Day Trips in the Waning Days of Summer Vacation
Usually in August, the kids begin to get bored with summer vacation. Rather than giving in to boredom, families can take advantage of these last few weeks before school begins by using this precious time for day long trips. These trips don’t have to be costly like a vacation. Here are a few of the day trips I take with my children and grandchildren. [Read more…]


When I was seven years old, I wanted to create a book with Christmas cards. I had never made a book before. I loved the beauty of the holiday cards and I wanted to save them for future enjoyment. My mom suggested that I glue the Christmas card pictures in a book filled with blank pages. She would then help me write a Christmas story. This one shared bookmaking experience with my mom stayed with me for life. I soon ventured into jounaling and creating books of writing for school assignments. Later I discovered that I loved writing when taking my first English composition class in college. I created a career in writing training manuals for teachers on parenting topics and family literacy projects. Most recently, my passion for writing and self-discovery helped a group of parent and grandparent teachers create the
Ah…summer time. A time for sleeping in, swimming in the pool, playing video games, and sipping ice-cold lemonade! While a mental break from school is much needed and well deserved, you’ve probably also heard warnings to avoid the “summer slide” – the tendency to lose some academic gains during the summer. So, how do you keep kids actively involved in learning throughout the summer while having some fun in the process? Here are a few ideas for inspiration.
programs and the media promote female images of beauty and success that are almost humanly impossible to achieve without Photoshop and editing. There are too many advertisements that promote physical beauty over inner beauty and make-up instead of the contributions our daughters can make. What messages are being sent to our little girls? How can we help our daughters become confident and self-reliant with so many disturbing messages?