Barefoot Books- LadyD: March 2013

Celebrating 5!

Oh, how they grow... grandchildren that is and garden plants, too. One of my grandson's turned five and Ryan was so pleased to have his very own sleeping bag, to celebrate many indoor/outdoor adventures to come! His favorite color is green. Linking to Color Connection

Kids' Garden: 40 Fun Indoor and Outdoor Activities and Games

Barefoot Books offers some gardening cards and picture books that our family likes. You can read the review at Kiwi Magazine Review: Kids Garden

Spring has arrived in SoCal and our garden soil is all prepared and ready for planting. So far we've purchased lots of seeds and a few starter plants like Basil and Parsley. Will you be growing a vegetable garden this year? I wanted to share this comprehensive article with you for vegetable gardening. Very informative!

I've filled 5 Easter baskets for the grandchildren and I'm really excited for the weekend festivities. They'll have bubbles and silly string, jewelry and books. Of course, I'll add pretzels and crackers, maybe a little candy, too! Do you have a favorite Easter tradition? One of my favorite bloggers, +Bernadette Ortiz-Grbic has tons of great ideas for all those accumulated eggs. You'll want to see her post on 10 Ways to Use Plastic Eggs

In addition to the vegetable garden, we have a few flower gardens along the way. Our Clivias seem to do well in the shade around the north side of the house. Linking up with Orange You Glad It's Friday

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Easter filled with happy memories!

Blessings,

LadyD

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

Meeting the Blue Dino

My grandson received a lovely package in the mail from his "Auntie Anna." Oh my, what a hit the dinosaurs are! Do you have any similar toys like these around your house? I was thinking about how everyone would be posting such beautiful bunny photos and here I am with an unusual dino theme before Easter. My only excuse is that I've been super busy preparing 5 Easter baskets for the grandchildren and enjoying myself immensely in the process. This is my favorite season of celebration!

Photos of Blue Dino and Blue Book Illustrations for Blue Monday

This book is available as paperback and board book. I especially love the sequins illustrations and it is a hit with my 2 year old granddaughter and 4 year old grandson.

About The Book
I Dreamt I Was a Dinosaur

Join a young boy on a dreamland adventure to prehistoric times, where he meets dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes. The rhyme filled text is followed by fascinating notes about the age of dinosaurs.

Ages 1 to 4 years
Written By: Stella Blackstone
Illustrated By: Clare Beaton

My Review

Easy to read, Animals, Educational, Colorful, Bedtime, Great illustrations, earth sciences, prehistoric times.

If you're looking for an adorable book for preschoolers, I found it for you! I have enjoyed reading I Dreamt I Was A Dinosaur to my 13 month old Grandson. This adorable book takes you on a journey to dinosaur land. Which one would you like to be? I was familiar with many types of dinosaurs except for a new one, Parasaurolophus. Throughout the book, the illustrator Clare Beaton, will delight you with her fabric creations. The volcano with the sequins for lava is especially creative.

Author, Stella Blackstone continues to impress me with her rhyme writing style. Toddlers and preschoolers will safely land in bed to find "it was only a dream!" What I especially love with this particular book is that there is a surprise cleverly woven throughout each page!

Photo Credit: Dinosaur Wiki

Learning about T Rex, Apatosaurus and other prehistoric animals? Check out this wonderful Squidoo Lens, so fabulous at Free Dinosaur Coloring Pages.

And, if you're looking for crafts, activities, party supplies, books and more that pertain to dinosaurs, you've got to visit Dinosaur Toys Superstore. I've never seen anything like this before.

Dover Coloring Books

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

Kitty on the Quilt

Kitty on the Quilt

My Siamese cat "Jazz" loves sitting on the quilt while I'm hand stitching around the flowers. Do you like to quilt or have you purchased a quilt?

Elephant in the Quilt

Patchwork Elephant (Story-time & Art) at the Coastal Children's Museum in Rockland, Maine.

Photos this week for two of my favorite memes, Blue Monday and Mandarin Orange Monday

A quiltmaker helps a selfish king learn that giving is the true secret to happiness. The heartwarming, strongly moral tale supports important values, and the detailed illustrations, featuring dozens of lovingly rendered quilt patterns offer hours of delight.
The Quiltmaker's Gift

the kindness quilt picture book for children

The Kindness Quilt

Book Review: The Kindness Quilt

You may be interested in some of my previous posts on today's topic:

Wordless Wednesday: Quilts for Queensland

Blankies-Quilts-Quotes

Happy Reading!

