If you grew up with parents who owned a minivan, chances are you remember feeling just a little cooler than your friends whose parents still drove those huge regular sized vans. However, once you could drive yourself, the last thing you wanted to cruise around town in was your parent’s minivan. Even today, when someone mentions a minivan I can’t help but picture those early models with their tired-looking paint jobs. See more at Antioch Chrysler.
I recently had the opportunity to visit my local Ford dealership and one particular vehicle on the showroom floor stopped my son and me in our tracks. It was a larger vehicle than I wouldn’t normally consider for our small family, but it was beautiful and roomy, but not too big that I wouldn’t consider ever driving it. We fell in love at first sight, and when I walked around to inspect the back to see what model it was, imagine my surprise to find that this sleek beauty was a Ford Explorer! – See more at Fort Dodge Ford.
Today kicks off Read Across America Week, a fun week of celebrating books and the joy of reading. We have a fun-filled week of exciting activities to engage our students at my school this week, including a breakfast of green eggs and ham! There are so many fun activities you can incorporate at home during this week and beyond to spend some family time bonding with books and helping your child fall in love with reading. I’m often asked by parents, “What can I do to help my child learn to like reading?”. My best advice is to start early and read often.
“Developing strong reading skills is a crucial part of each child’s education. In fact, reading proficiency can impact all areas of a child’s current and future life potential. Parents’ attitudes and behaviors related to literacy also have a huge impact on how children view reading,” according to Richard Peterson, vice president of education for Kiddie Academy who offers the following reading tips for parents:
1. Read The Same Book Over and Over- Although it may make parents crazy, reading the same book to a child multiple times has real educational benefits. Young children like to predict what will happen in a story. The repetition helps a child to create brain connections and build confidence in their literacy skills.
2. Going to the Library is Still Important- Even in our digital age, a trip to the library remains a valuable family activity. Making the time in your busy schedule for a library visit demonstrates your interest and support of reading. A library is full of inspiration that can help your child discover and explore a variety of interests. Caring for and returning a library book also builds an understanding of time and responsibility.
3.Kids Should Read Adult Books- No, you shouldn’t hand over your copy of the latest romance novel. However, when choosing reading materials, don’t limit your choices to “kid” books. For example, if your son shows an interest in cars, allow him to explore a car repair manual or car-centered magazines. Seeing a wide range of written text reinforces that reading is an important skill that everyone needs.
4.Interaction During Story time is Key- Reading aloud to your child has proven lifelong literacy benefits. However, while reading a story, it’s also important to stop to talk about the story to further engage her in the process. You can ask questions about the story, talk about the emotions related to the story or even create an alternate ending. You’ll elevate story time from a passive to an active pursuit, making for a richer experience.
5.Children Need to See Parents Reading for Pleasure- All kids are born mimics – it’s how humans learn, by repeating behaviors they observe. Multiple studies show that children who see their parents reading for pleasure are much more likely to become strong readers themselves. Allow your child to “catch” you reading a book, magazine or e-book, and talk about what reading means to you.
Most people purchase a vehicle with the intention of driving it for many years to come. It is one of the biggest investments you will make in life and having a vehicle that fits your lifestyle needs as well as being safe and reliable is very important. However, life changes and vehicles eventually start to need repairs. That great new vehicle you purchased a few years ago may be slowly giving you signs that it might be time to consider purchasing another one. Below are three signs that it may be time to purchase a new or new-to-you vehicle.
It’s Costing You More Than It’s Worth– Vehicles don’t last forever, and if the repairs are costing you more than the value of yours (or pretty close), it might be time to consider investing in a ride that won’t have you constantly emptying your wallet for repairs that keep coming up. – See more Ames Ford.
What I am about to share with you is the easiest snack I’ve ever made from scratch. Well, ok, so I didn’t make my own cheese and grow my own tomatoes, but besides all that, I did this myself with some pretty fresh ingredients. I call it the Easy Cheesy Mozzarella Tomato Snack.
I think two of my co-workers, in particular, would be proud. One always gets on to me for the chips I like to eat at school and the other nearly catches a case of the vapors when I post pictures on Facebook of questionable things I might be eating, or even mention eating. I swear, I’m going to do better one day.
