Friday, May 17, 2019

16 Inspiring Stories To Read To Your Daughter

Start reading to your children at a young age. Reading to them is a great way to help maximize your child's brain development and strengthen their bond with you all while enjoying an entertaining story. 




Reading to my children has always been a regular daily activity I started doing with them right after they were born. Reading good stories to them aloud is fun for all of us and as a parent I know how beneficial reading to them is for brain development

As they sit quietly in your lap or next to you on the couch it might look like they are just enjoying a good story but inside that tiny little head their brain is working hard developing the parts that deal with language, image processing, logic, and reading. 

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The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) did a study on children ages 3-5 years old to examine the relationship between shared parent-child reading and brain activity. The study showed a positive association between the measure of reading to your child, which includes their access to books, frequency of reading and variety of books read, and the child's brain activation when listening to a story. 

The study found that children who are exposed to a stimulating home reading environment, have greater brain activity in areas that are important for both language and reading. 

This study supports the claim that reading to your child has a positive effect on a child's developing brain! As a parent we already knew this but isn't it great when a real medical study proves your parenting instincts were right!

Now that we've proved that reading to your child is beneficial you might be wondering what books to read to them. For your little ones ages birth through toddler I put together a short list of ideas you can find HERE as well as the Top 10 Reasons Why It Is Important To Read To Your Child. 

We go to our local library A LOT to find good books to read. When my daughters were younger they loved to read books whose main character was a girl. They loved to ask questions about the fictional girl asking things like "what do you think her favorite food is?" or "what is her favorite toy". These characters through the story became real to them. Sometimes they would reenact the story using their own dolls or toys as the story's characters if they really loved the book. 

A friend from Sleep Advisor recently asked me to share this great list of fun to read books with one common theme - they are all stories to inspire young girls! It includes a variety of books for various ages starting with ages 2+ as well as fiction and nonfiction stories. The list includes books on inspiring heroines throughout history, others that help promote healthy self-esteem and stories that put a modern twist on classic fairy tales.

10 Inspiring Stories To Read To Your Daughter




What are you waiting for? Grab your Kindle or run to your local library branch to find these fun stories and read them to your daughter! 


Tips to Create A Comfortable Reading

Environment for Kids 

That Won't Break The Bank


Creating the right environment for an enjoyable time of reading aloud to your child is important. My kids love to snuggle with their favorite blanket while I read to them. It doesn't matter where we are reading together, it could be on the couch sitting next to each other or spread out in separate chairs or even in the bedroom they love to be as comfortable as possible so they can enjoy just listening to the story. If your child doesn't have a favorite blanket yet let them pick one out and call it there reading blanket. I bet they will have it with them every time you read to them.

My son recently got an oversized backrest pillow for his birthday which he uses all the time when he is reading to himself or I am reading to him. I HIGHLY recommend these cool backrest pillows - they make the most comfy reading environment. These types of pillows don't cost very much and provide a super soft place for your child to read in bed or snuggled up with mom and dad!

My oldest, who is a teen, loves to listen to audio-books through her Kindle and wireless earbuds. The earbuds are bluetooth and have quite a long range so she can leave her tablet in her bedroom, get ready for the day in the bathroom all while listening to a book through her Kindle. Look for deals on these great devices during holiday shopping times or specials run on Amazon. 

Sometimes my kids are a little fidgety while I'm reading to them so I allow them to do something like coloring, drawing or even rainbow looming while I'm reading to them. As long as they aren't noisy or distracting others this seems to work well and helps them concentrate even more on the story. Gather a box of acceptable items and let them choose what to do while you read. I'm guessing you already have quite a few quiet activities around the house that won't cost you anything additional.

What kind of environment do your kids like best when you read to them? Do they seem unable to listen while you read aloud? Try some of these tips above to see if that helps them listen longer and focus on the story! 

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

How To Make Patchwork Quilted Note Cards

Finding ways to use up your scrap fabrics can be hard especially when your bin is overflowing with various-sized pieces of fabrics you just can't part with. 




Fabric patchwork note cards are just the solution to your problem!





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I just love it when I find a useful and creative way to put those scraps to good use. Recently I had one of those inspirational moments and I thought I would share how I used up some of my scrap fabric.

I came across this great tutorial on The Girl Who Quilts blog that taught me how to make scrappy quilt blocks. I was so inspired by her tutorial I ended up making a bunch of blocks.  I tried to coordinate the fabrics I used in each block just a little.  I just love how different each block turned out! 

