So, yeah. This happened. Apparently our homemade Elf on the Shelf just wasn’t going to cut it this year. The other night I was informed by my son (through tears, might I add) that he and one other child in his class were the only ones who didn’t have a real Elf on the Shelf. Naturally, this melted my heart and I had to put in a special call to Santa. Whoever came up with this is laughing all the way to the bank.
Having and being a friend is such an important topic to discuss with children, and my wish for my son is that he will find the kind of friends that I made in school that are still my very closest friends to this day. They were there for me, encouraged me, and almost always set a good example for me. Almost. I kid. *cough* Check us out on graduation morning in all of our early 90’s glory. That’s me, second from right…the short one. Ha!
Are you busily preparing for Thanksgiving this week? We’re starting our Thanksgiving preparations here, making grocery lists and planning dishes we will be preparing to take to our Thanksgiving dinner with our family. It’s also a time where we get to catch up with friends as well, so the word “Friendsgiving” is a great way to describe how we come together with our friends and family to celebrate the season.
In honor of celebrating Friendsgiving, Netflix has some great titles to share with your kids to spark those conversations about friendship. There’s also some titles as well for the grown-ups to enjoy!
20 Dynamic Duos Available on Netflix
For your little kids:
1. Bob and Larry: VeggieTales in the House
2. Bert and Ernie: Sesame Street: Elmo and Friends
3. Bo and Dezzy: Bo on the Go!
4. Justin and Olive: Justin Time
5. Tod and Copper: The Fox and the Hound 2
6. Clifford and Elizabeth: Clifford
And your big kids:
1. Phineas and Ferb
2. Shaggy and Scooby: Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated
3. Vada and Thomas: My Girl
4. Martin and Chris: Wild Kratts
5. Finn and Jake: Adventure Time
6. Mario and Luigi: The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
7. Charlotte and Wilbur: Charlotte’s Web
Plus a few for mom and dad:
1. Rory and Lorelai: Gilmore Girls
2. Schmidt and Nick: New Girl
3. Ted and Barney: How I Met Your Mother
4. Liz and Jack: 30 Rock
5. Walter and Jesse: Breaking Bad
6. Mulder and Scully: The X-Files
7. Wayne and Garth: Wayne’s World
VEGGIE STAMP CRAFT
While you’re prepping Friendsgiving dinner, give the kids a few extra veggies, paint, and paper to see what fun designs they can make. Click here to learn how to make your own veggie stamps, including instructions for making our favorite veggie friends, Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber.
Cucumber Rolls with Veggie(Tales) Cream Cheese
Celebrate the launch of VeggieTales (or just enjoy a pre-Friendsgiving snack) with cucumber roll-ups stuffed with veggie cream cheese. Anything can go into cucumber rolls, but for this version we’re sticking to sun-dried tomatoes for Bob the Tomato, a celery stalk for Frankencelery and baby carrots for Laura Carrot. Click here to see how to make your own.
I wrote this post as part of my participation as a member of the Netflix Stream Team. All opinions are my own.
It’s back to school time and that means early mornings, lots of homework, and busy days. Getting back into the swing of the new school year definitely makes our family appreciate our weekends a little more. After a long week at school and work, there’s nothing we love better than relaxing with a great movie and Netflix Streaming has been the source of our family movie night entertaining for almost a year now. There’s always a great selection and it has really brought our family closer. Looking for some great title suggestions to have your own movie night with your family? Check out some of these great movies below offered on Netflix Streaming:
For the little kids:
1. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2
2. The Pirate Fairy
3. Hoodwinked
4. Angelina Ballerina
5. Bob the Builder
6. The Muppet Movie
For the bigger kids:
1. Strange Hill High
2. The Avengers
3. The Smurfs 2
4. Star Wars: The Clone Wars
5. Free Birds
6. Mako Mermaids: An H2O Adventure
For the teens and adults:
1. Clueless
2. The Breakfast Club
3. Friday Night Lights
4. The Vampire Diaries
5. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
6. 13 Going on 30
Who didn’t love Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and The Breakfast Club growing up (assuming you grew up in the 80’s)? Those are two movies I can watch over and over, so I was so excited to discover that 13 Going on 30 also had an eighties theme going on. I’ve added it to that list of movies that I can watch repeatedly and still never tire of it!
