Cyndi Lauper - True Colors (MattyBRaps Cover ft Olivia Kay)

Still Face Experiment: Dr. Edward Tronick

Caracal kittens at the Oregon Zoo

My oldest daughter's video response. She inspires me! Fashionisbeauty17's giveaway

My little film maker and her crafty siblings!

Our Top 11 Shows for Tweens

Tween Girls Top 11 Kids Shows ... 1. Good Luck, Charlie ~ http://tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/goodluckcharlie/ 2. So Random ~ http://tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/sorandom/?int_cmp=dcom_SRA_Launch_ShowSite_TV_DC_nav_ico_2_June_9_Intl 3. iCarly ~ http://www.nick.com/shows/icarly?navid=characterNav 4. Shake It Up!~ http://tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/shakeitup/ 5. Ant Farm ~ http://tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/antfarm/?int_cmp=dcom_ANT_PreAware_ShowSite_TV_DC_nav_ico_8_May_27_Intl 6. Geek Charming ~ http://tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/originalmovies/geekcharming/?int_cmp=dcom_GEEK_PreAware_ShowSite_TV_DC_CharacterNav_Nov_1_Intl 7. Victorious ~ http://www.nick.com/shows/victorious?navid=characterNav 8. Jessie ~ http://tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/jessie/?int_cmp=dcom_DC_JES_PRO_PreAware_ShowSite_TV_DC_nav_ico_1_Sep_1_Intl 9. Austin and Ally ~ http://tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/austinandally/ 10. Mad ~ http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/mad/ 11. Annoying Orange http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/annoying-orange/index.html?atclk_gn=link_shw_Annoying-Orange What are your favorite tween shows? My personal favorites are Good Luck Charlie, So Random, and Mad. I absolutely love the ensemble cast and story lines in GLC, they are incredible. It isn't the typically children's programming; its fun for the whole family. So Random, is just that, random. It has new and upcoming bands, skits, humor, variety and an incredible cast of young people. It reminds me of Kids Incorporated in the 21st Century!! Mad is another show that will all can agree on. Mad is hilarious! I love the commentary, personally. Are there any kids shows that you choose not to let your children watch? What are they, and why is it that you choose not to let them watch those particular programs.

Top 10 Children's Books of the Week

Top 10 Children's Books of the Week 1. Grandpa Gazillion's Number Yard By Laurie Keller. This book is a favorite in our house because of the layout and illustrations. Each number has a different theme and something to count, like dancing noses. The kids love this book, they laugh and are engaged in the reading of it so much that they hardly realize they have learned to count to 21.

2. The MoonGlow Roll-A-Rama Written and Illustrated by Dav Pilkey. The illustrations and dialogue are poetic and breathtaking. I truly love this book!! 3. ABC Letters in the Library Written by Bonnie Farmer, Illustrated by Chum McLeod. I love this book and its creative use of letters in a gaming fashion. We love to treat books as interactively as possible. When they are having fun with their books their love for reading will be intrinsic. 4. Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy Written by Jane O'Connor, Illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser. As a bit of a Fancy Nancy, myself, with two little Fancies myself, Fancy Nancy series was an instant hit, with us. We have their books, games, toys, and much more.

5. Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude Written by Kevin O'Malley, Illustrated by Carol Heyer and Scott Goto. This book is one of the most fun to read because it is written in the voice of a girl and a boy and they tell this fairy tale together from their different perspectives and you can use different voices, or take turns reading the boy and girl parts, and really have a lot of fun with it.

6. Silverlicious by Victoria Kann. One of a extremely successful and satisfying list of books written by Kann, who is also known for writing the Musical, Pinkalicious, which was sold out in NYC. The illustrations are gorgeous, the stories ahhhdorable, and the message truly lovely. If it has the name Kann and a licious at the end, we have it on our kids books shelves!

7. My Truck is Stuck by Kevin Lewis and Daniel Kirk. I originally got this book when my girls were little, as part of a shipment from their book club. I didn't think they'd care for it, being that it was about trucks and they were already into dolls and girly things, no matter how well-rounded I had aimed for them to be. As infants, my girls had unisex toys, balls, cars, trucks, dolls, and strollers, etc. But, I was able to quickly see that their love of dolls had little to do with access to other options, in was innate. However, this book they absolutely loved and still do. It has repetitive text, cute characters, and children of both genders absolutely love it!! 8. Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle. This is one of my favorite Eric Carle books, but I have to admit it is tied with many of my favorites. I have read just about every Eric Carle book he has written and/or illustrated to my children, and I absolutely love his work. He is definitely one of my favorite children's book writers. I love that this story has information about fathers taking care of their young, in an ocean setting. There are film pages that are fun for the kids to turn while you read the dialogue. This is another one that is fun to use different voices on, each of the fish daddies can sound a little different if you like or not. The kids will love it, you will have fun with it, and you get to learn about fish fathers, too. 9. Toddler's play and learn abc by St. Martin's Press by Priddy Bicknell. This is one of a series of books that we have and love that my kids have always found interesting and engaging. There is puppy ears to pet, flaps to flip, slides to slide, stencils, holographic colors, interactive activities and more in each one. 10. First Concepts Colors: lift-the-flaps by Neville Graham. This is one of my favorites for the little ones. They love to flip the flaps and every page has one that relates to the color photographs of real life items in different shades of each color. So the children not only learn blue is this shade, but there are many shades of blue. You can find these books and many more goodreads.com http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/8369800-angela-field .

Which books do you find yourself engaging with your children the most with? Do you notice that your children's attention span for books last much longer if you don't read every word, but instead make it fresh and new each time, by talking about the illustrations, their predictions, counting objects or naming colors, anything to get them interested in what is going on in the book so they become an active participant in the learning process. I hope you pick up these books at your local bookstore, or library and have fun reading some of our favorite selections, and share them with your friends. Kids love books if we read them to them the right way. One more tip to reading with the little ones. Don't feel like you have to read the whole book, if they lose interest stop reading. Forcing them to listen is counterproductive to the goal, to love reading, so when they lose interest try to re-engage with conversation or questions about something in the book, if that doesn't work put it away and try another time when there is less distractions. I think you will find as time goes on this process becomes more natural and reading becomes more fun for both of you. Do you have any special tips or tricks to keep your little ones engaged in listening and reading books? Please share those with us, we love to hear about ways to put the joy in reading!!