Father's Day Gift Ideas

If you're like me and you're running out of time to come up with a Father's Day gift, I have the solution:

The Teachers Pay Teachers website has tons of stuff you can download.  You don't have to be a teacher.  You just need to create an account and then you're free to download as much as you want.  There is A LOT of free stuff!  Here are some of the great, free printables I downloaded:

Click here to search for the perfect gift for Dad on the Teachers Pay Teachers Website.

If you want to see the Daddy Date Cards we made last year for Father's Day, click here.

And this is an easy Father's Day card you can make with your kids.

Have a Happy Father's Day!!!

Kids Summer Reading Ideas

Another school year is over and done!  Unbelievable!

Tim and I got into a good routine of reading to the girls during the school year, but I always find that routines are harder to keep in the summer.  Here are some ideas I had to remind us to read more often:

1. Participate in a summer reading club

Kids who read any 8 titles from the Pottery Barn Kids recommended book list by July 31st will receive a free book at participating stores (while supplies last).

Barnes & Noble has a summer reading program and kids can pick out a free book from the book store after completing the required reading (while supplies last).

Slyvan Book Adventure is a fun, free way to motivate your child to read.  Kids can search for books, read them offline, come back to quiz on what they’ve read, and earn prizes for their reading success.

Visit the Junie B. Jones Kids Reading Club online to download the Reading Log and Activity Brochure.  

Chuck E. Cheese offers 10 free tokens to kids who complete their Reading Reward Calendar.

Pizza Hut's Book It! Summer Reading Challenge incorporates reading with fun activities, exciting games and a chance to win prizes!

The Half Price Books Feed Your Brain Summer Reading Program awards one child per age group a $20 gift card to Half Priced Books in June and July.  A new Half Price Books is opening in Chesterfield, MO in June! 

Join your local library's summer reading program.  The St. Louis County Library has a program for babies, kids, teens and adults.  Prizes are awarded at the end of the summer.

2. Find fun book lists

While searching around on Pinterest I came across this pin from No Time For Flash Cards.  I immediately logged onto my library account and saved these books on to "Kids Books" list. Pinterest has lots of great summer reading lists.  Click here for more.

3.  Make a Reading Reward Chart

Check out my "Summer Reading" Pinterest board for more reading chart ideas!  There are lots of free printables or you could get ideas to make your own chart tailored for your kids!

4.  Make regular trips to the library

Whenever I hear about a good children's book, I look it up on my library's website and save it to my "Kids Books" list.  A few days before we plan to go to the library I request a bunch of the books that I've saved so that they're waiting for us when we get to the library.  We try to go on a day when they have activities or story time so the kids look forward to going.

Kindergarten Here We Come!

I feel like a kid going back to school again.  Dreading the first day of school.  Starting to feel the sadness when Fourth of July rolled around, knowing that summer was half over.  Trying to distract myself with school preparation in the weeks before the first day.  Now we are mere hours away from Ava's first day of kindergarten and I think I've finally accepted that this is happening.  I'm on board now.

We met her teacher, saw her classroom, found THE backpack and matching lunch bag,  I labeled the bejesus out of every school supply we bought and of course I made her back to school sign.

If you are running out of time and need a free printable sign, there are LOTS to choose from! I love the idea of taping the sign to a ruler!

Click below for the links to the free printable signs (listed clockwise starting at the top left corner).  All of the grades are available in addition to the ones pictured above:

First Day of Pre-School

first day of pre-k

First day of Kindergarten

1st day of Kindergarten

first day of THIRD GRADE

3rd Grade

1st day of KINDERGARTEN

MY FIRST DAY OF: Kindergarten

To celebrate Ava's first day of Kindergarten, the girls and I made cupcakes.  My girls love treats more than anyone I've ever known!

Ava and Sidney are into Bubble Guppies right now.  I used my flower and circle punches to cut out the shapes from card stock and I double stick taped them together.  Then I went into my secret sticker stash and found some Bubble Guppy stickers and stuck them on the circles.  Then I taped a tooth pick to the back of the flower and stuck them in the cupcakes. Molly is their favorite Bubble Guppy because she has pink hair so I found some pink icing for the cupcakes too!  Oh, and everything was "Sidney-Friendly" (i.e.; dairy, egg and nut-free).  Click here for the recipe.

Now I'm going to mentally prepare myself for Sidney's first day of Preschool.  Boo hoo.

Free Museum Day -- September 29th

Museum Day Live! is coming up on Saturday, September 29.  If you visit the Museum Day Live! website, you can get free admission for 2 people to more than 1,400 museums in honor of the 8th annual Museum Day.  Here are some of the museums participating in St. Louis:

Missouri History Museum

Museum of Transportation

Saint Louis Art Museum

Saint Louis Science Center

The Eugene Field House

Campbell House Museum

Historic Daniel Boone Home

Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum

Museum of Contemporary Religious Art (MOCRA)

Barnes & Noble FREE Book Offer For Kids!

Welcome back from the long weekend!  I was checking my email from the weekend and saw this great offer.  Barnes & Noble is offering an incentive for kids to read throughout the summer.   Read any 8 books and get a FREE book from Barnes & Noble!  Here's what you have to do:


1.  Read any 8 book and record them in the Reading Journal.
2.  Bring the completed Reading Journal to your local B&N store.
3.  Choose a FREE BOOK from the selection on the Reading Journal list at the store.


Click here for more info.


Don't you just love free stuff!  Thanks B&N!