Author Archive: Ashley B
Ashley is a Writer, Stay at Home mother of 4, not to busy to take time to slow down and smell the flowers. I also teach a Mommy and Me Dance Class to share my love of dance.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving: Holiday Tips to Stay Safe
December is bursting with festivities, and with those festivities are often alcoholic beverages. It’s fine for you to have a few drinks, of course, and drinking moderately can help set a good example for your children of appropriate and responsible alcohol usage. Of course, every year we hear of injuries and fatalities caused by drinking […]
Holiday Bargains: Gift Baskets and Care Packages
The holidays are quickly approaching, but if you’re like anything like me, you spend the first half of December wishing that you’d started your holiday shopping earlier! With many of us feeling the economic pinch, you might not be in the position to spend a lot of money on Christmas and Hanukkah gifts. Homemade gifts […]
Hanukkah Traditions
I grew up with a Catholic mother and a Jewish father, so I was exposed to all sorts of holiday traditions. Although we celebrated Christmas at home, we’d go to my paternal grandmother’s house every December to observe Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights. We’d gather at some point during the celebration to light candles […]
Making Thanksgiving Traditions
When I was little, we would always gather at my grandmother’s house for Thanksgiving. My aunt would roast the turkey at her house, and she’d make two different kinds of stuffing: one with sausage, and one without. My mother was in charge of making mashed turnips (which I disliked as a child and still don’t […]
November is National Adoption Awareness Month
November is National Adoption Month. The purpose of National Adoption Month is to raise awareness about the adoption of children from foster care. There are over 100,000 children in the U.S. waiting for permanent adoptive families. The theme for this year’s adoption month is improving the ability of adoption professionals to recruit adoptive parents for […]
Fall Birthday Party Ideas
The time of year for pool parties may have passed, but never fear; if your child has a fall birthday, this can be a wonderful time to plan a party. School is in session, so your child has easy access to all the friends he wants to invite. And the season easily lends itself to […]
Fall Foliage Photography
This time of year, I love looking at photos of fall foliage. It brings me back to when I was a child and young adult, enjoying football games, hot apple cider, raking the leaves into a pile to jump in, pumpkin carving, apple picking, and all of the other delights of fall. Since moving to […]
Start a Summer Book Club with your Kids
If you’re looking for a way to encourage your kids to read over the summer, one idea to consider is starting a summer book club. Getting the kids together with their friends to read or discuss what they’re reading turns reading from a solitary activity into a social activity and gives everyone a regularly occurring […]
Family Fun on the Fourth
Independence Day is the biggest holiday of the summer, and it’s one that kids love to celebrate. Fireworks, picnics, and barbecues are staple activities, but there are some more unique family activities out there that can make your Fourth of July fun. How about a Fourth of July makeover or a neighborhood parade? Maybe your […]
Summer Learning
As summer vacation approaches, one thing that concerns me is summer learning loss: studies show kids lose over two and a half months of math skills and around one month of skills in other subjects over the long vacation period. As much as I want my kids to have their well-deserved break, I know their […]
