Time for some more good reads for kiddos! Cat books? Of course cat books!! Sam has had a fondness for cat books since he was a babe. Anything cat, anything dino. He’s totally our kid! Anywhooo, when I went to write this post, I realized just how many cat books we have. I pulled the ones out we read the most or were obsessed with in days past.
We have quite the book worm in our house, and honestly, reading is pretty important to hubby & I too. We started reading to Sam as a baby, in the toddler years we could pass hours just reading stories to him, and reading time is built into our day-to-day routine even now. We’ve definitely got a lot of favourites! Some are pretty common, others might not be, so that’s why I thought I would start to share some of our good reads.
This was the second year in a row that Sam requested a Dino themed birthday party and when you’re kiddo is turning FIVE, you smile & embrace all the fun! Which for me, means diving into all the Dino Pinterest projects I’m constantly pinning.
I grew up in the age of birthday favors, but struggle a bit with them now as a mama. In the past, it has just been candy. This year, I really wanted something the kiddos could keep & enjoy. From that the Dino Terrariums started to take shape. I opted for spending more money on the favors, but made them serve dual duty as a party craft too.
For Christmas, we decided the main gifts to each other would be Lego! Yep, a Lego Christmas! We each got to choose a BIG Lego set, with the intention of doing family Lego building time. Of course, Marcus and I grew up with Lego in our lives and this past year, Sam has finally graduated more seriously into the land of Lego {from the land of Duplo}. We thought getting some big sets would be a great way to spend quality time as a family.
Two things you need to know about this recipe: 1) I adore SOFT marshmallow squares & this recipe fully embraces that, and 2) It contains nuts. If you’re OK with those two features, then take a peek, try it out and enjoy!
Yes. Seriously. My life still revolves a lot around dinosaurs each day, so trying to find interesting dino gifts is definitely on my holiday shopping list. My need for dino gifts is mostly to satisfy our almost-four-year-old, but dinosaurs aren’t just for kids. Here are some ideas that work for the “big kids” too.
Sam and I spent many afternoons this summer on the back deck being paleontologists (dino hunters according to Sam). We froze some of his smaller plastic dino models in a block of water and used a toy hammer to chip them out of the ice. This is a pretty simple activity to get setup, it makes hot afternoons go a bit faster, and you get to cool down eating ice chips as you go. (more…)
Now, I’m always up for making Christmas gifts and trying to avoid the malls. We do a lot of handmade holidays around our house, but there are purchased gifts too. As we try more & more to support local businesses (because that’s just a win-win for everyone) I thought I would share some gift ideas that can be purchased online from makers fairly close to home or really close to home (aka in person in Calgary proper).
Today I present my gift guide for all those little dino lovers in your life (because we have the world’s biggest dino lover right under our own roof):
Typographic Dinosaurs from Far Sky Map Works (Edmonton)
Wooden Dinosaur Shadow Puppets from J.D.B. Mercantile (Calgary)
Dinosaur Magnet 8 Piece Set from The Original Animal Magnet (Vancouver)
T-Rex Print from Ellie Greets by Elisa (Calgary)
Sammy and I picked up some cards from Ellie Greets at one of the crafts shows and that T-Rex print will probably find it’s way into our home also. DO poke around to find out when and where the Calgary artists will be this season. Still plenty of craft shows coming up to catch them at. DON’T hesitate to contact them about doing local pick-up or drop-offs either. That’s the beauty of local makers… you don’t necessarily have to worry about shipping deadlines. Merry Christmas to all the little dinosaurs out there! Rrrrrroar!