Bagpipes & Brave

I used to hate the sound of bagpipes. I was an insult to my Scottish heritage. They've slowly grown on me over the years. Check out the latest clip from the new Disney movie Brave, featuring all the greatest bagpipes tunes.


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Menu Plan Monday & Busy-ness

So this month is crazy busy, but all in a good way. We went to a baby shower on Sunday for one of our college classmates. This weekend we are going up to Vermont for the wedding of another classmate. Life changes all around! We are also still settling into the house. CJ lets me empty out about one box a day. Other than that he needs my attention 24/7. The hubby is working 12 days in a row. IN A ROW. So we haven't seen much of him. I'm excited to spend the weekend as a family up in Vermont. It should be beautiful out. If you've never been to Vermont in the Spring, it is gorgeous.

Here is our menu plan for this week. Since we are going to be busy, I'm planning some quick and easy dinners. I'm going to get a rotisserie chicken and use that in a couple of meals. But anywho, here's the plan, along with links to where I got the recipes. Thank you Pinterest. 

Monday - I ordered subs. 

Tuesday - Sloppy Joe's.

Wednesday - Chicken Caprese.

Thursday - Pepperoncini & Chicken Salad.

Friday - Quinoa & Black Bean Salad. 

Oh, I also wanted to mention that there was a turkey in our yard today. A wild freaking turkey. It just strolled right on up the drive into the woods like it owned the joint. It saw me and slowed down just strutting its turkey self. I will eat you turkey. I will cook you in the oven. I don't like birds in case anyone was wondering. The first thing I saw was its leg go behind Craig's car and my first instinct was OMG THERE'S A VELOCIRAPTOR IN THE DRIVEWAY! Completely normal reaction right? But no, it was just a stupid wild turkey.

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Signing Sunday - Sexy and I Know It

Sorry that I haven't done this in a while. With the move and everything, I just haven't had time to put together a video to teach y'all. If you are in the Merrimack Valley Massachusetts area, I'm teaching ages 2-5 every Wednesday in May at Newbury Town Library in Byfield. Come check it out!

So I found this video on youtube and I just had to share it. I love the song, and their rendition of it is hilarious. All rights belong to the creators of the video. I just found it hysterical and had to share. Pin It

Pami Pocket Review & Giveaway

CJ and I like to go on walks, but I don't like carrying my purse. I need to have my phone on me in case of emergencies though. I also don't like leaving it in my pocket because then it could fall out. So what to do? Well Pami Pocket is a great new product that solves my problem. 

The Pami Pocket is a small zippered pouch that is the perfect size to hold just exactly what you need. It can fit your cell phone, keys, maybe a few cards. It has a long handle that can be used over the shoulder or across your body. It currently comes in either hot pink or black. They are working on making it in other colors, such as teal and green. I would have loved a teal one so I look forward to that. 
 












The product came about for the same reason that I now love it. The creator, Pami, loved working in the garden but never had anywhere to put her phone. She was constantly missing calls and losing her cell phone. She eventually put her phone in an old coin purse she had lying around, but it eventually wore out. She then had her husband go rustle her up a new one with some fabric in his upholstery shop. She got so many compliments about it that she decided to expand and begin to sell the Pami Pocket. 

The PamiPocket is usually $14.99, but it is currently on sale for $9.99. Or would you like to win one? Just fill out the rafflecopter below! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Mom Blog Society. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers Pin It

Guest Post - Make Reading Cool

I was the sort of kid who thought reading was cool. I looked down on other kids who would rather play sports. I was kind of a brat. If you know a kid who would rather not read, check out this guest post for some tips on helping them learn that reading is fun.

Make Reading Cool: Tricks for Getting Kids to Read

I like being helpful, which is why I agreed to help my girlfriend with the summer camp curriculum she's writing for a local kids' museum. We were out to breakfast when she brought it up, and before I knew it, I was scribbling down her ideas in crayon on a place mat.

It's a wellness camp, and she wants kids to learn. It's also a summer camp, which means that, unfortunately, a lot of kids won't want to read. The trick is making reading fun. While she was designing and organizing the program itself, I happily agreed to figure out how to make reading cool. I've worked with kids before, both in and out of educational settings, and I've picked up a few tricks that work to get kids reading quickly and painlessly.

Reading is a practice-makes-perfect kind of subject. The more experience reading children have, the better. The biggest stumbling block for kids struggling to read is that they don't want to struggle, so they declare that reading isn't cool, and they stop doing it. Working with tablet computers and apps is great, but when the technology isn't available, you want reading to be cool on its own. Even students learning entirely through online schooling will need to pick up physical books, papers and magazines.

3 great tricks for getting kids to read

Here are some tips assembled from research and the experience of myself and others, including the SMATOOS website. These tried-and-true methods can make reading cool for camps, classes or your own kids.

1. Make it exciting. This is a participation sport. If you're trying to get kids to read more, you have to play too. Be seen reading. Be seen enjoying, quoting, learning, sharing and laughing. If you look thrilled to be reading, kids will pick up on it. You may have to battle with kids calling you a nerd, so be ready, and try to avoid reading subjects that don't interest the age group you're working with.
2. Make it subtle. When you first start getting kids to read, run with it. For the summer camp, we're using short snippets with flashy pictures and encouraging the kids to read nutrition facts on their snacks for comparison purposes. Asking questions like "Which snack has more salt?" tricks kids into reading and using information they've learned. Any games that incorporate a little reading can also be helpful.
3. Cultivate enthusiasm. First, take a field trip to a cool place, like a zoo or a planetarium. Next, get the kids as excited and intrigued as possible. Then take them home and feed them books. If they're asking you questions, pretend you don't know and direct them to the books.
4. Keep it low-key. When kids are reading, don't jump in and regulate or censor. Try a popcorn reading exercise where everyone takes turns reading in a group, and keep an eye out for difficult words or sections that you can read to save kids from mispronunciation embarrassments. Reading out loud can be stressful, so make sure you have a non-judgmental atmosphere. With help from the universities in Chicago, a project called Sit Stay Read has shown that reading out loud in a non-judgmental situation helps young readers improve, and they've done it by having kids read to dogs.

