The ups and downs of mother-daughter relationships – similar to tracks on a rollercoaster – bring moments of affection, often followed by anger and arguments. While the latter hopefully occurs less frequently than the former, the bumps along the tracks create a unique bond. As author Lisa Scottoline describes it, the fighting only proves that “you raised her to think independently from you, and to voice her own views.” If you find yourself in the mood for a dose of charmingly relatable independent thinking, dive into Scottoline’s newest book Best Friends, Occasional Enemies.
This true tale told by the mother-daughter writing team had me laughing at everyday situations, sympathizing with the tough moments of friction, and overall appreciating my own daughter and the relationship we have formed as friends. For those who have read Scottoline’s mystery novels, this book serves as a behind-the-scenes look into the candid humor and everyday life that allow her to create such real characters that leap off of the pages and into real life.
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As the mom of a six-month old baby, I cherish our special time together before bed, cuddling up in the rocker and reading our favorite books. Over the past few weeks, I find myself reading more and more to him, as his attention span sharpens and I can actually see him listening to the stories and gazing at the pictures. (Whereas, the past few months he only showed interest in grabbing and chewing on books!)
A new favorite books for baby
Some of our favorite books fall under the animal category. As a devoted dog-owner and all-around animal lover, I find nothing cuter than a story about three little bears being put to bed, or a runaway bunny looking for her mommy.
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A recent study from Scholastic shows that parents are concerned that their kids aren’t reading enough when they have access to electronics. It seems more important than ever for Dads and Moms to spend time reading with your kids. The study also suggest that half of kids age 9-17 say they are interested in reading an ebook, and a third would read more if they had an ebook device.
Might be time to consider adding an iPad or Kindle to the Christmas list...
From the study:
Reading Books in the Digital Age
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I saw Denise Vivaldo, the author of The Food Stylist’s Handbook, present at Camp Blogaway earlier this year. She shared some funny stories and a few general tips, but kept her food styling secrets to herself.
When I complained about the meager take away from the session, a friend remarked that Denise must be keeping all the good stuff for her book. Indeed she was as The Food Stylist’s Handbook chapter titles reveal:
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Are you new to WordPress and wished your new blog came with an owner’s manual? Even with all the online WordPress help out there, you may want to consider buying a reference book.
On book you may want to consider – and there are many books on WordPress – is Head First WordPress: A Brain-Friendly Guide to Creating Your Own Custom WordPress Blog. It explains how to:
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If you read my post about reading to your baby and early literacy, you know that it is important to start reading and talking to your baby from day one. You may be asking yourself, "Where do I start with books?" It is true - there are many books and the choices can be overwhelming. It is safe to say that just about any baby's or kid's book will be a great, but here are a few favorites that are geared towards your baby's age.
0-6 Months
Good books for this category involve faces, objects, and hearing sounds
Moo, Baa, La La La! by Sandra Boynton. This was one of Graham's first favorites. Moo, Baa, La La La offers first animal sounds, rhyming, rhythm, and fun illustrations.
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Last week, Darren Rowse of Problogger.net and Chris Garrett of chrisg.com announced the release of the second edition of the book they wrote together a few years back - ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income. (They refer to it as “ProBlogger the Book,” which makes me wonder if “Problogger the Musical” is in the works.)
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Now, who is with me here? When you have the first baby, you are all about recording every milestone, every second of the day in the child's baby book. Once your second, third, fourth, and etc baby arrives, the baby book is on the shelf collecting dust unfortunately.
This is one main reason, I started my personal blog when my second child was just one year young. I tried so hard to remember to record all her events, but there was just not much recording going on in the baby book. Instead, I would blog online though about her milestones as she reached them and eventually hope is my personal blog will be made into a hard bound book for the girls to have to cherish once they are grown.
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Eating organically on the cheap
I had started to make small changes in my grocery-shopping habits about a year ago. I found a couple of inexpensive organic brands that I really liked and watched for their sales. I began shopping the perimeter of the supermarket, stocking up on dairy, produce and fresh meats and seafood and trying to skip the chips and pre-packaged snack foods. I don't buy farm-raised salmon anymore, and my milk is hormone-free. But after watching Food, Inc I realized there was still so much more I could do.
For example, I was not great at buying free-range meat. As a concession, I made the commitment to buy only organic meat, which means that while we won't be vegetarian, we simply will be eating less meat. Last month, I bought a really good organic, free-range roast, and we had a great dinner of roast, sweet potatoes and carrots followed by several days of roast beef sandwiches, culminating in the ultimate leftover eliminator, shepherd's pie. The payoff is that the meat we do eat will be of higher a quality and nutrient value.
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