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Summer Kids Activities with new Kidventures Book!

May 8, 2013 By sami 3 Comments

Although the weather has been quite tempermental in the past weeks, it should surprise no-one that summer is right around the corner. And if your kids are old enough to play outside, then it’s only a matter of time before you hear them say, “Mom, I’m booooorrrrrredddd!”

That’s why I’m so excited to share my friend (QuatroMama) Jen’s new Summer Kids Activities book: KidVentures: 50 Outdoor Experiences of Wonder, Discovery, & Childhood Memories.

What exactly is KidVentures, you ask?

It’s a practical step-by-step ebook guide for your outdoor summer adventures. It’s chock-full of 50 creative, active, and hands-on learning activities for you and your family this summer along with supply lists, detailed instructions, printables, diagrams, and resources to take each activity a step further!

So what are you waiting for? You certainly don’t wan’t to wait until school is out to snag this treasure. And trust me, if Jen has tested it out on her quadruplet boys and they approve it, then your kids certainly will

Click here to visit KidVentures by Jen Murray

Filed Under: Books, Parenting, Reviews Tagged With: activities, ebook, Kids, kidventures, summer

Mother’s Day Presents: 3 Tips for Success

May 8, 2013 By sami 3 Comments

The perennial question when it comes to Mother’s Day presents seems to always be this: to make homemade or buy?

On the “Family Friendly Morning Show” this week I shared my 3 step to success to make this a happy Mother’s Day for every mom out there. If you follow these three steps to help you select 3 special gifts, you’ll find it hard to go wrong!

Mother’s Day Presents: 3 Steps to Success

1. Sentimental Mother’s Day Present

This is where the homemade comes in to the Mother’s Day present process. Have the kids paint a picture, make a card, form a clay pot…you get the idea. I would say ’make mom a mix tape’, but then I’d be dating myself, wouldn’t I?

2. Practical Mother’s Day Present

If you’ve been paying attention since Christmas, chances are mom’s mentioned needed a new ‘something’. Whether it’s a new vacuum, sweater, throw pillow or screwdriver, it doesn’t matter – get it for her. Now this is why my 3 step process is so key: if you ONLY buy her this one practical gift, it seems insensitive. But if you present this gift along with something from each of the other two categories, you come off as thoughtful Tricky, isn’t it? Oh, the female brain…

3. Wish-List Mother’s Day present

Now this one is a little trickier, especially if you’re on a budget. The wish-list can closely resemble something she’s mentioned that falls under the practical category OR it can be something she mentions often that never gets fulfilled – we’re talking something as simple as flowers up to an extravagant trip or piece of jewelry. Again, the idea here is to do something out of the ordinary that communicates to mom that you appreciate who she is, what she does and what she dreams about.

Make sure you check out my other Mother’s Day Savings posts:
*Mother’s Day Photo Deals & Discounts

*Mother’s Day Free Food & Restaurant Deals

Do you have any other Mother’s Day gift-giving success ideas?

Disclosure: There are Amazon affiliate links/banners used in this post. By shopping through them, not only will you get great deals for mom, you’ll be helping my family too!

Filed Under: Deals & Freebies, Parenting Tagged With: homemade, mom, mother's day, presents, tips

Tommy Nelson May Blog Post: Being a Mom

May 7, 2013 By sami 4 Comments

Being is mom is exhilarating, fulfilling and comforting…
but at the same time it can be nerve-wracking, frustrating and downright scary!

Never has that been more true than in our world today.

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. ~ Proverbs 16:3

Being a mom doesn’t mean having all the answers, but it does mean knowing who to turn to when we don’t.
Being a mom doesn’t mean always saying yes, but it does mean acting in love regardless of how we feel.
Being a mom doesn’t mean settling for satisfactory; it means pursuing with passion!

Read my entire Tommy Nelson May post on Being a Mom…

But before you head over there…

Even though I love reading (both for myself and to my children), I don’t often recommend parenting books. However a new book I would strongly suggest you check out is The Passionate Mom by Susan Merrill.

This book is far from a manual, but instead a thoughtful roadmap for how a passionate mom can parent almost any child…confidently.

