25. March 2008 by Lisa.

Under 5
Read picture books
Ages 5 & up
Trumpet of the Swan, E.B. White
Little House on the Praire, (and others by) Laura Ingalls Wilder
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, Betty MacDonald
Ages 6 & up
The Story of Doctor Dolittle, Hugh Lofting
Treasures in the Snow, Patricia St. John
Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren
Cheaper by the Dozen, Gilbreth
Ages 7 & up
Little Lord Fauntleroy, (and others by) Frances Hodgson Burnett
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, Margaret Sidney
The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
Ages 8 & up
The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Graham
Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis
Call of the Wild, Jack London
White Fang, Jack London
Just David, (and others by) Eleanor H. Porter
Ages 9 & up
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
Oliver Twist (and others by) Charles Dickens
The Cricket in Times Square, George Selden
Treasure Island, (and others by) Robert Louis Stevenson
Swill Family Robinson, Johann David Wyss
High School-Adult
Pride and Prejudice, (and others by) Jane Austen
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
The House of Seven Gables, (and others by) Nathaniel Hawthorne
Moby Dick, Herman Melville

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25. March 2008 by Lisa.

This is primarily the parents’ responsibility.

1. Make library day a big deal. Your enthusiasm can be contagious. Get your children their own library cards and give them each a book bag for library books only. Teach them how to use the resources at the library. If you don’t know how to use the resources, ask for a “tour”.

2. Create a family reading time after dinner for 30 minutes. Let them pick their own reading material from a list you’ve already approved. You could also let them roam the library and find their own treasures. Make sure you overlook and find nothing objectionable.

3. Direct your children to good literature. Develop a book list based on their own interests.

4. For some children, TV, computer and video games are more tasteful. Think of those things as candy. Yes, we’d rather eat candy, but our minds must feast on healthy food and we should choose to limit the junk food. Let your children develop a taste for literature. Perhaps start with magazines which interest them. Books on tape are good and can occupy more than one child at a time. If developing a taste for literature is new in your home, be careful not to push your children past their own comfortable reading levels.

5. Read to your children. Read, read, read, read, read. Read to your readers every day. When you read, do it expressively. Vary the books you choose - fiction, history, nature, biographies. Make a routine of reading. If the children don’t seem interested in the book, put it down and grab another. There are so many life-long skills developed when children of all ages are read to. They learn to listen, their appetites for good literature develop, there is family togetherness, vocabulary is learned. Discussions with your children about different characters and plots are a rich reward for the entire family.

What do you do?

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25. March 2008 by Lisa.

Strive for your children to be well-read, not widely read.

According to Sally Clarkson, a LIVING BOOK is the literary expression of insights and ideas in a single work, by a single author, who knows and loves the subject about which he writes.  It is a living book because the author touches the heart of the reader - the emotions and feelings.

TWADDLE comes in many forms.  It’s best to show them as examples.

Commercial books - cartoon & media character books that are thinly veiled advertisements for tie-in products, publications and production.  Some examples may be Sesame Street, Barney, Blue’s Clues.  Don’t be fooled by the word “educational”.  That word doesn’t make the books any less twaddly.

Abridged classics - tend to give you only the bare bones of the story and leave out the literary beauty (which makes it a literary classic to begin with).  Textual abridgments are dumbed down stories - language and concepts - for easy reading.  Condensed abridgments leave out the “non-essential” content (more acceptable, but not desirable).

Formula fiction/mass market fiction - such as romance themes, violent action/adventure.  Many times these books promote bad values.  The tastes and appetites they create are enduring and difficult to satiate.  Not needed for young, impressionable minds.

Text books - are dry and factual.  They are non-literary expression of collected facts and information, impersonal in tone and feel.  Facts can be presented without creativity in a way that deadens the imagination.  Usually written by unknown various authors or contributors.

Posted in LITERATURE | 1 Comment »

24. March 2008 by Lisa.

Need anything from Office Depot today? Today is the last day you can walk into Office Depot and get $5 off an order of $5 or more. See their in store flier - front page, big as day.

Posted in HOT DEALS | No Comments »

22. March 2008 by Lisa.

Aside from the weekly ad deals, I’ve been taking advantage of the monthly deals. I just have to google to find those. CVS puts out a monthly booklet I’m trying to get my fingers on. Waiting for a reply from the company to find out how to get one.

Just got the last of the toothbrushes - everyone has been out! I also was able to take advantage of the deodorant deal. I got 10 free Lady Speed Stick since I had 10 $1 coupons. Then ea. deo. cranked out a $1 ECB. Total wash!