This little recipe is not even earth-shattering. I just thought it might be good since it closely resembles another recipe with another vegetable that I plan to share sometime soon.
Ingredients:
Grape tomatoes
Mozzarella cheese (shredded)
Sea Salt
Garlic Salt
Set your oven to broil. Cover a baking pan with aluminum foil. Slice up your tomatoes and set on the pan. Sprinkle on some sea salt and garlic salt to your own taste. Sprinkle on some mozzarella cheese. Again, as much as you want. The more, the better I say!
Put this pan of deliciousness in the over for about a little longer than a minute. You’ll want to watch it closely because it doesn’t take long at all for the cheese to melt. When you’re done, you’ll have a pan of fresh, cheesy tomatoes that taste out of this world good! I advise you to eat them quickly while they’re good and hot!
I think adding a little drizzle of olive oil over these would make them even better and I plan on trying this next time.
If you live where the winter weather is harsh, you may know all too well that traveling snowy and icy roads can be treacherous. Being trapped on the road in the middle of a blizzard or snowstorm can be a dangerous thing, especially when help is slow to come. While you might have already prepared your vehicle by checking tires and gassing it up, you also need to make sure you have these five things with you at all times in case you become stranded.
Snacks and Water- Always keep a stash of bottled water and snacks in your vehicle, especially if you have health issues that could cause blood sugar levels to drop. You may be there for a while and will need food and water to keep your strength and stay hydrated.
Extra Medication- If you take medication daily, having a few days’ supply in your vehicle or purse with enough to get you by a day or two is very important
Blanket- Ideally, carry one in your vehicle for each family member, regardless if they are riding with you or not. Maintaining proper body heat will be very important. To read the full article, visit Deery Brothers of Ames.
Well it’s been an interesting week in our little part of Mississippi, to say the least. We only get a good snow every few years and the forecast called for up to 5 inches on Wednesday, which is a lot for our part of the country. On Monday, the sleet started falling around lunch time in earnest, so school was let out early. To say both the grown-ups and kids were excited would be an understatement! Tuesday morning we woke up to icy roads and school was cancelled. The ice finally started melting off that afternoon, so my son and I headed to the store to get the “bare necessities” one needs when they expect to be snowed in.
Wednesday is when our “big” snow finally came!
I measure 3 inches around our place when it was all said and done, but other parts of town got up to 7 inches. Needless to say, my son and I took advantage of building a snowman and playing in the snow!
(Please excuse the no-make-up and crazy hair!)
We also just marveled at the beauty of it all.
It’s definitely not going to be fun making up those snow days at work, but this little break is exactly what I needed to recharge my batteries.
It’s been a tough winter so far all across the US and even though I live down south in Mississippi, my skin is so dry! I am also a constant hand-washer since I work in a school, so while that may help me keep away the germs, it also just adds to the problem. The skin on my hands is cracked and red. To be honest, winter can be downright painful! Vaseline Intensive Care has a range of lotions to fit all of your needs this winter that go beyond just moisturizing to actually heal your dry skin. With a special blend of humectants (to draw water into the skin), and healing micro-droplets of Vaseline Jelly to lock moisture in, you don’t have to avoid your favorite winter activities.
So just how dry is my skin? I put it to the test to see where I stood:
That’s pretty dry, but not as bad as I thought, because the skin on my hands feels worse than it looks. After applying Vaseline Intensive Care Moisturizing Lotion my hands felt so much better. I hate when a lotion leaves a very heavy, greasy feeling after applying, but I am happy to report this was not the case. The results felt amazing and this will definitely be my go-to lotion for relieving all of my dry skin problems.
Thanks to Vaseline Intensive Care Moisturizing Lotion, I don’t have to avoid any of my favorite winter activities. As a matter of fact, I got to enjoy building a snowman with my son yesterday, but not before making sure I protected my skin with this amazing lotion first!
WIN IT!
Enter to win a Vaseline Winter Kit, featuring a bottle of Vaseline Intensive Care Lotion and a Snowman Family Kit so you can enjoy some winter family fun! To enter, fill in the Rafflecopter form below. Giveaway ends March 9, 2015 at 12:00 AM CST. US ONLY. Void where prohibited. Winner must respond within 72 hours of winning email being sent or another winner will be randomly picked.
I was provided with a Winter Kit in exchange for my honest opinion.