Archives for May 2015

Sunday’s Best Linkup – #22

May 31, 2015 by Rhonda Gales

Welcome to Week 22 of Mother 2 Mother’s Sunday’s Best Linkup. Our theme this week is It’s All About The Strawberry. It’s the time of year to pick fresh strawberries from backyards and strawberry fields. If you’re like me, you will be looking for ways to use these these mouthwatering and healthy treats. We would love for you to share them on Sunday’s Best. It’s also the time of year to plant vegetables and flower gardens, open pools, fire up backyard grills, makeover outdoor spaces, and turn the kids loose in the back yard.

We need recipes, crafts, DIY, home makeover and gardening tips, SEO and blogging information, sewing projects, patio and deck makeovers, front porch makeovers, spring organization tips, and ideas for indoor flower arrangements.

We would like to also honor our 2015 Graduates, so we’re looking for posts on party ideas and any post graduate advice that you can share with other mothers. Congratulations to the class of 2015.

Blow the dust off your old posts and link those too. They’re great for inspiration. Don’t have posts that fit into the theme, link up whatever post you would like to share. We would love to have parenting tips, DIY projects, homesteading, homeschooling, and your posts on family and life. Your linkups and giveaways are welcome here too. Anything goes, as long as it’s family friendly and you may linkup as many posts as you would like.

Each week your hosts will select their favorite post and it will be featured the following week. An image from your post will be used on my blog the following week with a link back to your blog. Be sure to check back to see if you’re a Sunday’s Best featured blogger. All Featured Bloggers will have their posts Pinned to the Sunday’s Best Pinterest Board.

What’s New: We would like readers to select their favorite posts. Voting will start at noon every Friday until mid-night. We will be adding the post with the most votes from our readers to our Sunday’s Best featured bloggers. Be sure to have your blog readers and social media followers head over to vote for your post on Fridays.

In addition, a posts for our monthly themes will be selected and featured each week.

If you are interested in becoming a Sunday’s Best host, please contact me for details at rhonda@mother2motherblog.com or email one of our other hosts.

Your Hosts Are:

Rhonda – Mother 2 Mother Kim U. – Pinterested Parent Kim M. – Life In A House of Testosterone

Here’s the rules, please connect with us on social media before you leave or subscribe to/follow our blogs:

Mother 2 Mother: Please like my Facebook Page, follow me on Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, BlogLovin or subscribe/join my blog on the right before you leave.

The Pinterested Parent: Please like Kim’s Facebook Page, follow her on Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Bloglovin before you leave.

Life In A House of Testosterone: Please like Kim’s Facebook Page, follow her on Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Bloglovin, or Instagram before you leave.

Last, please help us grow by placing our button on your sidebar. If you are selected as a Featured Blogger please let your readers and followers know. They may want to join the party too! For those who have a Link Party list/directory, please add us. I appreciate your help in promoting the linkup with Re-tweets and shares. Now lets party!

The Sunday’s Best Posts are:

Kim U. selected DIY Bug Umbrellas For Party Drinks from Life With Lorelai

I selected DIY Raised Garden Beds from Hello Nature

Kim M. selected 200 Free Summer Activities for Kids from The Jenny Evolution

The Readers Selected:

Peanut Butter Chocolate Mousse Pie from The Frugal Foodie Mama

and

The Favorite Theme Posts

Remembering Our Fallen Soldiers

Patriotic Yarn Wrapped Mason Jars from Albion Gould Albion Gould

May Flowers

Summer Front Porch from Clean and Scentsible

Congratulations to our featured bloggers! All of the posts were great, and I appreciate each of you linking up. I would like to invite all of you back to linkup your post(s) again, it could be selected this week. While you’re here take a minute to visit these great blogs. It’s a great way to meet and connect with new bloggers. Be sure to PIN or share any posts that you like, we all appreciate a little love.

An InLinkz Link-up

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: social networking, Sunday's Best Linkup

Inspirational Quote – Charlie Brown

May 29, 2015 by Rhonda Gales

Filed Under: inspirational quotes, Uncategorized Tagged With: Printable, quotes

Blogging Tips from Pro Blogger – Mom Maven #BloggerInterviews

May 27, 2015 by Rhonda Gales

We’re continuing our interviews with pro bloggers who are sharing blogging tips that help take their blogs to a professional level. Today we’re interviewing the lovely and talented Cindy Schultz from The Mom Maven.
Let’s begin the interview…………….