Of course if you’re looking for that delightful book to read to your younger children this Mother’s Day, one of our favorite children’s authors, Amy Parker, wrote “Thank You God for Mommy” which has quickly become a family favorite for its simple yet poignant way it conveys the sweet relationship between a mother and child.

If you’d like to win a copy of ”Thank You God for Mommy“, you can enter via RaffleCopter below. One winner will be chosen at random from all eligible entries. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Filed Under: Articles, Faith, Family, Tommy Nelson Tagged With: giveaway, mom, mother's day, tommy nelson

TeachHub.com provides the latest resources for teachers & parents

April 22, 2013 By sami

To be completely transparent, I get approached frequently by brands, organizations & websites looking to me to help promote their material. But I take this platform very seriously and still imagine it’s just me writing to my best friend on here…even though I now have the privilege of interacting with thousands of you on a daily basis.

In that same light, I would only tell my best friend about something that either:
A. I loved
or
B. I think she will love
or
C. I think we should get involved with

So I guess it’s no coincidence that when I learned about TeachHub.com, I wanted to share it with you all. My best friend was a teacher for many years, I taught for five years and as a mom, I believe every parent is a teacher at home!

At its heart, TeachHUB.com is a great free resource for all teachers and parents who want the latest in education technology, news
and tools.

According to the teachers at TeachHUB.com, success in education starts with curiosity…and curiosity starts at home. If we expect our kids to get excited about something, then we first have to get excited about it ourselves!

Even though I have never technically ‘homeschooled’ my kids, I started ‘learning time’ with them when they were very young. I’ve always tried to be very purposeful about pouring certain concepts into my kids, including French, piano, math and of course, a love of reading.

But even in the midst of recognizing the need to pass on my passions to my kids, I also recognize the need to get help from the experts when it comes to how to best convey those concepts. From interactive whiteboard resources and App reviews to tips on how to organize teacher binders and community forums, this website equips not only teachers, but those of us who have been blessed with the role of parent to fulfill our calling as teachers in our own homes.

In honor of National Library Week, why not take the prompting of TeachHub.com to encourage your kids to explore a topic they’re interested in learning more about? Sit down at a library and read together – and ask them what they learned!

I was selected for this opportunity by Clever Girls Collective, and content and opinions expressed here are all my own. To learn more about the TeachHUB.com, visit their website. #CleverTeachers #NLW13

Filed Under: Family, Kid Tip Tagged With: parent, teacher, TeachHub.com

The nation’s thrill; a mother’s terror #PrayforBoston

April 20, 2013 By sami

When news came of the Boston Marathon bomber suspect finally being apprehended last night, there was a thrill that came over the nation. I can only imagine that Bostonians in particular experienced a sense of relief that this terrorist had been caught and a sense of peace in knowing the lockdown has finally ended.

But for one mother, her terror is just beginning.

This terrorist is only 19 years old. Not only is he barely an adult himself, he is someone’s child.

He is a brother, a nephew, a friend.

And the reports from those who knew him all echo the same sentiment:
“We would never have imagined he could do such a thing.”

He was described as “funny”, “nice”, & “a good athlete”…not “isolated”, “withdrawn” or “brooding”.

So what now for this family who has to face their own terror that is just beginning? Their world has been equally turned upside down by their sons’ (alleged) actions, yet I can guarantee they will not have the privilege of fighting this battle in private.

When I first learned how young the suspects were and that they were brothers, I posted this update to my Facebook wall:

In shock over the new developments in Boston. Brokenhearted to hear the new ‘WANTED’ suspect is only 19 years old. Imagine what could have happened if someone had poured peace and grace into his life instead of anger and hatred…

I have no answers to you in writing this (not that any of us do), but I have a prayer I’d like you to join with me in praying. As you pray for the families in Boston today and everyone around the country who’s been affected by this horrific act, please consider praying for the suspects’ family as well. Pray for justice to be served, but for a path of peace to be laid as a result.

God bless America.

Image sourced from Google Images/RunEatRepeat.com

Filed Under: Articles, Faith, Forgiveness, My Story, Parenting, Peace, Prayer Tagged With: bombing, boston, Family, mother, pray, terror

How to Help Kids Handle Hurt

April 10, 2013 By sami

How to Help Kids Handle Hurt One of the toughest jobs I face as a parent is how to help my kids handle hurt. I don’t care whether or not the hurt is physical or emotional (and I know there will be a TON of both of the course of my children’s lives), it breaks my heart as a mom!

