Great Book for Picture Study

At our last visit to the library Kate was disappointed to discover that they didn’t have any ‘Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?’ DVDs on the shelf. (Do you remember that geography-sleuth kids’ gameshow on TV in the late 80s with the catchy intro song by the group, Rockapella? These are the cartoons along the same story lines.) So, I told her that when we got home we would get online and request them via intralibrary loan. While I was online looking for her DVDs, I ran across this book that I thought sounded really promising.  (I’m not really sure why I felt the need to tell you all that, unless I really just wanted to share with the world what a geek I was in the late 80s and still am, apparently, since I can still sing some of that theme song to this day…)

Where in the World? Around the Globe in 13 Works of Art, by Bob Raczka, has turned out to be my newest favorite book for Kate. It’s a collection of 13 works of art from around the world (duh, you probably got all that from the title) with a page describing the geographical location of the piece as well as the artist and the time he/she lived in. It’s written for kids, so the language isn’t a stumbling block but, thankfully, it’s not sing-songy either. Continue reading…

Kids and the Outdoors

We all know the importance of getting our kids out-of-doors.  We’ve heard the studies about childhood obesity and ’screen time’ in front of tvs and computers.  Of course, in Houston, it’s harder to get outside when temperatures are in high 90s.   But, we try occasionally anyways.

When I started studying Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophy a few months ago on my search for a homeschooling model that worked for me, I was surprised at her strong thoughts on nature.  She adamantly encourages children under the age of six to have no formal schooling, but to spend as much time as possible every day OUTSIDE.  And, as they get older, that portion of their ’schooling’ is still important enough to get its own subject - Nature Study.  She promoted Nature Study not only as a way to use up some of that extra energy that all kids seem to have, but also as a way to learn about our world, science, and our creator.  And we all know how a walk in the woods or a beautiful garden can help us regain perspective in life and reconnect us to God.

It seems as though current studies have finally confirmed some of what Charlotte has been saying since the 1800s.  I was just introduced to this site, Children & Nature Network, and have been thoroughly impressed with the information found there.  Check out this video clip from The Today Show about kids and the outdoors.  Makes me wanna go on a hike.  Anybody want to go with me?

So, how do YOU get your kids out-of-doors for free play on a regular basis?  I’m looking for some more creative ideas, especially for our hot, humid city.  Share them in the comments section below.

Anatomy of a Toddler’s Brain

This was just too funny NOT to share!  Enjoy!!!

Amazing July Baby Sales @ Amazon

Take advantage of the many sales going on in Amazon’s Baby Area for the month of July and beyond! 

Rite of Passage (on dooce.com)

OMG, I laughed so hard when I read this post that I just HAD to let you all in on it.  I will warn you ahead of time, though… If you have a problem with ‘off-color’ language associated with a man’s description of public restrooms, then you might want to skip this one.  But, for my ‘potty-humor’ friends (you know who you are, Sandra), you’ll DEFINITELY get a kick out of this one!

Enjoy…  Rite of Passage

Egg & Sausage Muffins

I’ve been following lurking around the RocksInMyDryer blog for a little while now and have been thoroughly enjoying her “Works for Me Wednesday” posts.  She usually has it open to everyone to post their own links for whatever topic she’s designated and I wind up spending a few minutes hours following all the links to great posts.  

So, this week’s topic was 5-ingredient recipes.  My kind of cooking!  Needless to say, I’ve spent lots of times perusing everyone’s creative ideas and have bookmarked several to try out.  

The first recipe I tried was for Egg & Sausage Muffins at ISpeakBeanish.  They turned out great!!  I added some cheese (hello - I AM a cheese-aholic!) and then I blended up some fresh yellow squash and zucchini to “hide” inside the egg mixture that you pour over the sausage.  You couldn’t even taste the veggies (thank goodness, otherwise my family wouldn’t have eaten them) and the two oldest kiddos LOVED them.  We had plenty leftover for breakfast the next day and I’m about to freeze the rest to have on hand for whenever Shawn needs a quick breakfast to go with his morning coffee.

So, slide on over to ISpeakBeanish for her great recipe (she’s a Houston local, y’all!!) or to RocksInMyDryer for more ideas for dinner tonight and enjoy.  Oh, and then you have to tell me which one YOU did and how it turned out so I can be sure to add it to my list!  :)

Baby’s Smile and Your Brain

You know the magical moment…  

The one where you gasp, your heart completely melts, and you’re filled with more joy than you ever thought a human could feel…  

The moment when your baby first smiles at you.

Well, apparently, some super-smart people at Baylor College of Medicine decided to find out exactly what that smile does to a mom.

Here’s what they say:

They found that when the mothers saw their own infants’ faces, key areas of the brain associated with reward lit up during the scans.

“These are areas that have been activated in other experiments associated with drug addiction,” said Strathearn. “It may be that seeing your own baby’s smiling face is like a ‘natural high’”.

Read more about their findings here…  Much can be gleaned from reaction to baby’s smile

What I love is that scientists are just confirming what all mothers around the world already know.  There’s nothing better than your baby’s smile!

My Ice Cream Personality

So here’s the other quiz I promised you. This one asks you questions about your ice cream preferences and comes up with your personality from those answers. Be sure to click the link below to find out your ice cream pesonality and then share it with the rest of us in the comments below.

Here are my results…

Your Ice Cream Personality:

You like to think of yourself as a fairly modest person. And it’s true that you don’t talk yourself up… but you’re also pretty happy with who you are.   You are incredibly cautious. You rather miss out on something than make a mistake. No one would ever call you wild… but they would call you responsible. You are a somewhat open minded person, but deep down you’re fairly conservative. You don’t like trying new things very much. And if you do find something new you like, you stick with it. You are a natural multitasker. You feel alive when you’re doing more than one thing at a time. You can be a big dramatic and over the top sometimes. You are bold in every way

Cow Appreciation Day

I just drove through Chick-Fil-A (this is at least a once-a-week occurrence at our house) and in our bag of yummy food there was a cute little coupon.  It says, “Dress like me, git free chikin” and there’s a picture of a cow dressed up in a cow costume.  (Yes.  I said that right.)

Apparently Chic-Fil-A has named July 11th, this year’s “Cow Appreciation Day”.  And if you wear a cow costume to their fine restaurant on that day, you’ll get a free meal.

Now, I’m all about bargains and getting things for free and what-not, but I’m not so sure I’m ready to dress up like a cow for it.  But, for those of you who would, YOU GO, GIRL (or boy)!  :)

I’ll just have to remember to allocate a little extra time to get through the lines on that day since I’m sure they’ll be packed with cows…

What about you?  Will you be one of those cool people that dresses up, or a dork like me that doesn’t?  :P

Wordless Wednesday: Our other ‘child’, Riley-the-Dog