1. I
would like readers to get to know you, so please tell them a little about
yourself and your blog, The Mom Maven.

I’m a happily married mom of 2 grown men
Aaron is 22 and he married Summer last November. Jordan is 19 and he is a full
time missionary to the youth of America with a ministry based out of Tulsa, OK
called The 99. I started blogging in the summer 2008 on a homeschool blogger
site. I was sharing our journey of homeschooling through high school through. I
quickly moved to Blogger and then to WordPress as my blog’s popularity began to
grow. Now that my children are grown I focus on easy recipes, parenting tips,
entertainment, travel and product reviews and giveaways. I try to speak as the
big sister who has been there and survived that as I share my thoughts with my
readers.

2. I
really love your time management posts. You have suggested that bloggers use an
editorial calendar to plan. I have adopted the idea. Can you explain the benefits of using a calendar
to manage and organize blogging tasks?

Thanks,
Rhonda, I’m glad you found that helpful. By using an editorial calendar it is
easier to plan what you are going to write about when. It is much easier to sit
down and write when you know what you are writing about. Having a schedule of
what type of post I’m going to write each day is also helpful. For me, Monday
is travel, Wednesday is my giveaway linky and Friday is always a recipe. That
leaves Tuesday and Thursday for sponsored posts, or posts on other topics that
I don’t write about weekly. I have my calendar written out at least 2-4 weeks
in advance. I always leave some wiggle room so that when a time sensitive post
crops up I can fit it in. Since I have been using my editorial calendar it has
made blogging much less stressful and time consuming for me.

3. You
used the term “Tribe” in one of your posts regarding social media and sharing
content. Can you explain to readers what a Tribe is and how they benefit from
joining or starting one?

Currently, I am not in a tribe but if you can find 4-5
other bloggers who you can work well with and grow with, a tribe is a great way
to grow your blog. Most tribes meet regularly via Skype or Google hangout. They
set goals and work together to reach those goals by promoting each other’s
content and teaching each other new skills..

4. You
have certain times of the day that you are on social media and you also set a time
limit for each of those sites. Can you
tell readers about your routine?

Every month I re-evaluate my schedule and
tweak it as I deem necessary. Currently I spend the first hour of my morning
doing my social shares throughout the different groups I am in. Then I spend
about 90 minutes on the blog post I need to write. Next up is 15 minutes each
on Twitter, Facebook, G+ and Instagram liking and sharing content I find
interesting and responding to those who have commented on my posts. Next it is
time for lunch and housework I give myself 60 minutes. I find taking a mid-day
break away from the computer helps me be more productive in the afternoon than
when I eat at my desk and work through. Back to the computer for another 90 minute
blogging session then back to catch up on my social shares and maybe spend time
hanging out on social media. By 4pm I am usually off the computer for the
night, except for a quick after dinner check-in to see if there are more shares
I need to get done.

5. You
reached a milestone on Twitter last year. You reached 10,000 followers. What
tips can you give bloggers on how they can grow their social media sites? Consistency
and conversation are key.

Social media is meant to be social. If all you are
doing is dumping links and running, don’t bother. Be on the sites a few times a
day for a few minutes and leave comments and share interesting content from
other people more than you share your own. Use a time so you don’t get sucked
in.

6. What tips do you have for bloggers on the
importance of keeping their blog organized and clutter free?

Every quarter I do
a blog overhaul. I check my sidebars etc for things that have gotten cluttered.
We all have different styles but I feel a clean blog with not too much going on
in the sidebar is more welcoming. Also, please make sure you use an
easy-to-read font-nothing too small or frilly. White or light backgrounds are
best. You want readers to stay on your site so make it easy for them to read
and to navigate.

7. I see you are a co-host of a link party, and a
participant in others. Can you tell
readers why they should participate in blog linkups?

Linky parties are a great way to get your
content discovered by new readers. It does take time to link up to a bunch of
parties so I suggest trying a few and seeing if they bring traffic your way.
Make sure you follow the rules for the linky, they are all different. If a
linky is bringing you even a small amount of consistent traffic, post there
weekly it is worth the time and effort.

