This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you. All opinions expressed are our own. Thank you for your support. Did you realize that this past week was National Library Week? Living in the electronic age, have libraries become obsolete? Are they less used than they once were. But, as I peruse the library website that services Phoenix, I can see that libraries are still current and are keeping up with the times. They have so many online services and extra benefits for patrons to use, all for the price of $0! So, in honor of National Library Week, and because we are all book lovers who have been library users from our youth, today's Friday Fave #57 is all about libraries! When I was a child, my mother used to take me to the Clovis, CA Carnegie Library. (You can see it and read about it here). It was constructed in 1915, so it was old and musty smelling even when I was a child. I remember the steps up to the double doors that seemed much steeper back then and the creaky wooden floors. The children's section was in the basement. My mom would let me go and peruse the books to my hearts content and choose the books that I wanted to read. She would make her own choices upstairs and then come down and give me some suggestions. I remember checking out Dr. Doolittle and the Complete Adventures of Winnie the Pooh , among many others. There weren't a lot of extra programs at the library that I can recall, but it was a magical place to me all the same. It no longer serves as the town's library, but the building still stands as a landmark of former days and houses the Clovis Chamber of Commerce. When my own children were young, I would take them to the Phoenix library, especially during the summer, when school was out. During the school year they could use the school library, and I didn't want to mix up which books went to which library. Of course, if they needed something special that the school didn't have, we would go to the city library. But, during the summer, it was always great to keep the kids reading and to participate in our library's summer reading program. They won little prizes until finally at the end they could win Diamondback Baseball Game tickets after reading a certain number of books! Once, I took them to hear a cowboy tell stories at the library and he actually brought in his real horse wearing a diaper! My children were fascinated! So, given these experiences over the years with my kids, I polled my girls to find out what they love and remember about the library: Alicia: I am starting with Alicia because she actually worked in the Provo Library when she was in college. Here is what she says about the library: "I loved working at the library. It was the best job! I love when libraries are partnered with Libby and I can check out audio books from home I also enjoy aimlessly wandering the aisles and finding books I've never heard of, to read." If you haven't heard of Libby, it is a free app that lets you check out audio books onto your phone or mobile device for free! Here is the link to find out about it. Alicia also says it is awesome to be able to check out movies from the library. We used to do that a lot in the summer when my kids were young. It was a great way to stay indoors and be cool in our hot AZ summers! Alicia remembers, "That’s how I watched the Ramona movies!" Madalynn uses the library a lot! She says, "I like checking out movies and CDs from the library. And how you can get museum and zoo passes from the library. And the seed library. And the classes and activities they have for kids. Libraries are just a great resource for low budget families to experience things." She continues with the CDs, "When I was in middle school I would go choose CDs I thought had cool covers and that was how I discovered music." (She means how she found her taste in music. Of course she knew there was music, ha ha.) I was amazed about the seed library when Madalynn told me about it. I am excited to check that out! I just learned that our library (Cholla Branch) has a craft night that is totally free on Tuesday Nights! There are e-classes offered and special speakers. The culture passes Maddy spoke of are an awesome way to get free passes to museums and other attractions around the city. You have to be quick though, because they go fast! Lindsey says, "I like library nooks where you can sit and read. It is so quiet and peaceful." About the movies that you can check out she says, " That's how I watched a lot of movies in high school! I think that's how we saw the BBC Chronicals of Narnia when we were kids." Now that she is a mom, she is looking forward to the story times for kids and looking into the free classes that are offered. Speaking of being a mom, one great class being offered at our library branch is a Kindergarten Bootcamp class for children starting school in the fall of 2018! It is just one hour a week for 7 weeks, it is totally free, including supplies! It is amazing to see the number of free classes that are available online from the library! Here are the ones available from Phoenix! So, if you haven't checked out your local library lately, now is a great time to do it! Don't forget the books! I've listed favorites that I want to read this year on this post, and the library is a great place to find them. (Then, if you love them you can buy them! The only thing I don't love about the library is that you have to give back the books that you fall in love with.) Summer reading programs will be starting soon! The City of Phoenix is even doing a program that encourages everyone in the city to read a book together this summer! They are taking votes on which book it will be now! They are calling it, One Book, One Phoenix. If you live in Phoenix, go and vote now. I voted for Albuquerque by Rodolfo Anaya. Which one would you vote for? We will leave you with a quote from Albert Einstein.
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Living in the desert, we cherish every rainy day! We have been happy to get some rain lately in our area. Alicia lives in the Bay Area in California, so she often gets a lot of rain. The trouble with rainy days, when you have children, is figuring out how to keep them entertained during the storm and through the muddy times afterwards. Today's Friday Faves is featuring our favorite ways to have fun with kids during rainy days.
Because Alicia faces more rainy days than we do here in Phoenix, she likes to find ways to still allow her son to play outside without always being soaked to the skin, (like the kids were above) and also to play outside after the rain stops without getting muddy! She has found a rain suit for him to wear that she absolutely loves.