Want more fun activities to get your family in the mood for Pizza and a Movie? Check out these fun suggestions below:
Cozy Blanket Fort Tutorial
Get the whole family in the mood for movie or TV night by transforming your family room into a cozy blanket fort. Click here to learn how to make your own.
Pizza Nachos
Nothing completes family movie night better than a delicious treat. If you love pizza and you love nachos, you’ll die for these pizza nachos – a twist on two of our all-time favorites. Click here to learn how to make your own.
I wrote this post as part of my participation as a member of the Netflix Stream Team. All opinions are my own.
I can remember my son’s very first day of school like it was yesterday. We were so excited to have enrolled him in three-year-old kindergarten and he had such a great morning getting prepared before I took him to school. He woke up without a fuss, ate his breakfast like a champ, and I helped him put on his little uniform. We both did great at drop-off, meaning no tears, and I was so, so proud of my sweet baby. Even if I did send him to school with his uniform shorts on backward.
This picture of him on his first day of school makes me so proud of how far he has come, yet sad that my little boy isn’t really a little boy anymore. (Excuse the funny-looking marks on his shirt…trying to blur out his school logo.)
He no longer needs my assistance with so many things now as he gets ready for his first day of school, but one thing that hasn’t changed through these years is that I still make sure to send him off to school completely prepared for a great year. We purchase uniforms and school supplies as usual, but now he has a hand in helping pick out his backpack and lunchbox.
Staples has everything you need to get your kids (or yourself) ready to go back to school, including cool backpacks, lunch bags, and the latest technology to stay ahead of the learning game. When they offered us a few items to help get my son and me ready for the new school year, I was so excited. Their selection of back-to-school products is truly fabulous and we are enjoying using them.
E.B. chose this awesome backpack because it is big enough to hold a laptop, which he doesn’t use at school, but takes to his grandparent’s house to use after school. He was already set on a lunchbox, so I chose one for myself since I have been toting one of his old ones to work for a couple of years now. This beautiful lunch bag is even prettier in person and comes with a compact ice pack to help keep my lunch fresh. It’s big enough to tote everything I need, including drinks. I keep asking myself what I ever did without it! Finally, this Kindle Fire 7” HD tablet will keep him reading, learning, and playing all year long. The librarian in me loves e-books and the fact that you don’t have to wait for a paper copy of something you want to read really bad. There are also a ton of educational apps he can download to make learning fun.
We’re all set for a fantastic new school year thanks to Staples! Be sure and check out their amazing selection of products to make your school year a great one.
I was provided with the products pictured in exchange for this post.
It seems like it has been forever since I updated with a personal post, so I thought I would document some things here for posterity. That, and my blog has become a real snore!
I have a third grader now. Here he is on his first day of school. He is doing well and loves third grade! He does not, however, love third grade homework. I look at this picture and he looks so grown up, yet still little if that makes any sense. He has learned how to customize his computer background and is mighty proud of himself.
I got my hair cut before school started. I haven’t had it this long since my early twenties. I immediately regretted it.
And…..I turned 40 last month. Here I am on my birthday, giving the “forty is fabulous” thumb’s up! While I am definitely grateful for every stinkin’ one of these 40 years, it sure does make you think some deep thoughts. Mainly, things like, “How did this happen?” and, “Oh my gosh, in ten more years I will be 50!”. So, there has been much lamenting my youth and deep thinking. Which is mentally exhausting. *sigh*
My container garden of five tomato plants proudly yielded one, yes, ONE tiny tomato this summer. I ate it and it was good.
Work is keeping me super, super busy. I have taken on another role at work along with being the librarian and it has been challenging, but in a good way. I have a Scholastic book fair scheduled in another week, so I’m getting prepared for that. The husband is fine, the cats are fat and happy, and I am ready for some cooler fall weather.
If there is one value I have tried to instill in my son, it’s that he should always be kind. Growing up in a culture where being cruel is often thought of as funny and cool, I want my son to know the difference and be accepting of others, no matter what their differences may be. He’s only nine, but he’s already had a taste or two of having his feelings hurt because someone was unkind to him. This has paved the way for some great discussions between us. Sometimes, kids can really relate when they see their favorite television characters tackling the same issues.
Taking a cue from Derek – star of the Netflix original series – this month we’re focusing on kindness. Derek’s mantra of acceptance, no matter age or ability, inspired a Netflix list of titles which are a great resource to remind your kids about how to see the good in everyone. Below are some great title suggestions to get your big and little kids talking about kindness and acceptance. Share some together time while watching one or two before school starts and use it as a talking point with your kids.
