Summer Sun Safety

Summer is just around the corner, I promise! Here in the northwest it may seem like winter/spring will never be over. I call it winter spring, because it truly is a mixture of snow and rain here.
However, its not to early to start thinking of fun in the sun. With that comes the thought of protecting our children and ourselves from the powerful affects of the sun on our skin.
Here are a few tips to get you started.

1. Use Sunscreen Correctly - Most people use way to little sunscreen. To cover your face and arms you need at least 2 tablespoons. Have bear legs, you need at least 2 more. If you are going to be out in the sun for more then two hours, you will need to reapply. Swimming, re-apply every hour. If you do not use enough sunscreen, that SPF 30 you just applied sparingly will only be near SPF 10.  Number 1 rule, slather it on nice and thick!

2. Protect your head and face with a broad rim hat. Stylish and cool these hats will for sure make a statement and remind others of the importance of their skin too.

3. Many kids can wear SPF enhanced swim wear. Remember though that after 10 washings there is no more protection left then a regular shirt. Rinse and air dry as often as possible to protect the SPF rating. Don't skimp  on cute bathing suits and bikinis. Go for the shorts and t-shirts. You kids are more important then a full body tan.

4. Keep hydrated! Even if your playing in the water, or feel like your not sweating, you are loosing plenty of water out of your body. Keep hydrated with pure clean fresh water. Stay away from sodas and high sugar drinks that will just speed up the dehydration.

Enjoy your Summer!

The Language Rich Home

Unless you've been living without TV, the internet or a library, you know the importance of reading to your child at a very young age. Here is something interesting you may not know. While simply reading to your child is beneficial, it does not necessarily make a great reader.
Recently I was reading a book by Ruth Beechick entitled The Language Wars. She describes a language rich environment as one where the parent and child interacts with the books they are reading. Looking at the pictures together and talking about what is happening in the picture. Maybe there is more going on in the picture then the story has said. Maybe you've read the book so many times you can stop mid sentence and your child can finish it. A child that can sit down and "read" you the story through their memory is developing necessary language skills and abilities to assist in decoding words.

Another important thing to remember when your child does begin reading is that it is okay if they spend a few years building fluency. Reading books that are easy will help them build confidence and flunecy. A child who is pushed to read at or above grade level will many times only get through a couple of pages. However a child who is allowed to choose easy readers and encouraged to read a lot of them can devour 20 pages or more in a sitting.
If you have a struggling reader this is a great book to lay out the facts. Bring joy back to reading. Enjoy the books. Read to your child. Discuss the books. Let your child read to you.
Need help taking that first step? Summer is approaching fast, check out your local library for their summer reading programs. Many offer prizes, free books and all the encouragement you and your child need to explore a world of learning.

Product Review - The Peanut Ball

Strengthens core muscles, enhances balance and increases attention span not to mention how fun it is!

This peanut ball holds up to 750 pounds so mom and dad can enjoy "playing" with it too. Any exercise ball can do all of the above but because of it's unique shape the peanut ball can only roll forward or backwards making it safe for even the littlest ones in your family.

We found this one online at Discount School Supply and it seems to be the best price around at only 19.95.

How To Make A Friendship Bracelet

　

Would you like to make a friendship bracelet for some of your friends? Or do you have a teenager who likes to try making crafts and gifts for friends. It is a fun easy gift to make and a good way to tell someone they are special to you. It is an easy and fun friendship gift.
　
You will need four colors of embroidery floss. They need to be 25 inches long. I like to buy my floss at the dollar store. You can usually find it there in all sorts of colors.
Your will also need Masking tape for your friendship gift.
Tie a knot about one inch from the top. Tape the knotted end to the back of a chair or table. Separate the stands of floss.
Start with string one and loop it over string two. Hold string two tight and pull the knot snug.
Do step one another time so you have a double knot
Now take string one and make double knots around each of the remaining strands
Now do the same thing again and this time start with the left strand
Tie knots left to right all the way across the collars
Keep going until the bracelet is as long as you like.
Gather the strings and tie a knot to secure
Why would your teen want to learn how to make friendship bracelets? Mostly because they are fun, but also because you can share friendship bracelets with friends - . Plus, the inexpensive threads come in every color of the rainbow - endless combinations of friendship bracelets are obtainable for very little cost!

