for Easter baskets (if you’re still working on your bunny duties). Plus, after weeks of quarantine, and with weeks more to go, it might just be an opportune time to add to your seasonal library! Either way, we have included a variety of picture books, non-fiction books, and board books that bring our family a lot of joy:

Stories from Bug Garden This is, perhaps, the most endearing collection of whimsical stories that we have on our bookshelves! Each little bug’s personality is unique and captivating, and the illustrations are beyond darling. We all absolutely adore this book, and I can say with confidence it is one of my all-time favorite children’s books!

Pairs! In the Garden This lift-the-flap matching book is filled with the sweetest illustrations and playful poems about each garden-dwelling animal. In addition to the matching the animals under flaps, readers are encouraged to identify the odd one out, and find a certain number of additional creatures within each illustration.

Miss Rumphius This book has brought inspiration and wonder into my life since I was a little girl! A beautiful tale about an adventurous and giving woman who seeks a way to make the world more beautiful.

Let it Rain This is one of a 4-book series that highlights the magic and excitement of each season. The books all follow the same rhyming pattern. We have all four books and love them all!

On Meadowview Street Caroline moves onto Meadowview street– only there is no meadow– just boring yard, after boring yard. With a little time and patience she is able to convince her parents to let their yard grow wildly, and before long the whole neighborhood begins to change in wonderful ways!

An Egg is Quiet An informative book with the most beautiful illustrations. It is perfect for little non-fiction readers. A Nest is Noisy is just as stunning!

Spectacular Spring Another wonderful non-fiction book that teaches young readers all about springtime and includes a variety of spring crafts and activities!

Mr. Putter and Tabby Paint the Porch It’s springtime and Mr. Putter wants to paint his porch. He gets started and everything is going well until a squirrel shows up. We love all the Mr. Putter and Tabby books, but this is one of our very favorites!

Poppleton in Spring In this collection of charming stories, Poppleton tries to do some spring cleaning, searches for a new bike, and stays up all night in his new tent, noticing all of the spring wonders that occur when the rest of the world is sleeping.

Little Blue Truck’s Springtime Yoo hoo! Little Blue Truck drives around the farm with his good friend Toad and greets all the animals and their adorable new babies. The happy rhymes and cheerful illustrations are sure to leave you smiling!

Baby Bear Sees Blue Baby Bear awakens from his winter hibernation. He ventures out of his cave with his mama and sees the vibrant colors of the world for the first time. This story introduces colors in such a clever way, and the lino cut illustrations are absolutely incredible! Not only is this one of our favorite spring books, it’s one of our favorite books to give as a gift.

It’s Spring! A cheerful rhyming book where animals joyfully alert one another that spring has arrived!

Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! This hilarious story about three clever bunnies that repeatedly outwit a first-time farmer to steal his veggies is one of our very favorites. Perfect for Easter AND springtime!

The Good Egg I discovered this wonderful book this year after designing our GOOD EGG Easter shirts! Kismet! It’s an adorable story about a good egg who learns the importance of self care as well as not taking himself too seriously.

Rechenka’s Eggs Babushka is preparing her painted eggs for the annual Easter festival when she discovers, Rechenka, an injured goose. She takes Rechenka in and cares for her. This is such a tender story about giving selflessly and the magic of miracles.

Hop! Hop! These baby stories are just our favorite! This book highlights the joys of celebrating Easter, from bunny slippers to egg hunts!

Owen’s Marshmallow Chick On Easter morning Owen goes through his Easter basket and devours each of his treats, claiming they are his favorites. Once he reaches the yellow marshmallow chick, he decides instead to play with it, as it is actually his favorite. Appropriately, of all our Easter books, this is Cole’s favorite!

We’re Going on An Egg Hunt An adorable lift the flap book that follows bunnies as they go on an egg hunt… to the tune of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. We love the illustrations and the kids think finding the non-egg items under the flaps is quite a hoot!

The Night Before Easter It’s the Easter Bunny’s turn to be featured in this beloved holiday poem. It’s a sweet and easy read that our kids really enjoy!

He is Risen Rocks Tell the Story of Easter Our little geologist loves how the Easter story is told so creatively with rocks.

Bunny Trouble Another favorite from my childhood, Max the bunny is part of the egg decorating colony, but he is far more interested in soccer, which leads to all sorts of problems!

You can see even more of our favorite Spring Books and Easter Books for kids on Pinterest!

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Charlie Turns 1! Yep, We Threw Our Cat a Birthday Party!

03.27.20

Charlie turned one yesterday, so we had a little celebration. He was not a fan of his party hat.

Isla first began asking if we could throw Charlie a birthday party MONTHS ago. She is so my child. We had the best time dreaming up ideas and creating some simple, crafty party details together.

The decor was either handmade or items repurposed from around the cottage. And no, I did not buy that wooden “1” for our cat party. Ha! My mom gifted it to us when Isla had her first birthday, and for some reason we had stored it here. How perfect!

The idea to transfer Isla’s drawing of Charlie onto a shirt came to me a few weeks ago, and it is one my favorite craft projects ever! I asked Isla to create a portrait of Charlie and emphasized that it not have too many tiny details. I photocopied the drawing, meticulously traced over it with a sharpie, and then used our Silhouette Cameo to create an iron-on vinyl cutout. Isla was absolutely thrilled when she saw her finished Charlie shirt. In fact, she loved it so much she asked to sleep in it and is wearing it again today. This shirt will be a keepsake for sure!

