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A Little Book About Feelings Teaches Emotional Literacy
Emotional literacy is not something we hear about in the media. Sure, we hear about the importance of literacy and encouraging a love of reading and writing for our children. But the ability to understand our emotions and express our feelings is an important skill that needs to be learned in childhood. Emotional literacy is defined as the ability to recognize, understand and appropriately express our emotions. Feel.org states that becoming emotionally literate is learning the alphabet, grammar and vocabulary of our emotional lives. (Source: www.feel.org). A recent poll by USA Today showed that when parents were asked what they most wanted to change in their children’s schools, 75% of…
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Artist Jennifer Mercede
Creating and publishing a children’s book can take months and even years to see the light. I wrote Gerry the Giraffe about five years ago and had the story on the back burner until I came across an illustration of a giraffe in a Land of Nod catalogue. The picture of the giraffe was so unique and wonderful that I wanted to see Gerry come to life with this illustrator! By chance, the following month the illustrator’s name was mentioned in the updated Land of Nod catalogue so I proceeded to find out more about this creative artist. I contacted Jennifer Mercede and we spoke about the possibility of doing a book and app together. This…
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Tips to Get Organized
If you ask most moms what they never have enough of and the answer just might be time. As moms we are constantly on the go – attempting to do our best as a mom, a wife and a friend. One of the ways that we can save time is by organizing our lives. Now, I am not one of those people naturally organized so I set upon a quest to find ways to unify my life better. The first person I asked for advice was my good friend Christine, who has one of those houses that can be photographed for a magazine at any time of the day. Can…
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The Upham Hotel & Country House in Santa Barbara, California
This past weekend, we had the chance to stay at The Upham Hotel & Country House in Santa Barbara that has the quaintness of a Bed & Breakfast but the accessibility of a hotel. Most of the B & Bs in the United States are older properties turned into guesthouses. Many of the B & B Inn owners have kept up-to-date and offer free parking, spa services and nightly wine or cheese hours. In the case of The Upham Hotel, they offered milk and cookies at night which was such a treat and a full continental breakfast in the morning. The History of Bed & Breakfast Inns: This custom…
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Mrs.P Be-A-Famous-Writer Contest Promotes Literacy
Promoting a love of reading and writing is something I am passionate about as reading opens up so many wonderful worlds for children (and adults) to lose themselves in. The thrill of reading Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory or Alice in Wonderland as a kid was quite magical. An organization that helps to nurture this love of reading and writing is Mrs.P, an award-winning FREE interactive digital storybook destination. Classic children’s stories are brought to life by TV star Kathy Kinney who plays Mrs.P. Ms.Kinney and two of her friends from the industry, Dana Plautz and Clay Graham, started Mrs.P four years ago and host an annual Be-A-Famous-Writer children’s…
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Chicken Salad with Pineapple Celery Seed Dressing
It’s hard enough to stay cool in these late summer months, but when you have to get dinner on the table the last thing you want to have to do is turn on the stove or oven! This dinner menu packs in protein, fruit and vegetables and can be on the table in less than 30 minutes. This dish can be prepared with leftover chicken or you can use rotisserie chicken without the skin. What is great about it is you can add any fruits and vegetable have on hand. The dressing tastes of a tropical island and it blends everything together in a delicious meal everyone will enjoy. The…
