It comes as no surprise to many parents that reading TO your child in the early years (even as babies!) has a tremendous impact on a child's ability to catch onto reading later on. I used to think the main benefit was that your baby begins to pick up on reading cadence, which helps them read along in class with inflection. This is a goal of beginner readers in Kindergarten and First Grade, so that makes perfect sense to me. What I didn't realize was that I was WAYYYYY oversimplifying the impact of reading aloud to your baby. Benefits of Keep Reading
Free Printable Teacher Thank you Note
My kids love going to school—and so do I! Teachers have the patience of saints and should be celebrated every day, in my opinion. ;) I wanted to come up with a way for my kids to show their own gratitude, so I came up with this free printable teacher thank you note. It's fun and easy because it's a fill-in-the-blank teacher thank you letter template—meaning it already looks beautiful and all you have to do is help your little one get to work...it really is a cute teacher appreciation idea! :) Cute Teacher Appreciation Idea It's always so fun for a teacher to hear from their student, Keep Reading
Teacher Appreciation Week Thank You Letter – Super Cute!
When I was a young girl, I always thought being a teacher would be a fun career. I loved going to school and had some amazing educators. I was always a little sad when school let out for summer! One year, we threw an end of year thank you party and everyone wrote notes telling our teacher the impact she had on us, which made her cry (in a good way!). As an adult, I now understand even more fully the impact that educators have on our little ones and wanted to bring that tradition back with a heartfelt teacher appreciation week thank you letter. There are a Keep Reading
Newborn Necessities Shopping List [Updated for 2019!]
Searching for the best things to put on your baby registry? Well, you have found it! Today I'd like to point out one of my favorite posts on the blog. It's the most comprehensive list of NEWBORN MUST HAVES (with explanations) you'll find online and it took me HOURS to write! I happen to believe it's THE BEST newborn necessities guide on the internet! (maybe I'm a little biased, but still....) :) It took me hours and hours to write because I wanted to be super thorough. There are SO MANY THINGS I wish I had known before having my first baby and one of Keep Reading
101 Intentional Acts of Kindness to Yourself [you’re not being selfish!]
As a mom it is so easy to get extremely stressed out to the point where you’re not able to handle the daily stresses of life, much less be a good mom or kind to yourself. I find that when I’m not taking care of myself, I expect too much emotional support from others…..but other people in my life are busy handling their own crap and can’t help me! It’s a crazy vicious cycle, I tell you! What I’m learning to do (and have been practicing for a couple years now) is being adamant about taking care of MYSELF. When I feel taken care of, I have more capacity to: Give more of myself to Keep Reading
{Easy Holiday Tradition} Write a Letter to Santa with a Free Letter to Santa Template
'Tis the season to do all the things. I love Christmas, truly, but sometimes I can get a bit overwhelmed with all the tradition crammed into a single month. I've learned to simplify and pick and choose which traditions to participate in yearly...and one thing I LOVE doing every Christmas is helping the kids write a letter to Santa! It's easy and makes such a sweet memento to look at yearly. Guess what? You can do it too...honestly! I've made it super simple for you—check it out! How to Write a Letter to Santa Of course, there are so many ways you can write a letter to Santa! One Keep Reading
21 Easy Essential Oil Gift Ideas
It's no secret that I love using essential oils! With the holidays coming up, I'm trying to get ahead of gift-giving this year. It's no fun to be frantically searching the aisles of an over-crowded store the week of Christmas, trying to figure out what on earth to get for my neighbors or cousins! This year, I'm doing better and am even thinking about making my own homemade gifts. I know, that sounds like a lot of work but thankfully I found a ton of great gifts for essential oil lovers - which is pretty much everyone these days! 21 Amazing Essential Oil Gift Ideas Keep Reading
Why I’m Letting My Kids Believe in Santa
When I first became a mom, I wasn't prepared for a lot of things. I was probably MOST unprepared for the fact that my children would start asking me hard questions. As a mom, you know that when your kids ask you a question you BETTER have the answer! If you don't have it, who possibly could? You are everything to them and they look to you for advice. I didn't realize I would have to take a hard stance on so many issues I didn't even realize were issues before! Oh the questions I was unprepared for! Does the Easter Bunny come to our house? What happens when you die? Will Keep Reading