Give yourself some time to learn the steps. It takes a lot of patience and practice but it's like riding a bike, once you make friendship bracelets, you’ll never forget how. Start with an easy pattern, but don't be too afraid to progress to the more difficult patterns once you know how to do the basic knot.
　

The Odyssey- Book Review

Long tried Odysseus was far from home for more than two decades, 10 years fighting the Trojans and 10 more lost at sea. In Poseidon’s domain on his way homeward he faced many trials. Slaying a monstrous Cyclops, going to and escaping from the dreadful Hades and staying on the island of the nymph, graceful Calypso for 6 years. Homer’s work mainly describes the sorrows of royal Odysseus and his finding a surprise upon his homecoming.

The book begins with god-like Odysseus’s son powerful Telmacha getting information from Athena that his father is about to return home and that he should go and search for him. Wise Telmacha decides to go to Sparta from Ithaca. When he arrives he is showered by gifts from the king of Sparta. Going farther inland he receives no tiding of his father. Disappointed mighty Telmacha returns homeward but alas, the lowly suitors set up a wicked trap to slay heroic Telmacha. Only by the help of crafty Athena did great Telmacha get to Ithaca from harm.

Meanwhile sorrowful Odysseus was stuck on an island with the fair nymph Calypso without ship and without crew. Wise Athena decides it’s time to take matters into her own hands so she tells goodly Calypso to let Odysseus go free so Calypso tells god-like Odysseus to build a raft and leave the island, so Odysseus does as he is told and builds a goodly raft which will ride to waves well. But Poseidon was not through with Odysseus and crashed his vessel on the Phoenician shore. The king from this land graciously received him and had him tell his story.

Odysseus tells his story well and starts with his first trial, the Cyclops. Odysseus and his companions were traveling through the Mediterranean Sea when they saw an island. They decided to stop and gather supplies. While Odysseus and some of his men were scouting they came to the cave of the Cyclops. Odysseus and his companions tricked the monster and escape however Poseidon was not pleased.
Our hero’s next stop on his journey was the underworld where no man had ever come back alive from. Receiving information from a goddess Odysseus learned that he had to find someone in the underworld who could give him instruction on how he could return home. The spirit in question told Odysseus to go around Sicily and above all else not to eat the sun god Helios’s cattle which were found on an island on the way. Royal Odysseus thanked the spirit and left the realm unharmed.

As the ship of god-like Odysseus got close to the island of the sun god Odysseus’s men began to complain of fatigue so they docked on the island of Helios but not before Odysseus made them swear not to eat the cattle, the all made the proper oath and landed on the island. This is where things got ugly. The winds turned against the crew and their destination so the ship was forced to stay on the island. As supplies became low the crew became hungry, they decide to kill the cattle and eat them without Odysseus’s knowledge. Odysseus’s comrades had sealed their fate.

The sun god was furious and called on Zeus to deliver punishment to the ship that was already nearly home. The father of the gods sent a lightning bolt to strike the vessel but spared Odysseus because he had not eaten the cattle. The hero winded up on the shores of Calypso’s island and was held there for six years.

As Odysseus finished his story the Phoenician king took pity on him and showered him with gifts and goodly garments also giving him a ship and a crew to carry him to his homeland. Odysseus thanked the king with winged words and came from the king very rich.



Once the Phoenicians brought royal Odysseus back to his homeland the wise goddess Athena disguised him as an old man so that he might not be recognized. He introduced himself to the swineherd who was very loyal to him and showed his son Telmacha that he was his father. Father and son began to plot the demise of the suitors who courted Odysseus’s wife.

Meanwhile Penelope decided that enough was enough and made a contest that would determine her fate. She said that she would give her hand to whoever could bend Odysseus’s bow and shoot it through twelve axe heads. All 108 suitors tried and failed. Finally Odysseus disguised as an old beggar completed the task and then father and son proceeded to slay all of the 108 of the wicked suitors. Odysseus was once again king of Ithaca and had earned his wife’s hand through the trials that made Homer’s epic one of the most renowned books ever written.