Our House in the Middle of Our Street

The last few months in pictures...that didn't make the cut. Lots of playing with teddies (even a Lukka shot, can you guess which one?), Children's Museum, crafts, and outdoor time.

photocredit I try to watch a French film or two every year, not only because I love, generally, the aesthetic of French films and the music, but because they're usually really good stories, too. I had heard about The Illusionist from a friend online and immediately put it on my netflix queue, as it reminded me of the story The Triplets of Belleville , of which I own the soundtrack and loved. It was directed by the same person, Sylvain Chomet, and shares a number of similar qualities like animation style, somber color palette, and satirical characters. This is the story of an aging magician and his dying art. As he is renting a flat above a pub, he entertains a curious barmaid who thinks he really can do magic. As he's encouraged by her surprise, she begins to use the flattery (magic?) to her own benefit, having him dwindle his savings account to buy her new clothes, a trip to a different city, etc. Whether this young woman knows the truth is not revealed, but their odd relatio...

March is one of my favorite months of the year. Springtime-birthday-green-and mild warmth. Bring it on, week! The fresh month is coming. Source: dressdesigndecor.blogspot.com via Mari on Pinterest Source: m.neatorama.com via Jennifer on Pinterest Source: ripegreenideas.com via Sarah on Pinterest Source: 4.bp.blogspot.com via Stephanie on Pinterest Source: shopruche.com via Elise on Pinterest Source: lilyviewlands.edublogs.org via Sarah on Pinterest

A birthday girl treat at Paint Yourself Silly . Join others in remembering a sweet moment from the week.

photocredit Every month I will be doing an Usborne Bookshelf Giveaway , and this month is a great chance for those of you who love your children to learn about other cultures--namely the Spanish language. This is from my own library and it's a gently used edition of First Thousand Words in Spanish . I bought this book at the last library book sale because it's in such great condition and because I have a lot of friends who will be teaching (or are teaching currently) their children the Spanish language. These books are awesome . Our children are learning French at home and I own the First Hundred Words , and bought a new copy of First Thousand Words , both in French, for our personal library. At over 60 pages, these books are great 'first reference' books for young learners, and engage children between the ages of 2-10. I know that's a large range, but the way they are broken up can be easily captivating for the smallest audience (with the Usborne/Cartwright duck o...

I do love Pinterest for all the wonderful ideas, recipes, color palettes, and general inspiration found there, and I thought it might be fun to share some of the most frequent pins I've saved. Usually I find stuff I love on blogs and 'pin it' to my boards externally, instead of found within the site itself, as it's getting fairly crowded and hard to sift through, with a lot of repeat things. I have a number of friends I follow (and a few strangers who just happen to have similar taste) and I'm happy to check it once a day or so. I have found some excellent 'keeper' recipes that I've printed to my binder, and plenty of go-to gift ideas, party themes, and TONS of home school references/pictures for the back pocket. Here are a few of my favorites that I've pinned recently. Think of this as a Pinterest linky <3 post. Enjoy! Source: abeautifulmess.typepad.com via Sarah on Pinterest Source: totokaelo.com via Sarah on Pinterest Source: blog.imaginech...

photocredit A friend of mine who I often trade books with handed me this a couple months ago and said, "I think you'll really like it". I had never read an Ann Patchett book and since Bel Canto was on my list, which I've heard such amazing things about, I decided to add this title, too. If I can remember correctly the first 40ish pages took awhile to get into; after that I finished quickly. Truth and Beauty is a memoir of friendship between the two writers, Ann, and her best friend, the late Lucy Grealy of Autobiography of a Face fame. The story isn't a typical book broken into chapters of episodes, but more like chapters of emotions...and surgery. A lot of the chapters either start or end with a letter from Lucy, setting the tone, or rather closing the state of emotion out, with her poetic words and battle with loneliness. The story is set over a couple decades, starting with college and ending sadly without Lucy about twenty years later. It's a recap of b...