Music is the Key

Music is the key that pulls all of this together, most efficiently with the most enjoyment, creativity, emotional satisfaction and fun!

how many ways do I love the fair?

Preschool & Kindermusik

Wondering about how Kindermusik is going to fit into your preschoolers life this year? Transitioning to preschool can be made easier by maintaining some school year routines that have brought joy to your child in the past. Re enrolling in Kindermusik this fall will actually help your child adjust to their new preschool schedule. Knowing they can count on spending time with you and music will add a sense of comfort and security to the new school experience.

You are my little flower

Mollie Greene has a beautiful blog where she shares her amazing gift for word and picture. Today her blog introduced me to Elizabeth Mitchell. If you are reading this, do yourself a favor and surf over to hear some of this wonderful music. I am going to buy them all.

What a Wonderful Shadow Puppet Show

GREAT Shadow Puppetry - Funny video clips are a click away

thanks Molly

Taste and see . .

Our friend Peder Eide is giving a concert at Hosanna! Lutheran Church in Lakeville on Wednesday at 1:00 in the afternoon. It will be a nice end of the summer treat for the whole family.

Images

At-ten-tion!

Lorelei and Tucker enjoy the snappy new marching uniforms for our band.
(sans shoes)

6 to 8 and 17

6 to 8: For each hour a day that babies 8 to 16 months were shown such popular videos as "Brainy Baby' or "Baby Einstein" number fewer words that they were able to recognize compared with children who do not a watch the videos, according to a study of the vocabularies of 1000 babies in Washington and Minnesota.

17: In the study percent of parents who had their children watch the videos for more than an hour a day.

Simply Perwinkle

Our new Kindermusik home is taking shape.

Demo Days!

Good Advice

Toy Recall

With the latest toy recall from Mattel, and so many millions of children's products slipping through the cracks of safety testing it is nice to know there is a place like Mahar Drygoods. These are lovely toys, they can be costly, but just a few quality toys that inspire imagination and can be played with in lots of different ways, and in different venues may be worth it.
How many ways are there really to play with a toy army jeep?

Simple is best

This is a newsletter worth getting. Kids Craft Weekly, will send you links to good activities once a month. I love this one. Twelve simple, no fuss craft ideas

Check it out

I35W Bridge

Just one week since the collapse of the I 35W bridge in Minneapolis. We continue to keep the families of those killed, hurt and still missing in our thoughts and prayers.

Baby Einstein - more harm than good

In the Journal of Pediatrics today there is an article about the effects of Baby Einstein and similar videos on vocabulary of very young children.

For every hour a day that babies 8 to 16 months old were shown such popular series as "Brainy Baby" or "Baby Einstein," they knew six to eight fewer words than other children, the study found.

Parents aiming to put their babies on the fast track, even if they are still working on walking, each year buy hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of the videos.

Read more HERE
And another article HERE

movies

I have learned how to add some video clips to my blog. Just look to the right, and click on any picture that says "powered by google" underneath it. After you click the picture the video will show at the top of the page, so scroll back up to watch.

Green

I am trying out this new look. It is so dry and hot I am feeling like a little green. How do you like it?

If you ain't got it in ya

We loved Paris!

Home from France, Lorelei and I are forever changed. Spending time with our dear friend Charline (above). This sweet girl walked us over every inch of Paris. We were so blessed by the whole Brune family who welcomed us into their home, taught us about French cooking, and culture. We spent time at their house in the country and saw many small villages, beautiful cathedrals and even the beaches of Normandy. Also this amazing monument, which although I have seen the image a million times seeing it in person was breath taking.