The Journey Home From Grandpa's

 It just doesn't get any easier than this! I went to church early yesterday morning. Got out of my car with my D200 camera around my neck and just happened to find these cool cars side by side in the parking lot. Hmmm... what a wonderful coincidence. Thank you Lord! My grandchildren would say they look like bumble bee transformers or legos! lol


Today, I am participating in 2 photo memes Blue Monday and Mellow Yellow Monday

For Ages 3-7

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and trust that you did, too! 
 To see what other children's books folks are reading, stop by
http://smilinglikesunshine1.blogspot.com/


Here's what we're reading today:

The Journey Home From Grandpa's

Hop in the yellow car and look out for all the other forms of transportation on the way home from Grandpa's. A beautiful, double-page spread at the end features all of the colors and modes of transportation from the story. 

Enhanced CD edition includes an animated video and audio singalong sung by Fred Penner.

 

Written By: Jemima Lumley
Illustrated By: Sophie Fatus
Sung By: Fred Penner

This wonderful paperback book with CD is on sale. Was $9.99 and Now is $6.99 My Marketplace  


Living Barefoot is linking with:

InLinkz.com

Happy Monday!





“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” — C. S. Lewis

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!


I am grateful for you. Have a wonderful day. 
Surround yourself with love, family, music, books and food. 

We have much to be thankful for.
Wishing you joy around your Thanksgiving table.


Best,




“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” — C. S. Lewis

Autumn: Indoors and Outdoors

Mellow Yellow Monday

Our newly built and elegantly designed local library has an outdoor patio for reading pleasure. I love the painted shutter look. For more wonderful yellow photos, visit http://mellowyellowmonday.blogspot.com/

A stroll through leaf woodland.

 I love this time of year from oodles of brightly colored leaves to tantalizing kitchen smells of pumpkin pie! Not only are there gobs of fun outdoor activities but you'll find tons of indoor activities (on the internet) to make as well.

There's a very cool song, Ten Little Leaves, at http://www.mrsjonesroom.com/songs/leaves.html

 It's so darling and repetitive that I promise, you won't get it out of your head. It's endless until you choose to stop and most assuredly you will when you rake up all the leaves!!!

Blue Monday

 I am a quilter and I admire my Aunt's handiwork! For more blue photos, visit http://smilingsally.blogspot.com/

Baby's First Journal

Barefoot Books captures the precious memories of your baby's first year in this spiral and cloth bound journal. With special sections for your baby's "firsts" and favorites, photographs, captions and more, all the important moments will be saved for years to come. Includes six colorful pockets for holding mementos and keepsakes. http://ladyd.barefootbooks.com

Clare Beaton: Author, Illustrator

For babies to 2 years,  this unique gift was quilted by hand by Clare Beaton herself. The illustration seems to jump off the page. There are nifty little pockets scattered throughout the journal to hold hospital bracelets, newspaper clippings, personal notes and more.

What are you reading today? I hope you'll visit Book Sharing Monday, http://smilinglikesunshine1.blogspot.com

Marshmallow Turkey

 I found this adorable fun craft and pretty simple to make,  marshmallow-turkey!

Product: Marshmallow Turkeys
Category: Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids
Age: preschool, kindergarten, elementary

Gobble...gobble...these turkeys don't wobble! Make these fun marshmallow turkeys with your kids.
Supplies needed:

• Foam marshmallows
• Turkey face pattern
• Feather pattern
• Foam chocolate squares
• Ribbon
• Glue

 For more great children's crafts, stop by http://momto2poshlildivas.blogspot.com


 So, after a walk and then coming inside to make a craft, my grandson read a little story, followed by a little nap under a very warm, cozy quilt. How has your day been unfolding? Happy Monday to all as you prepare for your feast!

I'm linking up with,

InLinkz.com

“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” — C. S. Lewis

Related articles

• Turkey Sky (ladyd-books.blogspot.com)
• Thanksgiving: The True Story (ladyd-books.blogspot.com)

Giveaway: CollageIt (Photo Maker for Mac)

Head over to my other blog!

I made this photo collage with CollageIt for Mac... easy to do!

Kathy from Pearl Mountain Software contacted me about hosting a giveaway to a fantastic tool called, CollageIt for Mac 1.40 which is easy to use, an automatic photo collage maker for Mac OS X. It allows treasured photographs to become an inspiring photo collage in less than one minute. It automatically creates works of art making it suitable for people of all level skills. I really enjoy using the software. I'm very grateful to the company for finding me. Now, I want to share it with you!

