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Have you ever read a book that just sticks with you? That’s what A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman, did for me. 

Ove is a man who likes everything to be in place and to his liking. So his world is upended when a young couple with young kids move in next door and decide to befriend Ove, whether he likes it or not. 

A Man Called Ove seamlessly transitions from Ove’s backstory to present day. And it will remind you how important it is to get to know others before judging them. And of how important it is to love one another and spend time with those you care for. 

There’s a movie too (in Swedish with subtitles) on Amazon Prime!

I cannot recommend this book enough. I absolutely love it and I’ll definitely be giving it a reread. I’m glad I bought it so I can share it with friends too. 

Have you read it? Is it going on your to be read list?  Let us know in the comments below. 

This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you purchase through them. This does not cause any additional cost to you! Thank you for your support!

If you have noticed blueberries at a good price lately, it is probably because July is National Blueberry Month!  LIndsey put together this great round-up of some of our favorite blueberries a couple of years ago.  We thought it would be nice to repost it again while the blueberries are priced so well.  While we are at it, we are adding another recipe that we have added to our repertoire!  Enjoy!

Last week I went to the store and blueberries were on sale!  I bought four cartons. I made a coffee cake, but it was eaten so quickly that I did not get any pictures of it. Sorry! I started thinking however, we've made many blueberry recipes here at 3 Winks, it would be handy to have one place to round them all up!

Now, I love blueberries. When I was in law school I spent my first summer in Washington doing an internship. I stayed with my friend Jackie and we had a blast, and one thing we did was go blueberry picking. That was when I learned that there are four types of blueberries! It was August when we went picking, that is actually blueberry season. So, now is a perfect time to finish off your summer with some great blueberry foods before I am unleashed to share every pumpkin recipe under the sun with you!

You can always eat blueberries straight from the bucket (wash them first!) I won't lie, I did this with two of the cartons I bought. They're so sweet and delicious and filled with antioxidants for myself and my little nugget. However, there are a lot of other options and I feel like breakfast time is a great time for blueberries. So here are six different recipes, three from our own dear blog, and three that I have found through the magic of Pinterest, to help you use up those blueberries!

1.Lemon pancakes with Blueberry Syrup
Lemon and blueberries go so well together. Blueberries are sweet and and the lemon just brightens up any dish they're in. In this post my mom shared with you how to make the perfect blueberry syrup to top these delicious pancakes. They make for a great start to your morning!

2. Blueberry Muffins
These are classic. When I think muffins, blueberries are the first to come to mind! In this post my mom shared with you how to make her delicious blueberry muffins. They're another perfect breakfast meal, but they're good at any time of day!

3. Blueberry Coffee Cake
I found this recipe at Barbara Bakes and tweaked it a little for the coffee cake I made this weekend. I didn't have any lemon to zest, but I added a teaspoon of lemon juice to the crumble on top. That combined with the lemon glaze was the perfect combination!

4. Blueberry Pancakes
 Blueberry pancakes are another classic breakfast combo. I believe the first time anyone added anything to a pancake it was a blueberry. Since we already gave you one recipe involving pancakes I decided to find a vegan one for all of our vegan friends. I found this one courtesy of Connoisseurus. So my dear vegans, you can get in on the blueberry action too!

5. Overnight Blueberry Oats
One of my favorite ways to enjoy blueberries is to top them on my oatmeal. With a little honey? It's absolutely perfect! So I love this recipe from Fit Foodie for these tasty overnight oats! Overnight oats are all the rage. They make breakfast on the go so easy, and HEALTHY! Who doesn't love that? So try this tasty treat out!

6. Blueberry Dump Cake in the Crock Pot
This last recipe doesn't fit into the breakfast category really. Although, if you ate it for breakfast I would never judge you. My mom gave this recipe and tutorial back in January, and it is another fun and easy treat! I personally am a huge fan of anything I can make in a crock pot. I mean honestly, does it ever turn out bad? No way! Plus you can enjoy it with whipped cream (or ice cream!) on top!

So that is it, six tasty ways to use those blueberries you have on hand. I've provided a handy cheat sheet for you with links to every recipe. Enjoy!

Now, here is the new addition to this round-up in honor or National Blueberry Month!  
7. Brown Butter Blueberry Tart! So delicious and so beautiful!  This is a real show stopper recipe! This post telling how to make this tart was actually showcased on April J. Harris' site! You will love it! 

Are you a blueberry lover?  We've discovered that my granddaughter, Emily adores them! Let us know your favorite way to eat them in the comments! 

