Storybook Garden Blog

Nov 05

A New Season…

One of the wonderful things about living in the Rio Grande Valley is the mild Fall and Winter weather we have. (Winter Texans and other out-of-towners are often amused with how some of us natives bundle up with the slightest cold front. ) Our climate offers a longer growing season-so, while our neighbors to the north are harvesting the last of their crops, we’ve just begun.

We went this morning to visit our friends’ farm, Sunrise Farm-CSA in Donna. They have such a wonderful thing going. If you aren’t familiar with Community Supported Agriculture, you can read a little more about it here. If you and your family haven’t had a chance to visit any of the local farmers markets that have sprung up around the Valley lately, you really should give them a try. I am thrilled that there will be a weekly farmers market in Weslaco on Thursday evenings beginning on November 17th.

Have you planted a garden with your family? What are you growing? I wasn’t able to start and maintain a garden last year with the pregnancy and all, but I hope to give container gardening and square foot gardening a try this year. If you are looking for a book to get your garden started, we have a few suggestions and can order the book you need. We have a few books and items to get your little one excited about growing and eating their vegetables, too!

We have some changes cropping up at our shop. We are in the midst of expanding to make room for more merchandise, classes & workshops, and an area indoor parties.

I know I’ve been quiet lately and haven’t blogged much in quite some time. My family and I appreciate your continued support of our local and independent children’s bookshop & boutique. We’re celebrating our 10th year and we wouldn’t have made it without you. I hope to see you and yours in the shop soon! Take care and till then…

Sarah

0
comments

Posted in Community, Gardening, Mi Familia, Shop Talk

Apr 18

April Already?

I cannot believe it’s April already–the last year has been a blur and more so now with the arrival of our littlest one in late January. It truly has been crazy but it’s been worth it! More new baby details later…

We went over to mother’s house this evening so the grand kids could dye eggs. Things got a little messy but they had fun. Ela and I will be dying some more eggs later this week with some recipes/instructions I’ve been meaning to try.

Anyhow, before the Easter comes and goes I want to giveaway a poster signed by Jan Brett. Leave a comment sharing what you like about Easter and you’ll be entered to win…best of luck! Deadline to enter is Saturday, April 23, 2011 at 11:59pm. Winner will need to pick up poster within 2 weeks at the shop. Take care and till then…

Comments are now closed…congratulations to Oralia!

5
comments

Posted in Giveaway, Mi Familia

Jan 18

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Display Giveaway

We’re getting ready to change our window and we’re finally going to give away the Wimpy Kid cardboard displays so many of you have asked and even begged for. Just post a comment now until Tuesday, January 25, 2011 at 11:59pm CST and we’ll have a random drawing to select two winners–one winner will receive the Dog Days display and another winner will win The Ugly Truth Display. (One comment per person.) We’ll announce the winner next Friday. Please note, we will not ship the display/standee, you must be able to stop by the shop and pick it up within 3 weeks of us contacting you. Good luck and we hope to see you in the shop soon!

Comments are now closed. Congratulations to Orfelinda and Victoria, have fun with your new display!

27
comments

Posted in Giveaway

Jun 05

Wanted: Pink Flamingo

Today’s story time will feature Dan Yaccarino’s Lawn to Lawn. It’s a cross-country adventure story about a group of lawn ornaments that have been left behind during the family move and set out to find Pearl, the only one who knows they are real.

Can they make it? Will they be reunited with their very best friend? Or will the dreaded trash truck find them first?

Dan Yaccarino spins a quirky, funny tale of toys-come-to-life to remind us that home is where the heart is, and that no journey is too difficult when it leads to the one you love.

On another note, I’m in search of a pink flamingo for my yard. If you know where I can find one, please let me know!

And yes, I’m back at the shop full time-for the summer, that is. I’m lining up some mini-summer camps for July and early August. We just might be able to squeeze some things in for late June, too. Hope to see you all in the shop soon! Take care and till then…Sarah

0
comments

Posted in Books, Shop Talk

Apr 07

Sprouts!

I’ve been wanting to plant a garden since I first moved to my new home. Nearly two years later and with help from some friends, I had a garden planted in less than 2 hours last Friday. My dear friends, who have quite a home garden of their own, brought Swiss chard, chives, cilantro, dill, several Roma tomato plants, and French marigolds to get us started. We sowed zucchini, shallots, garlic, and corn for Ela (she loves elote). On Saturday, my husband and I planted a blackberry plant. Yesterday, Ela & I sowed a few watermelon and cantaloupe seeds–we’ll see how they fair. We were so thrilled to see sprouts today!

If you’re looking to start a garden I recommend: The Vegetable Gardener’s BIBLE by Edward C. Smith (Storey Books, $24.95)–a hefty book with proven methods for having a successful garden. He includes information for planning, starting, nurturing, protecting, and harvesting your vegetables. There are plenty of great photographs and illustrations to guide you, too. One of my favorite features of this book is the plant directory–plant specific information is outlined including good and bad garden companions.

Once your garden is planted, get some inspiration for fun in your garden with your little one from Toad Cottages & Shooting Stars by Sharon Lovejoy (Workman Publishing, $14.95). Presented as “130-Wonder-Filled-Grandchild-Friendly Activities,” many of the activities can be adapted for parent and child, too. Activities aren’t limited to the garden, they include: creating faerie houses and hideouts, kid-friendly cooking, nature activities, crafts, and so much more. Happy gardening!