Rhonda, thank you so much for inviting me to join
you today!

When Cindy isn’t blogging on Mom Maven. She spends time with her husband, children and does volunteer work.

Filed Under: blogging, blogging resources, blogging tips, Uncategorized

Guest Post – 6 Reasons to Buy an Instrument for Your Toddler

May 25, 2015 by Rhonda Gales

Toddlers are easily
attracted to things that make a sound. It comes as no surprise that they enjoy
musical instruments. Whereas you as a parent will probably shudder at the
thought of equipping your little one with a drum set (for obvious reasons), but there is actually a good reason to do so. Here are a few benefits.

It can teach your
kids discipline – Learning an
instrument is not an easy task. As any other skill you want to acquire in life,
it requires patience and persistence. Unless you are devoted to it, you won’t
be able to master it. Likewise, your children will learn to be patient and
disciplined. They will understand that if they don’t spend time practicing,
they won’t be able to learn the instrument. If they want to succeed, they will
have to dedicate some time to it.
Your children will
build confidence – No matter how
advanced they are, they will be proud of their progress. Even if they are not
extremely successful at learning the instrument, your kids will build
confidence. Mastering a new skill is always an opportunity to learn new things,
no matter how old you are.
This is a great
opportunity for your children to make new friends – Children are exposed to instruments in Preschool, Kindergarten, and elementary school. Many move on to play a musical instrument in high school. When they grow up, they can join music clubs and meet other people with common interests. There are a few things that can
bring people together and music is among them. Your children will be able to
build social skills. Children want to communicate with their peers too. Consider inviting other parents
with their kids so that they can show off their
skills and socialize.
Music is a
stress-reliever – Unless you listen to
gloomy songs, music can lift your spirits and relieve stress. The same thing
will happen to your kids. Don’t disregard your children’s dramas. Anyone at any
age has problems. No matter how inconspicuous your kid’s problems might seem to
you, to them they are pretty stressful. Children have many fears. Learning an
instrument can take their mind off the drama. Before they start worrying about
bad grades and problems with peers they will learn that there are many great
ways to shake stress away and music is one of them. If you are lucky enough,
they will choose to play the piano or the guitar over the drums.
Here are a few to consider buying – A pair of rhythm sticks, maracas and classic xylophone seem
very appropriate for your toddler. There is even a complete band available if
you want to buy your small one more than one instrument.
Music is great. It is
food for the soul – There are no
disadvantages of good music. It has a whole host of beneficial effects on
living creatures. For example, in human beings, it is shown that relaxing music
can lower blood pressure and is good for the heart. Music can make you dance.
Everybody enjoys music. No doubt your small one will too.

Most
toddlers have short attention spans. They may get bored quickly, but is wise to encourage your children to take up a hobby. This will help them discover what they like doing and what they don’t. Nobody knows if they
will enjoy a particular activity unless they give it a try. Someday your kids will thank you.

Patricia loves to play along with small children. She has two beautiful nieces
who teach her new things every day. She is keen on topics related to DIY, home
improvement and sustainable living. Patricia is co-owner of HomeCleaing Chiswick.

Filed Under: children's activities, children's music, Uncategorized Tagged With: music, Parenting-Kids, toddler music

Sunday’s Best Linkup – #21

May 24, 2015 by Rhonda Gales

Welcome to Week 21 of Mother 2 Mother’s Sunday’s Best Linkup. This is the last week for our May Flowers theme. It’s the month to plant gardens and flowers, open pools, fire up backyard grills, makeover outdoor spaces, and turn the kids loose in the yard. In addition, we would like activities for kids inside and outside, recipes, crafts, DIY, home makeover and gardening tips, SEO and blogging information, sewing projects, patio and deck makeovers, backyard projects, front porch makeovers, spring organization tips, and ideas for indoor flower arrangements.

We would like to also honor our fallen soldiers again this week, so we’re looking for posts on Memorial Day projects or remembrance.

Each week your hosts will select their favorite post and it will be featured the following week. An image from your post will be used on my blog the following week with a link back to your blog. Be sure to check back to see if you’re a Sunday’s Best featured blogger. All Featured Bloggers will have their posts Pinned to the Sunday’s Best Pinterest Board.

