Our family loves books. I’m a big believer in reading to kids pretty much immediately. Even if they don’t understand anything at first, just the sound of your voice is soothing to them. Eventually they’ll start paying attention to the stories and they’ll have positive feelings associated with reading, which I think is incredibly important.

Anyway, I’ve been reading to both girls pretty much since they emerged from the womb. We have tons of favorites, one of them being Where the Wild Things Are. When Max decides to give up being king, the wild things shout at him “Oh please don’t go–we’ll eat you up–we love you so!” I’m not sure how or when, but at some point I start saying this line to Samantha.

I’ve been wanting some kind of art that incorporated the quote for a while now and the other day I decided to make one myself. It couldn’t have been easier.

I mentioned last week that I put together a little Bored Jar inspired by a few different projects I saw on Pinterest (just searching “boredom busters” there brings up an endless array of ideas for any age group). I thought it would be fun to give you a little peek at our jar and some of the things Samantha has done with it.

I should probably start by confessing that I don’t cook too often. My husband loves to cook and I’m not particularly good at it, so he generally does the cooking. Lately, we’ve both been too hot (and grumpy) to find any dinner idea appetizing.

I mean, who wants to add heat to the house when you’re sweating just sitting in front of the TV? Not us! Too often  I’ve settled for peanut butter and jelly and he’s pulled a bag of edamame out of the freezer and eaten that. Not terrible, but not the way we’d like to be eating. We need ideas. Something other than your typical salad.

So, I did what I always do. I took to the internet to search for some yummy options that did not require me (ok, him) to turn on the stove or (god forbid!) the oven. Here’s what I found:

pressed picnic sandwiches via Crepes of Wrath

chilled cantaloupe soup via Food52

BBQ chicken sandwich via Real Simple

Southwestern salad via Real Simple

tapas plate via Real Simple

What are your go-to recipes when you can’t stand the thought of cooking?

It’s been awhile since I’ve done an organizational post–and you can tell if you take a peek inside my house. I always think summer will be when I get myself together. You know: clean out the basement, organize the closets, get rid of kids toys that never get played with. But this seldom happens. Who wants to stay inside when we can be at the pool or running around in the sunshine? Who wants to do manual labor when you’re sweating just sitting on the couch? Not this girl!

Still, I need to find some way to wrangle the mess that is my house. Since I’m both cheap and always looking for ways to be eco-friendly, I love the idea of organizational pieces that can easily be made from things I already own (or things that would only cost me a few dollars).

So off to Pinterest I go…

There are still a few days left to score something awesome for the mommas in your life. Whether you pick up an ice cream maker that she can concoct delicious treats with her children with or a product that donates to a charity that’s important to her, make sure you think about her as a person, not just a momma. Nothing screams last-minute gift more than something totally generic!

KitchenAid ice cream maker attachment / Rock My World Inc.fingerprint necklace / Forever21 floppy hat / FEED bag / Kate Spade bangle