Here's a list of the features:

1. Generate collage in an automatic way

Click “Generate Preview” button, CollageIt for Mac will create photo collage automatically according to the added photos and parameters without any manual adjustment.

2. Easy-to-Use

Easy enough for users of all experienced levels to use. Pretty collage will be made by just a few mouse clicks.

3. Just 3 steps required

Just 3 steps to make a collage: add photos-> set parameters and generate preview->save collage as image file.

4. Provide enhanced features and functionality to create diverse types of collage

Support creating collage with few photos to 100 photos. The "Auto rotation mode" and "Sparse mode" make the collage more varied.

5. Realtime preview, super speed

Preview the final collage in one second.

6. Variable parameters

Photo count, photo space, photo frame, shadow, page margin, auto rotation mode, sparse mode, page size and background setup.

7. Save and share collage

Save the collage in common image formats such as bmp, jpeg, png, tga, tif etc to share with your friends and family.

8. Freedom

Free for personal use with no trial periods, ads, spyware, viruses, trojans, or stds.



I love using CollageIt and the timing is right with the holidays arriving with family and friends. I especially like adding colorful borders around my collage. The company offers a wonderful variety of designs to choose from for any occasion.


The other feature that I use often is the amount of pictures to use. With scenery, sometimes I'll choose just 4 photos. I simply drag the photo onto the marked box and take a look at it. If I've changed my mind with the location, it's easy to slide the photo into another box for a totally different perspective.


The added bonus is that you are in control of what you want your collage to look like. That means, adjusting the width of the margins, inner and outside. The total finished product is always a delight because you create it yourself!

Best wishes to all the winners. Good luck everyone.

If you haven't had a chance, visit my other blog at,
http://ladyd-books.blogspot.com 

Rainbow Turkey Rests

Twist 12 colorful pipe cleaners.

Bend upwards and fan out tail feathers.

Bend upwards, then downwards the other end for head and glue eyes.

Cut orange felt beak and 1"red rick rack.

You can put treats in the middle. I used pine cones for the music rest.

 At Anny's Kindergarten we are learning when to play the beats of the music with our rhythm sticks and when not to play. (rest) In music class, we have learned:


Quarter Rest = 1 count
Half Rest = 2 counts
Whole Rest = 4 counts.


The Rainbow Turkey Rests are holding a half rest. They look like a hat. We will have a much deserved, one week break for a Thanksgiving vacation. How will it be for you... will you be having a time out?


I am linking up with,

InLinkz.com

“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” — C. S. Lewis


My Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Book Review: Starlight Sailor

For ages 2-6

Star light, star bright

Gold Dragon

 Review:

Starlight Sailor is a wonderful children's story that I found through Barefoot Books Publishing Company. The story line is about a little boy (and his dog) who takes an adventurous journey across the water in his paper boat to a far away land.

Jackie Morris, the author lives by the sea in a little house and has illustrated The Barefoot Book of Classic Poems, one of my favorite collections. James Mayhew, the other author, works in a garden studio and has illustrated The Barefoot Book of Stories from the Opera and can be found in my piano studio library collection.

My three grandsons love to engage in pirate stories, fishing, sailing and everything about the sea. So, this story is a delight, especially when the children on the island pretend to be knights and kings and explore a cave.

I found this beautiful hardcover children's book to be the perfect bedtime book. I would rate this book ***** stars. The soft rhyming tells a lovely, dreamy tale and opens with:

"Star light, star bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight."

The pros of the book is that it is easy to read and if you love fantasy and ethereal illustrations, you will find a dreamy tale within these colorful pages. This beautiful children's book is a real page-turner for ages 2 to 6. You'll find instructions for making your own paper boat at the back of the book.

The only downside that I can find with the book is that it is a large hardcover one. It would be nice to have a different format available like a paperback book for boys and girls to read and take to bed with.

Also, the action builds when the reader is introduced to a large red and gold dragon but it's a nice dragon (not too scary) that takes the children on a ride through the night. For most kids, it will be a sweet dragon.

The illustrations are magical - a timeless classic! You'll see blue whales, blue birds, knights and kings along this journey of fantasy and pretend. Even the red and gold dragon is a nice gentle dragon, flying here and there, taking children everywhere!

The starfish and mermaids singing their lullaby is sure to put any young child fast to sleep. So dream on little ones of magical play with flying fish dancing in the sky! 

November is Picture Book Month and today, tomorrow highlights children's books about seas and pirates. Barefoot Books publishes lots of these. Visit Dena's Book Nook

Do you have your own paper boat story or activity?





“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” — C. S. Lewis

My Family from WiddlyTinks.com