Sometimes in an effort to be “SuperParent”, we miss out on being what our kids really need, the parent they’ve always known and loved. In times of hurting, kids don’t want different, they want what they already know. The more you can focus on reminding them of what they know is true, the more they will understand that tragedy is a part of life and they too can triumph over the pain.

In addition to the hurts our kids experience first-hand, there are a slew of others that they will be a by-product of: from things that will literally shatter their world like divorce & family death to learning about the ills of this earth, such as natural disasters and child poverty.

In the nine years I’ve been a parent, we’ve been through our fair share of disasters, both of the child-sized variety and the actual earth-shaking variety. If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that my adult-brain rationale is not very comforting to a hurting child.

So I’ve come up with a list of my top three pieces of advice I’ve complied, both from experts and personal experience, to help your kids when they’re hurting. You can read them over on Vanderbilt’s Wishing Well blog…

Filed Under: Family, Parenting Tagged With: hurt, Kids, Parenting, tips, vanderbilt, wishing well

How to Keep Your Kids Honest: 30 Ways in 30 Days of April

April 1, 2013 By sami

If you’re like me (or most parents for that matter!), you struggle with how to keep your kids honest. Since April 30 is National Honesty Day, I wanted to help you teach your kids honesty in a more clever, bite size way.

I’ve come up with 30 Ways in the 30 Days of April to help keep your kids honest. I’ve shared the entire list of honesty tips of on my April Tommy Nelson blog post, but I wanted to share the top 10 to get you started encouraging your kids to walk in the ways of honesty and truth.

Top Ways to Keep Your Kids Honest:

1. Keep them accountable for their actions
2. Listen as they speak to friends & siblings
3. Have them put a penny in a jar every time they don’t tell the ‘whole’ truth
4. Share the difference between manipulation & persuasion
5. Set a good example before them
6. Encourage them when they tell the truth in a difficult situation
7. Ask little ones if they know the difference between right and wrong
8. Explain the difference between ‘telling the truth’ and ‘being honest’
9. Talk about what it means to live an ‘honest life’
10. Discourage telling ‘fibs’

(Remember, you can read my entire list of 30 Ways over on TommyNelson.com)

If you really want a helpful tool to help your kids live our the principles of being honest and doing the right thing, then check out this DVD resource from Tommy Nelson:

Featuring the voice talents of my Nashville ‘neighbors’, Amy Grant & Vince Gill’, this DVD will not only engage pre-school and elementary aged children alike, but also teaches a great message, including behaving well even when nobody is watching, and the biblical lessons from the Parables of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.

Would you like to win this DVD for your family? Well you can!
Just enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below…
a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you don’t want to try your chances in the giveaway, you can buy “Cocka Doodle Doo the Right Thing” from ThomasNelson.com and use the code SAMIC20 to save 20% off the list price!

Remember, the best way to accomplish the goal of teaching our kids honesty is to show them practical ways to live it out instead of just listening to it! If you want more practical help on how to relate God’s Word to your life, take a look at my devotionals.

How have you taught your kids about the importance of telling the truth?

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Filed Under: Deals & Freebies, giveaway, Kid Tip, Parenting, Tommy Nelson Tagged With: 30 ways, april, giveaway, honesty, Kids, tommy nelson, truth

32 Cheap Kids Easter Basket Ideas

March 28, 2013 By sami

Even though Easter is this week, have no fear! I have 32 cheap kids Easter basket ideas for you that you can easily pull together before the weekend:

Easter Stickers
Sidewalk Chalk
Bubbles
Jump Rope
Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs (my personal favorite)
Easter Book
Coloring Book
DVDs (our kids especially love VeggieTales & What’s in the Bible)
Glow Sticks
Mini Figurines
Coupons for Family Time
Little Stuffed Animals
Homemade Cookies
Flowers from the garden
Markers
Ponytail Holders
Green Army Men
Marbles
Mini Craft Kit (Don’t forget to use a Michael’s coupon!!!)
Fake Tatoos
Family picture in a frame they can decorate
Lost treasures that you’ve discovered around the house (you know what I mean, moms!)
Balloons
Ball
Gum
Play-Dough
Notebook (make your own with paper you’ve cut into fun shapes!)
or Plastic Eggs filled with:
Pennies
Jelly Beans
Scripture papers
Mini Erasers
M&Ms

Now that you have all the best budget Easter Basket Fillers, read my top 7 Cheap Easter Basket Ideas I shared on “Talk of the Town”.

