Franklin and the Thunderstorm - A Review

Franklin And The Thunderstorm, by Paulette Bourgeois, is the endearing story of Franklin the Turtle who is afraid of thunderstorms.  A storm is brewing when Franklin goes to visit his friend the Fox.  His Mom tells him to go ahead and go; that he’ll get there before the storm.  Once Franklin gets to Fox’s house, the storm starts.  Franklin’s friends are happy to play in the rain – Hawk, Fox, Beaver, and even Snail are not afraid, but that doesn’t ease Franklin’s fears.  When the storm hits full force and the power goes out, not even treats can get Franklin out of his shell.  Then his friends start telling him about the Cloud Giants and all that they do during the storms.  Franklin finally comes out of his shell, and even learns a little bit about what really causes thunder and lightning!

I liked this book because in addition to being entertaining, it gave me openings to talk to Little Miss about a lot of things.  There was the talk about how it isn’t safe to play in trees during thunderstorms, the discussion about what really causes thunder and lightning, and a good talk about being afraid – for us, that meant talking about how it’s okay to be afraid, but often if you learn about what you’re afraid of it’s not so scary. 

The illustrations are wonderful – we both loved the bright colors and the adorable characters.  We’ve been reading this book about every other day, which for Little Miss is pretty rare!  She usually doesn’t like to repeat books often.  

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**I received an e-book for review purposes, all opinions expressed are 100% my own.  

Keep You Children Reading This Summer!

I love reading with Little Miss - we read books together all of the time, which I believe is a fundamental part of her learning to read later.  I truly believe the more you read to your children the more of an advantage they will have in school!

PBS and iVillage have paired up for a great Summer Reading Community Challenge to keep your children reading through the summer.  

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Beach Weekend

How was your weekend?  Ours was fabulous!  We got to house-sit, which means staying on the beach for the weekend. 

Little Miss loved splashing in the waves, and we even took a little boat trip out to Ft. Pickens.  There was only one other boat there, and we had a great time splashing in the water and looking for shells.  We discovered that Little Miss does not like hermit crabs!  We tried to get one to come out and say hi, but they all stayed tightly in their shells.  We pointed out the part of the crab you can see, but she’d have nothing to do with it. 

She did, however, enjoy watching the minnows and helping me look for sand dollars that were washed up on the shore.  We also took a trip to Paradise Bar and Grill, a local hang-out that we frequent where the parents can eat while the children splash in shallow water only a couple of feet away.

This is actually an old pictures, but it's from Paradise!

She even got in some pool time while we were there, courtesy of my old roommate and her fiancé.  It really made me miss the year I spent living at the beach, and if it turns out that we end up staying here longer than expected we’ve decided to work towards getting a place out there once again.  I would love to give that gift to Little Miss! 

We also got to grill some delicious food and watch a beautiful sunset.  The best part about it for me was that my husband was here Friday through Sunday – I can’t remember the last time that happened!

Sorry we don’t have many pictures, too much time was spent having fun – the cameras got forgotten!

Druid City Art's Festival - Tuscaloosa, AL

Last weekend we were in Tuscaloosa, AL and had the chance to go to the Druid City Arts Festival.  Although there weren't very many people there, it was a great festival and Little Miss had a wonderful time!

There was rain threatening the entire time we were there (which might explain the low attendance).  However, we were able to park less than 1/2 a block away so we weren't too worried about it.  

Little Miss spied the bounce houses as soon as we got there.  Fortunately, there weren't many children in them yet so she got to have a great time playing before the older kids got there and it got too rough. 

This bounce house also had a slide, which she loved!

Later, some older children got in and actually RAN OVER Little Miss while she was waiting on her turn to go down the slide.  I scolded the children when they went to get back in the bounce house again since the mother either didn't see it or didn't care.  Is that okay to do?  In my opinion if you do something that puts my child at risk I'm going to say something to you!  

After the bounce house we went to the craft area, where we did some coloring and sidewalk chalk.  We also got to play with bubbles!

There was great music the entire time we were there, and artist booths were set up around the perimeter.  We listened to the music while we ate lunch.

All in all a great, family-friendly festival!

Wordless Wednesday - A Day at the Park

We're fortunate where we live in that there are a LOT of parks within walking distance.  This one (Blue Park) is a favorite, so Little Miss and I went a few weekends ago since the weather was so nice.  Now we're having another cold spell, so it's nice to look at these pictures and remember it will be warm again soon!

She has gotten a whole lot braver these days!

Going down the twisty slide

The wheels on the bus go round and round...

