Love to Read Halloween!

I thought it was appropriate to tell you this week about some of our favorite Halloween stories we have been reading. There is still time to get to your library and check out these fun stories before this weekend.

The Bumpy Little Pumpkin by Margery Cuyler and illustrated by Will Hillenbrand. MY little girl loved this story and we have read it several times. About a girl who finds a lumpy little pumpkin that she thinks is perfect for her jack-o-lantern. Although no one else thinks so she is able to transform it into a beautiful jack-o-lantern with the help of her forest friends!

The Spider and the Fly by Tony DiTerlizzi is not exactly a Halloween story but since it is done entirely in black and white with ghosts it certainly is an interesting tale. It is a great segway into talking about not trusting strangers and is a bit creepy. I enjoyed this one myself!

What is Halloween without the classic tale of The Legend of Sleepy Hallow, we decided to read the tale from the Walt Disney American Classics series. This one has lots of big illustrations and simplifies the story for younger readers. We live very close to Sleepy Hallow and that made it all the more fun to read this classic story and talk about the town.

I hope everyone has a fun, safe and happy Halloween!

Halloween

The times for ghouls and goblin's is finally here. We love Halloween at our house and have been enjoying the festivities. It's always fun decorating the house both inside and out! On Saturday we had my nephew over and we carved our pumpkins. This was the first year that the kids could really help with it and they had a great time...although they absolutely did not want to touch that "icky" stuff inside! This is the week of several Halloween parties with our girl so I will share some fun photos from our first one .

Toilet Paper Mummies are always a blast!

Then it was time to eat doughnuts from a string

Of course what does my little one choose? Of course the one with a ton of chocolate frosting...needless to say it was a huge mess but thats what its all about, right:)

Love this Manners Game!

I thought today I would share a fun find for kids.

We recently picked up the board game Learning about Manners Picnic Basket Game. I was not sure how much my own little girl would enjoy it but she is loving it! We have played it so many times and its refreshing to play a game that really is a great tool for helping our little ones with proper manners. I think we could all use a little reminder about manners every once in awhile:)

It comes with a great book about the kids of Noodleboro that is all about the importance of Please and Thank You. I found this on sale at Toys-R-Us for only $4.95 if your looking to stock up for the holidays.

Loves to Read Monday

Today we have a new book to tell you about that we just loved!

Kathy Duck is a Caterpillar

written by Alyssa Satin Capucilli and Illustrated by Henry Cole

A fun story about a dancing duck. The illustrations are so sweet and perfect for little girls who love to dance. Its a great book to have children recognize different animals and the movements they make. A fun way for little ones to dance around and pretend that they are one of the animals in the play. For older children learning to read it is sure to introduce them to new words.

I enjoyed this and was happy to learn that there are other Kathy Duck dance adventures to check out at our next trip to the library.

Come to ETSY

I have added some new designs to my etsy store as well as a couple of pieces from "Peasant Valley" on SALE! The economy is hard on everyone and I am working to bring you the high quality you have come to expect at prices that make it easy for you to still have your little ones in boutique wear.

You can go to http://www.royalrugrats.etsy.com/ and see what goodies are there for you!

Whats this holiday already? I was asked about holiday pieces and decided to debut two pieces now so that you can have them in time for portraits and the holiday season. It always seems to sneak up on us here. Once Halloween is over the holidays are here before you know it. "Cherish" and "Treasure" are ready to order on ETSY as well.

New Designs!

I have a few new designs for you today. I have put everything in my ETSY shop http://www.royalrugrats.etsy.com/

I will be working on my website for a bit but this way you can still see new designs and specials while I am busy with my site changes.

A few of my "Peasant Valley" Collection pieces are available on SALE there too!

"Song Sparrow" Apron Dress

"Northern Mockingbird" Top

My little girl started kindergarten two weeks ago and I felt like the kid. She was so excited and I was a nervous mess! We have gotten into our routine and although it makes me sad that my baby is growing up I am so proud of her.

This photo just cracks me up, it really shows how excited she is.

Our first school bus ride!

On the home front things have been great. Remember my new studio? Well it is almost complete and I LOVE it! Its great to have so much room to spread out and have fun making my designs. I am waiting on some new shelving but that will be here soon. I am thrilled to finally be completing this project and could not have done it without my wonderful... and handy husband.

I hope everyone is having a great time getting back into the swing of school days!

Wonderful August

It's been a crazy month as you can see I have not posted in a long time. I'm sorry for my absence but things have started rolling here for Royal Rugrats as well as for our family.

After many months of hard work Royal Rugrats is now available for wholesale. I am really excited about my new venture. I have a wonderful sales consultant who is overseeing Royal Rugrats for the NYC area. I want to keep the brand small so that I can still lovingly oversee every detail that goes into my pieces so quantities are limited.

Our Fall transition line went very well and I am honored to have so many wonderful customers who support Royal Rugrats. There are some new goodies up my sleeve. Later this week we will debut a whole new line of handbags and totes just for Moms! The line is appropriately called "Family" and it will be available in very limited quantities so make sure to be the first ones to know when it is available. You can sign up for my mailing list right here on the blog so you don't miss out on our announcements.

"Madeline"

Our family has been busy enjoying some together time throughout August. We have played at the beach and spent a lot of time in the lake. We just finished a major renovation to our kitchen and I will share some peeks soon! Since my kitchen was from the time of dinosaurs it is wonderful to have a kitchen that is enjoyable to be in.

The most exciting renovation we have undertaken has been a bigger studio for Royal Rugrats (if you could see me you would know I am jumping up and down!)because I have outgrown mine. We also added a new play room for my girl. It will be so nice to have a place for her to play and not have to worry about the mess. I am on a constant hunt for good organizers so let me know if you have some great ideas.

We are about half way through this project and I am bubbling over with excitement. Ill be sure to show you when we are through!

I will get better with my little blog once school starts next week. Until then I am going to eat up every moment I can spending with my wonderful husband and daughter.