Short and Sweet

This week was full of busyness with orthodontist appointments, flooring estimates, farmers' market and the like, but this post is short and sweet like summer.

And while summer is nearly over and the farmers' market season is drawing to a close, Bobby, Emily, my sister, and I are still managing some weekend day trips. This past weekend we visited the Findlay, Ohio area where we stopped in at the Findlay Ghost Town. We saw old homes and buildings, listened to a live band, shopped some of the local vendors, and ate some kettle corn and cinnamon pecans.

We also did some geocaching both going and coming.

 

And, as usual, I managed to make a little time for some reading. This week I read Ellie in Concert which is  the newest book in Mike Wu's Ellie series. In the first book Ellie was an artist, but in this story, Ellie turns her talents to music in order to help a tired friend. Mike's soft and adorable illustrations, as well as his fun sense of story, makes this a wonderful read for children from four to eight.

Be sure to stop by again next week when I post about our trip to the Ohio Renaissance Festival. And if you are interested in a trip of your own, check out the following link for a discount! Get $4 off Adult and $2 off Child tickets by using Promo Code "queen17" when purchasing on the secure website at www.renfestival.com. Tickets valid any day of the 2017 season (Saturdays, Sundays, and Labor Day Sept 2 - Oct 29). Online discount only. Not good with any other offers.
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Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by Literacy Musings Mondays for more great blogs as well as my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.

Mothers, Bloggers, and Panera Bread

Yesterday I had the pleasure to join six other wonderful moms from around Ohio at the first ever BlogOh event. We met at Columbus which is pretty much smack dab in the center of the state and therefore not too much of a drive for most everyone. Another fun bonus was the fact that we met in the conference room of the local Panera Bread which was another first for this gal. I personally recommend the frozen berry drink!

Although I have been blogging for a couple of years now in a sort of hit or miss manner, I thought it would be great fun to attend this blogging event and maybe learn a little something along the way. The first thing I learned was that mom bloggers are way more serious about blogging then I ever imagined. I had no idea the extent of sway a really good mom blogger can have over an audience and I am in awe of the ladies I met.

Our organizer, Tonya, writes about her families travels @ her site The Traveling Praters. Jenilee the FaceBook friend who invited me, writes the most interesting antidotes about her family @ her site Our Goodwin Journey. Fellow mom, Stacey, writes a funny blog called I'm A Lazy Mom. Heather, from the Cincinnatti area, is working on starting a fresh blog. And co-bloggers Mona and Valerie blog about what's happening in Columbus on their site Social Moms Around Columbus. Although each attendee and their perspective blogs happen to be very different, what each lady has in common is an enthusiasm and joy for sharing their lives and connecting with others. Blogging takes hours of their time but it is done with such love and talent that the reader probably never takes thought into the effort that goes into each and every post.

What I personally came away with  from the experience was a group of new friends and a rejuvenated desire to blog and blog well. Not only does blogging help me connect with potential fans for my book, Fern Valley, but it also helps me to continue to perfect my writing. And if someone gets a chuckle out of something I say, finds a book worth reading, or a finds some useful tips to help them in their own writing journey, then that's just icing on the cake.

Signing off for now with wishes for a bright and beautiful day!