Category: Home Movies

You Are My Sunshine Redux + Interview

In our Music Together class we sing a different version of the classic song “You Are My Sunshine” with a more clear message of love and acceptance. We’re excited to share it with you.


(I love this You Are My Sunshine Print from Etsy)

Here’s how it goes:

“You are my sunshine, my only little sunshine,
you make me happy when skies are gray.
You’ll never I hope you know, dear, how much I love you.
Please don’t take my sunshine away.
You brighten each and every day.”

Isn’t that so much kinder and loving?! Yes, please.

It’s even cuter like this:

Here’s a brief, adorable (!!) interview with our daughter that took place after the song:

Too sweet not to share. (In case you’re wondering, she’s obsessing over and acting out scenes from The Boxcar Children and Surprise Island, two delightful books that I too adored as a child.)

We chat like this all day long.

I love that little girl.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Obsession

Three years later and she still loves Eric Carle’s classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar:


February 2008


April 2008


August 2009 (playing with Matthieu and Christina who brought us the French version with them from France)


September 2009


October 2009 (reading the Pop-Up version with Alexis)


December 2009




January 2010


May 2010 (reading the French version with Alice)


December 2010 (reading the German version with Diane, a present toted from Germany for us)


January 2010 (reading the French version with Natalia)


“Reading” us her version of the book (such a fun coloring book!)

Garden of the Gods Part 2

A trip down memory lane…

In our recap of our Colorado trip, we’re still at Garden of the Gods. (Day 2 of our trip!)

Two years ago, when she was nine months old, my daughter was not yet walking and she never once looked up to notice the giant rocks surrounding us:


Movie: Garden of the Gods #2 (Colorado Springs, Colorado) from Carrie on Vimeo.

This time she saw the park from a totally different perspective and loved the red rocks. Some things didn’t change though. Here is she enjoying the same spot, the exact same rock, in the park:


Movie: Garden of the Gods 2010 from Carrie on Vimeo.

Orange Play Dough Birthday Cake

Every few weeks Miss Leyba requests that we make play dough. Usually purple, red, or blue play dough. This week I suggested we make orange play dough for Halloween and, amazingly, she agreed, the exact opposite of typical toddler behavior around these parts right now.

Picture endless games where I say, “Whatever you do, don’t drink that apple juice!” to which she replies, “I’m drinking it! Open your mouth and act surprised!” I completely anticipated having to say, “We can make play dough in whatever color you’d like, but NOT orange!” to sway her. I should have known she’d go for anything Halloween related. That’s the hot topic here these days.

So we made deliciously orange play dough together.

The recipe we use is from Green Crafts for Children, a wonderful book full of art activities using natural, recycled, and found materials.

It’s your basic cooked play dough recipe incorporating 1/2 cup salt, 1 cup flour, 2 tablespoons cream of tarter, and 1 tablespoon oil; we then add 1 cup of water mixed with food coloring and stir the dough while slowly heating it on the stove.

After a brief cool-down period, the dough is ready to go and it’s time to make birthday cake!

She made the cake and birthday candles with flames by herself. Then she insisted on making a total of three cakes, one for each of us, and singing many rounds of “Happy Birthday” while blowing out candles and then cutting and serving us cake. What a generous hostess!


Video: Happy Birthday Play Dough Party from Carrie on Vimeo.

I ask you, who doesn’t love birthday cake?! Especially when it’s orange, made of play dough, and cooked by this cute little girl! It’s irresistible.

Little Bear and Birthday Soup

Someone’s obsessed with Elsa Holmelund Minarik and Maurice Sendak’s Little Bear books!

So obsessed that she pretends to make birthday soup in the kitchen sink during her daily water play:

So obsessed that she’s been calling her baby doll Lucy after the doll in the book Little Bear’s Friend.

So obsessed that she knows the story word for word:



Video: Reading Little Bear Book from Carrie on Vimeo.

Oh, that ending! We’re all about keeping it real over here. “I hate this book!” is what happens when I ask her to read it three times in a row so I can get a movie of her storytelling. I don’t blame her for being pissed at me. I’d hate it too after reading it three times.

Although if last night is an any indication, I’ll be reading it five times to her before bed tonight.

But that didn’t stop me from just adding the books to Miss Leyba’s book wishlist. That way we’ll get to read them over and over again for years.