Rain Rain Go Away Giveaway

April is here in full force in Ohio. One day we have warm weather and the next it is raining or snowing like crazy. So when the wet and cold days are here I love to jump on here and look for fun giveaways to enter! I am excited to be working with The Mommy Island and The Kids Did It again on another one of their FUN Giveaway Hops! Be sure to enter the other blogs giveaways as well so you do not miss out on winning some other great prizes. 

Keep The Kids Entertained during Quarantine

I know that right now many of us parents are trying to find ways to keep our kids entertained during the quarantine. I am sharing some wonderful ideas below with you that I have been coming across. I personally am trying to limit my kids time with electronics. I have been doing this by finding virtual field trips for them to take so they are still learning and not just playing games or watching mindless TV shows.

Zoo Cams & Field Trips

Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden - Every weekday at 3 pm EST, the Cincinnati Zoo is hosting a Home Safari Facebook Live. They features a different animal each day. If you do not have social media, the zoo will be posting their safaris on both their website and YouTube. 

https://www.facebook.com/cincinnatizoo/

Panda Cam Zoo Atlanta - Pandas are fun to watch anytime! Zoo Atlanta offers live stream of the only panda twins in the U.S.

https://zooatlanta.org/panda-cam/

Akron Zoo - Everyday at 12 pm EST, the Akron Zoo is hosting Lunch and Learns Live. They feature a different animal each day, they also give you craft ideas you can do with your children.

https://www.facebook.com/akronzoo/

ZooTampa at Lowry Park - Has a Kids Room section on their website that offers free puzzles, coloring pages and zoo games for kids to play.

https://zootampa.org/kids/

Science & Exploration 

COSI - Everyday COSI is delivering fresh, exciting and engaging science through videos and hands-on science you can try with your family at home.

https://cosi.org/

NASA - is offering a bunch of STEM activities for grades K-4. Activities will range from building foam rockets to solving space station emoji puzzles. They also have coloring pages and books that can be downloaded for younger children.

https://www.nasa.gov/stem-at-home-for-students-k-4.html

Great Lakes Science Center - Is hosting the Curiosity Corner Live everyday at 10:30 am and 3 pm for new, web-based curriculum designed to get the whole family learning more about science, technology, engineering and math!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCQ9SLS6AyS6yxo4BU71ncQ

Storytime & Doodling

Lunch Doodle - Mo Willems, author of The Pigeon HAS To Go To School! is hosting a Livestream Lunch Doodle. Everyday at 1 pm EST, new episodes will be posted on the Mo Willems page on the Kennedy Center's Website. Also, Willem is asking kids to send him questions at LUNCHDOODLES@kennedy-center.org, and he will try to answer as many questions in his videos. 

https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/mo-willems/

Heights Libraries - Now you can have your own personal storytime whenever you want. Just click on one of the videos below to enjoy some songs, fingerplays, and books performed by one of our Heights Libraries children's staff.

https://heightslibrary.org/services/children/virtual-storytime/

Read Together Be Together - Many of your favorite authors and celebrities are coming together to read children's stories. Some of the broadcasts are on Facebook and others on Instagram. You can get the full list on the Read Together Be Together website.

https://www.readtogetherbetogether.com/

I hope you enjoy the list I have put together for you and feel free to leave any sites that you want to share in the comments. God Bless and Stay Safe and Healthy!!!

RAIN RAIN GIVEAWAY SECRET WORDS

Monday - Blankets

Tuesday - Cuddles

Wednesday - Soft

Thursday - Thoughtfulness

Friday -  Faith

Saturday - Gift

Sunday - Family

What's Going On...

Some of you may have noticed that I have not been posting much on here lately and neither have the other writers. We are all still around just been very busy with life and kids. I personally have needed a break from social media. I have been focusing on my kids who are growing up way to fast in my opinion. We have been dealing with a lot of health issues with our oldest daughter and are working with the doctors to see if we can get some answers. I have so much I want to do anymore and I just can not find the time to do it all. 

We have been working on getting our home remodeled in the hopes that we can sell it soon. We have started a 2-3 plan to try and achieve our goal we set. Life is quickly changing around here in some ways for the better and others I am just not sure about. There are days that I feel like I could just give up and walk away and no one would really notice until they needed something. Then there are days that I could not even imagine my life without all this wonderful craziness. 

On top of my blog and being a full time stay at home mom I have been running two businesses as well. I have my own clothing boutique through HelloPink and I opened up a Etsy shop to sell some of my crafts. My older children are now working on crafts that they can sell in my shop as well. What started off as a small adventure for me has sparked the creativity of my children and I love that. 

So just because we are not on here posting please know that we have not given up on the blog. It is just life has taken us to pause from it for a bit.

Homeschool Mom’s Science Podcast

This post is sponsored by College Prep Science. Copyright 2020 by Greg Landry.

I know that I have been starting to listen to Podcast's more lately. It seems like you can find a Podcast for just about anything you could possibly be interested in. It is nice to be able to just sit back and relax while listening to a Podcast on a subject I am interested in.

Former college professor, homeschool dad, and homeschool science pioneer, Greg Landry, has a new podcast specifically for homeschool moms – the Homeschool Mom’s Science Podcast. The purpose of this podcast to encourage, entertain, and equip homeschool moms to teach science (6th - 12th grade) and to make it interesting and enjoyable for students (and mom).

The Cat's Meow - Giveaway Hop

Spring is coming soon! I know personally I am ready for Spring to arrive. This year I personally am super excited for it since we are going to Florida for Spring Break. If you can't get to the beach or just love Spring then you will love the clothing that HelloPink has for the upcoming Spring season. I am excited to be joining The Kids Did It and The Mommy Island in another fantastic giveaway event! Be sure to visit each blog on the linky so you don't miss out on winning some awesome prizes!!

Media Masters Publicity BOOK REVIEW: Disney Stories for 2 + 3 year olds

How perfect are these Disney books for specific age groups. My LO is now 3.5 and we still read every night. It is a great way to bond with your child. Most of these short stories have a few sentences on each page and less than 15 pages. I know after a long day of working, cooking, cleaning, running a toddler, and taking care of my husband and two dogs, by the end of the night I am SPENT! These short stories have beautiful illustrations which my LO loves. 

New Year, New Goals

I know that we all start the New Year with goals that we want to reach in the New Year. Almost all of us fail at the goals we set within the first few weeks. I am very guilty of that myself so this year I decided to switch things up. Instead of making the normal weight loss goals for myself I decided to make goals of getting my house in order to sell. We quickly outgrew our home no sooner than we moved in. We are slowly working on getting out of debt and getting things in order for what we would like to do with our future. 

We sent 2019 out the window in Florida with family and new friends. The two weeks we spent in Florida really opened my eyes to what needs to be done for my family. I have decided to no longer do what makes everyone else happy. Instead I am going to do what makes my family happy and healthy. Since our oldest son is now in High School and starting to think about college and careers I have made sure he knows that he can go after his dreams even if it means he is not close to me. I do not want my children trapped in a state that has nothing to offer them. 

So welcome to the New Year! We hope you will follow along with the blog this year and all the adventures we hope to go on. I am hoping to bring you more recipes and travel posts this year. I will be posting soon all the different parks we visited while in Florida.