What are your favorite Easter treats to surprise your kids with?

Filed Under: Deals & Freebies, Family, Kid Tip, Kids Tagged With: basket, cheap, easter, ideas, Kids

Teaching Kids Psalm 23 – Scripture Memorization

March 5, 2013 By sami

In the scripture memorization videos below, I’m teaching my kids Psalm 23.

Psalm 23. It’s six verses and typically I recommend teaching your kids one verse a week, but you can teach this to your kids in a month if you work on it at different times throughout your day. There is no tune to this, and feel free to make it your own as you see fit. Be sure to explain to younger children what the words mean that they may not understand so they can begin to form their own word pictures in their heads.

(Forgive my appearance in this week’s video, I just got over having pink-eye last week, so no makeup for me!)

Here are my kids reciting Psalm 23. First Kariss (age 4):

and Britton (age 3) in a slightly more humorous version:

Filed Under: Devotions, Faith, Kid Tip, Kids, My Story, Parenting, Scripture Memorization Tagged With: Bible, britton, cone, kariss, Kids, memorization, psalm 23, scripture, teaching, video

Cathy Rigby’s Peter Pan delights another generation in Nashville!

March 1, 2013 By sami

Cathy Rigby as Peter Pan delights another generation!

It’s midnight and I just got back from seeing Peter Pan, starring Cathy Rigby, at TPAC in Nashville! I wasn’t asked to write a review, but I was so pleasantly surprised by how entertaining this show was that I wanted to let you all know that if you haven’t bought tickets for this show yet, do it now!

As soon as my son found out that Peter Pan was going to be opening at TPAC on his 7th birthday, his request was made official. So that’s what we did…

After dinner at his favorite (Outback), we made our way to TPAC for this show. One of the things I loved most was that it stayed very close to the classic Disney film we all love so much.

But what I didn’t expect was how absolutely entertaining this show was going to be! From Cathy Rigby’s high flying Peter Pan to the stupendous dance numbers, it embraced the simpleness of this classic while giving us great energy and humor that kept the adults AND kids in the audience on the edge of our seats.

I will warn you, the one thing that is different from the movie that totally freaked EVERYONE out was the mermaid – not only was she not like Ariel at all, she was actually quite disturbing, with freakishly long nails and a shriek that I thought was going to send my kids out to the lobby!

Although, one of my favorite moments of the night came in the lobby. No, not the Peter Pan cut-out I forced my kids to stand behind…

…but as we were leaving, we heard, “Make way for Peter Pan!”. A press person whisked Cathy Rigby right in front of us to go sign autographs for her fans. I said, “Britton, look – there’s Peter Pan!”. He looked at me funny and said, “That’s not Peter Pan; that’s an old lady!” True, my son, but if I can do 1/8 of the things that grandma did when I’m her age, I’ll be a happy camper!

Cathy flipped, sang, kicked, flew and sprinkled Pixie Dust like a champ. Considering she has four kids AND four grandkids, this Tony Award nominee knows the true meaning of entertainer.

Did we have a good night? Here’s all the proof you need:

As tired as this newly-crowned 7 year old was during the show, he stayed awake for the whole two and a half hours and waited until he got in the car to fall asleep.

Peter Pan runs through March 3, 2013 at Nashville’s TPAC.

UPDATE: As we were going through our day today, Britton turned to me and said, “Peter Pan was my favorite show I’ve EVER seen at TPAC”. Nuff said.

I was provided tickets for my family for this show, but no expectation was put on me to write this, I simply wanted to share with you all the fun we had!

Filed Under: Britton, Events, Reviews Tagged With: birthday, britton, nashville, peter pan, show, tpac