Writing Appearances

Practical Homeschooling Article

As a homeschooling mom, I have tried a lot of different ideas to make the school day flow smoothly. Recently, I wrote an article (and took some pictures) for Practical Homeschooling magazine about one of the ideas that has worked quite well in my home.

The article and pictures were accepted and have been published in the most recent Practical Homeschooling magazine (edition #130). I had submitted it as Using Craft Sticks to Stay Sane, but it can be found in the Practical Homeschooling magazine as A Crafty Way to Keep Track of Each Day’s Subjects on pages 18-19.

I thought it was kind of neat to see the pictures that I took of our chore jar and cup of craft sticks in the magazine. Originally, I had taken the pictures on my counter with the counter surface showing, but I redid them with white poster board as the background. I think they seem to really stand out on the pages. If only the picture of me turned out as well – I am not photogenic at all!

Have a wonderful day!

Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles

Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles Receives Readers’ Favorite 5-Star Review

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Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles has received a Readers’ Favorite five star review! This is what Mamta Madhavan for Readers’ Favorite had to say about the book:

“The story gives tips on the entire process of pickle making and makes it enjoyable for readers. The illustrations are charming and they give action and movement to the story. The story is informative to young readers and they get to know how to transform seeds into pickles. It is a good bedtime storybook and teachers and educators can use it for classroom read aloud sessions so that children learn the process of pickle making. It is an informative and educational book for all children and is a must-have in all school and children’s libraries.”

Now, I can put the Readers’ Favorite Five Stars seal on the cover of my book if I choose. Here is the current cover of Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles.

My other book, Jobs of a Preschooler, had also earned a Readers’ Favorite Five Star review. Here is a before and after of the cover of Jobs of a Preschooler:

Have a wonderful day!

Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles

Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles at Mt. Olive Pickles Company

(This post contains affiliate links, which means I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you if you make a purchase after clicking on a link. Thank you!)

Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles is currently available for sale at Mt. Olive Pickles Company in North Carolina! If you would like more information about them, you can visit their website here.

Crafts and Projects · Events · Jobs of a Preschooler

Jobs of a Preschooler Library Storytime

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I had a lot of fun yesterday and today presenting my book Jobs of a Preschooler at a library during their preschool storytime. I hope the kids enjoyed it as much as I did. Today we were able to do a little bit more than yesterday. Here is what we were able to do today once the program began:

  • We discussed different jobs that people may have – writer, cleaner, librarian, and more. The kids also shared some jobs that they have at home such as helping with laundry and cleaning up their messes.
  • We talked about words that rhyme since Jobs of a Preschooler has rhyming words. I had glued some pictures with words on to notecards (cat, bat, hat, mat, rat, car, guitar, star, etc.), which I held up for the kids to tell me which words rhymed.
  • I read Jobs of a Preschooler as the kids sat on the floor listening. I told them to try to listen for some more rhyming words as I read. I also asked questions as I read the book such as: Do your parents have a lot of things they have to do throughout their day? What is a meteorologist? Do any of you know how to sing your ABC’s? Who likes to build towers really high? Do you ever help to make a snack or a meal? Do any of you have pets at home? What is the girl doing on the last page? Are you tired at the end of your day doing all of your fun activities?
  • I showed the kids a bag with some seeds to demonstrate what the girl was doing when she was a “scientist”. Some of the kids told me that they have planted seeds to grow vegetables and flowers.

Jobs of a Preschooler- I'm a scientist...

  • The kids gathered at a few tables, and we decorated “microphones” with various stickers and crayons. I created the microphones ahead of time using toilet paper rolls, paper, tape, aluminum foil, and hot glue. (I taped the paper around the toilet paper tubes. I rolled aluminum foil into balls and hot glued them to the top of the toilet paper tubes.) Here is a picture of three of the unfinished microphones:

Jobs of a Preschooler- I'm a singer...

  • After they were finished decorating their microphones (and we pretended to turn them all on), we sang the alphabet together just like the girl in Jobs of a Preschooler.
  • In the story, the girl uses string and large beads to make jewelry. Instead of using string, we made bracelets with pipe cleaners and pony beads. A couple of kids decided to combine more than one pipe cleaner to make necklaces. Here are a couple of the bracelets with a pipe cleaner and pony beads:

Jobs of a Preschooler...I'm a jewelry maker...

  • At the end, the kids were able to go home with the items they had made, coloring and activity pages to go along with Jobs of a Preschooler, and a bookmark. (Click here if you would like to print coloring pages.)

Jobs of a Preschooler coloring pages and activity sheet

The time went by really fast. I really hope I am able to go back again to do a storytime for Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles.

Crafts and Projects · Writing Appearances

DIY Picture Tile Coaster

Besides reading and writing, I really enjoy doing crafts and activities with my daughters. My daughters and I have had a lot of fun making numerous picture tile coasters using pictures that we have taken. I recently posted instructions on how to make these picture tile coasters on Thrifty Fun, which can be found here.

Here are a few samples of the coasters we have made:

handmade dragonfly tile coasters

I think dragonflies are really interesting. I took the top dragonfly photo on a trail in Iowa, and I took the bottom dragonfly photo while fishing on Lake Michigan.

handmade tile coasters with lizards

We saw a lot of lizards on our trip to Florida, which is where I took all of these lizard pictures.

DIY picture tile coasters- butterflies and flowers

One of my daughters (who is 9 years old) really enjoys taking pictures. She is the one who took the pictures of the bottom two flowers. I took the rest of the pictures at various locations.

DIY picture tile coasters

I took three of the fall photos while walking through the woods with my family, and I took the bottom right fall photo while out on the Mississippi River with my family. The little chipmunk, which we named “Chippy”, enjoyed eating the bird seed and our strawberries. I took these pictures of Chippy from my living room window. Even though it was frustrating to lose so many strawberries to the little guy (is it really necessary to take one bite out of each ripe strawberry?), I thought he (maybe she?) was cute.

Do you have any fun projects that you enjoy doing that may make great gifts for others? Do you have any pictures that you have taken that you would like to share?