What’s New: We would like readers to select their favorite posts. Voting will start at noon every Friday until mid-night. We will be adding the post with the most votes from our readers to our Sunday’s Best featured bloggers. Be sure to have your blog readers and social media followers head over to vote for your post on Fridays.

In addition, a post for our monthly theme will be selected and featured each week.

The Sunday’s Best Posts are:

Kim U. selected Homemade Mac and Cheese from The Jenny Evolution

I selected Edible Sand Art from Atta Girl

Or Kim M. wasn’t available this week so I also selected Kindergarten Graduation from Smart Party Planning

The Readers Selected:

Where We Really Ready to be Parents from The Mommy Life

and

Featured Post
In Rememberance of Our Fallen Soldiers

Patriotic Pavloa from Albion Gould

An InLinkz Link-up

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: social media, social networking, Sunday's Best Linkup

Blogging Tips from Professional Blogger – Life In a House of Testosterone

May 18, 2015 by Rhonda Gales

Welcome to Blogging Tips From Professional Blogger Part II. Today I am interviewing the witty Kim Miller from Life in a House. Kim will continue to enlighten us with blogging tips and tricks for those who wish to grow their blog. Lets begin the interview:

1. I’m always looking for a blog that makes me laugh and a blogger who keeps it real. We connected and bonded immediately, so I would like my readers to get a glimpse of who you are. Please tell them a little about yourself and your blog.

Hi there everyone! I’m the slightly crazed mom and owner of Life in a House of Testosterone. I am a 48 year old mom to three beautiful children – April (1988), Jonathan (1999), and Tre (2003). I live on the outskirts of Richmond, VA with The Man Thing (aka hubby) and our four-legged daughter, Mollyanna. (supposedly
she’s the menfolk’s dog since THEY are the ones who wanted her and THEY are the ones who swore that they would walk, feed, and groom her every single day – ha! I can count on one hand the amount of times that has happened in the 5 years we’ve owned her!)

As for me – I grew up in Cressona, PA, little town not far from Lancaster and Hershey. Born and raised in the country, I grew up on my grandparents farm (Sunnybrook Farm). I married April’s father and moved to Jacksonville, NC when I was 19. We lived there for 7 years before her father and I divorced. He went off to Parris Island, SC to become a drill instructor, and April and I packed our bags and moved to Richmond with a
girlfriend of mine and her four boys. I have a brother and sister who still live back home, both of my parents have passed away so its just the three of us and our families.

I’m a glass is half-full kind of gal. An Aquarius if you’re wondering about my astrological sign. My due date was Valentine’s Day. However, I arrived early. Furthermore, I couldn’t stay put for 3 more days. I have a bit of a daredevil streak in me and I’m willing to try most anything at least once. You want me to go cliff diving or something equally dangerous, you’re going to have to supply me with generous quantities of Pink Moscato. A girl has to have her limits!

Life in a House of Testosterone has been a labor of love for the past 11 years. Today actually – April 11 – is my 11th year blogging. I started out on LiveJournal, then moved to Blogger. When I was on blogger, I named my blog The MAD White Woman. However, in 2012 when I decided to become a professional, full-time blogger, I changed the name to Life in a House of Testosterone. The following year I made the leap to a self-hosted WordPress blog and haven’t looked back.

2. Life in a House of Testosterone is very diverse. You blog about recipes, promote giveaways, review products, and participate in link parties and Blogger OPPs. What is your strategy for obtaining items for reviews, giveaways and sponsorships? Also, how important is it for bloggers to participate in link parties and what are the benefits for them?

I hate being put into a niche, because life is not black and white. It’s messy and all over the place. My life deals with a million different things each and every day. Why should your blog be just one aspect of your life? So, another one of my blogging tips is to write about anything and everything. Oh gosh … when I became a professional blogger – I was absolutely dying to be a part of the review/giveaway circuit. I mean, how cool is it to have companies sending you stuff for free to review? So, I paid attention, and I watched the bloggers that I wanted to be like to see how they were getting their stuff. I would send out emails to these companies and nothing. Nada. Zip. So I asked a friend of mine (a fellow blogger) how she got started. She told me three key things to remember:

(1) Don’t be discouraged when it feels like every response is a “no” because the very next one could be a “yes” for a campaign that you REALLY wanted to be a part of;
(2) Network – look for Facebook Groups that share blogger opportunities, sponsored posts, set up Google Alerts for keywords like “bloggers wanted” and
(3) Never give up.

