Catherine Bailey: New children's book author

I am so proud and pleased to introduce one of my very good friends, Catherine Bailey.  

She is debuting her very first book in the Fall of 2014 called Mind Your Monsters about "A little boy's quiet life is interrupted when monsters come to town."  If the book,  is anything like Catherine, it will be beautiful, whimsical and certainly imaginative.  I cannot wait to get my hands on my very own autographed copy of this book for my own children.  

Illustration by Donna Farrell

Catherine's website bio says:

"When Catherine is not writing, or editing, or swatting at mosquitos, she looks after her husband and two children.  All three of them are quite sticky, and none like bedtime, but she loves them anyway.  Her prior job titles include Lawyer (interesting), Sailboat Deckhand (fun but occasionally sea-sicky), and Cartoon Network Intern (best-est job ever, beside writing).  Her hobbies include reading, 80's movies, and travel.  But mostly reading."

Please head over and like her on Facebook, read her fabulous blog called The Crooked Book and be sure to keep an eye out for her book by watching her website.  Don't worry, I won't let you forget its debut.  

Just Hangin' Out....

....poolside (gosh, I love that little smirk!)

....with big sister....

....and with our sleep mask on (really....can you tell she's my child?)

Happy Wednesday Y'all!

Book Club...For First Graders

With the birth of H.G., working from home during maternity leave and now back to work, I'm afraid I've been lacking in volunteering in Lolly's first grade classroom.  It's difficult to bring a baby to school during the day as it's very distracting for the class. 

Not too long ago, Lolly told me that one of her friends was reading a book, said it was really good and that she would like to read it too.  This got me thinking about a first grade book club.  It's time for the kids to be reading outside the classroom (which the already do for homework) but on their free time and then get together and discuss in a fun setting.

So, I started the first grade book club for her class and the first club was a blast!  I had nine kids and we read the first book in the Magic Tree House series.  It was called Dinosaurs Before Dark. 

These kids were on the ball!  They remembered every detail of the book and we completed several exercised including self expression (i.e. what would you do?) and memory questions.

For our next club, we are going to read the first book in the Boxcar Children  series, appropriately named The Boxcar Children.  Lolly already read this book over Christmas with Granny but she's excited to read it again and discuss it with her classmates. 

I've also had many more kids sign up this time around after hearing how much fun our first club meeting went!

If you know of any great First Grade books that would go well with a book club, I'm open to suggestions!  We have two more meetings after our March meeting before the school year ends, so I'm looking for two more book ideas!

Happy Monday Y'all!

First Dip in the Pool

Yes, it was February 8th, the day of H.G.'s four month birthday and she took her very first dip in the pool.  Sorry northerners ;).  But I will say it was very difficult finding swim diapers this time of the year, so we only went for a very quick dip since she was without a diaper.  

I had to pull out Lolly's twelve month bathing suits and as you can see, this one fit H.G. just perfectly (in height anyways, it was just a tad big around the middle).  

 

Lolly showing us her 2014 perfected dive.  The next dive....well let's just say it stung her just a bit.  She sure is having fun working on the perfect dive though!

Happy Friday Y'all!

Four Months Old!!

H.G. turned four months old on February 8th!  Wow how time flies when you're having fun!  It's amazing to see how much she's changed and growing.  She's now grasping bigger items with her hands, laughing and chuckling out loud and she just loves to hold conversations with both other people and herself when looking into a mirror.  She still insists on being swaddled for every nap and sleep time and she's growing some mommy-attachment issues (not that I'm complaining!)  She's loving school.  She's apparently really enjoying art, music and Spanish lessons when she's not practicing tummy time or sitting.  ;-)  She's in Montessori school so I guess it's pretty progressive even for a four month old!  Though I have to say....if her first word is "Hola," I'm not really sure how I'll react!  Haha!

At her four month appointment, she weighed 14 pounds 7.5 ounces and was 25" long!  She's in the 95th percentile for height!  No wonder I think she looks so much bigger compared to other 4 month old babies I know. It's not due to weight, it's height!

Happy Wednesday Y'all!

Weekend Update

Lolly LOVED her desk on Friday for Valentine's Day!  Thankfully her teacher took pictures.  Apparently, she was so stunned that she forgot to put down her backpack and lunch box for quite some time and had to prompted to do so.  :-)

Sunday was a beautiful day!  Lolly spent nearly the entire day outside riding her new bike.  If we had been up north, as my MIL pointed out, she probably would have been sledding!  

A beautiful bouquet of flowers Lolly made for me for President's Day.  Better than any real dozen of roses any day, hands down!  :-)

Happy Tuesday Y'all!

Tea Party!

Lolly was SO excited to participate in a High Tea fundraiser for our local Children's Museum in which I'm President Elect of the board.  She received a pink parasol and was tasked with collecting donation cards from the attendees.  She was excited to wear a frilly dress and socks.  The most exciting part of her day though?  Getting to walk underneath an umbrella with the valet to our car afterwards as it was pouring down rain!

 

Happy Monday Y'all!