Archives for April 2014

Free Story Times Around Atlanta

04/17/2014 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

Story times around Atlanta are just one of a gajillion perks of being a parent of little ones in this city. Story time is an extended benefit of parents reading aloud to their children, as it also helps a child’s social side grow, as well as prepare/supplement listening skills for preschool and school. Following a list of mostly retail places around the metro Atlanta are that offer story times, open to the community.

First, don’t forget, you can also check with your local library, as well – despite budget cuts these last few years, story times are still going strong. Local counties have their times listed online: Dekalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Clayton, Cobb, Sequoyah regional and Forsyth. [Read more…]

Keep on saving! :o)
--Barbara
**Remember, y'all, this post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

Filed Under: around town, books, literacy

Caillou Talking Doll – A Big Hit!

04/15/2014 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

We recently were sent a talking Caillou doll to play with and review. (And by “we”, I mean my five-year-old daughter and two-year-old son, of course!) We’ve seen “regular” (non-talking) Caillou toys in stores before, mostly at Babies R Us and Toys R Us, but the talking doll takes the cake. Both of my kids (5 and 2) have long been fans of watching Caillou, and were thrilled when I surprised them with the doll. Imagine they’re delight when they discovered he could TALK, too! He’s got several cute phrases, including teaching about the seasons, counting to five, colors (and gives examples), naming his friends (and he includes his little sis – bonus points in my book!), naming animals, teachers “thank you” and “hello” in French, and thanks you for playing with him. [Read more…]

Filed Under: product reviews

Sweet Bananas and Honey Dessert

04/09/2014 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

As you may know by now, my goofy kids are quite picky eaters. (Okay, fine, so are their parents. After all, apples don’t make peaches, right??) I’ve already shared how the enjoy applesauce spiked with frozen peas. But a secret favorite treat of theirs is one that’s actually quite healthy for them: bananas and honey. (or as my otherwise quite articulate 2-year-old son calls them “gananas”.) It’s a simple, kid-friendly recipe that they gobble up every. single. time. [Read more…]

Filed Under: picky tot pleasers

Explaining Death to Young Children

04/09/2014 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

Explaining death to young children is never a particularly desirable subject, I find, as we wish to preserve their innocence and shield them from anything that may burst their fragile bubble, believing all is always well in their world. However, death is inevitable. Some folks lose loved ones later in life, while others experience death of a loved one at a tender, young age. Following is my story, explaining death to my five-year-old daughter, Carol.

My grandmother was fortunate enough to raise her five children, not only to see all eight of her grandchildren grow up, but also see her eight great-grandchildren, AND meet three great-great-grandchildren. She lived for almost 18 years after my grandaddy passed away, and was the last of her twelve siblings to survive. She lived through the great depression, and lost her own mother at a very young age. She was, in every sense of the word, a good Southern woman. She had the greenest thumb I’ve ever seen, able to revive even the limpest plant, and made the world’s best cornbread, biscuits, green beans, and fried apple pies. Fond memories of sitting on the front porch, eating watermelon after a big Sunday lunch sit firmly in my memory, holding a very special place in my heart.

She was four days shy of her 95th birthday when she went Home. [Read more…]

Filed Under: family, Frugal Parenting, parenting

Alpha-Bits Snack Mix

04/03/2014 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post from Post Alpha-Bits cereal and the Little Free Library. I was given a form of compensation in exchange for this post.

Ever have one of those moments when you realize YOU are in charge of snack for your child’s class, and you only have an hour to throw something together? Yeah, I’ve been there more times than I care to admit. And the idea of plying my child and her classmates with junk food just because it was easier simply doesn’t sit well with me.

So when I found myself in this quandary about a week ago, I was lucky to have a good supply of pantry items I could mix together to make a snack mix. Thanks to the good folks at Alpha-Bits, it was something the kids seemed to really enjoy, too! Bonus: it’s so easy, even my five year old can make it, but not without sampling it as she goes.

This really is simple. Like not even really recipe-worthy. But I’m going to recipe it up for y’all anyway.

Alpha-Bits Snack Mix

1-2 part raisins
2 parts pretzels of choice
1-2 parts marshmallows (I used the very same ones I used for Peppermint Chocolate Popcorn)
2 parts Alpha-Bits cereal

Alpha-Bits Spelling – Encouraging Emerging Readers

04/03/2014 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post from Post Alpha-bits cereal and the Little Free Library. I was given a form of compensation in exchange for this post.

My freshly-five-year-old daughter is becoming an emerging reader, and thus an emerging speller these days. (Yep, I’m gonna pat myself on the back just a little bit for that!) We’ve practiced sight words to no end, but now that she’s interested in spelling, I decided it was time to start seeing what she could do with her writing/spelling skills.

Yesterday we had the perfect opportunity to play around with her spelling skills. And snack a little too. We used a little glue, cardstock, markers, sight word cards (for reference), and assorted Post Alpha-bits cereal pieces. We dubbed it “Alpha-Bits Spelling”. [Read more…]