DAN + SARAH | NORTHERN UTAH FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER

I had lots of fun taking these pictures! Thanks Sarah and Dustin for letting me capture your adorable kids.

Mommy School {Week 1}

Before Five in a Row: Blueberries for Sal

This week the book we focused on was "Blueberries for Sal." One of my very favorites from when I was a little girl. 

What we did:

Used puppets to reinact the book (Sal was a barbie, and the bear puppet was little bear).

As we read the book we did just what little Sal did: picked berries (pretended), plopped them in our tin bucket (we used marbles), listened closely to the sounds, and then we pretended to eat the berries. Sal started with 2 and added 4=6. Then she ate 4 blueberries. 6-4=2. So we counted every time we added or subtracted berries.  

We talked about little Sal and little bear getting lost from their mommys. Why did this happen? What could she have done to not get lost? 

We talked about how bears hibernate for the winter and eat lots of food before they do.

We drew pictures of blueberry bushes. 

We colored Mommy and Baby bear (found a bear coloring page printable online)

We made a berry smoothie for snack

We ate berries from a tin can (like Sal's)

p.s. these are all pics I took quickly with my phone while doing mommy school. Didn't bother trying to edit them...they are that bad. But it shows some of the fun we had.

A SCHOOL GIRL | NORTHERN UTAH PHOTOGRAPHER

My first is bound for school tomorrow. Can't believe it, really can't!  

 She's got her uniforms ready, her new spiderman backpack all packed, and she's ready to take on Kindergarten. A day she's been talking about for a long long time.  

 A day she's been dreaming about!  

Me, on the other hand...I always ask if you can please stop growing up?!?! Please. And you smile and laugh at me and sometimes even flex your muscles and tell me how you have to keep growing. I know little girl, I know. But it sure is hard to let go of my sweet baby girl. The first little one in my belly (something you reiterate to your siblings on a daily basis). All of these "first" moments are hardest with you because these moments are new to me too. 

But I have a feeling that you'll do great and learn so many wonderful things at your new school!  We love you  our sweet brave knight! I hope I can be as brave as you are tomorrow :)

4th of July

Lazy Summer Days

 You are such a fun loving boy.
I sure love your laughter.

October Kids

We read this cute little story (see the end of this post) and then made apple prints with the star inside.

The girls made these creations below at the Family Center on our vacation in Park City.

I was impressed with both of my daughters ability to concentrate and work. In the beginning (to create this purse) I didn't think that my youngest daughter (3) could do it so I was quickly helping as fast as I could so that we could be done and my little boy wouldn't be running around the place anymore. After we finished she wanted to do another one. I tended to O Man while she worked. Her ability to do it amazed me. Those beads are tiny and hard to get in the right spot. She finished a circle all by herself. Then it moved a little and several, if not all, of the beads fell off. She didn't get frustrated (like I would have), she just did it again. She found joy in the process. That is a skill I hope my children acquire. C is well on her way.

And M's monkey was mind blowing. She asked the helper if he had brown beads. She then sorted all of her beads to create the monkey she desired. She began with the eyes and mouth (so cute). Made an orange tail, then did all of the brown part.

One of the kids' fav books is Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham. We've been making green eggs often.

On curious george he uses licorice whips as a measuring tool. My girls were measuring each other by using licorice. C is 15 licorice whips tall.

We made these sandpaper pumpkins. You color on sandpaper with crayon and then iron them onto a piece of cardstock. The desired effect is a pixelated pumpkin. We must not have colored hard enough because it didn't turn out great.

Adapted by C.J.Brown

The Little Red House with No Doors 
and No Windows and a Star Inside.


One fall day a boy named Peter was looking for something to do. His mother was busy baking in the kitchen and couldn't stop to play with him, so she suggested that he try to solve a riddle.

“Peter, “ she said. “Here is the riddle. I want you to find the Little Red House with No Doors and No Windows and a Star Inside," his mother said.

Peter had never heard of such a house, and he had no idea where to go to find it.He put on his jacket and went outside.

He started to walk along the street looking at all the houses. All of the houses he passed had doors and windows and none of them seemed like the sort of house that would have a star inside.

Peter saw a little girl playing in the park. He decided to ask her if she knew about the Little Red House with No Doors and No Windows and a Star Inside.

The little girl said, "I have never heard of such a house, but maybe my father knows. He is a farmer. He knows how to make the crops grow and when it will rain. Maybe he knows about the Little Red House with No Doors and No Windows and a Star Inside."

