We went to our town Christmas parade last night and it was so much fun! My oldest son was in the parade, with his high school marching band. And there is an awesome coffee shop in the town square where we were watching it from. I had the most delicious chicken salad sandwich and a yummy coffee.

The theme of the parade was ‘A Country Christmas’ and there were all kinds of ‘floats’ entered in the fun procession! There were very dirty muddin’ trucks, a funeral parlor limousine, and even a miniature carousel. There was even a truck from the Coop - I’m pretty sure that’s where my mother-in-law buys her horse riding apparel. I just love saying it - ‘the Coop’. It makes me feel so country, like an official, bonafide small-towner! I just love it - but, I’m a dork like that!

You guys that have been reading for a while know that just over a year ago, hubby and I loaded up our bookworm clan and moved to Alabama from Dallas - leaving my folks behind.
Well, let me tell you - my folks are the Ultimate Bookworms! And we sure want to be able to keep in touch with them, as easily as possible! I think I may have found just the thing to keep all these bookworms talking to each other! Have a look at this:

Does that not look like the coolest phone ever? I would say that Grandma Bookworm could even read us a story or two on that thing! Totally awesome!

It is a VoIP phone from Packet 8 Internet Phone Service, and they do have another one, but, I really love this one! It’s the Videophone DV326 and I think it would be so much fun! It is almost like, with some of this ‘newfangled’ technology, that the Jetson’s have come to life, isn’t it?

These phones work over any broadband Internet connection, and they save money on the telephone bill, because they are much cheaper than typical landlines. Which, in turn, is another good thing for my sweet bookworm family, as we had our landline cut off months ago - because it was too expensive. And let me tell you, it is no fun dancing through the house spouting, “Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now?” I mean, if I want to dance with my mother, I’ll fly home and dance with her! But dancing with her every night on the cell phone is just not going to work!

The list of features on this phone will just blow you away - the more I read it, the more I want one! It can even be used for surveillance applications! Wow!

It’s very simple to set-up and to use, and I’m pretty sure this will be going on my Christmas wish list - after books, of course!

GO READ A BOOK!

My husband and I get such a kick out of looking at local real estate here in our new, small town. There are a few houses comparable in price to those in Dallas, almost, but, for the most part - everything out here feels like a total steal to us! We found a house the other day that was so amazing, and we had to go drive out and look at it. It was a Spanish style home and it was two stories, with a basement. So to me, that is a three-story house! It had a detached, two-car garage. It was two doors down from a lovely church. We could walk to church - how cool is that? (And motivating….) It was in a huge circle, with a bunch of other similar houses, with a beautiful, mowed field in the middle, complete with a gazebo. The house was for rent and it was only $1200 a month! Whoa! A house like that, with a neighborhood set-up like that - I don’t even want to guess what it would cost in Dallas! We were so tempted! We don’t want the kids to have to switch schools right now, though. And we do love the area we are in right now. It sure is fun to look, though.

GO READ A BOOK!

We only have a few weeks left of summer freedom for our kids, so let’s help them enjoy it and avoid those, “Mom! I’m bored!” complaints.

No kid can resist a trip to the zoo. Spending a day there is not only fun, but can also be educational. An alternative to the zoo may be petting farms in your area. Kids have the opportunity to get up close and personal with the animals, as well as, feed and pet them.

A trip to the Museum of Natural History is another day well spent. Kids love dinosaurs, and you can spend a wonderful afternoon browsing all of the ancient exhibits. My husband and I took our kids a few weeks ago, and we had a blast!

How about building a birdhouse for the backyard? Your kids can design it, paint it, and even put their initials on it. It’s a wonderful way to get them involved in nature, and the environment. Daddy Bookworm is outside right now with our daughter making one! I can’t wait to see it when it’s done!

Finding a drive-in movie would be great fun for the whole family! I know we have one near us, but, we haven’t gone to it yet. I’m gonna have to look that up now, for sure!

A camping trip would be a perfect closing to the summer. This is a great time for the entire family to get away from it all, and bond. Not only is it relaxing for you, but also the kids will be able to swim and fish; and the family can sit around the campfire at night toasting marshmallows, and telling ghost stories.

Reading and writing can also break the boredom. Visit your local library, and have your kids choose books to read. They can also start a journal entitled, “What I Did on My Summer Vacation.” They can include pictures, or just simply write all about the fun things they did, or experiences they had over the summer.

While these are some of the ways to avoid boredom while school’s out for the summer, certainly there are many more ideas that the entire family can come up with to keep summer fun, exciting, and memorable. Keep in mind, the next time your kid says he or she is bored, to provide options - then leave it to them to come up with solutions.

GO READ A BOOK!

I mentioned briefly in another post that I was going on a trip. Well, actually, I am already on that trip. The bookworms and I, and their father, have travelled ‘home’ to Texas to visit family and for Daddy Bookworm to do some remodeling work. I am so excited to be here, and I know it is going to be so hard to leave my family behind and go back to Alabama. I do love it in Alabama, but, I also love my family and it is so hard with all of us not living near each other. My mom came out to visit us first, in Alabama, and then, when she returned to Texas, she took my children with her. So Daddy Bookworm and I had a few days together alone. And you can bet that we did a lot of reading, because reading is good for you! Then Daddy Bookworm, Puppy (who weighs in at a svelte 100 pounds), and I packed up the minivan with groceries, our bags, everything Puppy needed, and also, tools for remodeling. It is already a tight squeeze, and on the way back we have to add three kids to the mix! Yikes! I let Mark pack up the van, because I knew he would be better at getting it all in there in a neat and organized way. And I didn’t want to mess with any of his work stuff. The only thing that I really worried about with giving him the reins on this was my makeup stuff. I wondered if I should pack it in some special way so that none of the powders or Makeup Mirrors
would get broken. I think it will be even worse on the way home, with the kids and all of their stuff having to fit in there. Maybe I will put my makeup bag in my purse and just keep it with me. And I sure hope we don’t have to strap any bookworms to the roof!

GO READ A BOOK!