Good Reads

It's definitely starting to feel like Fall in Indiana!  It's cool in the mornings and the leaves are starting to fall on the ground  I usually end up waiting too late into the season to buy mums so when my husband suggested we buy mums Labor Day weekend I said YES!  Rural King had the best deal on them (small $1.99, large $3.99 with a 12% rebate online!!) so we picked up several gold mums to pot.  What's your go to mum color??  I was really tempted to add some orange to the mix this year.

I'm excited to share some good reading material with you today.  I only read one book for me and tons of kid books this month, but have lots of good on-line articles and blog posts to share with you.  Hope you find something that interests you:

Blogs & Articles:
3 Reasons We Travel, and 3 Tips for Traveling with Kids on Airplanes was a great read from Naomi about the benefit of traveling and learning with your kids.  I loved her focus on making memories together.

Feta is a new favorite food of mine.  I love the tang and it's been a great addition to pasta, salads and quinoa.  I'm anxious to try Christina's Tomato Crustini with Whipped Feta because that just sounds amazing.  It's a Barefoot Contessa recipe so I'm guessing it'll be great if these two ladies are recommending it.  Maybe it'll be the perfect game day app?? 

Every couple years I get the itch to do a blog makeover.  I loved Tif's recent blogging tips 4 Mistakes You May Be Making on Your Blog and it's got me thinking about my own space.  If you have a great blog designer who's very familiar with Blogger - will you leave me their contact info in a comment or shoot me an e-mail polkadottyplace@hotmail.com??  I'm excited to get the ball rolling!

Andrea's recipes are always yummy and family friendly.  Her recent recipe for Italian Penne Pasta Bake looked so good!  I bet my kids would love it.

The Champagne Supernova cracks me up.  She's hilarious, smart and I love reading her blog.  Her recent post Negative Body Image: One Thing I'll Never Discuss with My Daughter was so good.  I loved her thinking behind the post and it's really made me give some thought to the messages I'm sending to my kids.  I want them to see her mama be happy, healthy and fit.  I don't want to waste my time complaining about features I don't love or problem areas.  It's not good for my own self talk and it's certainly not good for them to hear.  I don't want to say things to cause them to be self conscious or hyper focused on appearance. I'd much rather her notice great qualities about people and not be looks focused. 

Pizza + Lasagna = Pizza Lasagna sounds amazing!  Those are two of my favorite foods so this recipe from Shay Shull is a no brainer.  Also, when the weather gets cooler pasta and soups start sounding SO GOOD to me.

I'm definitely Crushing On: Botanicals right now.  I'd love to find a beautiful set of botanical prints, maybe vintage ones, to hang in my house.  I'd love a grouping of four of six in the same frames.

Books:
Miss Mingo and the First Day of School was a really cute addition to our home library this month.  We've been reading tons of back to school / making friends type of books.  This story is sweet and filled with animal facts for each student in Miss Mingo's class.

I just finished reading the best book called Slow Down: Embracing the Everyday Moments of Motherhood by Nichole Nordeman.  Have you heard her song Slow Down?  I had, but I love the Slow Down book even better.  It seems like the perfect book to read this time of year with all the kids heading back to school and seeming so grown up.  I love the message of slowing the pace of your life down and enjoying the moments with your children.  Children grow up.  It's a fact, but there's plenty of things you can do to slow down the pace of life to enjoy the years of parenting your little ones.  I loved the message of appreciating your children for who they are, being vulnerable with other moms, savoring the moments without micromanaging them, creating family traditions and savoring the JOY in raising children.  The collaborative writing from all kinds of moms to tell their stories and their mothering advice was refreshing.  It was fun to hear all of the voices speak to the things they've learned about mothering.  Slow Down is a quick read that you're sad to see end.  The parenting advice is encouraging and not preachy.  Each chapter ends with a couple questions and blank pages for you to answer.  The sets of questions really make you think about your family and your kids.  The set up of this book would make an excellent book club or book to read with friends.  I'd highly recommend this book to any mom.

 The kids and I are reading this devotional most days and are really enjoying it.  You can read all about it here.

I've been reading Jesus Calling most days and really love it.  It's quick and gets you thinking about focusing your attention more on God as you move about your day.


I'm linking up with the WWRW ladies.  Be sure to check out what they've been reading:
 

 
Stephanie: http://www.wifemommyme.com/

Johannah: https://johannahsirois.blogspot.com/

Crystal: http://www.masonsmama.com/

Justine: http://www.littledoveblog.com/

Whitney: https://polka-dottyplace.blogspot.com/

Heather: http://www.myglitteryheart.com/

Keri: https://www.kerilynnsnyder.com/

An InLinkz Link-up