For your big kids:
1. Rudy
2. Mulan
3. A Mile in His Shoes
4. Radio
5. Good Luck Charlie: Down a Tree
6. Glee
And your little ones:
1. Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Vol. 1 Ep. 6: Friends Help Each Other
2. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Season 3, Ep. 4: One Bad Apple
3. Arthur, Season 15, Ep. 8: Muffy’s Classic Classy Club / Best Enemies
4. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
5. Super Why, Season 1, Ep. 61: The Ugly Duckling: Becoming a Swan
6. The Fox and the Hound
DIY Craft
Inspire your kids to do good by turning random acts of kindness into a fun game. With our Kindness Punch Box, your kids can break through each tissue-papered hole to reveal a kindness challenge, like smiling at everyone you meet or making a sweet treat to share with your neighbors. Click here to learn how make your own.
Salted Caramel Monkey Bread
If you know Derek, you know that he loves many things and finds kindness in each and every one of them. In the spirit of celebrating some of those favorite things, we’re making Monkey Bread this month. Not only is this delicious treat named after one of Derek’s “favoritest animals,” but it’s also perfect to share with family and friends. Click here to learn how to make your own.
I wrote this post as part of my participation as a member of the Netflix Stream Team. All opinions are my own.
School may be out for summer, but that’s no excuse to let the learning stop. Along with his summer reading assignments, our son is also learning more about the world around him by watching some really cool shows on Netflix. So far, his favorite has been When We Left Earth, which explores the various NASA missions over the years. He loves anything with space travel, so this particular show was a perfect choice.
Check out these great titles for your bigger kids to watch:
1. Lewis & Clark: The Journey Out West
2. Walking with Dinosaurs
3. Secret Yellowstone
4. The Blue Planet
5. When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions
Got younger kids? These titles will surely get them learning and having fun at the same time:
1. The Great Mouse Detective
2. Busytown Mysteries
3. LeapFrog: Math Adventures to the Moon
4. Turtle: The Incredible Journey
5. The Magic School Bus
When they’ve had enough screen time, check out these Story Starter Cubes you can make yourself. I plan on making these for centers in my library this year. What a fun way to get a child’s imagination going!
Don’t let your child fall victim to the “summer brain drain”. Check out these great titles on Netflix and give the Story Starter Cubes a try to throw in some extra fun with their learning. Happy Summer!
I wrote this post as part of my participation as a member of the Netflix Stream Team. All opinions are my own.
Hands down, one of the most popular children’s book series that flies off of the shelves in my library is Judy Moody by Megan McDonald.
The Judy Moody book series, targeted at 6-9 year olds, is written about a feisty and independent-minded girl who finds herself in fun and adventurous scenarios in each individual book of the series.Judy Moody has more than 17.5 million books in print, is a winner of more than 30 children’s literature awards, and repeatedly on the New York Times best-seller list. We have the entire collection and my second graders can’t wait until they can get their hands on one of these books. A few of my students discovered that Stink, Judy’s little brother, also has his own series. Both of these are fabulous first chapter books for your kids that are fun to read. My son and I just finished reading Stink and the Incredible Super-Galactic Jawbreaker as part of his summer reading assignment. However, it didn’t feel like an assignment because the book was so much fun to read. If you have a reluctant reader, you know how hard it is to find a book your child will actually enjoy reading. I highly recommend the Judy Moody and the Stink series. Your kids will be begging for more!
From now until July 31, 2014 when you purchase Borden half gallons you can enter the unique code found on the container to download exclusive items and activities from “Mooo-dy Summer Mania”, a partnership of Candlewick Press and Borden Dairy. While you’re there, be sure to enter the “Way-Cool Sweepstakes”. What’s up for grabs?
Grand Prize – Complete Judy Moody and Stink library signed by the author/illustrator
First Prize – signed copy of New Judy Moody and Stink Book
Second Prize – Mystery Judy Moody and Stink Book
Third Prize – Uber-Awesome Temporary Tattoo
So, encourage your kids to get reading this summer and help them get started by purchasing one of these specially marked half gallons from Borden Dairy. For more fun tips from Borden Dairy, follow Elsie at
http://www.pinterest.com/elsieborden/
This is a sponsored post for Borden Dairy. All opinions are my own.