Okay, we have all done it at one point or another. The cooing, slobbering, baby talk with the ones we love. No, I'm not talking about JUST when we were babies but also the times it is done in a romantic way. Oh you haven't personally talked like a baby with anyone? Whatever.. you probably just don't remember because along with the photos, and all the clothes left in your closet, the memories were burned in a fit of rage.

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Once in awhile I like to imagine what my life would be like without my "smartphone" and because of the creepy crawly feeling I get I hold my phone close and hope that it never goes away. It has become an extension of my hand - not so much my face anymore because I rarely "talk" on it. My phone has really become more a part of me than... well actual parts of me. If I need some quick inspiration I open the 3G browser and surf to my hearts content, I can carry on multiple text and instant message conversations, and if I get that terrible "I forgot to pay a bill" feeling I can check all of my accounts with the touch of the screen.

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There will come a day when it is time to stop breastfeeding your little one. For some it comes sooner than expected and this can be for many reasons. A lot of babies begin to wean themselves the closer they get to the one year mark whether you are ready to stop or not as mine has decided to do. When you stop breastfeeding it can cause some discomfort but there are several ways and techniques to use to make the process less uncomfortable for your body. Sore, firm breasts that can severely hurt to the touch are not necessary.

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Nancy Drew and The Clue Crew get to go on a ski trip with George’s family in Ski School Sneak by Carolyn Keene. Mount Fun Ski Lodge is having a “kids half off weekend” for the first time ever and it’s a big hit. None of the girls know how to ski but Mount Fun has bunny slopes with ski classes and whoever does the best and picks up on it the quickest gets an award. Bess is a natural at it and by lunch time that award is hers. Everyone is happy for her except for one boy who thinks he should have won and thought he had it in the bag. He wins at everything.

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Fall is here and so is the Fall Festival that River Heights Elementary puts on to raise money. Every kid in town has been working hard to earn money to buy themselves tickets for games, rides and goodies to eat. In Nancy Drew and The Clue Crew’s Ticket Trouble by Carolyn Keene the girls find themselves on the job again. Nancy and her friends have worked just as hard to earn their tickets as everyone else so when their friend Ned finds that his tickets have gone missing they just can’t turn down the case. They promise Ned that they will find his tickets before the end of the day, when the fair closes until next year.

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The circus is coming to town and Nancy Drew and The Clue Crew couldn’t be more excited. Flyers have been all around town and it’s supposed to be the best show anyone has ever seen. The girls love the circus and to welcome them into town, there is a huge parade to celebrate. In The Circus Scare by Carolyn Keene, Nancy, George and Bess watch as daring acrobats, elephants, a car full of clowns and a bear named Brownie make their way down the street. Brownie is already putting on a show for the crowd when he walks away from his trainer to take a woman’s purse from the crowd but quickly gives it back. Everyone thinks Brownie is hilarious.

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Are you ready Freddy? It’s almost Valentine’s Day and Freddy’s class is going to have a Valentine’s Day party. Everyone in the class needs to make sure to make enough Valentines to go around for the whole class so no one gets left out. But in Super-Secret Valentine by Abby Klein, Freddy wants to make a super special, one of a kind Valentine for his best friend, Jessie. All the kids in class, especially the class bully, Max already give him a hard time about his friendship with her so he has to try his best to keep his special Valentine’s Day project a secret.

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Another cute young reader book series that we found is called Ready Freddy! Written by Abby Klein, we follow a kindergarten boy named Freddy in a series of adventures that are very common in with our five to six year olds. Abby Klein has been a teacher for more than 15 years and puts her everyday experiences with her classroom right into the books so not only do our children relate to the books, but we as parents can too. The first book we read here at home is Tooth Trouble. Everyone but Freddy has lost at least one tooth already and has gotten to sign their name on the big tooth in class.

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After Kirstin and Rachel help Emily the Emerald Fairy, they are off on their next adventure. In book number four of The Jewel Fairies by Daisy Meadows, the two girls head out to go shopping in a costume store to find the perfect Halloween costume for an upcoming party. The store has everything you could imagine to dress up as. As always, the girls are keeping their eyes out for anything that could mean that they are on the hunt for another missing jewel. It doesn’t take long before they realize just how close they are to Chloe the Topaz Fairy and her missing jewel.

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In book number two of The Jewel Fairies by Daisy Meadows, Kirsty and Rachel meet Emily the Emerald Fairy. The girls are at one of the biggest toy stores they have ever seen. Wall to wall with every toy they could possibly imagine, they wonder if they are going to meet any new fairies today or even find a missing jewel that Jack Frost has hidden in their world. The girls love helping the fairies from Fairyland and love that they have the coolest secret ever between them. They even get a laugh out of a fairy doll that they see in the toy store because to them, it looks nothing like a real fairy.

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