#Happy1stBdayBaby: What Children Need to Learn to READ Giveaway

One year old is not too soon to start preparing your little one to read.  In fact, you can start building literacy skills from birth.  What Children Need to Learn to READ is a great resource chock-full of activities to promote literacy from birth through early elementary school.  Read my review here. 

 Author Michelle Vallene is giving away a copy of 
What Children Need to Learn to READ to one winner.

Enter below on the Rafflecopter.  
Giveaway runs Dec. 11-Dec. 15. and is open in US. 
Good Luck!

Don't forget to check out the other giveaways in my Happy 1st Birthday, Baby! event.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

#Happy1stBdayBaby: What Children Need to Learn to READ

As a first time mother who hasn't spent much time with babies, I need more explicit parenting advice than many.  That's why I loved the book What Children Need to Learn to READ: The complete parent's guide to ensuring literacy, a love of reading, and school readiness.  Written by Michelle Vallene, a mom, elementary school teacher, and founder of Learners Lane, it is the perfect resource for any parents who wants to introduce literacy from birth, including the completely clueless like me.  Some parents may find some of the advice and activities to be "common sense" but for someone like me with little baby experience, I appreciate that Vallene starts from the basics and builds up.  

What Children Need to Learn to READ is a resource book, filled with games, activities, and songs that promote literacy skills.  It is not a thick book on the various theories of education (thank goodness, I had those in college) or the results of research studies regarding early literacy.  Instead, it is a book filled with practical advice for parents resulting from Vallene's own experiences with little ones.  That's exactly what I like about the book.  Very few activities need extensive preparation, you can simply pull the book off the shelf and choose an age appropriate activity when you have the chance.  The activities range in age and ability from newborn to early elementary (depending on the child's ability, somewhere around age 7).  Although, as I mentioned above, the book has some "common sense" activities (for example, nursery rhymes which many parents might say/sing anyway - which, I actually am glad are included because I have forgotten many of them), the majority of activities are new to me.  A few of my favorites include "Riding on a Pony", "Go Fish Sight Words", and a detailed plan for planning a book party with your child's friends.  

Another invaluable feature of What Children Need to Learn to READ is the thick resource section in the appendix.  The author's suggestions range from children's books to computer games that teach literacy skills to parent resources.  Michelle Vallene also sent me a copy of a CD to accompany the book with 36 kids songs/rhymes.  Lucia loves it (it it helps me to remember some of the lyrics I forgot long ago). 

You can purchase the book through Amazon and the MP3s here. 

As part of the Happy 1st Birthday, Baby! giveaway event,

author Michelle Vallene is giving away a copy of 
What Children Need to Learn to READ! Open to residents of the US.

Giveaway runs Dec 11-Dec 15. Enter here.

I received What Children Need to Learn to READ and the accompanying CD to facilitate this review.  I was not required to write a positive review.  Opinions are 100% my own.  See Disclosure Policy.

Window Shopping: Christmas in our Future Home

We are surrounded by Christmas - in the store, on the radio, on television.  The past few years we've lived in small apartments, but this year we are living with my parents, which means that we will have a large Christmas tree and a whole house to decorate.  I'm looking forward to it, but my mind keeps wandering to decorating our future home for the holidays.  There is something about the holidays that makes me pine for owning our own house and making it warm and cozy for our little family. 

Here are some of the ideas I have for our future home during the holiday season:

1. A live Christmas tree.  I've never, ever, not once had a fake tree.  Even when I was in college, my parents would bring over a live tree for us.  (My brother was a Boy Scout and their big fundraiser was selling Christmas trees.)  Now, my dad cuts ones down from his mountain property.  They aren't the full Christmas trees you see at a lot, but I love the smell of a real tree and the fact that they look, well, real. 

2. Christmas decorations for the littles.  I think it's really important to get little ones involved in the holidays as well and to me this includes child-friendly decorations that they can have in their own rooms.  You know, ones they can actually play with.  Thanks to Pinterest, I've seen several different varieties of "toddler-friendly" trees, including felt trees you can put on their wall and let them decorate with felt ornaments.  And then there is this one.  Seriously, you have to check it out!  Unfortunately the creator doesn't make these to sell (and I checked, no one on etsy does either!).  If you are crafty and could make these, I bet you could make a ton of money (I know I would buy one!).  Another crafty Christmas money making suggestion: felt Advent wreaths for little ones.  I bought one of these, but it wasn't very high quality.  I would have loved to have purchased a high-quality handmade one off etsy instead.