Wordless Wednesday - Toddler Fashion

I let Little Miss choose her own outfits as long as they are weather appropriate.  Sometimes she makes some very unique choices!    

Wordless Wednesday - Downward Dog

Here is a picture of Little Miss doing Downward Dog on her Daddy's tummy last year!

We were hanging out at the Greater Good Music Festival.  

She's been a fan of yoga ever since!

Mardi Gras Game Packs - A Review

Here in the Panhandle, we have tons of parties celebrating Mardi Gras.  There are parties for just adults, and then there are the family-friendly parties.  Adult parties are easy, you don’t have to worry too much about entertaining the guests, they’ll usually figure it out themselves.  However, once you start having families over it can get a little more difficult, especially if the children are all different ages. 

Python Printable Games has a wonderful solution with their Mardi Gras Games.  For $19.95, you get 20 printable games delivered to you immediately.  You probably won’t use all of them, but you can choose the ones that suit your needs the best and print those out. 

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FREE Funnix Reading Program

During the month of January, the Funnix Reading Program will be FREE--no strings, no hidden costs. The Funnix sequence teaches 2 years worth of reading skills and is regularly priced at $249. 

The program is designed by the world's most successful creator of instructional materials, Siegfried (Zig) Engelmann, a maverick professor of Education who has authored many books, including Give Your Child a Superior Mind, and highly successful reading programs like Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. 

Engelmann says of Funnix,"Teaching the lessons requires a lot less effort, and the lessons are more entertaining. Also, the program consists of 220 daily lessons, so it takes kids farther than most beginning-reading programs-- from being non readers to reading on the third-grade level." 

The free version of Funnix is electronic. You download the entire package of 220 lessons and other material onto your computer, and you have everything you need to teach the program. The steps of what you do and how you do it are spelled out in Teacher’s Guide, which you review before presenting the program. Workbook and textbook activities accompany the lessons. You print these. 

When you teach Funnix, you and you child sit next to each other and watch the computer screen. A narrator presents a series fast-paced exercises in each 30-minute lesson. The narrator asks questions, and your child responds--out loud. Your job is to reinforce correct responses and correct any mistakes by following simple rules for "navigating" through the material. 

In schools, the program works the same way, except that there's usually a small group of children being taught, and the person who leads the group is a teacher or an aide. 

The program has been very successful with a large range of children from ages 4 through 7 who enter the program knowing nothing about reading, including children who have been written off by schools. 

What is Zig Engelmann's reason for providing this amazing give-away? He indicated, "We've been trying for years to do things that make schools successful, particularly with young kids and lower performers. We figured that we're in a position to offer schools and parents a stimulus package that could be worth a lot for every kid who otherwise would not be accelerated or who would be a reading failure. Why not make the electronic package available to anybody who needs it? It doesn't cost us much to do it, and it could help in a small way to counteract the effects of bankrupt schools and dismal times."

Wordless Wednesday - Then and Now

Little Miss sure is growing!  A few weeks ago we were getting out the Christmas things, and she found this stocking.

We used it when we took a photo for our Christmas cards when she was just a few months old back in 2007.

My how we've grown!

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Frugal Family Events - Pensacola, FL - Dec 10th Weekend

With Christmas just around the corner, there are a lot of ongoing events.  I’ll probably leave links to the websites for most of these so you can confirm them yourself.  Little Miss is going to see the Zoo Lights with her grandparents this weekend!

What:  Pensacola Lights
Cost: Free!  This is an individual family who shares Christmas Lights with the community
Where:  8911 Cove Avenue
When:  Daily 5:30-10:00 - hours run later on weekends

What:  Downtown Pensacola’s 1st Annual Palafox Christmas Market
Cost: Free, downtown businesses will have specials and free samples, etc.  
Where:  Downtown Pensacola
When:  December 4th and 11th from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

What:  Seville Quarter’s  Magical Winter Wonderland
Cost: $5 a person
Where:  Seville Quarter Downtown
When:  Friday and Saturday through Christmas from 5-9 pm

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Everett the Elf has made his appearance!

Better late than never!  My cousin, Merry, got me interested in the whole Elf on a shelf phenomenon.  I love the idea of doing something for Christmas every day in December.

Yesterday I was in Hallmark because I had a coupon, and I ran across Everett the Elf and his Magical Shoe.  Everett lost his shoe while helping Santa, and the shoe will leave 'elf magic' fun every day in December until Christmas.  A tiny Everett sits in the shoe, and there is room to put a note and supplies for a craft or other things for an adventure.

