Monday, October 21, 2013

Giveaway: Advanced Screening Passes for Free Birds



Enter for your chance to win a pair of passes to the advanced screening of Free Birds. You must be a resident of the Charlotte, NC metro area to qualify and be able to attend the screening Saturday, October 26, 2013 at 11:00 am. To view the entry tab you must do so using a computer or a tablet, the entry tab isn't viewable via cellular device. There will be three lucky winners.

Good luck!!!

Friday, October 18, 2013

Free Redbox code


One of the things I enjoy doing the most with Tyler is movie night.  There is nothing more fun than pizza, popcorn, our favorite chocolate treats to put in the popcorn, pajamas and a night enjoying a new adventure or sharing laughs.  Use the code MCPC413S and enjoy a free one night rental from Redbox and have your own movie night.  The code is good until October 23, 2013.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Giveaway: Hungry for Home & What Do Animals Do on the Weekend?


The introduction snippet I posted last week was for the book, Hungry For Home, which believe it or not is a cookbook! Hungry For Home showcases the best of traditional Southern cooking and storytelling, along with recipes brought here from around the world. Bourbon Sweet Potato Casserole, Carolina Crab and Mushroom Bisque, Crackling Corn Bread (yes it contains cracklings), Sauteed Collard Greens Brazilian Style and these are just a few of the recipes found in this book.

Have you ever wondered what animals do for fun? During the week they're busy with work and school, but look what they do when the weekend comes.  What Do Animals Do on the Weekend? takes readers on a lively adventure through the alphabet.  Kids and adults can discover together that leopards eat their dinners in trees, Eskimos invented kayaks to hunt whales, and crocodiles can grow to be 20 feet long.

Thanks to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Library I have a copy of each book to be given away. Good luck!

Friday, October 4, 2013

Giveaway Teaser!



This is going to be very interesting!  Based on the above snippet of the book introduction, what do you think this book is about?  What is the genre?  This is one of the books that was given to me by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Library to give away and I must say that I'm a little sad that I only received one of these because I would love to have one for myself (guess I'll be making a purchase soon).  So comment away, I'm looking forward to seeing the responses.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Are you your child's best advocate?







This evening I participated in a town hall meeting regarding North Carolina's new legislative initiative, Read To Achieve. In short it mandates that 3rd graders that are not reading on grade level will be held back.  These students will be given the chance to attend summer reading camps (not mandatory) that will be devoted to getting them on level.  If at the end of the six weeks they are up to par they will be allowed to move to the 4th grade, if not, they will have to repeat the 3rd grade.  The forum was hosted by First Baptist Church West and in attendance from Charlotte Mecklenburg School System were Deputy Superintendent Ann Clark, Community Superintendent (West) Allen Smith and NC Senator Malcolm Graham. The purpose of this forum as well as several planned forums is to make sure that parents are aware of this new legislation, especially parents of 3rd graders, such as myself.

One of the attendees asked the question, "Are you all (school system) prepared to deal with the outpouring of feelings and comments at the end of this year of parents that don't know about this law?" It is something I thought about when I read the letter that is posted on my son's school's website before the school year started.  The same letter was sent home during the first week of school, but I'm sure not all parents received or read that letter.  It brings me to one of the challenges, better yet, responsibilities of being a parent, being your child's best advocate.  Are we waiting to be told and spoon fed everything, or are we taking the initiative in seeking out policies, regulations, responsibilities, expectations, resources, etc.? Often times parents rely on the school to give them all of the information that would be helpful for their children, but why is it solely the responsibility of the school.  Yes, they are aware of many tools that are available, but what about being proactive?  As I mentioned above I found the information about the new legislation on the school's website.  Let me be clear, I don't visit the site as often as I should, I was honestly only there to see when Open House was because I was trying to plan an end of summer vacation.  But on the site there is a host of information about the school as well as links to the system's site. On my recent post about the public library I highlighted a few of the many FREE resources that are made available, just through having a library card, which is free. The public libraries appear to be a underutilized resource, but it is readily available to all.  

We make the time to plan vacations, strategically tackle Black Friday, research the pros and cons of the iPhone versus the Samsung Galaxy, etc, are we doing the same for our children? Not that we are going to uncover every resource and opportunity but are we putting forth the effort that our children deserve?


Wednesday, October 2, 2013

$1 Sandwiches for Jimmy John's Customer Appreciation Day





Thursday, October 3 from 11 am until 3 pm, Jimmy John’s is saying thank you to their customers by selling sandwiches for just $1!!! The discount applies only to in-store purchases with a limit of one per person.
In a company press release, “Jimmy John’s thanks you for your loyalty,”
This would be a great treat for a lunch date with your child at school.