I was rejected by several pretty big name companies over the past two years. This year I have the pleasure of being a part of the Chick-Fil-A Moms as well as the HP Smart Mom Panel. I receive several gift cards usually every other month for free menu items at Chick-Fil-A in exchange for sharing our purchases on social media and telling our family and friends what we think of their food.

Hewlett Packard was kind enough to send each of the moms on the panel their new HP-Envy 5660 all in one printer to review earlier this year. I was also accepted as a Best Buy Blogger right before the holidays last year. The work that I’ve done with them earned me enough to afford the iPod Touch 5th Generation that my son wanted for Christmas (over $240 with all that he wanted). Where did I purchase it? Best Buy, naturally!

The next two companies on my radar are Microsoft and to become a Disney Social Media Mom. If it is the last thing that I do on this earth, I will have an expense paid press trip to Walt Disney World and Epcot Center in Orlando, Florida before I die. My best advice that I can give to you is don’t give up. If you want to work with a particular company – Do Your Research. Find out who their PR (public relations) person is. Call them, email
them, find out what events they have coming up that may be in your area that you can attend. Google them! Follow other bloggers who have worked, or are currently working with that company. Ask them how they got the chance to be a Brand Ambassador, or to be a part of their panel. Most bloggers will be happy to tell you! Follow them on social media, literally become an online stalker of the companies that you want to work with, interact with them, share their Facebook posts, re-tweet their tweets, do whatever it takes for them to notice you.

Above all else though – Be Sincere. Another one of my blogging tips is to not go after a company just because of what you may or may not get from them for free. You have to have a genuine desire to work with them, love their products and actually own a few or use them on a daily basis, and be willing to tell them when they miss the mark with a product in a professional and courteous manner.

Another blogging tip, you MUST network. Even just 5 or 6 years ago when I was blogging – “networking” meant that you had to visit your favorite blogs every day and comment on the new posts. However, with all of the social media avenues available to bloggers now that’s not necessarily the “formula” any longer. Follow their Facebook pages, give their posts a +1 on Google+ and leave a comment. Also, double-tap to like that silly photo of their dog on Instagram.

Act as though they are already a family friend that share a cup of coffee with. If you aren’t sure who you should be cultivating a relationship with – Google what you’re interested in! Another blogging tip, if you like DIY projects, do a search for “DIY bloggers.” If you want to get more specific, google “Virginia DIY bloggers” to find bloggers in your state. They might post on social media that they are attending this week’s wine tasting at the country club. That’s your opportunity to attend the same event, introduce yourself, and make a new friend.

Here’s another blogging tip, you do NOT need to follow 3000 different bloggers. I am currently in the process of putting together The Ultimate Blogger List (which closes for submissions on April 30, 2015). It will be helpful in finding bloggers in your particular niche or field of interest. The list includes the blogger’s name, their blog name and URL, the city and state that they live in. Additionally, what they blog about. Once the list is closed, I’ll be sharing a copy of it with those bloggers that have requested a copy. It is going to be a fantastic starting point for building your network of fellow bloggers. I’m super excited about it! If you haven’t already added your blog – go do it now!

3. What social media platform do you prefer for promoting your blog content and why?

Ugh, that’s a tough one. I’m one of those perfectionist types with a bit of manic ADD thrown in for good measure – and I think I have to be everywhere simultaneously. I had a falling out with Facebook several months (a year?) back and decided to just ignore it and use Google+ exclusively. I had a lot of interaction at first (again, networking with others you are interested in, reading their posts and sharing). But, I began to notice that a lot of the posts weren’t personal. They were basically automated posts from the bloggers that I followed when they published a new post. I wasn’t getting the same level of interaction that I did on Facebook. So, I went back to Facebook. I like the groups because conversations are threaded and you can really get a lively discussion going on certain topics. Furthermore, I also have been trying different ways to engage my readers on my fan page as well as my personal page. You are more than welcome to send me a friend request! I only turn down those creepy guys floating in the middle of the ocean on a raft looking for a “soulmate” to share their raft with. Keep moving buddy!) and not just automatically publishing a post to my Facebook page but actually writing a few sentences about the post and asking a question.

