These are a few of my favorite things!

It seems silly to dedicate a whole post to my favorite little things we've done/purchased lately.  So I'm cramming them all into one.

Basement Decor
I finally put up more fun and kid friendly art in the basement.  It started with the awesome Leonard Parkin Print my folks framed for us for Christmas this year - pictured below with the orange mat over the table.  I've been wanting it near the swings since we put up the swings.

The Parkin was too nice to be in the "impact zone".  So, I ordered some amazing posters from the ALA store with some of our favorite books.  We framed them in cheap frames with plexi instead of glass and hung those on the wall with 3M strips.  They have survived impact beautifully!

While searching for the posters, I came across nicer book art.  I couldn't help myself and I bought two.  The bear print is from our current favorite read aloud book "I Want My Hat Back."  The other print in the green mat is from another favorite book (bedtime choice) "A Sick Day for Amos McGee" and actually came from the artist herself.  I was so excited when I received it! This makes me even more anxious to meet her in person at the BFYR conference this summer.

I love how the basement turned out!  It is so much more fun and friendly down there.  I've noticed the girls spending a lot more time downstairs now that it is decorated.

Kitchen Gizmo
Have you ever heard of an instant hot water dispenser?  Neither had I, but when I saw one at a friend's house, I had to have one.  We bought ours from Amazon and installed it.  It's been heaven.  Water for hot drinks daily (Eliza's hot chocolate and my tea).  It disinfects everything like toothbrushes, and medicine syringes while we've been sick.  Water for pasta boils on the stove after only 2 minutes.  It's taken up the unused soap dispenser spot at the kitchen sink and it is in constant use.  I love it!!

Pencil Sharpener
Is it ridiculous to rave about a pencil sharpener?  Probably.  I read this post by a teacher friend, then bought one for us and one for each of the girls teachers.  All the pencils in my house are now perfectly sharp!  My turn to rave about a pencil sharpener: it's amazing!

Jason's Rings
It was time to update Jason's wedding ring.  It just didn't fit well any more and couldn't be sized.  (We got mine re-sized.)  So, we bought him two new ones.  One has wood in it and he wears it occasionally.  The other has a diamond in it and is so cool!  He wears it all the time!

Waffles
I am addicted to the waffle truck.  I crave it daily.  Fortunately, the girls share my craving.  When they all brought home straight A's, they picked the waffle truck as their prize.  I think it is time to learn how to make liege waffles for myself.

Other People's Babies
Many of our friends are having babies.  We are loving getting to hold and snuggle them!

Children's Picture Books
I mentioned a few of our current favorites above.  We also love the Elephant and Piggie books, Sara reads them by herself and with me.  Our other current favorites are "A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse", "Sleep Like a Tiger", "A Home for Bird", "Extra Yarn", and "Balloons Over Broadway."