She loves this Tuffo Unisex Muddy Buddy Coverall that makes puddle jumping all kinds of fun! It has a generous fit so you can put it over the child's normal clothing and it comes with a handy little bag to store it in. In this suit, Adriancito can go out right after a rainstorm and stay perfectly dry. He can even go down the slide and the little puddle at the bottom doesn't phase him.
It also comes in camo, pInk, red and yellow. It is very waterproof and has 4.5 stars on Amazon!
And, don't forget the rain boots! LIttle Adrian has a cute pair on as you can see in the picture. There are a ton of them available on Amazon! Here are some of our favorites, just click on the pictures to order them:
I almost wish that these were more useful in Phoenix! I love them. Since some of my grandchildren are moving to Wyoming, so these might be good gifts for them! I can see them being very useful there.
And, I'm sure that Lindsey can hardly wait until her baby Emily is old enough for a pair, even though she lives in Phoenix, because they are so adorable and Lindsey loves to go out in the rain when it is coming down. Bonus-kids can learn to put them on all by themselves!
Madalynn suggests that after being outside and getting wet and possibly chilled, the best thing to do on a rainy day is to snuggle up in a blanket and watch a movie with a cup of Hot Cocoa Bomb! I asked her what movie she would suggest and she decided that the Harry Potter Series would be perfect. I think all 4 of us would agree with that! It makes me want to do that right now!
Whenever I think of what to do on a rainy day, I think of reading! When my children were young, we used to watch Reading Rainbow and there was one of the first episodes that was about rainy days. I always think of the book that was read on that show, Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain.
It is a beautiful, rhythmic story with awesome artwork. And guess what! All of the episodes of Reading Rainbow, season 1 are available on Amazon Prime for free! I am so excited to show these to my grandchildren!
I also love to listen to storms with my grandchildren and talk about what is happening. My husband always likes to go out on the covered patio with the kids and watch the lightening storms. Then, he opens all of the windows in the house and lets in the fresh, rain smelling air! Lindsey says that she loves to do the same thing.
Here are a few other activities that are fun for rainy days:
April showers should be on their way soon! I hope that you will be enjoying them like we will!
What do you like to do with your kids on rainy days? This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you. All opinions expressed are our own. Thank you for your support. Easter is such a beautiful holiday. Spring is beginning, the flowers are beginning to bloom. The holiday is steeped in rich traditions and most of the things that we associate with Easter have symbolic religious meanings. At our house, we love Easter for so many reasons and we have many traditions that mark this holiday as special to us. So, for today's Friday Faves, we decided to share 10 Things That We Love About Easter! I'll start with #10 and work my way forward! 10. Jelly Beans! About the only time of year that we eat these sweet, fruity beauties is during the Easter Season! Of course they are widely available everywhere and now they come in so many flavors and varieties. I have found that I like them all!! :) 9. Easter Eggs! This is actually going to be a few ideas in one spot. Alicia mentioned that she loved coloring the hard boiled eggs. (I have always loved that, too). It is so much fun to get creative with the egg coloring. We always set aside time on the Saturday before Easter Sunday to color the eggs. Early Sunday morning, before church, the kids would all come out and hunt for the eggs that the Easter Bunny had hidden around the house. Yes, they had to hunt for the real ones as well as plastic ones. Surprisingly, we never had any mishaps! Since I have 6 children, that meant a lot of hard boiled eggs! Of course we ate some at breakfast on Easter morning. One of my favorite things to do with the eggs was to make them into Deviled Eggs and into Egg Salad Sandwiches. Hmm, we may need to share those recipes with you before Easter arrives! 7. Easter Morning Pastry! To go along with the hard boiled eggs at breakfast, I always had either homemade or nice purchased pastries for Easter Morning. Add a glass of juice, and it was a nice, quick breakfast to eat before it was time to head off to church. Lindsey wants to keep this tradition in her family now. One of the things that I would sometimes make was this Cherry-Cheese Pastry that I have shared with you before. (It is a favorite of my DIL). 7. Easter Baskets! Maddy made sure that we mention Easter Baskets here. They are always so much fun to get on Easter Morning. Our kids had baskets that were their's that they used year after year. Some of our kids had nice willow baskets and a couple had the colorful Easter type, but they were their own, so they didn't mix up whose was whose. We always put in a nice mix of treats and little gifts. Nothing too elaborate. If you want some inexpensive basket ideas, be sure to check out our Easter Basket Stem Activities post, with a video! 