If you have a son, nephew, or other little boy in your life (or a husband, boyfriend, or brother that grew up in the 70’s or 80’s), you have probably heard of both LEGOs and Star Wars.  My kids have a Nintendo Wii game system and some of my boys’ (even the older one) favorite Wii games are the LEGO series such as LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Indiana Jones, and LEGO Harry Potter.

This book, LEGO Star Wars The Visual Dictionary, may not be a typical Picture Book but it is one of my littlest son’s favorites right now.  It shows all of the different LEGO Star Wars sets that are (or were) available and even came with a surprise character piece.  Cool!

We have been so canine-obsessed around our house for the last year or so – what a surprise that we would be into books about dogs!  My Picture Book choice this week is the adorable DOGS by Emily Gravett. 

The lovely sketchy watercolor pictures depict some favorite breeds, with a reference at the end.  The book is for younger kids but those lovely pictures might inspire older kids to try their hand at sketching their favorite breed of dog. 

Our English Springer Spaniel puppy is 15 weeks old today.  Just cannot resist that sweet face.  I adore the polka dots on her nose –  I think that the breeders actually refer to them as freckles.  Jemma loves having her picture taken and has gotten quite used to it.  The kids call me the pup-perazzi!

This photo came out so well and I loved it in black and white.  I wanted a sweet close-up of Jemma to add to our family photo wall in the dining room.  We are still working on this and I will be sure to share it with you in the near future when we get some more photographs added to it.

Jemma Jane turns 14 weeks old today and is accompanied in this weekly photo by her ‘big sister’.  My sweet, beautiful daughter Miss J. celebrated her 10th birthday this week!  She loves her little puppy sister so much and has done an incredible job helping with Jemma’s training so far.

Miss J. loves the book 101 Dog Tricks by Kyra Sundance and her dog Chalcy.  Using it as a guide, she has been able to teach Jemma to sit, to down, to stay, to come, and to give paw or shake.  Jemma, of course loves being rewarded with tiny treats and Miss J. likes to show off what they have learned. 

How amazing are these fancy carved watermelons?  I have seen people make watermelon fruit baskets to serve fruit salad in, on TV and at parties, though I have never attempted one myself.  These watermelon flowers kind of take the whole carving thing to the next level.

I was wondering about nutritional facts for watermelon and came across the web site www.watermelon.org.  They say that watermelon is even higher in Lycopene than tomatoes and that it has heart healthy properties.  Even more reason to enjoy this yummy treat.

Our English Springer Spaniel puppy, Jemma Jane, is 13 weeks old today.  Look at the size of those paws and legs.  She is getting big and looks so different than when we first got her.  At her trip to the vet today, they told us that she is already starting to get some of her adult coat. 

Jemma has found a new napping spot this week.  She has been curling up on the fireplace and looks so adorable.  Try not to notice the extremely worn hand-me-down green ottoman in this photo.  It is in dire need of a makeover.