Jumpin-Beans

I posted before about J. Richard Gentry. Please click HERE to read more about his book . 5 Reasons to Teach Your Baby to Read By J. Richard Gentry PhD Infant and toddler brains appear to be well-suited for reading. Thousands of parents worldwide are having success teaching their babies to read using books and other fun literacy activities, games, and even multimedia reading programs. With 4 out of 10 American eight-year- olds unable to read proficiently, I encourage parents, who are children's first reading teachers, to get their young children off to a good start before they get to kindergarten. Here are five reasons to teach your baby or toddler to read. Zero to age six is when language proficiency develops in the brain. Well before your child can speak or read, she is absorbing language at a phenomenal pace. In the first year of life, her brain will triple in size; by the time she enters kindergarten, it will be almost as big as yours. It is during this critical period that ...

Linking up again for the Crazy Days of Summer! This week, the theme is : Yellow! I tried SO hard to find yellow and sadly, most of my yellow photos are things I have already shared with you... Have a great day!!!

Cars 2 is NOW OUT!!!! I really want to take Broxton , but I still do not know about taking a 2 year old to the movies... Any one have an opinion on this ? And for the adults: The Help *** I just wanted to share these with you. I was not required to do so, just showing the love!*** Let me know if you have seen either, or if you are planning on going.!

Welcome to this week’s edition of Aloha Friday. In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response. My question: Do you participate in any photo Meme's ? (If you do, please let me know! I would love to visit and maybe link up!) My answer: I do several different Wordless/ Wordful Wednesdays... I have also started linking up with the Crazy Days of Summer. Lastly, I just joined up with the Picture Perfect Photo .

You know how fast people go through batteries? We go through them faster than most.. I am not sure about your house, but we have many battery controlled items. My digital camera. We all know how many pictures I take... THANK GOODNESS for digital, otherwise, I would be begging for a job at a photo developing store! The Wii remotes! When the boys are here, you have no idea how many times they come asking for new batteries! Broxton's toys. Hey, if you are a parent, you know what I mean about kids toys and batteries! Sometimes, I wonder if they work out deal with each other! Well, what if I told you that Energizer is trying to make it a bit easier for us? Energizer has Lithium Batteries that are perfect for our travelling needs! (Just think of your camera and your wireless earphones for road trips!!!) What makes them so perfect? Well they are: § Lightweight and perform well in extreme temperatures, from -40° F to 140° F (-40° C to 60° C). § Energizer ® Ultimate Lithium batteries ...

I totally love The Muppets! I can honestly say, I am jealous that Jason Segal and Amy Adams got to film a movie with them!!! Wow, I can not wait for Thanksgiving... Are you going to go see it?! Here is a little sneak peak of what is to come!!!! ***** I was not required to post this, but I wanted to share with you! Hope you enjoy, Broxton and I did! *****

Do I have a book for you to buy. Now! As in, read this post... Then, get this book! I was given the opportunity to review The Stocked Kitchen by Sarah Kallio and Stacey Krastins . Am I happy I did? YES!!! You see, I watched a show one time that talked about if you stocked your kitchen, you could throw together meals when need be. After that show, I went and bought the things I remembered and it worked... Until they ran out. I could not remember what I needed to stock it! With this book, it is so much more than just a list of items to stock with. (Although, they do include pull out grocery lists at the back for that purpose!) Let me give you a run down on this book: First of all, they give you a few pointers about getting prepared. Take out all items in your pantry, as you might have some of the items already! (I did, so I KNOW you will!) While the pantry is bare... clean it! Then, restock... and reorganize! I liked how they said, "if you haven't opened it or used something in...

