You heard that right, folks! My Very Own Mail is awesome!It’s “reading encouragement in the mailbox” - I mean, really, could it get any better?
Well, in case you’re a bit skeptical, I’ve got the proof:

Sorry for the ridiculous disconnect there, with the pictures - my computer crashed and I’m stuck on hubby’s machine…and I can’t figure out the settings on it to save my life - so I couldn’t get the screen capture all in one piece!

You can click on either picture to see the actual page! And the URL is MyVeryOwnMail.isReallyAwesome.com

Pretty darned cool, if you ask me!

Yep - yep - yep! My Very Own Mail ROCKS!

GO READ A BOOK!

I’ve just run across a wonderful and uplifting blog! It’s all about getting and staying healthy and helping one another to do so along the way. I love it! It’s called, Eat 4 Today

The author of the blog, back in January, spoke about a very interesting novelist named Christina Jones. She sounds like a spunky and tough and really cool chic! And - she loves cats! I just love cats!

You can read all about Ms. Jones right here: Meet Christina Jones, author and inspiration

GO READ A BOOK!

The littlest bookworm in my house, that is!

Isn’t she cute?

Now I am the mom of THREE double digits! Wow - my monsters are 13, 12, and 10! Yikes!

They are such wonderful little monsters, though! And they are definitely all BOOKWORMS! YEA!!!

And they all three still BEEEEEGGGGGG to go to the library - I think that’s pretty good at their age! Yea!!!

GO READ A BOOK!

I finally got my most important (to me!) lens going at Squidoo! I have been meaning to do this for a long time, and it feels so good to have it started!

Please go visit: Kids Love to Read!

And then, don’t forget to…

GO READ A BOOK!

My daughter brought home an invitation from the local public library for a gathering in the children’s department.

How cute is this?

I just think that is too cute - and that little Booky Chef guy is adorable!

I was so excited about it when I saw it! My 13 year old son peers over my shoulder to see what I’m carrying on about, and says, “Aw, MOM! You’re NOT gonna make us go to that, are you?!”

Well, let me tell you something - Momma didn’t skip a BEAT!

I turned up to him, and said, “Yes! Of course we’re going!” …with the most serious face I could muster!

And if he doesn’t watch his cookies - I just might make him go, too! He may never have to know I was bluffing! HA!

He did ask me then, “Well, do we get food?”

HAHAHA! I said, “That’s what it says!”

And he sulked off silently.

I’m sure my daughter and I will probably go - whether the creatures, ah, I mean - her brothers - will join us, I don’t know!

Now, ya’ll go….

READ A BOOK!

Have you heard about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library? It is a FABUUU program in which EVERY child in enrolled counties from birth to age 5 receives one FREE book per MONTH in the mail!

How amazingly cool is that?

I remember hearing about it, but, it was launched nationwide when my youngest was four, and by that time - we had SOOOO many books in the house! Ya’ll know me! Heehee!

Dolly started the program in 1996 in the county where she is from, in order to foster a love of reading among the preschoolers and their families. That’s my kinda girl!

The program was such a smashing success, that it was launched nationwide in 2000.

Each community gets sponsors to help pay for the program.

Then *from the Imagination Library website*….

“The community pays for the books and mailing, promotes the program, registers the children, and enters the information into the database. From there The Dollywood Foundation takes over and manages the system to deliver the books to the home.”

In my community, the program is handled through the United Way.

You can find the main site here: Imagination Library.

Now - let me tell you what sad thing got me thinking about all of this. My local paper ran an article about the program in my county.

                  :( :(

Here is where Mrs. Booky-Bookworm gets very, very sad.

Of all the precious potential Jr. Bookworms, birth to age 5, in my county - less than 10% of them are signed up and receiving their monthly book!

What?!

What?!

Oh me, oh my - that is just way too sad!

I am going to research it further and see what we can do around here to pick that number up - and you go check out the program in your county, ok?

Oh - check this out…the first book the children receive is ‘The Little Engine That Could’ (one of my favorites!) and the last book they receive is ‘Look Out Kindergarten Here I Come’. I am loving this program the more I read about it - those are two awesome books!

The website itself is so cute, with a train theme (fitting) and on the homepage, Dolly is sitting in a little box-thing with five sweet little children and on the box, it says,

*DREAM MORE * LEARN MORE * CARE MORE * BE MORE *

Very, very cool! (I know, I said that already, but, it is!)

You know, Dolly and Oprah - two fine and fabulous women, who didn’t have children of their own, but, sure have given a lot to - and helped a lot of - children all over the world! Gotta love ‘em!

Now…

GO READ A BOOK!

…my stealing a line from them? It’s just a cute little tagline in the sidebar of one of the catalogs…

And it is way too cool to just be sitting there quietly in the catalog, rather than having it SHOUTED from the bloggy mountaintops!

Here it is:

~~~Reading is a gift. Give it.~~~

Isn’t that just great??? I, personally - LOVE IT!!

And from the mountaintops - I shall SHOUT it!

I do have a mountain right beside my house, actually. And the road you take to the top is called…dun dun dun….Mountain Street.

Perhaps the mountain outside my window needs to be annointed, too - now that the Bloggy Mountain has been annointed.

Bloggy Mountain - I think I like that, too!

But…

~~~Reading is a gift. Give it.~~~

That - is pure class! Through and through!

Now,

**Click the bookworm to go to My Very Own Mail.**

This is so cool, ya’ll! I have got to get this for my kiddos for Christmas!

My kids used to love the Choose Your Own Adventure books - I don’t think they’ve read one in a long time, but, I am pretty sure with the new element of it’s being a movie - they would really love it!

The movie is The Abominable Snowman and there are more than 11 possible endings!

Oh! And I just heard Frankie Muniz’s voice on the main website - the kids love him!

This is so exciting - even I used to love these books when I was a kid! Or at least this type - not sure if it was the exact same thing. The bonus features are cool, too - my favorite being:

“In the Shadows of the Himalayas: How People Live in Nepal”, a 28-minute documentary for kids and their families.

Making education both fun and interesting - that’s what it’s all about!!

Oh, and how’s this for a great tagline: ‘More than a movie, it’s an adventure!’ –I love it!

I’m sorry this is so disjointed, there are just so many great things to tell you about it, that I am spoutin’ off like an excited eight year old! Heehee!

The next movies they are going to come out with are “The Lost Jewels” and “The Mystery of the Maya”.

You can go to the main site and get on their mailing list and sign up for the sweepstakes to win a signed-by-one-of-the-stars copy of the DVD!

This is just too cool - and I never thought I’d have such a ‘bookish’ excitement over a movie, but, this is good stuff!

Ok - now get to the website and check out all they have to offer (games, coloring pages, etc!):

Choose Your Own Adventure

And if you choose to buy, I’d love it if you shopped through my link!

And don’t forget to…

GO READ A BOOK! 

**Click the bookworm to go to My Very Own Mail.**

My poor, poor blog!  I have neglected it so!

I am so very sorry, blog! 

In an effort to curtail any more blog neglect, I am broadening my scope …my content …my range of topics.

I have changed my tagline to indicate inclusion of various and wandering topics that might enter the brain of a mama bookworm.

And I shall probably also include more My Very Own Mail news - news you can use! ;) 

Now… 

GO READ A BOOK!