For Charlie’s festive hat we rolled a little cone of glitter paper, sealed it with a line of hot glue, topped it with a pom pom, and attached a rubber band chin strap.

Both kids drew portraits of Charlie to display. Isla also made a sign to wish Charlie a happy birthday– in cat language, of course! We put the kids’ artwork in frames we already had at the cottage.

The kitty face bunting was 100% Isla’s idea and creation. I just helped her tape twine on the back and hang it. Besides being unbelievably adorable, the bunting actually holds quite a bit of sentimental meaning for us. Our beloved kitty, Miller, shared the same birthday with Charlie. He was also an orange tabby. While creating this bunting, Isla explained to me that the larger kitty faces represented Miller and the smaller kitty faces represented Charlie. She wanted to ensure that we celebrated our Miller as well. Cue the tears. I am so grateful for her tender, thoughtful heart.

Is it really a birthday celebration if sprinkles aren’t involved? We bribed Charlie with a dab of whipped cream and sprinkles to take these photos. Most of his treat ended up on the floor, but the little bit he did get earned us a few minutes of cooperation.

And speaking of food, Isla requested we keep the menu “cat themed” and chose tuna melts for dinner. We gave each of the cats a spoonful of plain tuna as their treat.

Isla and I whipped up the most delicious carrot, zucchini and apple cupcakes with a lemon cream cheese glaze. This recipe made 12 cupcakes and a full loaf (which we used for french toast this morning– YUM!). Cole kept sneaking little tastes of the cupcakes all afternoon, and this morning he managed to sneak the whole tupperware of leftover cupcakes into his room and licked the icing off of three before we found him!

After dinner and cupcakes we gave Charlie his gift. Isla specifically requested we get him a mechanical cat toy that moved. This was the only one I could find at the grocery store when I went to pick up a few staple supplies the other day. Good news! It entertains both cats and kids!

Oh, Char-yee Bar-yee, we love you and are glad you’re part of our family. Happy birthday, little buddy. Here’s to many, many more happy years together. We hope you aren’t too traumatized from that hat!

Family Art Project: Daffodils 4 Ways

03.26.20

Nana Sandy’s birthday was this week, and being that it is springtime and she loves yellow, we decided that we would all make her some daffodil cards!

Cheerful daffodils are popping up all over the hillside where our cottage sits. Isaac and Cole went on a little walk to collect a few (along with some ferns, sticks, and pine cones) and created a beautiful arrangement. We sat the bouquet on our table and used it for reference while we made our cards. Each person chose their own preferred mediums and methods. Cole and Isla created with ink pen and watercolor, Isaac made a pencil sketch, and I constructed a collage from sheets of paper I had painted with acrylics. It was so much fun to use the same source of inspiration to create our own separate projects. I’m already trying to think up another family art project to do together. What should we create next?

Cape Lookout Hike

03.24.20

Our family went on a gorgeous 5 mile hike at Cape Lookout earlier this week. Looking back, it was probably a bit ambitious to go on a moderate hike of that length with a toddler who feels like he weighs 400 pounds, but we are so very glad we just went for it because the experience was wonderful!

Our new OE Carrier was super helpful when Cole’s legs became tired, or when we were on precarious parts of the trail– or when we just wanted to move faster than a curious two year old’s pace!

Isla walked every step of that 5.5 mile trail— happily! In fact, she was nearly giddy the entire time, saying over and over how excited she was that we were spending the day hiking and how much she loved being in the forest. She admired the towering trees, marveled at all the foliage growing atop nurse logs, and investigated every hole or burrow we passed.

Here Isla is carefully guiding Cole through a tangle of roots. She was so genuinely interested in helping him that we let her take the lead and watched this tender interaction unfold— even though a tiny stretch of the trail took a solid 15 minutes! We just stood back and soaked up the sweetness of every stumbly step, their little hands intertwined, Isla’s enthusiastic encouragement, and Cole’s complete adoration of his big sister.

Despite growing so tired he fell asleep toward the end of the hike– in his carrier, with his head propped upon Isaac– Cole also loved the experience! Like his sister, he wanted to stop and examine everything! He kept looking up at us, eyes sparkling, and saying, “We go hiking!”

We enjoyed a picnic lunch at the end of the cape… and a few snuggles too!

When we got home Isla joyfully recounted the harder parts of the trail, “First we had a rock challenge, then a root challenge, then a mud challenge!” She has been writing and illustrating a story of our experience. Eager to encourage the kids’ curiosities, and inspired by questions that Isla asked on the trail, we will be doing some research on plants native to the the Oregon coast, as well as learning more about the formation and geography of headlands. I am sure we will find an art project or two to complete as well! We will be sure to share the activities in a separate post.

To the Cottage!

03.22.20

With all the uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19, social distancing, and school closures, we decided to pack up our family and move ourselves to the cottage through at least April. We are looking forward to salt air and slow days, as we do our best to navigate the craziness that has unfolded around us.
It is hard (really hard) not to be consumed by the fears we are experiencing right now in regards to our family’s well-being and financial security. However, we are doing all we can to focus what we do have and can do. In the midst of these dark clouds we are searching for the silver linings— the greatest of which is time together. We’re planning to soak that up.