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    With temperatures blazing into the 100 and teens here in Phoenix, it is always a challenge to find things to do INDOORS with the kids besides TV, electronics and videos.  One of the things I have always enjoyed with my own children and now grandchildren is crafting together.  It is a great thing to teach kids skills that they can use throughout life, give them a chance to express themselves creatively and there is a strong link to cognitive function as they take things from their minds and express them through their hands. They develop their fine motor skills and can also exercise problem solving as they create. 
     One summer I let each of my kids pick out fabric and they made decorative pillows for their beds and learned to use my sewing machine in the process.  Those pillows stayed in our house for years! When they were little and wanted to paint when I was painting, I gave them water, a paint brush and a block of wood and let them go to town mess free. 
      You probably have things around your house that will work for kids to use to imagine and create all kinds of wonderful things:

• Paper cups and plates
• egg cartons
• buttons and beads
• crayons and markers
• glue
• pipe cleaners
• feathers
• construction paper
• cotton balls
• old magazines
• fabric scrapes

The list goes on and on.  Just fill a box with supplies and then let the kids go at it.  Be prepared for a mess.  Lay old newspaper under them to work on, but with all of those supplies, they should be entertained for hours. 

    If you are still short on supplies, this is a good time of year to:

1. Get summer kids kits on clearance!  I got that little owl box above to work on with my granddaughter at Joann's for about $1 I think.  She loved it, even though at 18 months I did most of the work, but she loved manipulating the paint brush WITHOUT paint on it! 
2. New fall crafts are coming out in stores, so kids can start thinking about school and Halloween and getting excited about that. 

Here are some more great kids crafting kits available right now for reasonable prices.  You could give your kids some options and let them choose something that they will really get into.  There is something  to be said about getting a kit and learning to follow directions while also adding some extra flair of their own!

At Dollar Tree:  (They have a ton of options, these are just a few!)

Hobby Lobby: (again, there are a ton of options! And, many of their art kits are 40% off right now!)

Magic Paint posters!  You only need water
​and your dino lover can paint away! 

This kit even comes with the rocks!

Michaels:  (lots of clearance going on here!)

*In stores only pipe cleaners, felt, pom poms and wooden paintable door hangers are on sale for 47 cents! 

    It won't be long now until school starts back up!  Take these last few weeks to make some memories, build some confidence in your kids, do some STEM activities without them knowing it and just have some fun away from the screen! Use this craft time to initiate conversation and relax together.  You and your kids will love it! Have a Fun Friday! 

If your children love doing crafts, you may want to consider this: 

Mysteries in Time-A crate box full of books and historical activities, only $6.95 per month!

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Green Kids Crafts- Monthly STEAM projects using only green materials. Use coupon code SCREENFREE for $10 off! 
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Last year, we put on a Christmas in July Party and we shared lots of kid friendly crafts! 

This post contains affiliate links. We will be compensated for purchases made through those links at no additional cost to you. All views expressed are our own. Thank you for your support.

Alicia back with another What to Read Wednesday. 

This week another board book edition. You can find our last board book post, specifically interactive books, here. 

This week I’m sharing some of my favorite board books to read. Sometimes board books can be a bit boring to read over and over, but these are the books I actually enjoy reading again and again with my little ones. They elicit funny voices or surprise your child each time you read them. 

Engaging Board Books

Goodnight Goon by Michael Rex- A petrifying parody of the classic Goodnight Moon, this is one I have loved to read since my son was born. It’s not actually scary and it is easy to engage the kids in the story. The illustrations are full of fun things to point out and talk about. 

Go Dog, Go by PD Eastman- if you haven’t read the board book version of this book, I highly recommend it. It’s completely different from the regular book. The board book rhymes and has more of a story instead of being a book about opposites. But it has all the cool pictures from the original. 

Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill- Who doesn’t love this little pup?! In this lift-the-flap book we’re looking for Spot all around the house, and along the way find other animal friends. I like to do different voices for the animals and my kids love lifting the flaps. 

Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell- Another classic lift-the-flap book, where a child writes to the zoo for a pet. The zoo obliges over and over until the perfect pet is found. 

Baby University Four-Book Set by Chris Ferrie- this is actually a set of 8 books covering different science topics such as optics, rocket science and more. It’s easy to understand and fun to read! Maybe I’m biased as a scientist but I love these books. Never too early to give your kid a head start either. 
Heads by Matthew Van Fleet-This one is recommended by my mom because my niece has it and it and she says it is so amazing. Even the front cover has a pull-out tab that makes the title come together! 

A bonus board book recommended to me recently was Max’s New Suit by Rosemary Wells. I’m excited to check it out. It is only $6.99 on Amazon! 

So how about you? Have you read these books? Will you be checking them out? What board books to you find the most engaging? Let us know in the comments below.
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