Here are the “wash” monthly deals

Oral B Cross Action Pro Health Toothbrush
Buy one at $4.99, get $4.99 in ECB’s
Limit 2

CVS Brand Vitamin C 500 mg. 110ct.
Buy one at $2.99, get $2.99 in ECB’s
Limit 5

LypSyl Lypmoisturizer .3 or Lypradiance Honey berry .08
Buy one at $2.99, get $2.99 in ECB’s
Limit 5

Colgate Total Toothpaste (you’ll have to ask which one
goes with the monthly deal. I could never figure this one out)
Buy one at $2.99, get $2.99 in ECB’s
Limit 5

Posted in CVS MONTHLY DEALS | No Comments »

20. March 2008 by Lisa.

Target
Totino’s Pizza Rolls 15ct.
Sale price 63c ea.
Use your 40c coupons
23c each

Walgreens
Bounty Basic Paper Towels
In store coupon makes them 79c ea. (limit 3 rolls/coupon)
Manufacturer coupon is 25c
54c each

Kroger
Allen’s Frozen Vegetables
10/$10 ($1 ea.)
35c coupon tripled (use only 1 per transaction)
Remember: they only triple the first of like coupons, so you must make more than one transaction if you have more than one coupon.
5c overage each!

Happy shopping!

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19. March 2008 by Lisa.

Thank you for contacting The Kroger Co. regarding our coupon policy.
The policy is as follows:

We reserve the right to limit quantities so that all shoppers may be
able to purchase all of their needs.

We will double coupons up to $0.50 and triple up to $0.39 everyday.

Coupons over $0.50 will be redeemed for face value.

We will redeem only one double or triple coupon per like item.

We do not typically accept printed coupons due to the high number of
fraudulent coupons that have been passed around the Internet. However, if the Internet-printed coupon has a scannable bar code printed on it, then our stores should accept them.

We hope this information is helpful. If you have additional questions
regarding our coupon policy, please feel free to speak to store management. They will be glad to assist you.

Thanks again for writing.

Sincerely,

Amy Galloway
Consumer Affairs

Posted in TIPS | No Comments »

17. March 2008 by Lisa.

Today I went to Kroger and stocked up on Lender’s Frozen Bagels. The bagels are in the frozen food section (NOT the ones in the refrigerated section - there is a difference).

They are 10/$10 (usually $1.49 each). I bought two and used my 50c off 2 coupon, which they doubled. Each 6ct. package totaled 50c. I did several transactions and stocked my freezer full of bagels my kids love.

Posted in HOT DEALS | No Comments »

17. March 2008 by Lisa.

Don’t throw away those grocery store inserts! Tom Thumb has a store coupon in Sunday’s paper. Buy 3 boxes of certain Kelloggs cereals for $3 total. If it’s not posted on the shelves, or isn’t obvious when you get there, ask your store mgr. which cereals are in the deal. You may stack manufacturer coupons with the store coupon. To top it off, you’ll get a Catalina and you may go back for more cereal! A Catalina is printed with your receipt and it’s like cash. Just redeem it during your next transaction.

Buy 3-4 boxes, get a $3 Catalina
Buy 5-6 boxes, get a $6 Catalina
Buy 7 boxes, get a $10 Catalina

The Catalina and the store coupon make the cereal free. If you stack manufacturer coupons, you get an overage! Get paid to eat breakfast!

You must have a $10 purchase in order to do this deal. Take heart. Lucerne eggs are on sale (use your coupon from Sunday’s paper and they’re 99c/doz. Strawberries are buy one, get one(BOGO or B1G1). Jimmy Dean sausage is at a good price (blinky coupon machine right by it), Crunch ‘N Munch (with your Sunday coupon) is only 95c/box. Just bring your coupons and roll those Catalinas!!!

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17. March 2008 by Lisa.

With all the cereal deals going on the last couple of weeks, I thought I’d post my one and only cereal recipe. It’s for yummy bran muffins. My family eats them any time of day, warm or cold. The batter keeps for up to six weeks (or up to the expiration date on the bottle of your buttermilk).

Mix in a very large bowl:
1 C Canola oil
4 Eggs, beaten
1 qt. Buttermilk
3 C Sugar

Then add to it:
5 C Flour
5 t Baking soda
2 t Salt
3 t Cinnamon

Finally add:
1 15oz. Box of bran or raisin bran (flakes) cereal

I’ve never tried any other types of cereal, but let me know if you do and it turns out well.

Fill baking cups 1/2 full with batter and bake at 400 for 15min.

Posted in RECIPES | 1 Comment »