Here in the South, we have a large number of people who do not eat healthy. Many blame it on the poverty level, and to an extent that is true. While it is better to eat healthy, it can be expensive for families to do so. That is why when I received the book Green Is Good by Elizabeth Gorcey, I was immediately impressed.

It came with a packet of seeds.



While so many families struggle to be able to afford healthy foods, this book immediately encourages healthy eating by way of growing some of your own foods. Yes, organic can be expensive, but there are ways to cut the cost and grow things on your own. Even space is not an issue when you take in account that there are many things that can be grown indoors and even outdoors in small places. Large cities have even started encouraging neighborhood gardens, where people can come together to grow fruits and vegetables.



Eating organic and 'green' can seem challenging, for us adults....but this book is perfect for introducing the concept and the healthy habit to young children....after all, we are a product of what we are exposed to as children...it either influences us positively or negatively, but either way, what we experience as kids shapes us as grownups.

This book is full of delightful illustrations. They draw us in to the fun and whimsy side of peeking into the life of Elizabeth's daughter, Liv and her dog, Bowie. What our kids get is the ability to relate to a character that is their age, with a pet who discovers the joy of going green. It helps that her cute boxer, Bowie is right there to tag along.



What I enjoy most about this book is the ability for us as parents to be able to open dialog with our children after reading it. Visit a market, the produce section of a grocery store and go over the differences you find there. Show your children the importance of avoiding unhealthy foods but show them also, that there are lots of fabulous treats found in nature.



I remember growing up eating sugar cane. Oh my. I have been on a mission to find it so that my kids could experience the sweet that was had before bubblegum and all the cookies and candies. Sugar Cane, grown in nature and a natural sweetness that is often unappreciated in our world of processed goodies.



After reading this book, my kids and I talked about eating healthy and we have grown our own herbs and small veggies. They have experienced things that allow them to appreciate food and nature. It is important to teach our children that life with food can not only be enjoyable, it can help them maintain a healthy lifestyle.

This amazing and easy to read book is available September 20th, 2015. This would be such an amazing gift for a budding young horticulturalist ...can you just imagine a cute basket in pink and green full of supplies and seeds to help get them started? I can!

Summer is in full swing and that means travel for most families. Some are skipping on the planes and opting for road travel instead. With kids on the road, and a schedule to keep, taking snacks on the road with you is essential.



I love this idea of a snack case. I found this child size case in the hardware section of Wal Mart. You should be able to find some similar in most stores. They are used to house nails, fishing gear and pieces but are perfect for snacks!



You can even personalize the front using colorful or metallic sharpies with your child's name or a cute design.



I love it because you can place in it enough snacks for the duration of the drive. So it limits the time you need to stop and shop for food or snacks.



My kids loved this and it was just an easy way to show my kids they are worth the extra effort of debagging these badboys.

Being  a single and divorced mom of four means Mother's Day is usually spent with me doing all the cooking. Of course, I don't mind at all since cooking is something I love to do. I like to feed my family, plan something for them and the smiles on their faces knowing I made just a little extra effort is all the Mother's Day gift I need. That and of course the handmade cards from my kids...priceless.

Yeah, any excuse to eat ice cream is a good one, right?

So the weather is nice, the sun is shining bright and bold and my kids need a treat. I do what any other mom would do....I head to pinterest.com and eye photo after photo for some ice creamy inspiration. I found it...boy did I find it. I saw a photo of an ice cream cake that took me all the way back to the late 80s when my fifth grade (highly fashionable with my lopsided ponytails) self knew what it meant to be cool and have the coolest birthday party. You could not be cool and awesome without an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. So there it was. My inspiration and what I would make. Nevermind I had never made one before. Who cares about that? You gotta try.

I tried it and I loved it. Man, oh man, did I love it. The kids loved it and my friends loved it. Let's just say, last year was the Year of the Popsicles but this summer will be the Year of the Ice Cream Cake.

While it is not perfect, my first attempt....Death By Chocolate and Peanut Butter...

It is no secret that pinterest is the place to be. I find myself checking it out everyday for inspiration. It is just so amazing how much creative juices flow in one place. I can remember when we would have to visit website after website after website and bookmark or favorite what we liked, saving to our computers...but thank goodness NO more! We can now find so much in one place.

With Easter right around the corner, and being that I still have school age kids who loves kidish things, I have been looking for egg ideas. I love love love these!

This truly is one of my favorite times of the year. Growing up, my mother had a special stereo system put in our house. There were speakers in the ceiling of each room and we had volume controls in each of our rooms. I loved it most times....thanks to the volume control but oh no, sometimes my mother would tell us not to touch the controls. She wanted to hear what she was playing no matter which room she was in. The only time I really did not mind was the holidays. I loved hearing all the sounds of Christmas follow me from room to room and it really helped get me as a grumpy know-it-all teenager enjoy Christmas even more.


I don't have the speakers and stereo system that goes throughout the house nowadays but I do have the stereo in the kitchen during the holidays. I love listening to oldies mostly. Nothing like an old fashioned Christmas!



That brings me to this site. I found it many, many years ago when my children were really small. I download their Christmas music and stories and before bedtime, my kids listen to one of the albums. The stories truly are the BEST.


The site is Kiddie Records and they have all of the vintage, retro records from days gone by...before television was in every home, when radio was big family fun and before all of these techy gadgets took over. It is soothing and it is FREE. What is so neat is that you can also download for free the album art.

Check out the site, they have more than just Holiday music, but tons of great stories and poems and music that they pulled from albums that are now hard if not impossible to find.


I have been listening to "I'm gonna lasso Santa Clause" for ever lol

Click here for Kiddie Records: Christmas list