10 Creative Ways to Give Gifts Cards + Cash as Gifts
Sometimes, there's no better gift than cold, hard cash. It allows the receiver to choose a gift or experience they will be guaranteed to love. But it can feel a little icky or anti-climatic to give money at times. RIGHT?!! But never fear...I have the solution. Get creative! Creative ways to give money as a gift at Christmas There are SO many ways to give money at Christmas or any other time of the year. If you are just sticking it in an envelope and calling it a day, it might be time to step your game up a little. Thankfully, my online bestie, Amazon has a ton of Keep Reading
Tips to Stay Safe This Halloween
This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx.com on behalf of Erie Insurance. Halloween is such a fun time of the year! I love how excited all the kids get about everything from pumpkin carving to choosing their costumes each year. While it's a time of excitement and a lot of fun, it's also a good opportunity to take the time and make sure you are ready to have a safe Halloween. Halloween Safety Precautions I'm partnering with my friends at Erie Insurance to help spread the word about Halloween safety tips. Here aresome easy ways to keep yourself, your family and others safe this Keep Reading
10 Incredibly Fun Baby Shower Games + Prize Ideas
Baby showers are so much fun! If you are planning one, you’re probably wondering what kind of fun baby shower games to play, especially when you are trying to throw a classy baby shower with people of all ages in attendance. Often, the thought of playing baby shower games gives people a cold sweat, but never fear! There are a lot of funny baby shower games to play that are not inappropriate, and won’t embarrass either the mother-to-be or shower attendees. 10 FUN + CLASSY BABY SHOWER GAMES Here are 10 incredibly fun (and sometimes hilarious) baby shower games your Keep Reading
The Best Smelling Essential Oil Diffuser Blend for Your Living Room!
I have been hunting FOREVER – like literally 20 million years – for a good scent diffuser for my home. When I was a little girl, we didn’t have anything good smelling in our house. My family was as frugal as frugal comes, and essential oil diffusers were not high on top of the list of things to buy. I would go to friends’ homes and marvel at these wonderful smelling devices that released fragrance in the air. 😊 I vowed that I would one day make my home smell amazing despite how unpractical it was to spend hard-earned money on this luxury. Hehe. **Don’t tell my mom – she would flip Keep Reading
21 Newborn Must Haves You Can’t Forget to Register For
If you are wondering “What do I need for a newborn?” then you are in the right place! Having a newborn baby is stressful enough without having to worry about what to buy in preparation for his or her arrival. When I was about to have my first baby, I was SO CONFUSED about what was truly a baby necessity and what I should bother putting on my registry. I wish an experienced mom would have taken me by the hand and walked me through the list of newborn must haves and then explained what things weren’t truly necessary, but would have been “nice to have.” This is my gift to Keep Reading
5 Magnetic Chore Charts That Make Your Kids WANT to Do Chores!
On this blog we talk a lot about teaching kids responsibility from a young age. It's really important to me that my kids grow up to be responsible & caring. One of the things we work VERY hard on in our house is instilling a sense of pride in taking ownership for your home and helping out the family. The kids get an allowance that is NOT TIED to their chores and then they are expected to do chores simply because they live here. You can read more about that here >> It's been a long journey, but now that they are 10, 8, and 6, my persistence has paid off. They now Keep Reading
Free Blank Printable Weekly Chore Chart Template for Kids
If you'd like to teach your children responsibility, this blank printable weekly chore chart is perfect for that! With this printable, you can assign tasks and keep track of who completed their household duties. In our house, the kids do age appropriate chores. I am a big proponent of kids doing chores as a way to learn valuable life skills. I wrote all about those daily chores per child in this post: List of Everyday Chores Kids Can Do to Build Character Free Printable Chore Chart Template To download the chore chart template, click on the Keep Reading
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