Peter followed the little girl. They walked down the lane, over the hill and to a small white farmhouse. The girl's father was sitting on the porch.

"Daddy," said the little girl, "This is Peter. He is looking for a Little Red House with No Doors and No Windows and a Star Inside. Do you know where he can find it?"

The farmer took off his hat and scratched his head. "I have heard of such a house once, but I never tried to find it. Maybe you should ask Granny. She is very old and very wise. Maybe she can tell you where it is."

Peter set off down the road looking for Granny's cottage. He finally arrived at Granny's gate. The old lady was sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch.

"Excuse me, Granny" said Peter, "The farmer told me that you might be able to help me. I am looking for the Little Red House with No Doors and No Windows and a Star Inside. Do you know where it is?"

Granny smiled. "I have heard of that house, but I never tried to find it. Perhaps you should ask the Wind. He sees and hears everything."

Peter walked to the top of a high hill and called to the wind. "Excuse me, Wind, do you know where I can find the Little Red House with No Doors and No Windows and a Star Inside?"

"Yes-s-s-s," answered the Wind in it's gusty voice. "I know where that hous-s-s-se is-s-s. Follow me."

Peter followed the wind. It blew him this way and that, over the hill and down the other side. Finally, the wind stopped at an apple orchard. With a sudden gust, the wind shook an apple tree and down fell an apple into Peter’s hands.

The apple was very red. With it's stiff brown stem sticking up like a chimney it did look like a little house with no doors and no windows.

"But what about the star?" asked Peter. "Where is the star?"

Quickly Peter hurried home, running as fast as he could. He ran over the hill, past Grannies house, through the farmer’s fields and into the kitchen where his mother was baking.

“Well, did you solve the riddle?” asked Peter’s mother.

“I’m not sure,” said Peter. This apple is red like a small house, with a brown stem like a chimney and no doors or windows, but I don’t know if there is a star inside?” said Peter.

Peter’s mother took the apple from his hands and with her knife she cut through the center of the apple, and there inside was the answer.

My Scrap Map

I am loving pinterest. I unsubscribed from all blogs in google reader and now just spend my "time wasting time" on pinterest. I found this little lovely on pinterest: The Scrap Map

It's a project that wouldn't leave my brain. I knew I needed to make it.

See Kate Sew created a great tutorial on how to make this. It wasn't a hard project to make. It was a bit time consuming, but not too bad. I think I finished 2 scrap maps (one for my twin sis too) in 3-4 nights after the kids went to bed.

I first went through all of my scrap fabric. I'm shocked at how much I've accumulated in the last couple of years. I owe it to my sister-in-law for owning a fabric shoppe with way too many cute fabric options!

I chose 60 fabric scraps and then slowly but surely cut out each state on the map and decided on a fabric that fit that state. Many of the fabrics I chose based on the people I associate that state with. I chose flowers for TN because my sister-in-law Julee lived there and her family runs a flower farm. I chose the sunny yellow with white polka dots for the oh so beautiful sunny CA, where my husband is from, etc.

Whenever my husband gets a rip or a stain in his nice work shirts, I save them for the fabric. Same goes with the kids' clothes. If it's a cool fabric and the clothes aren't fixable I save the fabric and add it to my stash.

Can you notice a few nice work shirts (pin stripes) in there?

I really love my scrap map! It's now proudly hanging above my desk in our family room.

Girls Shopping Trip Bags

I made these Chevron Striped Muslin Bags for several special ladies. I wanted to make them each something special for our much anticipated Girls Getaway Weekend. We had some fun shopping trips planned so I thought I'd make them each a shopping bag.

My oldest (4) was really eyeing the skeleton bag. I might have to make her one too :)

I added a simple Rosette to each bag made from scrap fabrics.

It was very simple to make these bags:

I bought the muslin bags from Hobby Lobby. I like muslin much more than the thick canvas bags! And their pretty inexpensive to buy.

I created a chevron stripe by graphing it out on paper.

Then I created a freezer paper stencil (1 for each bag, so 9 total). If you're new to freezer paper stenciling, it's super easy. Dana Made it has a few great tutorials on how to get started.

I made sure to put a piece of long paper in the bag so that the paint didn't seep through to the other side.
Add some fabric paint. Once you paint it, you can then remove the freezer paper. It's best to remove the paper while the paint is still slightly wet.