6. Chocolate Easter Bunnies! We used to get our kids those hollow chocolate Easter bunnies. The chocolate wasn't that great, but they loved to break off the ears and then pour milk inside the bunny! My oldest son started doing this and showed his younger siblings how to do it. Surprisingly, there weren't many messes from it. It is just one of those funny things that evolved at our house from the early stages with our kids. If you have more discerning taste in chocolate, you can get Russel Stover bunnies at Dollar Tree! 5. Easter Dresses and Outfits! When my girls were young, I used to love making them Easter Dresses, just like my mother used to do for me. I like getting a nice, new Spring Dress as well, but I hate to sew for myself, so if I get one, I always purchase it. It is also always nice to get a new tie or something for the boys as well. Starting on the 18th of March, Target is going to be having BOGO on their girls and toddler dresses. That is buy one get one for 50% off! So, if you aren't sewing the dresses, there is a great deal! Here are a few that I think are adorable: 4. Going to Church on Easter Morning! Lindsey mentioned that she loves going to church on Easter Morning because the hymns seem to be sung more fervently and the messages are always beautiful. The same feeling comes to me when Christmas falls on a Sunday. Easter Services are always beautiful and filled with hope. In our church this year, there is a world wide conference that will be televised on Easter morning. It will be wonderful to hear the messages right in our own homes. We can stay in our pjs and wear the Easter dresses the following week! 3. The Easter Hymns! I already mentioned them, but the beautiful music of Easter deserves a place of its own. Go here to listen to "Christ the Lord is Risen Today". Go here to listen to "I Know That My Redeemer Lives". Just a couple of my favorites. 2. The Messiah! Madalynn reminded me of Handel's Messiah. What a truly inspired and beautiful work of musical art! My girl's have all had the opportunity to perform in presentations of the Messiah, or at least portions of it. Have you ever gone to hear it live and to feel that music just wash over you and fill your heart? Have you ever been able to go to a sing-a-long of the Messiah and be a part of the music? It is amazing! Guess what! There is a great opportunity this year to sing-a-long with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir as they perform the Messiah! Go to this link and find out all about it! Event is on March 23rd. You can even download download a PDF of the musical score! It is so amazing to sing the Hallelujah Chorus with that wonderful choir. I can hardly wait! And, at last, the #1 favorite thing that we love about Easter! Let me tell you a true story. When my daughters and I were discussing what we should make Friday Faves about this week, and I told them I thought we should talk about something to do with Easter, I jokingly asked, "What was your favorite Easter?" Silly, right? Who can pick a favorite Easter from their lives? But, Madalynn answered, "The one when Jesus Christ was resurrected." Yes, she was kind of teasing me about even asking that question, yet, I was humbled and very glad that this was the first thing that came into her mind. He is the reason we celebrate this wonderful holiday. Because of Him, we have hope for eternity. We hope that each of you can feel His love and hope in your lives. While all of the other trappings are a lot of fun and serve as reminders of what Jesus Christ has done for us, I want to make sure that His name comes to my mind every time I hear the word Easter, and that I remember Him everyday! Thanks Maddy, for that simple reminder. You will be hearing more from us on the subject of Easter over the next couple of weeks! We have recipes and ideas to share. We hope that you will let us know some of the things that you love about Easter and how you celebrate at your house. I am going to put links to some of our past Easter posts below. Just click the pictures and they will take you to those posts!
This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you. All opinions expressed are our own. Thank you for your support.
Today Friday Faves is all about apples. Why? Well, because March 11th is Johnny Appleseed Day! Do you remember studying about the pot-for-a-hat guy named John Chapman who traveled around the country planting apple trees? There are actually 2 dates listed as Johnny Appleseed Day. September 26 is reportedly the day of his birth and March 11 is his estimated death date. So, while a birth seems like a better thing to celebrate than a death, both of these dates are recorded as Johnny's Day! John Chapman was a pioneer who planted apple trees and sold apple trees as he traveled west. As he traveled, the legend grew and he was nicknamed Johnny Appleseed. Disney even made a video about American legends that include Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyan and John Henry. I am sure my children own this Steven Kellogg version storybook about Johnny Appleseed, too. Well, we are willing to give a big shout-out to John Chapman any time of year because we love so many things about apples!
When I asked Madalynn for her favorite apple related thing, she first thought of something Johnny Appleseed had nothing to do with, her iphone. She currently has the 6s and she loves it. It has so much space and takes great pictures. She purchased a refurbished iphone, which significantly lowered the price.
Don't forget to order the case! We have learned from sad experience that iphones are very slippery without a case. Then they break and the repairs can be costly.
Now, getting back to the edible apples, Alicia answered that she loves warm apple pie with a scoop of ice cream on top. We have past posts that teach apple pie and how to can pie filling. Also, don't forget my mom's crust recipe!
I love apple pie, too. And I really love the Cinnamon Red Hot Apples Rings that I showed you how to can. (We finished those off really quickly!) I also love Chunky Apple Pancakes. I really love apple motifs on craft projects. One of these days I will make a video to show you how I painted these heart apple ornaments: But, when Lindsey told me that her fave is Apple Crisp, I knew that I had to make one and share it with you and my family today. That warm, sweet, crisp topping on Apple Crisp is definitely comfort food. My version uses both brown and white sugars.
This is an easy and quick recipe. I hope you will enjoy it.
Thanks Johnny Appleseed! What are your favorite apple things?
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Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
June 2024
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