If I had to pick a social network – I’d say Facebook with Twitter and Pinterest tied for second place. Ironically, 45% of my traffic this month has been from StumbleUpon (which I hardly ever use). Since the beginning of the year though – my traffic has been primarily from Pinterest, Facebook, and StumbleUpon and pretty evenly distributed as well.

4. Driving traffic and getting readers and followers to share blog content is essential for blogging success. Commenting on blog posts is also recommended. Can you explain to readers why these steps are important and what your plan of action is to get followers/readers to share your content?

Really Rhonda? You had to put me on the spot like this? I hate trying to get people to comment on my blog. I have literally gone months without one single comment. Do you know how frustrating that is?!?

Then it dawned on me. Why are they going to share (let alone take the time to read) anything that I am writing, if I’m not commenting and sharing what they are writing? I think I’ve tried every social share and commenting system out there to see what the magic solution was. If nothing else, the one thing I’ve learned as a blogger came from being a reader and commenter myself.

Keep your blog design SIMPLE, clean, and easy to read.

Don’t have a crazy mix of colors, or fonts that are hard to read.
Don’t have flashing doo-dads and snow falling and music playing that will slow your blog’s load
time and piss me off because I have to wait for all the bells and whistles to catch up.
Turn off the $#%!*# captcha that nobody can read and ends up having to try three or four times till
they finally get it right just to leave you a comment that reads, “Great post. Thanks for the advice.”
Give me a menu! Where can I find your recipes? How do I get in contact with you? How do I find out
more about you or the XYZ product I saw you became an independent consultant for on Facebook the other day?
It all boils down to four little words that apply to most everything, “keep it simple,
stupid!”

Now, because it is the most annoying, pain in the ass feature on the face of the planet, I have to vent about this
next item. If two seconds after I arrive on your blog to read your post a pop-up appears in front of my face and won’t let me finish reading the article until I subscribe to your newsletter or follow you on Facebook – I’m outta there. And, trust me I won’t be back.

Especially if the article sounded really good because then it just pisses me off even more that I’ve read the first paragraph and can’t get to the rest of it until I answer your stupid box.

The kiss of death is filling out box one to make it go away and then having another box pop up from the bottom to advertise something, click the “x” to make that go away and three seconds later ANOTHER box pops up? I’ll never be back to your blog. If I really like your style of writing or your humor, I’ll read your stuff in Feedly or Bloglovin but I will never visit the blog itself again.

Finally – your commenting system. MAKE MY LIFE EASIER – PLEASE! I want to leave you a comment and tell you how much I enjoyed your post. If I have to enter my name, my email, my website address, leave my comment, fill the captcha out three or four times, choose my latest post, log in with my Facebook account all before I can hit publish and post my comment – you’ve lost me. Especially if I then see “your comment will be visible after approval.”

All I heard on my WordPress commenting system were crickets chirping. I re-installed Disqus comments after the last WordPress update and I am absolutely ecstatic that I did. I have been receiving at least 5 to 20 comments daily on posts. And, I do my best to ensure that I respond to each and every one of them.

5. You have a significant following on all of your social media sites. What tips can you give readers who wish to increase their followers?

The best blogging tip is to Talk To Your Readers and Followers. Interact with them, laugh with them, cry with them, poor your heart out to your readers – be Human. It’s what makes YOU unique!

You may also like: Professional Blogging Tips – Part I

When Kim is not blogging on a House in a Life of Testosterone or promoting the Brand, she spends time with her 3 children and husband in Richmond, Virginia.

Filed Under: Life-Thoughts Tagged With: blogging resources, blogging tips

Sunday’s Best Linkup #19

May 16, 2015 by Rhonda Gales

Welcome to Week 19 of Mother 2 Mother’s Sunday’s Best Linkup. This week we’re celebrating mothers around the world. Our roles as mother’s doesn’t come with a manual, and it’s a job that we never stop doing no matter how old our children get. We can change jobs or retire from them, but you never stop being a mother. For all those moms who have lost sleep, don’t eat, shower or brush your teeth, endure vomit, poopy diapers, and picky eaters only to get up the next day and do it all over again, Mother 2 Mother would like to wish each of you A Happy and Blessed Mother’s Day.