We live in an apartment. As you know, we want to get a house one day... But houses are crazy here... (Or maybe everywhere, I just do not know) Anyways, when looking at houses... We try and picture furniture in there, right? Obviously, we have our room... Then, we need room for the boys... Maybe a spare room? Well, with the houses that we have seen... WHOA, the rooms are so small! I mean, with some of the rooms, you barely had enough room for a children's bed! That leads me to this... How is your layout for your kids room? I want to get bunk beds for the boys, I figure that would be the easiest way to give MORE room with less space. I found one that I thought was pretty neat: It is a bunk bed, but you can take them apart and it is 2 twin beds! We actually had this type of beds in my dorm room! I walked in and my roommate had them bunked ready to go, I wanted the bottom. We did that for a bit, then ended up going to the two by themselves. I think we ended up going back to bunks... B...

What do you think of when you think of Summer Time? I think of Pools and Grilling! This is my dad, "teaching" my cousin "the proper grilling techniques." My dad LOVES to grill! He is the "grill master!" Ha ha!!! I do not know what kind of grill he has now, but I do know that it took him over a year of studying them before he would settle on one! With summer officially here, isn't it time to start looking? Wouldn't you hate to plan an amazing cookout, only to discover that you did not have an awesome grill? Weber Grills seem to have grills of every shape and size! Seriously! You can narrow down your search to charcoal, electric, natural gas or propane. Now, I do not know much about grills... But I can tell you that the weber genesis grills look like they have the whole kitchen right there! You get stainless steel burners and even grill hooks on it! Now, the genesis e310 is a pretty fancy grill in my opinion! If I was going to buy my dad a grill,...

You know how adults have coozies ? Come on... You know what I am talking about! I gave coozies out at my wedding! Hey, lots of people do that these days, I don't think my parents loved the idea, but we did! Now, kids have Kidzikoos !!!! Lindsay is the creator of them and I think they are amazing! Lindsay not only came up with a great product... I mean, if we use them for our drinks, why would they NOT be great for kids? Let me give more insight: They keep your drinks cold (or hot, depending on what you are drinking) They help distinguish your little one's bottle/ sippy cup from others. They absorb moisture, so no wet water rings on the furniture! Now, we never used glass bottles, but it says that it "protects glass bottles." As soon as we opened it, Broxton immediately wanted to put it on his cup! I was excited to see which one we got, as I was having a hard time picking the print I liked best! Drew: Lucia: Landon: We received the Landon print and Broxton just LOV...

Normally, I just grab something and go. I hate shopping... If you were to look at my wardrobe, you would see that style and I do not talk that often. To be quite honest... As far as style goes, I normally look online at the different womens clothes sites to see what is popular. I would say that I watched celebrity dressings, but I do not think so, I mean... Yeah, I would like to be stylish... But, I am not spending $2,000 on a shirt. A shirt? Really?! Really! I really do not know the last time I went shopping. It gets kinda hard to go once you become a mom. Think about it, you have so much going on. You try to look at what is popular. You need to get into a dressing room to try it on. You need to entertain your child while doing so. Like they really want to spend the day watching mommy try on different outfits.. Then there are the accessories. You need your shoes, your jewelry and your purse. Wow, so much goes into that one outfit. By the time I ha...

I have reviewed for Free Spirit Publishing before and I absolutely LOVE all the books that they have to offer! I was given the chance to review the newest book from their Toddler Tools Series. The newest book is called, Mealtime , and in it you learn all about how important mealtime is! With Mealtime, Broxton and I have been discussing why we eat our fruits and veggies... To grow up strong and healthy! Also, we discuss the importance of table manners. From washing our hands before we eat, to trying new things.. Just one bite! We also learn to use Please and Thank You... As well as using your napkin! We try to teach Broxton manners as it is, but with reading this... We get to discuss it more.. Including looking at pictures and seeing other kids doing the same thing! As with the other books in the Toddler Tools Series, the illustration is adorable, yet simple... With easy to read fonts and colorful words! I also love that they are the board books. Sturdy enough for every day reading!!...