Be creative, and be excited about reading. The kids might not follow suit immediately, but they'll come around -- and you'll get in some great reading on the side.

About the Author

Karl Fendelander doesn't have an early childhood education degree, but he's been a teacher and camp counselor for years, trying to make reading cool all the while. When he's not curling up with a good book, Karl can be found biking about town and hiking and climbing throughout the West.

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Books on Books - Review and Giveaway

Where do you find awesome new (to you, not necessarily just published) books to read? Besides my lovely blog of course. Reviews are a great choice, goodreads is another one. What about books about books? It sounds silly, but reading books that are about books can help you find some great new books you otherwise would never have heard of. One of my favorites is the Book Lust series. There is Book Lust, More Book Lust, and Book Lust To Go, all by Nancy Pearl.

Soooo many books. Each book has a million different categories like Books About Teaching, Books that have female protagonists, Books about dinosaurs, Mothers and sons, Historical fiction for kids. I really like Southern Fiction and there is actually a section on that in the book. It lists Bastard Out of Carolina, The Prince of Tides, Charms for the Easy Life, and a ton of other books that are now on my to-read list. The great thing about the lists is that most of these books aren't extremely well-known. You are going to find lots of unknown book gems that I promise that you would never have heard of otherwise. 

Since I have way too many books on my to-read list already, I am giving away my copy of Book Lust. To win, just fill out the rafflecopter form below. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

PS. In other news, The Lord of the Rings: 50th Anniversary, One Vol. Edition is currently on sale on amazon for $12.19. This is the edition I have because we are big Tolkien nerds in this house and you should probably have it on your bookshelf. That is all. Pin It

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers, stepmothers, grandmothers, aunts who fill in as mothers, etc! You rock my socks!

I was very lucky to grow up surrounded by very strong and amazing women, so I'd like to take a second to thank them and wish them all a happy mother's day.

To my mom. You and I haven't always gotten along. You weren't always the best mom, and I wasn't always the best daughter. We've had our struggles, and our ups and downs, but I've never doubted that you loved me. You had me very young, almost too young and in some ways, we had to grow up together. I love you and I appreciate all that you did for me. I am very proud of how hard you are working to get your life to where you want it to be. Love you Bumma.



To my Aunt Sue. I sometimes joke that when I write my memoirs, I'm going to call it "Dropped the Ball". It'll be about all the people in my life who dropped the ball in raising me. You will not be a part of that book. When there was no one else around to take care of me, you took me into your home. You made me your daughter and a part of your family when you were thousands of miles away and could have just let someone else handle it. You've always been there for me and have been a great shoulder to cry on. I love you Auntie Sue Sue.

To my Grammy. From the day we met when I was three years old, you've never made me feel like just your step-granddaughter. You've always made me feel like I was a true part of your family. You gave me my faith and probably single-handedly had the most influence on my resilience and strength. You've always been a pillar in our family, in our church, and in my life. You've never been afraid to tell me when I'm making a mistake or doing something stupid, but you've never made me feel judged. I love how much I've come to understand and appreciate you so much more now that I am older. I love you Grammy.

To my Nana. How you've managed to survive all these years in our family with those children of yours, I don't even know. Eight kids. Eight!? Thank you for letting me live with you in high school when I had nowhere else to go. Thanks for scraping together money so I could have a class ring. Thank you for being nicer to me growing up than you were to your own kids. I hear you were a terror. Even when I didn't see you for many years, I never forgot how good you smelled and your blue checked housecoat with the white mother of pearl buttons. Thank you for taking care of me when I was really sick and thought that I was going to lose my mind. I hope you stick around forever. I love you Nanabanana.

To my mother-in-law Lisa. You are seriously the best mother-in-law anyone could ask for. The way you love your children inspires me everyday. We may not agree on some things, but we both know that everything we do comes from a place of love. Thank you for raising my husband into the amazing man he is today and thank you for being the best Nana CJ could ever hope for. Thank you for welcoming me into your family with open arms and never making me feel like an outsider. Thank you for always being there to help out. I hope you know how much I appreciate all that you do for CJ and for us. 

And there are two men I'd love to thank on this mother's day.

To my husband. I love you so much. Thank you for trusting me to carry and raise your son. Thank you for letting me stay home with him for the last 2 years. Thank you for making me a mother. Thank you for all of your hard work. I appreciate everything you do for our family. I hope that we have many more children together, but even if we don't, our family will be wonderful.

To my son, CJ. You have brought so much joy to my life. Thank you for putting a smile on my face everyday. I love everything about you, even when you are in the middle of a temper tantrum. I love that as you fall asleep, you wrap your arms around me and sigh "mama" like that is the happiest place in the world. I love that in the morning when I go in your room, you light up and yell "mama" when you see me. Though your labor was terrible, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. I love you stinkypoo.


Happy Mother's Day everyone! Pin It