I’m so excited to be joining more than 20 other kid bloggers to host a virtual (online) book club for kids!  Really, it’s a book club for families – a great way to introduce kids to wonderful authors, quality books and fun activities.

Have you ever thought about visiting a national park? 

We’ve visited quite a few local and state parks – all beautiful — but nothing compares to our visit at Rocky Mountain National Park this summer!

I was so enthralled with the beauty of the park, the abundance of wildlife and the amazing back-to-nature connection that our family experienced, I feel compelled to share our visit in the hopes that you too will consider a trip to one of our national parks!

This is one of those posts that, as a parent, I hope you never have to use.  I hope you can file it away on a Pinterest board or in a favorites menu and never have to use it.  In all honesty, I wish I didn’t have to write it. 

My son has another broken bone this summer.  It’s his 5th fracture in 2 years. (Oh, and my daughter was also in a cast last summer).

Yes, we’ve had him tested – for calcium deficiency, for Vitamin D deficiency, for brittle bone disease — you name it and they ran a test, checked the scans and referred to multiple physicians.  But the only answer we have is that “he’s growing quickly and the bones haven’t filled in yet”.  Not much comfort to any of us right now.

My main reason for writing this post is to let other parents know what we’ve learn about living with casts.

Try one of these ideas for sparking a conversation and connecting with your kids!

Let’s face it, most of us have been stuck inside too much lately.  Running thru the mall, wrapping and baking, attending the kid’s performances and parties.  We all spend a lot of time indoors at this time of the year.

So, what was it for you? Which moment caused you to stop and say “Where did the time go?” or “I can’t believe that they’ve grown so quickly!”

Sometimes it’s those big moments – their first steps, the first day of Kindergarten or Middle School, when they learn to ride a bike, or the day you hand over the car keys.

I LOVED all the fun ideas shared this week on the Discover & Explore Halloween linky — more than 100 crafts & activities!  It was really hard to choose just a few to highlight but as I was reviewing the fun activities, I realized that there are many kids who enjoy the not-so-spooky parts of Halloween (my youngest is one of those). 

The Iditarod starts this weekend – known as the “toughest race on Earth”.  Kids are intrigued by the idea of mushers and dog teams traveling miles through Alaska’s wilderness.  A unique topic of discussion with kids — and here are a few resources that can help:

One of the best ways for kids to learn is through play!  And you can easily introduce some formal learning (such as math and science) by using everyday play things.

In our house, the kids are always more likely to practice math or enjoy spelling practice if we connect the activity with a fun game or one of their favorite toys.

Today we are focused on ways to Discover & Explore Art!

Art is as much about the process as it is the product — in fact, sometimes it’s all about the process for kids.  Being able to create with different mediums and materials is great way to ehance your child’s appreciation and love of art.

And it’s important that we allow that creation to take place naturally without a lot of directions or restrictions.  Which is why I love to bring art outdoors!