0
comments

Posted in Book Reviews, Gardening, Recommended Reading

Mar 31

The cakes are cooling and it’s not even midnight…

My does time fly with my hectic schedule. Today was one of those days…school, leave lunch for my sis, return to work, staff meeting, pick-up Ela, wrap things up at the shop for the day (including getting some important info for a client and booking an in-store book fair), hurry home to prep stuff for church, load the car with help, unload the car alone at church trying not to damage my already wrapped hand/wrist, teach the girls in my youth group to applique, pack the car up with help, head to the grocery store for cake mix (Ela wants to take a cake to school tomorrow), start to make cake only to realize I’m short one egg, return to grocery store, wait and wait and wait in the “Express Lane” (can people not count? 10 items or less, not more, LESS), return home, carefully crack eggs to make some cascarones for Easter, blend all ingredients slowly for 30 seconds then on medium for 4 minutes, split batter into 2 glass baking dishes, set in oven, nuke a probably-very-unhealthy-MSG-laden-Asian-meal-I-found-for-less-than-90-cents-on-my-second-run-to-the-market, eat, read, eat, read, what’s that smell?, take the cake out before the timer goes off because the cakes look beyond golden, set the cakes to cool, realize I should blog my crazy day because most days are like this and this is why I haven’t blogged in quite some time. But that’s okay, because it just turned 12:00am on my digital alarm clock and I’ve got this post done and the cakes are cooling, ready to be frosted in the morning. Ela will be so happy.

0
comments

Posted in Cooking, Mi Familia

Jan 21

Time Tested Beauty Tips

Girls Book of Glamour One of the books we gave our daughter for Christmas was The Girls’ Book of Glamour: A Guide to Being a Goddess (Scholastic, $9.99). Ela hasn’t put it down.

She’s been organizing her bedroom and even set up “a salon.” She must have gotten that idea from page 76, “How to Create Your Own Dressing Table.” When I asked if she could paint my nails, she told me I needed to make an appointment. I only wonder how much she’s going to charge.

When I was picking at a pimple on my face the other day, she told me I shouldn’t do that, referring to page 25, “How to Deal with Zits.”

Two days ago, she came home from school with tights that she borrowed from a friend– she must have read page 22, “How to Persuade Your Best Friend to Lend You Her Clothes.”

At the moment she’s begging for some sunglasses–for she’s reading, “How to Convince People You’re a Celebrity.” It must also explain why she transferred the items in her book bag to this frilly one. Frilly Bag

There are more than ninety other “fabulous things you need to know” in this well priced hardcover. But buyer beware, you may discover your grooming essentials have gone missing and your preteen may suddenly begin pleading for beauty products she’s not old enough for. Nevertheless, the tips in the book are lots of fun. The Girls’ Book of Glamour has opened up a great dialogue between my daughter and I about caring for oneself and true beauty.

Here are some time tested beauty tips (author unknown):

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry
For beautiful hair, let a child run his fingers through it once a day
For poise, walk with the knowledge you’ll never walk alone

0
comments

Posted in Book Reviews, Books, Mi Familia

Jan 04

Are we poor?

ElaParkCity2009 After picking up our daughter from the airport this evening (she had been visiting her dad since the day after Christmas), we headed to the grocery store to buy a few things I needed to fix dinner. Of course I was totally tempted a few moments beforehand to eat out but I remembered that I need to stick to the plan…the plan being to “avoid-eating-out-unless-we-utterly-have-to-and-if-we-have-to-we-must-eat-local-this-year” (local meaning eating out at mom & pop owned establishments only). Yeah, I’m on a self-debt-destruction campaign–more about that some other time.

Anyhow, we’re in the checkout lane when my daughter totally freaks out with all the food the family in the next lane was purchasing. When I glanced over to see what she was talking about, I could see this mound of food with a subtotal of over $230 and accruing. She asked me, “Why don’t we ever buy that much food?” Rather than hush her for not being polite, I asked her quietly to see how many were in the family. Way more than our party of 3.

In the car on the way home, she asks, “Are we poor?” She was still mulling over the checkout experience. I explained to her that larger families need more food because there are more mouths to feed. Our family is small so we don’t need as much food. Then she started to rattle off “indicators” of our “poorness”. My husband and I explained to her that we may not have lots of things or the types of outings she has when she visits her father; nevertheless, we have everything we need and a whole lot more…most of all we’re happy, loved, and healthy. With that, she was content/satisfied.

Growing up, my family had very humble beginnings. I wouldn’t trade those humble beginnings for all the wealth in the world. Our most happiest moments were those few years when my parents were starting their photography business. We lived in the back of their photography studio for about 6 years. My sisters and I had a slumber party every night making tents with the tripods and lighting stands (I’ll post a picture or two once I scan some).

I am grateful my daughter has the opportunities to experience things and travel to various locales with her father; perhaps at times she may think “we’re poor”, I know that one day she will know she is truly blessed.

0
comments

Posted in Mi Familia

Jan 02

Food & Fun

These last few days have been great…I’ve been able to rest, spend quality time with my husband, set goals, and get organized. For one who works a bunch, one day off is great…I’ve been off since Christmas Eve and it has been wonderful! I was able to attend the Harlingen Farmers Market today…it was pleasant and fun! Farmers Market Purchase We picked up some cute (and good tasting) carrots, mixed greens, spinach, cilantro, and orange blossom honey-my favorite! This was their 4th event, which takes place each Saturday from 3-5pm. I recommend getting there early…some items go pretty fast.