Shop Fabric at Fat Quarter Shop

This project really helped me plow through and use up a lot of my scrap fabrics.




If you have never made a scrappy quilt block before you really should give it a try! The tutorial I used can be found here

Check out my scrappy quilt blocks - 





Life got busy and I never ended up using the finished scrappy blocks to make a quilt. However one day this Spring I was in desperate need of a simple gift to give to some ladies I serve with at the Bible study we attend. 

I had seen some cute DIY note cards on Pinterest that really inspired me and that is when I remembered those scrappy quilt blocks. 

I decided to cut up the finished blocks into smaller sizes and use them to make patchwork note cards to give as gifts.

The patchwork note cards turned out AMAZING! I couldn't wait to share them here with you so I put together this tutorial for you to follow so you can make your own.




How To Make A Patchwork Note Card 


Supplies you will need to make a Fabric Patchwork Note Card:

1. Blank note cards and envelops 

2. 1 finished scrappy quilt block (tutorial link above)



5. Ruler or quilting ruler

6. Small piece of cardboard a little smaller than the front of the blank note card.

7. Sewing machine & notions

If you haven't made a scrappy quilt block do that first. They whip up fast! All you need are sewing notions, sewing machine, notebook paper and your scrap fabrics. I used this great tutorial to make mine.

The blank note cards and envelopes I found at the dollar store (6 per pack). The cards had small decorative wording on the front that I was going to cover with the patchwork fabric quilt block. 

I used a piece of cardboard and a ruler and measured out how big of an area I needed to cover on the front of each card with my fabric quilt block. After the template was made I put it on top of the finished fabric scrappy quilt block and cut around the template. 


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If you find blank note cards that have nothing on the front of them then you can make the size of your cardboard template any size you want since you aren't trying to cover up decorations or wording that are preprinted on the cards. 

Lay the cut scrappy fabric block on top of the note card ensuring all pictures and writing on the face of the card are covered.

Begin sewing the fabric quilt block to the front of the note card. 

Ensure the note card is open so you don't sew it shut

Place the open card with the fabric under the needle with a seam allowance of 1/4". It is up to you if you want to sew the fabric on with a straight stitch or a zig-zag or any other decorative stitch you like. I chose to use a zig-zag and I like how it turned out! Sew all the way around the fabric and card ensuring you have a quarter of an inch seam allowance all the way around the card. 

Shop Fabric at Fat Quarter Shop

Since the card and fabric won't be washed there is no need to worry about the fabric fraying. Just snip any stray strings you find hanging from the sewn fabric.






The stitches will be visible on the inside of the front of the card. If you want to cover them you could always cut a piece of paper or card stock the same size as the card cover and glue it over the stitches. I left the stitches visible since it wouldn't interfere with the space on the inside of the card where one typically writes messages. 

I think these turned out super cute! I bundled the cards up into sets and tied a piece of baker's twine around them and gave it to my Bible study friends as gifts. I also gave my sister and mom a set for Mother's Day! I have a feeling that I will be making many (many) more of these in the near future especially since I still have quite a collection of scrap fabric. 




Wouldn't these make great postcards too? The options are endless and my creative juices are just getting warmed up. 




How do you use your scrap fabrics? Got any great fabric stash buster projects you would like to share? I'd love to hear what your favorite fabric scrap busting project is so please leave me a comment. 

Quits For Beginners 


Quilting can seem pretty intimidating if you are a beginner, but it shouldn't! Start with something easy and work your way up to a more difficult pattern. I highly recommend starting with a rag strip quilt! This is one of the most forgiving types of quilts and always turns out looking great. 


Tuesday, May 7, 2019

11 Popular Snacks You Should Avoid Feeding Your Child & What To Give Them Instead

Do you kids constantly tell your they are hungry? Growing, active kids need a lot of fuel to get them through each day but have you ever wondered if you are giving them the right kind of snacks? 




Snacks are almost as important as meal time for kids so why not make sure they are eating the right kinds of food at snack time. 

This post may contain affiliate links which means if you click on the link and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. For more information please see my Disclaimer page.

