I really love this time of the year because there are so many natural items that can be used in craft projects and decorating.  Last week’s Discover & Explore linky highlighted fun ways to create with natural items and I was blown away with the creativity of some of the projects — and yet, they …

“Fall back” is this Saturday — yep, daylight savings time. 

I was recently thinking it would be great to have some extra time; and then I realized, we get an extra hour this weekend!

Ever since my daughter read the Percy Jackson series, she has been crazy about Greek Mythology!  The I-want-to-learn-everything-I-can-about-it kind of crazy.

    We are HUGE fans of American Pickers — I mean big!  In our house, it’s a family show and we all watch to see what cool things can be found when you head out on a pick.  Needless to say I was thrilled when I was chosen to tell you about the Capri …

I’m happy to be sharing my ideas on snack offerings as part of a compensated campaign with Collective Bias^® and NickMom.  Although this is a sponsored post, all obsessions with healthy snacks and snarky opinions are entirely my own!

Ok, I need to tell you that if you read this post you are accepting the unwritten rules of the ‘parent code’ – and parent code says this is only between us grown-ups – you can NOT tell the kids. 

Because if my kids ever really knew some of what I’m about to tell you, they would totally take advantage of it ALL THE TIME!

As part of a post sponsored by Collective Bias^®, I visited Walgreens to learn more about annual flu vaccines and their amazing “Give a Shot, Get a Shot” campaign which helps kids around the world to stay healthy.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not crazy over shots but I do get my flu shot every year.  When I attended grad school for Public Health, I learned about the benefits of getting regularly scheduled vaccines for kids & adults.

It’s so important to introduce our kids to the amazing people in our city who keep our community safe and healthy.  Kids need to learn who they can go to for help and also a little about the work of community helpers. 

There were some excellent ideas for play & learning shared at the Discover & Explore linky this past week.  Here are a few of my favorite activities for fun ways to learn about those who serve and protect us —

Have you ever done something brilliant (I mean absolutely amazing!) but you just didn’t realize it until years later?

I recently had one of those moments last month but it didn’t start as happy as it ended.

I am being compensated by Bookboard for sharing my thoughts on their digital library.  As always, all opinions are my own — I only share programs that we really love and can highly recommend!

Last month, we signed up for a free trial on Bookboard, a digital library for our iPad. 

And this month, I’m sharing all the details so you can get your own FREE trial subscription for this wonderful service!

Disclaimer: I am being compensated by Girl Scouts for sharing my thoughts on the #ICantWaitTo campaign as part of the Mom It Forward Blogger Network.  As always, all opinions are my own — I only share programs that we really love and can highly recommend!

I still have all my Girl Scout badges from when I was younger — which was more years ago that I care to share with you lovely readers 😉

I earned badges for sewing, art, housekeeping and music — but more importantly, I also earned them for community health, sports, science and outdoor skills.

Why am I telling you this?