3. A combination of "pretty" and "personal" ornaments.  I've always envied those that had beautifully decorated and color coordinated Christmas trees.  But that's just not me.  My childhood trees were a mismatch of a million different ornaments.  As a child I loved putting "my" ornaments on the tree.  My grandparents would get me a special (usually Hallmark) ornament every year, and I also had those I made myself throughout school.  When I went off to college, my mom helped me sort out my Christmas ornaments so I would have them for my own family.  I love the idea of having a large number of coordinating ornaments, with personal and homemade ones mixed in.  Some ornaments I'm loving this year:

Globe Ornaments from Land of Nod

 4. Christmas dishes.  I love the idea of having special holiday dishes.  I saw this set the other day and fell in love:

Threshold Silver Snowflake Collection from Target

I'm sure this exact set won't be around by the time I'm ready to buy (and have a place to store) these, but I love the simple, classy design.  We actually registered for dishes similar to these when were engaged (not snowflakes, flowers) but they went out of production before our wedding and we had to register for a different set.  I think it's a bit silly to get dishes only for Christmas dinner; these are great because they aren't specifically Christmas themed, so they can be used all winter long.  I've (surprisingly) found that I love entertaining, so I'm sure these would get a ton of use. 

5. An Advent calendar.  I'm not a huge fan of Advent calendars that start on Dec. 1st, since the season of Advent is a different length every year, so I'd love to make one that I could customize each year (maybe make the number of days for the longest possible Advent and just cut out the last one for shorter years?).  I'd especially love it to be faith-centered (at least in part).  Here are some of my favorite ideas that I could mix/match for our family: experiences instead of gifts, muffin tin Advent calendar, Advent calendar above the fireplace, and unwrapping a book and/or prayer card(!) every night.

6. Mantle.  My dream is to own a home with a fireplace that has a traditional mantle.  I love the classic Christmas mantle decorated with stockings and garland.  There are so many ways to personalize it with pictures of your family or your favorite Christmas decorations.  I can't wait to dream up all the ways to decorate ours one day!

7. Matching stockings.  I really like cute, vintage-y, matching stockings for our home, personalized with each family member's name.  This is really difficult right now since we don't know the names of our future family members and I'm not sure how many extras I should order.  I definitely don't want to get a whole new set with each new addition.  These are my favorites right now:

Monogram Vintage Stocking from Red Envelope

Another option is to get unpersonalized stockings and personalized stocking holders.

On Marrying Young: Military Life

It's been a while since I've had a new post in the "On Marrying Young" series and I'm excited to dust it off and and a wonderful new guest post. I love Caitlin's perspective of marrying young and military life, something I know very little about.  Enjoy!
__________

In the military, it's not uncommon to see 18 year olds married, or 19 year olds married with kids.  It's something that, although rare in the civilian world, is accepted as part of life in the military world.  "Married young" is not a term that is used often, simply because for many, that's average.  In the south, where I grew up, it's definitely more common to get married young, but typically, that's right out of college (or around that age) as opposed to 18 or 19.  My husband, Ryan, and I were married when I was 21 and he was 26.  We had known one another for a couple of years and been engaged for 17 months when we said "I do."  I had just graduated from college with my Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies and Political Science 28 days prior.  He had graduated from the United States Air Force Academy 3 1/2 years prior.  I would venture to say we were more the norm of the officer world (as most officers meet their spouses in college). Still, I was young, relative to every person I went to high school with.  I believe I was the third in my class of 552 to be married.

January 15, 2011: The day I married my best friend.  Isn't he handsome?!

So many of our friends asked whether I was ready.  Didn't I want to live life before settling down?  I've never understood that mentality.  Why would I want to live life alone, when I can do the same things with my best friend by my side?  Marrying young meant that we got to be there for so many of each other's important days and "firsts": Ryan finding out what plane he'd fly, him receiving his wings, our first deployment, me receiving my BA, my first move out of Texas, my first legal drink.  Big and small, we've gotten to be there for one another for all of them.

Needless to say, when my now-husband asked my dad for permission to propose when I was barely 20, it was something that was not taken lightly by any in our family.  There are very, very few divorces, because none of us believe in it.  My grandparents have been married nearly 60 and 70 years; my aunts and uncles have been married 30+.  My parents, 25.  When we say our vows, we mean them.  We make it work, regardless.  Because I was raised in such a faith-based family, I knew exactly what I was getting into by agreeing to marry Ryan.

The day before Ryan received his wings, one of the proudest days of both of our lives

We did not, however, agree on that faith initially.  I was Methodist; he was Catholic.  Our experience with planning the wedding in the Catholic Church was not a good one, and it ended when I was referred to as the "wrong kind of Christian" by one of the people at the church who was supposed to be helping us coordinate everything.  Needless to say, that turned me off to the Catholic Church for a while, despite the fact that I knew that it was only one person.

