Hanson + Taylor Swift.

One thing that I absolutely love is a good cover song. When I found one of my oldest favorites, Hanson, covering Taylor Swift it immediately brought a big smile to my face. Whether you are a Hanson or Taylor Swift fan or not, a good cover is always fun.

What do you think of this one? What is your favorite cover?

And the winner is....

Thanks to all of you for entering this fun giveaway! I'm so excited that one of you will be getting one of these fun boxes of Skippyjon Jones goodies from Kohl's. 

Here's the winner:

Hooray, Sarah! I hope you and your kids love these books!

Again, thanks so much to my lovely friend Ale for making this giveaway happen!

But Really...

While at Target yesterday afternoon, I found the perfect shirt for Dylan:

For those who don't already know, I'm telling you the truth- this shirt is perfect:

I'm thinking about going back to Target today to pick up this shirt in 4T and 5T- he needs it! Also, don't you think this is a fun perk of having a offbeat middle name? You'll never find a shirt that says "James is my middle name"... especially not pictured with flames and a motorcycle.

PS-You're running out of time! Enter to win a set of Skippyjon Jones Books. I don't care if you're a blog creeper- you deserve to win too! Click here to enter!

Chair Facelift.

When Ben and I first got married, we were given a kitchen table and chairs for free. Free! It was wonderful, as we only had a mattress (on the ground, of course), a tv, and a love sac at the time. The only drawback? The cushions of the chairs were in seriously bad shape. 

Of course that didn't scare me away- that's nothing some new fabric can't fix. Seriously, recovering chair cushions like these is a cinch. All you need is fabric and a stable gun. That's it. 

I wish I had some real before pictures of the chairs- they used to be a light tan color, with a green and tan plaid fabric on the chairs. A few years ago we got sold the table and all but one of the chairs. It was an accident that one stuck around- I thought that we had gotten rid of them all. It really has been once to have that extra chair though- it gets used all the time.

Two year ago I decided to paint the chair a cool aqua color and cover the cushion with a bright, fun lemon printed fabric. It was lovely, but it wore out. I know that I had a picture of this chair, but it has mysteriously disappeared. Anyway, imagine worn out paint with lots of chips and a dirty, ripped cushion. Imagining? Ok.

I decided to give the chair a fresh coat of paint (we had an extra can of spray paint left over) and I found some fun fabric at Hobby Lobby for $4 per yard. 

Looks great, right? This project took only a few minutes of my time and cost a mere $4. My kind of project. 

Also, don't forget to enter the Skippyjon Jones giveaway- it's only open for a few more days!

Hooray for a re-cap!

Dylan and I spent last week in Indiana where we had eight lovely days with family. There's way too much to post if I want to do a proper documentation of the visit, so please accept my photo collages with minimal blurbs... I can either keep it brief and get most things covered, or long and only cover 2% of the visit. I vote brief. 

As always, my visit was wonderful and went too quickly. Hopefully I'll be able to visit again soon!

1. Dylan giving his cousin Evvie the stink eye. Seriously. 

2. Digging for dino bones at the Indianapolis Children's Museum.

3. Holy cow, it's a digger. Dylan was in heaven.

4. It's Indy, so there has to be a race car to sit in.

5. Again in the digger. He was too excited for words.

6. Cousins in their matching pajamas... trying to get picture with smiles.

7. And now for funny faces.

8. Kiddos at the park, before Dylan fell and bit his tongue.

9. Another cute pajamas moment.

1. Family lunch on Sarah's bday. Where's Sarah?

2. Cousins swinging at the park

3. Yogurt at YoYo Mama- how cute is the decor?

4. Dylan on the motorcycle.

5. Dylan and Ashton were so excited to see each other!

6. Dylan on the carousel at the Children's Museum

7. Cake, ice cream, and cute paper products!

8. Screenshot of Ben's excited face- and Brent!

9. Cool artwork at Scotty's restaurant

Don't forget to enter the super awesome Skippyjon Jones giveaway! Comment here to enter!

A New Family Favorite + A Giveaway!

A few weeks ago, I received an email from my dear friend Ale (who happens to work for Kohl's) to see if I was interested in reviewing some of the Skippyjon Jones books, which are featured as part of the Kohl's Cares program. This program is amazing, because 100% of the profits from the featured products go straight to support kids' health and education initiatives in communities nationwide.

Of course I jumped at the chance to review these cute books- in fact, just a few days before hearing from Ale I was at Barnes & Noble and came thisclose to picking up one of the books. I had heard that they were really cute books, and I definitely wanted to read them to Dylan. 

Honestly, I was just expecting to receive one book in the mail, but instead I received this amazing spread:

That's right- 5(!) Skippyjon Jones books, 2 darling stuffed animals, 2 fabulous cook books (Busy Family Recipes and Campbells Best-Loved Recipes), Eat This, Not That for Kids, and the cutest shipping box I have ever seen. Amazing.

I've read the books to Dylan, and he just loves them. They revolve around a big-eared Siamese cat named Skippyjon Jones, who pretends that he is a Chihuahua. The books have the cutest rhymes and with some Spanish and Spanglish mixed in. 

His favorite was Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones, because he's in a major dinosaur phase right now. The illustrations are adorable as well, and Dylan wanted me to keep reading the parts with the "scary" dinosaurs over and over.

These books would be great for any kids, from preschool through elementary school. Don't have kids? Already have a few of the books? These would also make such a great gift. Really, these books are fabulous and would be a great addition to any child's book shelf.

Here's where this gets really great for all of you:

I'm giving away the assortment of Skippyjon Jones books and the other goodies featured above! Hooray!

Here's all you have to do:

Leave a comment on this post, and tell me your favorite book from childhood.

(I loved The Berenstain Bears)

One entry per person, and the givaway closes at on September 9, with the winner announced on September 10.