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Yestserday was my 29th birthday.  And while I’m kind of looking forward to joining the 30-something’s that make up my friends, I’m also feeling a little overwhelmed at the thought that, hey, I’ve got to start acting like a grownup.  So, in the typical type-A fashion, I’m going to make a list of 30 things I want to do by my 30th birthday.  And in the typical over-sharer fashion, I’ll probably blog about them.  🙂

I’ve got 364 days to do it all so I better get moving!

1. Go to Paris
2. Implement a chore chart with the kids and myself
3. Implement a menu schedule
4. Get Supper Club going again
5. Attend dotMom in the fall
6. Throw a Christmas Party
7. Plan a “Light ‘Em Up” program for us to do in the summer
8. Become more proficient with Photoshop & organize my pictures
9. Finish my 2011 One Tale a Day Blurb book
10. Complete the 2012 OTAD pictures
11. Make a 2012 OTAD Blurb book
12. Complete the 2013 OTAD pictures
13. Make a 2013 OTAD Blurb book
14. Make blog books up to present day
15. Start an Etsy shop
16. Go on a by-ourselves date with Jason every month
17. Re-vamp the blog design
18. Re-learn all about my camera and start taking great pictures
19. Take pictures of and blog about the new house (complete all my unfinished projects!)
20. Be more diligent about keeping up with friends
21. Take kids to Disney World
22. Cook at least two new recipes every month
23. Re-start and finish reading the Bible in a year
24. Get kids into doing Random Acts of Kindness together
25. Start learning Bible Verses with the kids
26. Write 30 letters to friends and family telling them what they mean to me
27. Start some type of exercise program
28. Get our family eating more whole/real foods
29. Learn something new (computer language, language, cooking style, way to fix my hair…..)
30. Spend more time in the moment, cherishing my family

Books

Show Us Your Life – Favorite Kids Books

I’ve blogged about my favorite children’s books in the past but wanted to jump on with Kelly’s Show Us Your Life today to post my updated favorites.  As the kids get older my “favorites” for them change and I want to share what we’re loving right now.  For those new readers from Kelly’s (thanks for coming!) I’ve got an almost 4 year old little girl and a one and a half year old little boy.

Charlotte loves all Fancy Nancy books but this one might be her favorite.  I like how the books address applicable topics (ballet recitals, not listening, lying at school, doing things with your family instead of your friends, etc) but in a way that she can relate to them.  I think that the books are setting a good tone as she grows and becomes more aware of the world.  And she loves how “fancy” Fancy Nancy is!  As an added bonus, the books use lots of big, new words which has really expanded her vocabulary!
Charlotte loved “Where’s My Sweetie Pie?” when she was little and now James loves it and Charlotte loves reading it again.  It’s a fun lift the flap book that ends with a mirror so that they can see themselves.  When we get to the end James (sometimes) points at himself in the mirror and yells “Me!” The only downside is that some of the flaps have small connecting places which my children have easily torn.
This book was one that Mom pulled out from when Charlie and I were little.  Charlotte has picked it up and loves reading it now.  For a few days it was even her favorite!  I love the message that the Mommy owl always comes back.
I’m not a big fan of the other Llama Llama books (I don’t love their messages and the attitudes and actions of Baby Llama) but I’m a huge fan of this board book.  It’s short and sweet and is more of a “boy” book than some of the other board books that we have from when Charlotte was little.  James likes reading it and will actually sit in my lap through the whole thing since it’s short.  And the short words (zip, zoom, swoosh….) are words that he can try to say as we’re reading.
I think I’ll always love this book because it’s the book that includes the first word that Charlotte can “read”.  She learned how to spell “zoo” and points it out every time it appears in the book.  Recognizing this word and being able to pick it out on the pages has led to more of an interest on her part in learning words and asking questions about reading.  All of these little pocket sized books (Big Dog…Little Dog, Are you my Mother?, etc) are great because they’re easy to throw in a bag to take out and about and they are chock full of small words that pre-schoolers can start to recognize.

This book (and a similar one with jungle animals) are favorites of James’ right now.  He loves opening up the pop up pages over and over again.  He forgets about them if they’re not out in the open, but as soon as he sees one he grabs it immediately and brings it to you to go through with him!

They’re absolute favorite books right now though are their Blurb picture books!

Books

Picture Books for the Kids!

When I completed the first year (and only so far) of One Tale a Day, I made us a large 12×12 book with Blurb.  And I shrunk it down to a small (5×5 I think?) size for my parents.  While we were living there, James loved looking through the book of pictures even though he wasn’t in any of them.  So when I got an email from Blurb asking me to try out their new designer template to create a 7×7 book, I thought it would be a great way to make both of the kids a book full of pictures from their lives.
I couldn’t believe how simple it was to create the book. I just went to the designer template page, logged in with my free account that I already had, and clicked ‘Get Started’. The books use a Blurb product called ‘Bookify’ so you don’t even have to download any software on your computer.  The Bookify software immediately comes up in your browser and you can start making your book.

First, you’re going to choose a design.  I chose a basic one since I wasn’t going to use any words and it was for the kids.
Then, you can choose to import pictures from lots of different places.  I imported from Instagram and it couldn’t have been easier!
I then spent some time arranging my pictures in an order that I liked.  And changing any formats on pages that I wanted.  I was able to not use any of the text boxes since I didn’t want text and it didn’t change anything in the book.

I found that it was often easier to rearrange pictures on the multi-page view since I could drag and drop.

