Reviews Nina's online shopping sites; gives family tips and advice. Find parenting help, recipes, where to shop at home for clothing, gifts and household goods.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

What's Up With Twilight?

I've read the books and watched the first two movies, and I liked them. But I wouldn't consider myself a true Twihard. My teenage daughter is a different matter. She loves Twilight! We're going to see the new Eclipse movie later this summer when she is home for a visit. But for those of you who have been counting down to June 30, 2010 for this next installment in the theater, TODAY IS THE DAY.
So whether you are rooting for Team Jacob or Team Edward, you'll find cute Twilight themed t-shirts at HomewiseShopper.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Getting Ready For Summer

Today is the last day of school for my 8th grader. This year we are leaving on vacation in two days so the "I'm bored and don't have anything to do" part of summer won't start yet for our family.
I remember feeling overwhelmed by summer in years past, when all the children were home. It took effort to keep everyone busy and productive during those long summer months. About a month before, I would start preparing for summer to make sure there would be fun things to do when the last school bell rang and the kids came home shouting "freedom"! I bought interesting craft kits, English and math activity books, new toys to play with and other stuff.
And here are some of the things we did to make our summer fun:

It may sound overly structured, but I always made sure we kept to a schedule of sorts. Everyone had to be up by a decent hour, and have chores and breakfast over by 10 or so. Then we had activity time, which included things like games, reading, crafts, or attending the summer reading programs at the library. On some days we would go to the park, and we always had at least one 'field trip day' each week where I would take the kids for a day trip to somewhere around our area. Hershey's Chocolate World was a must, as was Gettysburg, the Baltimore Zoo, the Maryland Science Center, the museum in Harrisburg, etc.
Playing with friends had to wait until after lunch, and t.v. was limited to 2 hrs a day, time enough to watch a favorite Disney movie. If a good movie was playing at the theater, we'd take that in as well.
I hope my kids have great memories of all the time we spent together during those long summers.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

A New Look

Hi, I'm Nina and this is my blog...
I'm so excited to unveil the new look of my Homewise Shopper blog! These are some of the things you can look forward to finding here:

  • More fun products from my stores to buy online

  • Links to hand-picked products from shops I love

  • Parenting tips from my years of experience raising 7 kids

  • Info on topics such as autism, Alzheimer's disease, twins and more

  • Update alerts for my favorite recipes blog to help you keep your family fed

  • Genealogy links and research information

  • Musings and mutterings, Nina-style


  • I hope you'll visit often and join me in a laugh or a cry, and please feel free to share your comments and tips as well! I look forward to hearing from you.

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