Our theme this month is May Flowers. It’s the month to plant gardens and flowers, open pools, fire up backyard grills, makeover outdoor spaces, and turn the kids loose in the yard. I know you’re jumping for joy, right! I know I am.

This week we’re looking for posts on Mother’s Day past and ideas for this Mother’s Day, activities for kids inside and outside, recipes, crafts, DIY, home makeover and gardening tips, SEO and blogging information, sewing projects, patio and deck makeovers, backyard projects, front porch makeovers, spring organization tips, and ideas for indoor flower arrangements.

The Sunday’s Best Posts are:

Kim U. selected Berry Delicious Cheesecake Fluff from Dizzy, Busy and Hungry

I selected Funny Face Seedlings from Made With Happy

Kim M. selected – Who is Responsible? The Race Cards are on the Table from Living in Mommywood

The Readers Choose:

5 Tips for New Bloggers from J9 Designs

An InLinkz Link-up

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: linky, linky party, social networking, Sunday's Best Linkup

Sunday’s Best Linkup – #20

May 16, 2015 by Rhonda Gales

Welcome to Week 20 of Mother 2 Mother’s Sunday’s Best Linkup. Our theme this month is May Flowers. It’s the month to plant gardens and flowers, open pools, fire up backyard grills, makeover outdoor spaces, and turn the kids loose in the yard. In addition, we would like activities for kids inside and outside, recipes, crafts, DIY, home makeover and gardening tips, SEO and blogging information, sewing projects, patio and deck makeovers, backyard projects, front porch makeovers, spring organization tips, and ideas for indoor flower arrangements.

We would like to also honor our fallen soldiers this week, so we’re looking for posts on Memorial Day projects or remembrance.

The Sunday’s Best Posts are:

Kim U. selected Mom You Are Tea-rific from The Resourceful Mama

I selected Spring Centerpieces to Create with Grandchildren from Grandma Ideas

Kim M. selected

Kim M. selected Strawberry Martini from Lipgloss and Crayons

The Readers Choose:

Tripe Layer Pina Colada Rice Pudding from Swirls and Spice

An InLinkz Link-up

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: linky, linky party, social networking, Sunday's Best Linkup

Hello world!

May 14, 2015 by Rhonda Gales

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Whoopi Goldberg: Sugar Plum Ballerina Books Review

May 14, 2015 by Rhonda Gales

I love Whoopi Goldberg. She was a teen mother who gave birth at 17 and went on to become a funny, highly intelligent actress and author. She is the mother of 1, grandmother of 3 and great grandmother of 1. While looking for Christmas gift for my granddaughter, I discovered the Sugar Plum Ballerinas books. Incorporating diversity into my blog, but truth be told there’s not much on the market for Bi-Racial, Latino or African American children. Especially in the form of books relating to their culture. The market is getting better, but there’s room for improvement.

The Sugar Plum Ballerinas series by Whoopi Goldberg is a great gift idea. In particular, Birthdays, Christmas, or just because are great times to give one of the books until you complete the series. I started the Sugar Plum Ballerinas series for my granddaughter. Each book tells a story that little girls can relate. For example, leaving behind friends and moving to a new town. Furthermore, about being untruth or not feeling good enough.
Furthermore, I want my grandchildren to be proud of who they are. Just as important, I want them to be able to relate to characters who look like them. I think it is important that all children be able to relate to the stories they are reading. It’s important that they see images that look like them, their relatives, and other children they are playing with. Personally, I think the world is a much better place when everyone is included.

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I’ve purchased the first 2 books in the series. The first book is Plum Fantastic and the second is Toeshoe Trouble. This series is great for girls ages 6-12; however, some reviewers believe 6-10 is more appropriate. In addition, the average number of pages in the books is 160. My granddaughter is still a little young, but she can blow the dust off the books later.

I need to purchase the following books to complete my set: Terrible Terrel, Sugar Plums to the Rescue, Perfectly Prima, and Dancing Diva.

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The books are paperback. Each are reasonably priced at $5.00 each on Amazon. At that prize, you could give the entire set without breaking the bank or you can download them to your Kindle. The illustrations are beautiful and the stories are realistic. Little girls love who love tutus and dream of being a ballerina will love the series. Add it to your gift giving list.