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

Grass in My Hair and Plants Everywhere

On Saturday we took a 2 1/2 hour drive to Redondo Beach to visit my mother-in-law. She is blessed with such good health for 94. One wonderful thing about her quaint home is that houseplants grow nicely in every room indoors. I especially like this beautiful oriental vase of hers, the seaside painting from a friend and mosaic table. How about you... any luck growing houseplants?

Photos for Blue Monday and Mandarin Orange Monday

Eggheads with Cress Hair

I found this adorable craft for children online. It looks like fun and I'll give it a go with my grandchildren. I suppose you could use grass seed or anything really.

Tales from Old Ireland HC w 2 CDs

About The Book

Celebrate the wonder of Ireland with the seven enchanting stories in this captivating collection. The rich traditions of Irish storytelling are honored with larger-than-life characters, myths and legends around every bend, and plenty of magic. Book with double CDs include stories read by Grammy-nominated singer Maura O'Connell.

Ages 6 and up
Retold By: Malachy Doyle
Illustrated By: Niamh Sharkey
Narrated By: Maura O'Connell

Both author and illustrator are Irish. Tales From Old Ireland is an anthology of seven folktales steeped in Irish history, culture, and tradition. Here's one example inside the book; the illustrations are great.

Photo Credit: Rebekah P (The Golden Gleam)

I discovered a fun, outdoor activity that is just right for my grandchildren now that we have prepared the garden soil and have pretty much mowed down the weeds on 2 1/2 acres. Well, this game could easily be played on the lawn. Thanks to +Rebekah P for her great illustrations and instructions for The Leprechaun Hunt. What fun and so timely for this week, going into the weekend.

How to Play Leprechaun Hunt

Make leprechauns out of toilet paper tubes with materials such as paint, markers, construction paper, and glue.
Allow the leprechauns to dry.
Use something from your home to represent jewels or money. We used crafting jewels, but pretend coins, crafting marbles, or costume jewelry could work well.
Hide the jewels in your house or garden. If the jewels are small, do not hide them in the grass because they would be difficult to find and could get kicked up by a lawn mower.
Tell your child that leprechauns have stolen her jewels and/or money, and she needs to find them.
One person hides the leprechauns by camouflaging them in grass, clover, or other green plants.
The other people playing find the leprechauns.
Once the leprechauns are found, find the jewels the leprechauns have hidden.
Take turns hiding the leprechauns and jewels.

***To make this game simpler, play a game of hunting for only the leprechauns OR only the jewels. You don't need to have both to enjoy this game. ****

This post is shared on the Weekly Kids Co-Op.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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

I Wish I Were a Pilot

"Gliders, sail planes, they're wonderful flying machines. It's the closest you can come to being a bird." -- Neil Armstrong

For more airplane quotes, visit Brainyquote.com

My grandson and I were out in the yard, and it was one of those clear, sunny days. It was exciting for Ryan to see and hear so many planes that day. I ran inside the house, grabbed my camera and quickly took a few shots with my Nikon D200. Do you remember dreaming of flying as a kid? Do you like to fly in an airplane and use those frequent flyer miles?!

Sky photos for Blue Monday

jet plane picture with layers added in photoshop

"Nothing gives me as much pleasure as traveling. I love getting on trains and boats and planes." -- Alan Rickman

My daughter was working on the film, Bottle Shock in Napa and she had the opportunity to meet Alan Rickman... an amazing actor. Perhaps you know him from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Alan Rickman plays Steven Spurrier, a British man living in Paris who owns a small wine shop known as the Academie du Vin. It's 1976, and Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman) is struggling to create the perfect chardonnay at Chateau Montelena, his vineyard. Have you seen this one?

I Wish I Were a Pilot

Wish your way through race car tracks, wavy seas and even star-filled space. Travelers of all sorts are featured in this imaginative book that includes educational notes about each of the modes of transportation featured in the rhyming text.

Ages 1 to 4 years
Written By: Stella Blackstone
Illustrated By: Max Grover

I Wish I Were a Pilot [ I WISH I WERE A PILOT BY Blackstone, Stella ( Author ) Mar-01-2008

Crafts with Airplanes

Clothespin Airplanes

Catapult Paper Airplanes

Airplane Crafts-Pinterest

How to make a glider plane

How-to-make-airplane-ticket-invitation

So, after a long day with crafts and stories about airplanes, what fun... Well, we stepped outside to see the sunset because the day got in the 80s here in SoCal and this is what we saw!