Once I was satisfied, I previewed the book through the Bookify software and then proceeded to order them!

Literally 10 days after I placed my order, my books arrived on my doorstep.  They come shrink wrapped and the kids were so excited to get their hands on their “surprises” that all I could manage was a quick picture on the island before they were taken out of my hands!

Charlotte spent a good part of that afternoon “reading” her book and they both pull them out of the bookshelf often to flip through them.  They love seeing the pictures of them and their family and I love the small size and the quality of the book since I know that they can’t really harm them.  I’m comfortable letting them play with them as their books!

I love Blurb and have used them for many years, but I was very impressed with the new designer collection.  The formats allow for less customization than a full scale Blurb book does in Booksmart, but that means you can create a great looking book QUICKLY!  As a bonus, Blurb is offering readers 20% off of a Designer Book Template with the code ‘DESIGNMYBOOK’.  But hurry, this offer is only good through the 31st of March!

Disclaimer: I was given credit to purchase both of these books for free from Blurb and I am a part of their affiliate program.  All opinions and reviews are my own.  For more information, please check out my link/disclosure page.

Christmas, Gift Giving

Holiday Favorites…Gift Edition!

I thought I would share some things that I loved about the Christmas gifts that we gave.  You could incorporate these ideas into any gift giving occasion, not just Christmas!
1. Make your gift tags personal!

So personal in fact that you trace your child’s hand onto a piece of paper, scan the image into your computer, and then use Photoshop Elements to come up with a cute design!  Always a crowd pleaser these gift tags were a huge hit! Everyone loved having one of Charlotte’s hand prints! I actually saw people making sure to take the tag off of the bow before it was thrown away so they could save it!
2. Go personalized
These adorable melamine trays from PaperDoll Designs are super cute and practical (can you say dishwasher safe?!?).  They are so durable and yet pretty enough that you would be proud to take cookies on this tray to a group get together!
3. Make something that someone would love but doesn’t have time to make themselves
If you missed my post about Blurb books and my intense love for them you can check it out here.  I knew that Kelly doesn’t have tons of free time what with an energetic toddler and working as a pharmacist so I thought I’d put together a book of her blog posts.  I know I treasure my blog book and I’m pretty sure she was just as excited to receive hers!
4. Make it easy on yourself, make a system to group presents!
This year I found this adorable red and white houndstooth paper at Hobby Lobby.  I chose to wrap all of the presents (that I could find appropriately sized boxes for) in this paper so that I wasn’t switching out rolls all the time.  Then I used a different colored raffia ribbon on presents for each family unit.  That way it was simply a matter of grabbing everything with the same ribbon color in order to get all the presents that we needed to take to a certain gathering! Make sure you make a key of your colors though otherwise you’ll be running back and forth to the three to remember what color goes with which family! 🙂
On a sidenote, I bought two rolls of the houndstooth paper from Hobby Lobby.  I wrapped ALL of our extended family packages in that paper (there were a lot of presents!).  I still have paper left on the first roll! Their rolls are so long that it seems like they’re never going to run out! So if you’re in my family, be expecting houndstooth wrapped packages for years to come!
5. Start a collection
Jason is hard to shop for.  The things that he would like are usually things that I know nothing about (golf clubs) and so have a hard time shopping for.  I gave him a watch for his wedding present and he has always talked about how he would love to have a different watch to wear every day.  So this year I started his watch collection.  I shopped online sites like Gilt and Rue La La to find designer watches at discount prices!  And I was able to give him a new watch and a watch case for Christmas! Now, whenever I’m stuck on what to give him I can always find a new watch!
6. Start shopping early and shop discounts!
I’m not a big coupon person.  I’ll clip ones for diapers or things that I always buy but I’m not one of those people that will do anything I can to save on groceries.  But I LOVE saving on presents.  Christmas can be so expensive and I don’t like to scrimp on presents for others so I start shopping early.  This helps spread the cost out over many months but also helps me be on the lookout for deals on items that I know I want to get.  I’ve found that I end up spending more the closer to Christmas it gets because I’m more desperate to find a present and get the name checked off of my list!
This does take some organization because you have to be on the lookout for gifts a long time before Christmas but I’ve found that I can find more meaningful gifts that way.  I have also found online discount sites and how much they can save you!  Gilt, Rue La La, The Mini Social, and One Kings Lane are invitation only websites that sell designer items (think Kate Spade, Vera Wang, Melissa and Doug toys…) at hugely discounted rates.  If you are interested in an invitation to one of these places email me and I’ll send you an invite because some of the sales are truly fantastic!
7. Pictures of your kids are always appreciated!
With the prices of prints from photographers reaching new heights every year prints of your kids are always a good bet.  Some photographers (the best kind!) sell a cd of all of the prints that you can buy and reprint from.  This allows you to reprint up to the allowed size and frame those prints for your family for presents.  Hobby Lobby has their frames (which are a pretty great quality with a good selection of frame type) half off almost every week.  You can reprint pictures at your local drugstore but I’ve found a site called MPix that prints professional quality photos and it’s just as simple as uploading to one of the other online photo sites.  Your pictures will look much better printed from MPix than from elsewhere.  The prints are about 10 cents more than those printed elsewhere but MPix has a staff that color corrects your photo’s and the higher quality photo paper is (to me) well worth the 10 cents.  Unless you were ordering hundreds of prints you’re only talking about a dollar or two difference.  And the pictures get mailed right to your house in just a few days!