Addicted to Social Media?

Are you addicted to social media? I know from personal experience how easy it is to go down that road. There have been many a day when I opted to surf the net instead of doing the evening dishes. Of course I was usually sorry the next morning as I scoured a batch of dried on cheese and tomatoe paste or pried dried bits of corn off of the plates. There have even been times when I told my daughter to wait five more minutes while I finished planting my crops. But thanks be to God, that I realized I was spending way too much time on the computer before I completely lost my mind. So how do you know if you are addicted to social media? The following list, while not scientifically proven, might help you decide.

Top Ten Indications You Might Be Addicted To Social Media

You know you are addicted to social media if:

1. Your blogs are longer then your daily conversations with your family.

2. You check your e-mails every five minutes.

3. You start having withdrawl symptoms if you have not tweeted or posted in fifteen minutes.

4. You unknowingly tell your childen they can have cookies and soda for dinner.

5. You start saying "LOL" instead of actually laughing at your husbands jokes.

6. Your mother calls and you tell her you can't talk because you have crops to plant.

7. You are late getting dinner on the table because you had to retweet 47 inspirational posts.

8. You correct your children and sound like u r txting .

9. You make your children watch "The Little Red Hen" on Youtube instead of reading it to them

before bed.

10. Your family has to send you an events request in order to spend time with you.



So just remember hugging you kids in person is way better then sending them a hug online! Signing off for now with wishes for a bright and beautiful day!

Kid's Do Indeed say the Darndest Things!

Art Linkletter, well know for many things; but probably most famous for his show "Kids Say The Darndest Things", passed away today. And while Mr. Linkletter is no longer with us, the legacy he left behind will carry on beacause children truely are funny and always will be.

My daughter has had darndest moments since she could speak. The most memorable to me is when she was three and I called her Nosey Rosie. She looked at me with the straightest poker face and said, "Mommy, I'm not nosey."

"Then what do you call it," I asked.

"I just need to know everything," she replied. My husband and I laughed over that one for weeks.

Why is it that kids seem to be funnier than adults? Is it the fact that they say exactly what's on their mind because they don't know any better? Is it the fact that they often mix things up or get them wrong? My daughter still thinks we eat fruit cottontail instead of cocktail. Is it the fact that they often don't understand what they are saying? Perhaps it is a combination of all of the above.

Whatever the reason, I encourage you to enjoy these funny kid moments for all they are worth because it is the small happy memories we make each day that is the glue of life. These are the memories that help us get through life's difficult moments. These are the future stories we will tell our children's children. Signing of for now with wishes for a bright and beautiful day!

Learning to Read With BOB

My husband and I have been working with our daughter since she was two. We worked on the alphabet, number recognition, drawing, writing, and numerous other subjects. Because of this, when she was barely four she told us she wanted to read. Of course this thrilled us to no end, and I immediately set out in search of a beginning reading program.

Having lived a mere five blocks from the library as a child, and having spent almost every waking moment of each summer there; I decided this was the place to start my search. So a hunting I did go. What I found was the BOB books.

BOB books are a series of books designed to gently guide children into the first stages of reading. The first few books use just a few letters to make simple words. These few simple words are then repeated on almost every page so the children become familiar and comfortable with how letters form words. Each new book adds a few new letters and sounds. The set I found at our local library also happened to have audio Cd's which could be listened to while reading.

While it took most of the summer and the first part of pre-school for her to actually get the hang of phonics, once she did, she was reading everything in sight. She now reads shampoo bottles while taking a bath, store fronts when we shop, road signs when we're driving, and books from both the public library and our own collection. The BOB books definitely helped her develop the pre-reading skills she needed to get started.

So if you have a child who is on the verge of reading, I would suggest you check out BOB books at your nearest library or at http://www.bobbooks.com . Signing off for now with wishes for a bright and beautiful day!

Classics at Our House

What makes a classic? I have often heard it said that a book is a classic if it stands the test of time. I guess that means if someone from generation A writes a book and people from generation B are still reading it, then it must be a classic. Following this guideline leads me to believe that many of the books my daughter owns might be classics.

No, I don't just think they might be; I will say with certainty that they are! I can make this statement because I read them when I was her age over thirty years ago (said under mumbled breath). I know of course that comment makes me sound very aged (I mean wise), but that is a story for another day.

Some of the books bulging out of my daughters book bins include: Goodnight Moon, The Little Red Hen, All About Corduroy, The Country Mouse and the City Mouse, and The Monster at the End of This Book. Books that when I saw them caused me to squeal in delight, "I had that book when I was a little girl!"

And if you are wondering; yes, I did get some strange looks from others standing nearby. But being the true book lover that I am, I merely shrugged it off knowing that those poor unfortunate souls would never know the joy that I did. So go out and find a classic of your own and enjoy it to the fullest! Signing off for now with wishes for a bright and beautiful day.

My First Blog

Well, friends, this is my first blog so bare with me as I learn how to do this! I am told it's what all the new authors are doing. I guess we will see. I really think writing my book was the easy part. Convincing the rest of the world I am worthy to be read, almost as hard as childbirth!

But, no one will be as passionate about "Fern Valley" as me; so I am trying to find all the creative and imaginative ideas I can to get the word out.

To date, I ordered a custom bumper sticker for my car that has my web address under the words New Children's Author and my photo on the side. My mom and brother both noticed without my saying anything, but they don't really count. Hopefully some non-relatives will notice as my car lingers in parking lots! I have also been passing out book marks at the library, business cards to almost everyone I meet, and I have come up with a list of good review sites.

I will be starting my editing phase in a few weeks, and that is when the real fun begins. Meanwhile, I will just keep plugging away. Signing off for now and wishing everyone a bright and beautiful day!