I would be lying if I told you I came up with the phrase ‘DEAR time – Drop Everything And Read’ - on my own. It is something my small people do at their school and the moment I heard it, it resonated with me. Since I was a little girl, I have always loved to read – magazines, fiction, non-fiction – anything. I read on the way to school, at school, after school and before bed.
When my small girl recently begged for ‘just a few more minutes’ of reading as she crawled in to bed, I instantly acquiesced sharing with her my secret from childhood: I used to pretend I didn’t feel well and lock myself in the bathroom at night – just to get more time to read. Delaney asked if I had ever told MY mother. turns out, I hadn’t.
Well, she knows now.
My sweet 8 year old girl is now often flying through 150 page chapter books in two days or less – so we are constantly on the look-out for books that teach her, help her to grow, build her vocabulary AND keep her interested.
We have once such series we share with you in the video below AND, I’m thrilled to be hosting a Google+ Hangout today at 1pm CST (my very first, if you must know – so do come play!) to talk about the importance of reading with your kids, books that are a good fit for different age groups and how to encourage reading in your home (Hint: we’re going to talk about DEAR time!)
What series of books (or individual books) have you found to be ideal for your kids? SHARE! I love having options and new ways to entice my children into reading.
Please do join me on the Google Hangout today (Wednesday 3/13) at 1pm CST. My friend Niri will be joining me – as reading in her home is just as important as it is in ours. If you would like to join the conversation, please do let me know!
(Live below if you join at the right time!)
In January, I had friends in my home who I hadn’t seen in half a dozen years. In a normal situation, I would have spent a week fussing over the details, making sure their rooms were perfectly clean and welcoming, but in this case, their visits were a surprise. My sweet husband invited five of my closest friends from all over the country to our home for the weekend of my 40th birthday. It was divine.
I don’t know about you, but I am actually counting down the days until Spring officially starts – 16 – in case you are wondering. In the middle of the country where I live, we’ve seen more snow and lower temperatures than we have in quite some time, and I’m desperate to start seeing buds on trees, tulips popping from the ground and temperatures that hover somewhere about 65 degrees.
We moved in to our house six years ago next month. I can hardly believe it has been that long. But what I really can’t believe it that I spent the better part of that time – more than 5 of those years, in fact, sharing an office with my husband. It is a wonder we are both still standing. Remarkably, from the time we were moving in, we planned to share an office. We thought it was a brilliant idea. But it wasn’t.
One of the many commitments I have made to myself lately is to step outside my all-down-all-boring hair comfort zone. So, I’ve been playing with all kinds of hairstyles. Part of learning to keep style in my life has been to remind myself that the fashion and beauty I have always loved still matter and still exist within me.