Warning, sort of long post, but so worth the read!!!! Broxton LOVES football! I think it is a great thing, being that we are all huge football fans! My hometown has an arena football team, the Albany Panthers . Whenever they are playing and we are visiting my parents, we try to go to the game. The great thing about it, after the game is over... They allow the fans on the field to meet the players. This is where Broxton gets really, REALLY, R.E.A.L.L.Y. excited. The first few games, he just kind of looked around not sure what was going on. Then, he got it! He would high five them. He loved it. THEN, it happened! He was standing there and one of the players bent down to talk to him... Broxton said "HUT" The player looked at me and I said, he wants to "Hut!" So, he squatted down, Broxton " Hutted " and then "tackled" the player. He fell over all dramatically and it totally made Broxton's night! From that point on, he was always wanting to ...

I have discussed Ebeanstalk before. I love how the site makes it so easy for anyone and everyone to take a look around and see what all they have to offer! I also love that if you are one that does not have children, they can sort of help guide you. I remember when friends would invite me to their kids parties.. I would have NO CLUE what to get them.. I mean, yeah... they are turning 3, but what are three year old gifts ? With Ebeanstalk , you just search, Toys for a 3 YR old and it will help you out!!! I know that we have a friend that has a little boy that just turned one and another turning 4 or 5, isn't it horrible that I do not remember? Where does the time go? Well, I am all about buying books and toys and everything else, but I really think that I might have to go with books this time, as he has every toy imaginable! I was looking at Books on Eric Carle . You know, the Hungry Caterpillar Book? Well, he has more than just that one! He has several that I have never even hear...

As I have said time and time again... I burn easily! (Well, unless I remember to wear sunscreen!) How about this... I forgot to take it with us when we went to the pool a couple weeks ago. We did not stay that long, so I was not worried. I did not get burnt that much, but I could feel a little heat. I remembered that we received " UN-BURN " for review, so I asked Marc to put some on my back. He opened it up and I tell you, it was weird... It felt like he was pouring a liquid chalk on me. HOLD ON, don't let me lose you yet! I know that sounds so weird! He poured it on and rubbed it in. I felt like it would be a thick white liquid... He rubbed it in and within a few minutes, the heat was gone. Sort of like how you put ashes on a fire to put it out? Maybe that was where my chalk though came from... I do not know! I do know that I was a bit skeptical. Maybe I was not really that burnt, as nothing normally works that fast! So, I purposely went out to the pool with no sunscreen...

I saw an ad online that mentioned Water Blocks . Of course, I had to know what that was! So, I went on over to take a look. They are just one of the coolest toys that I think I have ever seen! Have you heard of Just-Think-Toys ? Do you have Water Blocks?! We now do! Broxton LOVES to get a bath. He loves water of any sort... (If you did not know that, you can always look at my pictures of him in the pool , I love them!) I just knew that if he were to have Water Blocks, that he would just have that much more fun! They arrived and Broxton was so excited! We had to get them out and play with them in the living room. We received the Super Set that Broxton just loves! The Super Set comes with 20 pieces which also includes a small ball. With the Super Set, you can build a little track for the ball to race down! So fun and yes, we have done this many many times!!!! Just look at the excitement on his face watching the ball! We also received the Seaport Set . Broxton loves it because it comes w...

As autism has exploded into the public consciousness over the last 20 years, two opposing questions have been asked about the condition fueling the debate: is it a devastating sickness to be cured or is it a variation of the human brain – just a different way to be human? LOVING LAMPPOSTS: LIVING AUTISTIC takes a look at two movements: the “recovery movement,” which views autism as a tragic epidemic brought on by environmental toxins, and the “ neurodiversity movement,” which argues that autism should be accepted and that autistic people should be supported. After his son’s diagnosis, filmmaker Todd Drezner visits the front lines of the autism wars to learn more about the debate and provide information about a condition that is still difficult to comprehend. I was sent information on a DVD that was being released just in time for Autism Awareness Month. (It was April, but I really think that more needs to be done to bring more attention to Autism all the time.) I thought about it...

I warned you of the mess to come in my post yesterday... MY FAVORITE ONE: Okay, this too!!! Painting!!!!! WHOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO