Favorite Children's Books

I loved reading as a child and reading picture books/novels with my third graders is one of the highlights of my school day.  It makes me so happy to have them beg me to read "just one more chapter" when I tell them it's quitting time.  We enjoy reading lots of books together.  Our routine is to read a novel together out loud and then we read picture books all throughout the day. My class thinks it's funny when I tell them that my baby is kicking when I read to them.  I guess she's already a fan of reading too!

It's impossible to come up with a complete list of the b.e.s.t. books out there,

but these are my top picks:

Here are some of my favorite novels:

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and The Zebra Wall

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Clementine

The Penderwicks and Love that Dog

And the following picture books:

For the Love of Autumn and Tale of Two Bobbies

Ed Emberley

First Dog Fala and The Dot

The Rainbow Fish and Ann Estelle

Runny Babbit

High Five for Friday

The best parts of my Spring Break week were...

1. I received the cutest bib e.v.e.r. in the mail this week.  A long time friend spotted it in a boutique and thought Olive needed it.  I can't wait for her to wear it!!

2 .We had a fun, slightly sickly Easter at home.
Hubby and I decorated eggs, ate Easter candy and had a yummy Easter dinner.

 3. I've been on SPRING BREAK!!  These type of breaks should happen more often :)
We went to a Jazz game together, people watched and had some yummy food.  We've squeezed lots of fun into this week: dinners out, lunch dates, sleeping in, hanging out, shopping, etc.

4. I love taking full advantage of preggy perks right now.

5.  I'm loving all of the produce that is popping up in the grocery stores. 
Costco seems to have the tastiest selections.

I'm linking up with Lauren and Life Rearranged

What Whitney Wore

My looks are a little more casual and COLORFUL this week because I'M ON SPRING BREAK!!!!  I'm a little bit excited about that fact and am thrilled to be taking it easy this week.  Plus the weather has been warming up so dare I say that the heavy sweaters and coats should be retired for the season ?!?!  I do live in Utah so it could still snow for the next several months... what can you do??
Oh and Hello, 31st week of pregnancy!

1. Date Night

cardigan - thrifted

statement necklace - Macys

minty earrings - Polka-Dotty Place etsy shop

top - GAP

skinnies - Motherhood

flats - Wal-Mart

2. Running Errands

cardigan - J Crew

tank - Limited

belt - Old Navy

skinnies - Motherhood

vintage, button earrings - Polka-Dotty Place etsy shop

flats - Wal-Mart

 I'm linking up with The Pleated Poppy,
twothirtyfivedesigns and Style Elixir

Confetti Cupcakes

Here's an e-a-s-y way to make confetti cupcakes:

Use your favorite, light colored cake mix, follow directions on the box 

and then add LOTS of sprinkles!

Bake like usual and these sprinkles burst.

I also followed a tip to fill my cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full instead of half full

so they turned out so fluffy and pretty.  I will be sticking with this method from now on.

 I continued my burst of color theme and did rainbow chip icing

Side note: 

This icing is best used the day of because it makes the cupcakes a little soggy the next day.

 No crunchy sprinkles inside, just bursts of color!

These confetti cupcakes could be so fun for birthday parties, holidays, showers, etc.

Find the sprinkles to match your event and voila!

 Linking up with sixsistersstuff

Maternity Pics

My sis was instrumental in helping me execute my baby announcement photo shoot so who better to ask to take some maternity shots than my sis??  I did not want any belly showing, nudey photos or a whole maternity photo shoot with a million pregnant photos so a quick photo shoot after one of my showers was perfect.  

Thanks for the pictures!

These were taken at the end of my 27th week.

Can't wait to meet little Olive in just a few weeks!

Unknown Novice

Fact: I'm not good with the unknown.  I prefer routine, stability and change on my terms.  Some might say I'm a control freak and it's probably true.  I make lists about lists, I plan almost everything in advance and 

no one would ever accuse me of being spontaneous.  

My head is spinning with unknowns right now.  People are asking for details and for my help in making plans yet I have no clue how to respond.  Out of my comfort zone, for sure.  I'm extremely excited about the upcoming months with the arrival of our first child in May/early June, wrapping up my 9th year of teaching, planning several big events at school, enjoying the next 3 months to the MAX in Utah, packing up our whole lives and moving 1,500 miles from Salt Lake to Little Rock and orchestrating all of the details to wrap up things in UT and get set up in AR.

Just a sampling of the questions going through my head right now: 

How long will I be able to teach?  

I'm due June 3rd and the last day of the school year is June 6th.

When will Olive decide to make her big appearance?

When should I have my hospital bag ready to go? 

How will I feel/bounce back after having a baby?

Are we prepared to bring home a new baby?  Do we have what she'll need?

How will the cats react to our new addition?

How will Kevin and I adjust to parenthood?

When should I schedule visitors and their flights in June?

When should I start packing?

How will my cats do on the 24ish hour road trip?

How will Olive do with the move?

etc etc etc

As I am pondering all of the above,

the following quote (via erehwyna) was music to my ears tonight.

Be open to the possibility

that the unknown

may be better than

what we know now.

Happy thoughts before heading to bed.  Goodnight.

Spring Break To Do List

I'm up to my eyeballs in to do lists right now with baby Olive arriving in the next 9 weeks or so, wrapping up the school year, going to appointments, cleaning out/getting rid of things, packing and moving 1,500 miles away.  I'm so thankful to be on Spring Break this week to tackle my lists and make a dent in my to do's.  

1. take the cats to the vet

2. appointments: dentist, get my blood pressure checked

3. errands

4. new car battery & untwist the bloody twisted seat belt in my car

5. return emails and phone calls that are long overdue

6. organize baby items & write thank yous

7. install car seat, put together bassinet

8. A ton of things to do for school

9. Finalize some summer plans

10. etc etc etc

Let's not forget about some fun

1. Dinner with friends

2. Jazz game & dinner downtown

3. Lunch with Kevin

4. Wandering around Target

5. Sleep in

6. etc etc etc

Oliver & Topher are being very helpful in the process...

Cleaning out the cat toys... 

more appropriately titled Let's PLAY!

Hopefully I'll be able to make some progress in spite of my helpers.

Mountainy Monday

Happy Monday to you!