Yesterday's adventure was mainly searching for the shoe, but we also made a Buzz Lightyear cut-out.  I imagine we'll have plenty of simple adventures like that one, but hopefully we'll have some really exciting ones as well!

Oh Christmas Tree!

This weekend we got our Christmas tree up and decorated.  We get a real tree each year, and getting it ready is one of my favorite parts of the holiday.  I love the way it smells, and I love how so many of the ornaments hold special meaning.

Growing up, each year we got an ornament for Christmas.  It was alway fun finding your own ornaments to hang up on the tree.  When I moved out, I got to take my ornaments with me.

We've continued the tradition with Little Miss, and my parents do as well.  She'll have lots of ornaments when she's old enough to move out!

Little Miss also got a small tree to keep in her room this year.  I don't know how she sleeps with the lights blinking on and off all night, but she just loves it!  It's a small artificial tree that I used when I was in college.  We let her put an ornament on it each day.

It's not much to look at, but she loves it!

Do you have your tree up yet?

Say Ahh!

This past week was Little Miss' first trip to the dentist.  I have to admit - I think I was more nervous than she was about it.  I'm one of those people who doesn't enjoy going to the dentist very much, so I wanted to make sure that she had a good experience.

And boy did she!  She was a little nervous at first, but Pam quickly put her at ease.  She got to look at all of the tools before they were used, and even kept her mouth open like a pro.  I was so proud, and she enjoyed getting a toy at the end of her visit.  Now she's happily flossing every day with her dinosaur flossers and enjoys brushing her teeth even more.  

The picture is after we were done - she's holding Mr. Slurpy, her favorite dentist tool!

   

Frugal Family Events - Pensacola, FL - Dec 3rd Weekend

With Christmas just around the corner, there are a lot of on-going events.  I’ll probably leave links to the websites for most of these so you can confirm them yourself.  I think we’re going to look at some Christmas Lights this weekend and head downtown for the Christmas Market on Saturday!  

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Frugal Events in Pensacola

There is a lot to do this weekend!  

What:  Gallery Night
Cost: Free!  
Where:  Downtown Pensacola
When:  Friday Nov 19, 5-9 pm.  

What:  Mobile International Festival
Cost: $10.00 adults, $8.00 seniors, $5.00 7-15 years, Free 6 and under
Where:  Mobile Civic Center
When:  Saturday, November 20 (10 AM - 5 PM)

What:  Storytime at Barnes and Noble
Cost: Free!

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Our trip to the Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival

This weekend we spent a lot of time at the Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival.  The festival lasts all weekend, and is one of the biggest ones in Pensacola.  There is definitely something for everyone - food, great music, art, and an amazing children’s area!

I was especially excited to take Little Miss to the children’s area.  We took here last year and she had fun, but I knew this year she would have more of an idea of what was going on and be able to participate more.  

We started off at the sand art table.  Little Miss still has the one she made last year and often carries it around, so I knew we needed to make another!  She had a great time picking the colors, and quickly learned how to put the funnel in the jar and pour in the sand. 

Next we headed to the bracelet table.  She had a great time picking out the beads, and she was able to put them all on the bracelet herself.  

We stopped by the paper flower table - the wind was pretty bad, so instead of Little Miss trying to make the flower herself she just picked the colors and the helper made it for her.  She then headed to the puppet table, where she had a great time decorating her puppet. 

 
If you’ve never been to this art festival, go ahead and put it on your calendar for next year - it’s always an amazing time!! You can spend hours looking at the artwork, listening to music, or just enjoying the great weather and people watching!

$35 Worth of Organic Products for $7!

Christmas is just around the corner, and this is a great way to get some gifts out of the way!

Head to Eversave for the daily deal - $12 for $35 credit to Wild Dill

Type BRANDCATION in the promo code box to get an extra $5 off

Sign up for their e-mail list if you want a $2 credit to use later!

Shipping at Wild Dill is free for orders over $65, around $8 otherwise.

Our Halloween Weekend

We had a very busy Halloween weekend.  It started on Friday, when we went downtown to Trick or Treat with one of our friends.  He and Little Miss had such a great time seeing all of the other costumes and playing in the park!  There was Trick or Treating as well, but we didn't do much of that - I didn't want a ton of candy to deal with!

Saturday we took a Halloween break and Little Miss went to visit her Grandparents with Daddy while I went to a wedding.  We all had a great time!

Little Miss dressed as Tinkerbell

Sunday Little Miss and I went to my friend's house to pass out treats.  We did a little Trick or Treating, but not too much.  What a fun weekend!

Did you do anything for Halloween?