Hey you! Adorable boy – did you really decide to grow up on me?

I can hardly believe that baby Helms is one! Actually, one and one month, to be exact. His birthday is in January but we were forced to postpone his portrait session for several weeks due to consecutive weekend snowstorms.

Oh, yeah, he’s workin’ it now! We loved that little hat…even though he really did not!

Big sister Grace is looking beautiful herself! (We didn’t pose her this way, by the way! She just decided to be cooperative, a fact which we definitely celebrated.)

We couldn’t have asked for a better blue sky day!

Smooches, ‘H’ family! We adore you!

Our library card is responsible for providing an ever-rotating selection of books for the kids & myself. The best part, of course, is that it’s all free (except for those times when we have a small fine because Harper has decided to hide her very small, very flat books under the rug in her room and then forgets where she put them and we can’t find them in time.) The second best part is that we can request books from any of the libraries in our system and pick them up at our local branch, which is about 2 minutes from the house. The third best part is that it comes with other perks, like storytime, Friends of the Library book sales, and friendly librarians. And lastly, the most helpful thing is that our library is online, and I have a free computer application that keeps track of all the books we have out and alerts me the day before they’re due. Needless to say, we love the library!

As long as I ignore the 10-day forecast I’m totally happy with this little glimpse of things to come.

…are you really that desperate for snow?
PJs and tennishoes, taken this past Saturday after yet another snowfall.

The winner of the 2010 Caldecott award, awarded this past January, is this lovely book, “The Lion and the Mouse.”

The illustrations are exquisite! The illustrator is Jerry Pickney, who has a huge body of work. Seriously, what a talented man!

If you’re looking for books with great artwork, a Caldecott Medal or Caldecott Honor award winner is usually a great place to start. (That’s not to say that all beautifully illustrated books have won this award — and some of them are very text-heavy, too, as the books span many different reading levels.) You can view the complete list of books here. I have so, so many favorites on this list…and so many more that I still need to read! I don’t think I’ll ever catch up!

Happy Valentine’s Day, Grandma!

The winner, according to Random.org, is Andrea!
(Andrea, send me your address please!)

Thanks for playing, ladies!