Summer Reading list for Moms

18 Books for your Summer reading list (and probably my Fall and Winter list too!)

 

by Liz Mangelsdorf

With prime time TV in re-runs for the summer… (of course there are all the great new shows on TNT, TBS and Lifetime, but that is what my DVR is for right?) I am making a pact with myself to read this summer!

I have always been an avid reader, sometimes reading 2 or 3 books at one time…well life, kids, crazy schedules and just being too gosh darn tired in the evenings to concentrate and read a book at night — I must admit regretfully that I  have yet to finish a book for pure pleasure in 2012!  I started The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on a ski trip this past January and yup, I still haven’t finished it.  Enough is enough! I will make reading some good books this summer a priority. Who better to ask than mom friends for some of their picks (thanks to all those that responded) and I think we came up with a great summer reading list for moms. I can’t wait to get to the library this week and/or Half Price Books and stock up! *Happy Reading!

How to Organize and Store Kids School Papers

Organizing everyday school work, report cards and other achievements

 

by Lorraine Brock

This post is Part 2 of a series on organizing and storing your kids’ school papers. Read Part 1: The Art of Organizing Kids Artwork.

School has officially ended and since we covered the organization of a year’s worth of your child’s artwork last month, this post will offer tips for organizing all the rest of those school papers. You probably have boxes of report cards, awards, certificates, poems, family stories, papers with awesome grades and excellent comments, and for your older kids (8th grade and above), letters of recommendation and college information.

Fathers of Invention: Famous Dads Who Invented Things that Changed our Lives

Fathers who Invented the Air Conditioner, Adhesive Tape, Popsicle and More

 

By Kate Kelly

When we think of great inventors, we generally list the men like Alexander Graham Bell, Samuel Colt, the Wright brothers, and of course, Thomas Edison. (As a “fatherly aside,” Edison’s early work was on the telegraph, and he had telegraph-related names for his first two children: Dot and Dash.)

On a month when we focus on “fathers” and celebrate their day, it’s fun to think about some of the lesser-known fathers of invention who came up with everyday items that have changed our lives. This Father’s Day, let’s tip our hats to some men (fathers as well as fathers-to-be) who created some of these everyday items:

Air Conditioning

Imagine life without air conditioning…for most of us, our summers would be pretty miserable.