The happy ending of our first deployment

Being married to Ryan (and, we half-joke, the Air Force) has stretched my horizons beyond anything I thought I would ever see.  Three days after our wedding, I moved with our dog, Moose, to the Seattle area to be with him (he had moved up a year and a half before).  Although I had always loved to travel, the thought of moving out of Texas had never actually crossed my mind.  This may seem bizarre to so many of you, but the truth is, Texans are pretty happy about being Texan and most of us don't see the point in leaving permanently.  We have pine trees in east Texas, beaches in south Texas, hills in central Texas, desert in west Texas, plains in north Texas, and mountains in far west Texas.  We have big cities, small towns, and everything in between.  So when I realized that marrying Ryan meant that I would have to move, it was no small decision (on top of the little matter of spending the rest of my life with him).

The truth is, though, that I truly believe God had a huge hand in our life.  He ensured that Ryan would be stationed somewhere that our relationship could continue to thrive while I finished my degree (no getting married or moving until that was done!), and He put it in my heart to be an Air Force wife.  As much as this life asks of me, and of our family, I wouldn't have it any other way.  This life requires that you trust God again and again, as Ryan flies all over the world to dangerous places.  You have to trust that God will bring him home safe each time, or you'll lose your mind.  More than that, though, I have met more incredible women through our squadrons and bases.  Women who encourage me to pray.  Women who encouraged me to check into RCIA when I thought I disagreed with everything the Catholic Church was about.  It was their prayer, as well as my husband's, that slowly softened my heart to the Church and allowed me to be open to what He was wanting for my life.  I am now working my way through RCIA, and hope to be a full-fledged member of the Church this Easter, shortly after the birth of our first baby.

I may have married young, but I feel that because I did, I have grown as a person more than I ever thought possible.  I did a lot of growing up in college.  I've done even more in the last couple of years, as I learn to be the wife and friend (and soon-to-be mother) that God wants me to be.  God put Ryan in my life when he did, I believe, so that I could continue the growth He started in me in college.  I do believe that you need a certain level of maturity before making that commitment.  By no means do I feel that age is the determiner of that readiness to commit your life to one person, but rather the state of your relationship, both with your spouse and God.

We both love getting to go back to Colorado Springs and the Academy.

Caitlin is a stay-at-home wife, puppy mama, and soon-to-be mama of a little boy.  She grew up all over Texas, but calls Austin home.  She got my degree from Texas State University (Eat 'em up, Cats!).  Her husband, Ryan, was a C-17 instructor pilot and is currently learning to be a T-6 instructor.  As a result, they have lived in Del Rio, TX, Altus, OK, and Tacoma, WA, and now reside in San Antonio, TX en route to Columbus, MS.  Caitlin blogs at The Gavina Family.

Please check out the other posts, including more great guest posts, in my On Marrying Young series.  

Mrs. Smith's Pies: A Holiday Tradition & Opportunity to Give Back

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Mrs. Smith's for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is the foods that seem to only appear at this time a year.  While I love pie year round, it seems that many families reserve it for the holiday months.  My all-time favorite dessert is cherry pie, not only for the taste but also the warm memories of family get-togethers that it invokes.  I’m sure you can figure out which of Mrs. Smith’s pies I recently picked up from the store when given the chance to review one.  In my opinion, it’s hard to ruin a cherry pie but it’s also difficult to find a frozen one that tastes homemade; Mrs. Smith’s was delicious and I’m certain I could have passed it off as homemade (if I was capable of making my cherry pies look that pretty).

There are many reasons to choose Mrs. Smith’s pies this holiday season.  First, it the taste!  But in a close second is that $1 will be donated to Operation Homefront for every Mrs. Smith’s pie that is sold in November and December.  Operation Homefront is an organization that provides emergency financial and other assistance to the families of service members and wounded warriors.  Researching for this post was the first time I had heard of Operation Homefront and am glad to learn about such a worthy organization.  During the holiday season, it’s important to not only be generous with our friends and family, but also with those in need.  In addition to choosing our own organizations to contribute to, my family is dedicated to buying from companies, like Mrs. Smith, that give back to their communities.

Mrs. Smith’s pies are a great holiday gift, especially if you are invited to a holiday dinner and aren’t much of a cook yourself.  In addition to bringing over a pie, you can send a holiday e-card through Mrs. Smith’s website.  It takes only a minute to send one.  I sent one to my parents and they were happy to print out the coupon that came along with it.  Send it out to your loved ones today and who knows, maybe they’ll be bringing you a pie at the next family gathering!

Mrs. Smith's is giving away a coupon for a free pie to one Catholic Newlywed reader as well as a $20 donation to Operation Homefront in the winner's name.  No Rafflecopter on this one, simply do one of the entry options below and leave a comment letting me know you did it.  Contest ends on Feb. 11th so you can get the coupon in plenty of time for Christmas dinner. 

The entries are easy & few:

1. Leave a comments telling me which of Mrs. Smith's pies you would choose if you won!
2. Follow Mrs. Smith’s on Facebook.
3. Follow Mrs. Smith's on Pinterest.

Make sure I have a way to contact you if you win!