Another great children’s book to get this holiday season is Tim and Sallys Beach Adventure. The first thing you will notice that the lines in the his book rhyme. I think that helps keep my kids attention, because they really like this book. Madison is always talking about going to the beach, so reading about the beach was right up her alley.  This is not a long book.  However, it is broken up into sections such as “They Get Started” and “They Are In Sight of The Beach”, so you can easily break down this story into several sections (and several nights of reading).  You get to read about swimming in the ocean, the animals that inhabit the beach, the tide, and sandcastle just to name a few things.  I really like the word list at the end of the book.  It has a pictures of key things in the story like bathing suits and crabs.  Then underneath the picture they have the word.  Since we are working with Madison with reading and sounding out, this is perfect for us.  It makes it a lot easier for her to sound out the word if she has a clue what the word is.

If you want a great story, Tim And Sallys Beach Adventure is a book you need to get at your house.  Mom and dad will enjoy it just as much at the kids.

In my house, the question of when is my birthday is asked often — usually weekly.  Madison is dying to turn 5 years old.  I am not sure what she thinks happens when  you turn five, but she can’t wait.  The book When Is My Birthday? comes in handy after being asked that question a hundred times in one day.  The book starts off with Elmo helping his mom get ready for Daisy’s, Elmo’s sister’s, birthday party.  Elmo gets jealous and wants it to be his birthday too.  He finds himself jealous that daisy got a toy truck (now, as a grown up I’d be jealous of some new modern furniture).  However, we find out at the end of the book that Elmo’s birthday is close by, so he doesn’t have to wait for long for his turn.  Daisy also shares it with him too while he waits.  I find that this book helps Madison, somewhat, with patience and sharing.  Plus, kids always enjoy reading about parties, presents, and cake.  When Is My Birthday? is a great book for impatient little ones waiting for their birthdays.

Over the past week or so, I have been reading an awesome book called The Secret of Wellington’s Map.  Granted, this isn’t my normal reading genre (usually if I can get a few minutes away I pick up Stephen King or Dean R Koontz book), but you know what?  I enjoyed this book just as much as I do books by those authors (though I think this book would be considered in either the sci-fi or mystery genre).  I would say that The Secret of Wellington’s Map is probably geared towards the ten and up crowd.  However, as an adult, I truly enjoyed the book too.  I found the author’s style a joy to read, and she really caught the essence of teenage girls in this book.  I also enjoyed finding a book that girls are the heroines.  The other thing I liked is that even though the main characters are teenage girls, they weren’t boy crazy.  Granted, there were a few boy mentions, but their lives didn’t revolve around boys.  The author had the girls talking, acting, and dressing like teenage girls, so I found them very believable.  There is also a bit of real life history intertwined into the story.

The story centers around two girls, Jaime and Nicole, that had expected a carefree summer.  However, after they come across a magic map, they go on an adventure of a lifetime.  I hate to go into more of a synopsis of the book, because I don’t want to spoil any part of it for you.  I will tell you that the map is somewhat of a time space portal, and they do go through it and end up in 1885.  However, if you want to find out why and if they make it back, you have to go read the book!

If you just got done reading diet pill reviews, this is not a review you want to read. This doesn’t fall under anything I personally would eat on diet. However, getting my 4 year old to drink milk is like pulling teeth, so anything that makes her want to drink is a good thing.  When I saw these (and the coupon I found helped too), I thought this may be exactly what I was looking for.  The straw is about 6 inches long.  It has a crunchy cereal shell on the outside and a fruity flavor lining.  Madison (my four year old) loves them!  It has gotten her to drink more milk.  Would I buy these again?  Probably not.  There were two things that I wasn’t exactly pleased about.  First, once you open the packaging there is no way to keep the other straws fresh.  The second problem is why I probably won’t buy them again, and that is that I’d say 3/4 of the straws were broken.  You can still use them as a straw, but when you have a 2-3 inch straw, it is kinda useless.  If Kellogg’s can solve their packaging issue with this, I will definitely buy these again!

Madison and I recently tried the Briarpatch’s I Spy Memory Game.  This game will help your child develop their memory, matching, critical thinking, reading and oral language skills.  It also teaches them to take turns, follow rules, and sharing.  The object of this game is to match pairs of cards.The great thing about this game is that you can really tailor it to the age of the child you are playing with.  The directions had several different versions depending on the age of the child you were playing with.  Right now, Madison (who is 4) struggled a tad with this.  The cards that you are trying pair are not identical.  The object itself is identical.  However, the two cards may have a different background or with different lighting.  That being said, I do like the detail on the cards.  They are great pictures.  The basic memory game is played with the blue cards.  You are able to play a riddle game with the red cards and the blue cards (this would be for an older child).  The red cards all have riddles on it like “A dish on a duck, a bow on a bell, a bird in a cage, a pearl in the shell”  Then on the bottom of the card that you should find the 4 cards that match this riddle.  Some of these riddles Madison was able to do.  This is just one version of how to play with both sets of cards.  There are a couple of other versions that can be played also.  Madison and I ended up making up our own rules and games with this which was just as fun!  We counted clocks and toys and matched colors.

I would highly recommend the I Spy Memory Game!  We had a lot of fun with it, and I can see it being a game that your children will enjoy playing as they grow older.

I love when I come across a blog that I wish I would have thought of that title.  New Memories is one of those blogs.  Each post gives a glimpse into Anna Glendenning’s life — you know, a new memory.  I love how she is gut wrenching honest.  To be honest, that is the first thing I noticed when I first saw her blog. Every post she does has a bit of her heart and soul written into each one.  This is also the first dark theme that I have seen that is easy on the eyes to read too.  The grey background with the cream lettering actually compliments each other quite well.  She has made it pretty easy to navigate her blog and be able to read her newer posts as well as some of the older ones.  My only complaint is that she needs an about page.  I want to read more about you!  From her header, I have figured out that she has adopted special needs siblings.   However, I want to know more!

New Memories is a blog that I would highly recommend reading.  Though the posts may be a long, they are truly informative and grab your attention to the point you can’t stop reading.