When I first began teaching, I assumed that kids today were just like kids used to be when I was young, but I couldn't have been more wrong.  I was absolutely shocked at how sedentary they've become.  About 70% of the children I taught were grossly overweight and didn't even like going outside to play anymore!

I'll never forget the time that I had purposefully scheduled a fun Science experiment which involved them playing tag outside.  The weather was gorgeous and I just knew I would be the "teacher of the year" for coming up with such a fun activity for the day.  But instead, the children actually started COMPLAINING that they had to run and were telling me that they would rather just sit out.

They were begging me to go back inside and do book work!  It was at this moment that I realized how poorly our children's physical activity and overall health had become.  I vowed then and there never to let my own children reach that physical state, which is why I'm thankful I reviewed the activity book entitled, Coursing Around, by Debbie Tougas.

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I guess it would only be fair to preface these three videos with a little background:  First, Riley has discovered her first true crush, and it is definitely on Elmo of Sesame Street!  She can't ever seem to get enough of the furry, red, little guy!  Of course, she can't quite yet say Elmo, she just calls him "Bob-O".

In the first video, Riley has just gotten an Elmo building set toy from K'Nex (Product Review Coming Soon!) and she is just so thrilled with having Elmo in her little hands...well, just see for yourself!

In the second video, Riley is continuing to sing and dance with Elmo and this time, she begins singing "Baby", a Justin Bieber song.  Something happens during her song though, that sends Michael and I laughing hysterically...

In the third and final video, Riley decides that she doesn't want to wait any longer for her daddy or me to turn on the Elmo and Sesame Street video for her.  She grabs the remote and tries her hardest to do it all by herself...

Toddlers are truly wonderful and even though sometimes they can try your patience with their new-found will and independence, they can also make you laugh and cry with their innocence and simple sweetness!

Generally, I'm not the biggest fan of children's story books.  It seems that most of them are created with minimal thought and effort and the stories are pretty predictable and boring.  Sometimes, I think ANYONE could write a children's story and get it published...but just then, a really good book comes along and I have to rethink my position.

Shushybye is a magical world that I was completely unaware existed.  I am grateful that I got the chance to peek inside this world and introduce it to my daughter, Riley.  Read on to see why Shushybye is different from the rest of the nonsense in children's story books.

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Melvin the Magnificent Molar is a children's book dedicated to helping your child realize the importance of clean, healthy teeth.  Melvin, being a molar, also helps your child to remember ALL of his teeth, not just the ones in the front.  It's a story that has many helpful hints for parents sprinkled in along the way too, such as how often dental checkups should occur, how much toothpaste is necessary to clean your child's teeth, how often to brush your child's teeth, etc.

I think this is a wonderful to book to read to your child right before they go to the dentist the first few times.  The book explains, in detail, every step that will happen to their teeth and how Melvin really likes it!  It also eludes to the tooth fairy throughout the book, yet never really explains who she is or what she does.

I'm sure your child will definitely be asking all about her as soon as you are finished reading this story.  The book tells why it is so important to brush your teeth in the morning as well as before bedtime, because the little green scummies are always out and about trying to turn Melvin green.  Finally, this book shows why the baby teeth are really very important and what their big job is!

Generally speaking, this is a pretty good children's book, but there were a few things that I didn't like about the book.  First, the story was a little long and my daughter lost interest before it was 3/4 of the way over.  Next, the tooth fairy appears throughout this entire book, yet it's never made clear why she's there and why she's important to the story or even what she does.  Also, I'm not too thrilled with the illustrations of the tooth fairy in this book.

There's nothing very "fairy" looking about her.  She's a brunette with a tiny red dress on that barely covers her rear-end.  On one page, she's even posing as a calendar pinup girl.  Personally, I think the tooth fairy should be portrayed as a little less coquettish.  Then, there were a few grammatical errors as well.  I'm probably a stickler for this, but for some reason misspellings smack me right in the face and I can't help but notice them.  For example, "Usually before we get all the way thru our Happy Tooth song" with "thru" being misspelled.  I actually notice this kind of thing in books all the time...don't the editors have spell check?

If you're looking to help motivate your child to brush their teeth (or at least allow you to do it for them), then I would recommend reading Melvin the Magnificent Molar to them.  Hopefully, they will want to help keep Melvin strong and healthy and will better understand why proper oral care is important.  I definitely plan on reading this to Riley again before we visit the dentist...THIS FRIDAY!  :)

If you'd like to purchase a copy of Melvin the Magnificent Molar for your little one, please go to www.JuliaCookOnline.com to order one.  The cost is $9.95 + tax and shipping.

Anytime I can get a group of people together, I'm always the one trying to get everybody to play a board game of some kind.  I absolutely LOVE board games and have enjoyed them since I was a very small child.  I know that video games are what's new and happening for kid's these days, but I really want to keep the board game tradition alive and well for my own daughter.

My husband and I frequently play board games together, and so when Out of the Box Publishing contacted me about reviewing one of their wonderful games, I asked for a recommendation.  I wanted something that would be fun for 2 people to play, as well as something that would be equally fun for a large group of people too.

Their answer:  Word on the Street.  It sounded pretty interesting and I really like word games such as Scrabble and Boggle, so I was excited to give this one a try too.

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Any mom knows how trying and messy it can be when your little one is learning to eat on their own.  Finding a good set of utensils and a good bowl made especially for early eaters is especially important.  Since Riley is going through that particular phase now, I was very eager to try out the Baby Dipper Bowl and Utensils Set from Baby Dipper.

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