I think my son has a hollow leg because I don't know where he puts all the food he eats! He is constantly telling me he is hungry (can you relate?) and asking if he can have a snack. Honestly, he asks so often that I found myself feeling a little overwhelmed with the constant bombardment of his hunger.  I thought I was failing him as a mom because I couldn't keep the poor kid full. 

Grabbing whatever was within reach in the cupboard for him to consume became my common reaction. That is when I realized and started to wonder if my reaction to his unending snacking was the right thing to do for him. 

I started questioning what he was snacking on and decided to take a closer look at what really was going into his growing body. I decided to become a proactive snack planner and got busy educating myself on what kinds of food I should be feeding my children at snack time. I was amazed at what I learned. 

(Before I go further I want to make sure you know that I am in no way an expert or registered dietitian. I am just a regular mom who cares about what her kids are eating. Like you, I just want what is best for my children especially when it comes to their health.)

Into the kitchen I went grabbing a box of store bought Granola from the cupboard to begin my "research" to see if I could determine from the nutritional label if this snack was truly healthy like the box claims it is.

I learned that just because a popular store bought snack says "Healthy" or "Sugar Free" or even "All Natural" this might not be completely true. This granola for instance, while claiming to be packed with protein (which it is) is also packed with a lot of sugar! This is definitely not what I would consider a healthy snack. 

Reading the nutritional label can be a bit confusing especially the section of the label containing the breakdown of the types and totals of fat. Don't be mislead by the marketing ploys on the front of the box that claims the product is "low fat". Low-fat it may be but it might not be low in calories or even nutritious to eat! Beware of low-fat foods that are high in sugar. 

The KidsHealth website does a fantastic job explaining to parents the nutritional food label in a simple and understandable way. Make sure you spend time educating yourself on how to properly read and understand nutritional food labels - it is well worth your time. 

Now you might be wondering which popular snack foods you should avoid serving to your child. Before completely eliminating these foods from your cupboard and your kids diet spend some time reading the labels to find out what goes into making it. 




To get you started Kitchen Cabinet Kings put together a great list of popular snacks you might want to consider avoiding including a list of the ingredients and reasons why they recommend avoiding them. 

Below are the snacks they consider unhealthy. To read their reasoning behind this decision click HERE for the full article.


11 Popular Snacks You Should Avoid Feeding To Your Child

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Healthy Snacks Help Make Kids Healthy 


By now you must be asking what should I give my kids to snack on? 

A great place to start learning about healthy food is the USDA guidelines (find HERE). Remember this information is for children age 2 to adult. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has published guidelines specifically applicable for children and adolescents. Their guidelines are consistent and with the USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans however the AAP extracts the information that is applicable to children and adolescents and excludes the adult guidelines. I found the daily caloric intake graphic super helpful since my children are all in different stages of growth and age.

The USDA guidelines stress a diet for children that relies primarily on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat and nonfat dairy products, beans, fish and lean meat with a low intake of saturated and trans fat, cholesterol and added sugar and salt. 

Instead of filling your cupboards with processed foods from the store try filling up the fruit basket or stocking the veggie drawer with pre-cut veggies or even a bag of baby carrots. 

Read the labels of other products in the store to make sure you keep a close eye  on the sugar content and look for the whole grain items. 

Making small changes like this won't go unnoticed by your children. Show them how to snack healthy by setting a positive example and eat healthy snacks with them. 

Make snacking on good healthy food fun. Be creative with picky eaters. I used to hold a contest with my youngest to see who could make their baby carrot snap the loudest when bitten in half. He loved this "game" and without even realizing it he would have finished off the entire bowl of baby carrots I had served him without me having to nag him to eat them.  

Win! Win!

Teaching your child to make good choices when it comes to snacks and meals is a valuable lifelong skill. I've been using the USDA's tool called MyPlate: A Yummy Curriculum

The first portion of the program uses a cool visual picture of a dinner plate broken into sections that represent the five food groups. The sections show the child how much of each food group they need in order to fill their plate in a healthy way. 

A discussion of each of the five food groups and subsections is next teaching what specific foods fit into each of the groups. 

The program also includes a fun quiz, meal planning template for the child to complete, poster and catchy songs all geared at teaching children to eat healthy.

My kids are really enjoying this simple curriculum and I instantly saw them begin to think about what to snack on or eat at meal time in a more intentional way. This could be life changing and I'm all for it!


How Do You Do It? 

How do you get your children to eat healthy? What is their favorite healthy snack? Share your comments and feedback with me!