‘TD Bank’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Book Review: Hookitty-Tookitty-Tah

August 16, 2013 · Narrative

Madeline and I are officially halfway through our goal of reading ten books this summer, and she very nicely reminded me yesterday that we need to pick up the pace. After all, there’s ten bucks from TD Bank on the table for completing our goal, and she does so love adding to her savings account.

Hookitty-Tookitty-Tah, a new book from musician and author Antonio Mugica, arrived on our doorstep recently, and it was the perfect bedtime read. You want a story that is short, but not too short, has a good storyline that gets neatly wrapped up by the end, and has colorful pictures to boot. Or maybe that’s just me? Of course, as the kids get older, the criteria changes, but right now, these requirements help me keep the “read to the kids almost every night” promise easily. {Of course, Nick is buried in chapter books or the guinness book of gross, weird things, so the criteria is different}

The Hookitty-Tookitty-Tah story is cute. In an effort to make peace with a dragon, a king decides to keep him well-fed, so that the dragon will be happy to eat sweets, instead of the townspeople. But then he eats too much, gets sick, and changes colors. The local chef wizard, Mr. Hookitty-Tookitty-Tah was called in to save the day and … spoiler alert … he does. The verse throughout the book reminded me a bit of Dr. Seuss’ way with words, but at a slightly slower pace. The colorful pictures from beginning to end were eye-catching, although slightly busy as times.

Would we recommend it? Yes. It’s a cute story, an easy read, and something slightly different in the sometimes overloaded children’s book market.

Not too late for you and your kids to participate in TD Bank’s Summer Reading Program for their own $10 prize. Details can be found right here. And if you’re not near a TD Bank location, there are a few other summer reading programs listed at the bottom of this post.

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Kid-Friendly: Summer Reading Programs {and a Giveaway!}

August 8, 2012 · Narrative

Sad to say, we’re in the home stretch of summer. Just under four weeks to go before the back-to-school madness begins. The kids’ summer camps and CCD obligations are now done, and they have lots of unscheduled chill time for the rest of the month. As we break the budget with full-time babysitters.

So this month, we’re focusing on summer reading. Nick has four books to read before school starts, so one of their excursions with their babysitter this week was a visit to the local library to get started. With an hour a day of reading, he should finish up quickly. Blurring the line between unstructured summertime fun and upcoming school obligations.

The kids are big fans of books and reading, although Nick is a bit reluctant when it comes to obligated reading. If your kids need a little extra motivation when it comes to reading (summer, school, or otherwise), perhaps these free summer reading programs might give them a little push?

Nick was lucky enough to attend a special meet-the-author luncheon for this book series, based upon an essay he wrote.

TD Bank will give kids ten dollars if they read ten books. Yes, please. (And they offer these no-nonsense tips on making reading more fun for your kiddos)

Barnes & Noble will give your child a free book if they read 8.

The folks at Chuck E. Cheese will give you 10 free tokens for two weeks worth of everyday reading.

Tackle the Summer Reading Challenge from Pottery Barn Kids for the chance to win cool prizes.

And, of course, do check out your local library as well. Many of them offer summer reading challenges (not to mention story times and crafts as well).

Madeline and I have started tackling the American Girls series.

In an effort to knock “read chapter books” off our Summer Bucket List, we are currently ensconced in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, one of my favorite escapism books from my own childhood. Imagining that your closet is the gateway to a new, wonderful magical land? How awesome.

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Live Better for Less – April 2012

April 9, 2012 · Narrative

So it’s been a week since the kick-off of the Live Better for Less Challenge. For those that joined in, how did you do? Good? Bad? Indifferent? More tips and tricks to share? If you commented on this post, report below and we’ll let the random number generator pick someone for the BUILT NY lunch tote.

When I was looking at our February spending, there were a bunch of random $2, $3, $4 listings in the food column. Drive-thrus. Not for food. Not at all. All drinks. Every last one. For the days when the kids can’t make the ten minute trip home and NEED. A. DRINK. NOW. For the Mama who gave up Diet Coke OVER SEVEN WEEKS AGO and needs a caffeine boost stat in the form of an Iced Coffee. For the convenience factor that everyone doesn’t have to pile out of the car, into the store, and back to the car. Those drive-thru charges.

Went adios for the month of March.

I talked to the kids about it. We voted. They were down with it. I love that my kids love a challenge. Understand the need to change things up sometimes.

During the entire month of March, we only hit the drive-thru twice.

And I feel exactly ZERO guilt about it. The first time was at 12:45 am, on the way back home from the hospital with Madeline, and I was trying to lure her to drink. Something. Anything. And the promise of Sprite did the trick.

The second time was later that week, when Nick was sick with the same ailment.

Both times, we had a quick family discussion about it.

Everyone had to agree.

Because we were breaking our self-imposed challenge.

We decided the cause justified the detour from our no-drive-thrus-challenge.

“But we go right back to no drive-thrus tomorrow!” Nick declared from the back seat.

Agreed.

And we did. And here it is, April 9th, and month two of no drive-thrus. In fact, as we celebrated our success at the end of March, Nick wanted to know what change we were going to make for April.

I love them. How open they are to trying something new. How much they’re like little sponges, soaking everything up. How they thought something that saved us time! money! gas! was fun.

And for the record, for the month of April and our new challenge, we added weekly stops to the library. I love our library. And we go. But not nearly often enough. A designated library bag hangs near the front door (to cut down on losing track of library books), and everyone checks out a short stack when we go. I love how much they love reading. That a trip to the library and the local used book store is something fun for them.

One more tip before I go? I was talking about erranding a few months back with a friend of mine and she said she has a “three stop rule.” If she’s going out in the car, she has to have three stops to make. Otherwise she waits until she does. And how much sense does that make? It’s too easy to just run out for one quick thing. And driving an SUV and pumping $3.75/gallon of gas into my car, I am ALL about planning my routes carefully. So ever since then, I put way more thought into every trip we make with the car. Even in the mornings when I’m dropping the kids off. If we run out to the grocery store, we add the library, and drop something off at a friend’s house too. The key is to plan your routes carefully. To think about it ahead of time. Not every trip is going to have three stops. Because that’s reality. But I will be as efficient as I possibly can to make the most use out of my time and the gas. And since my gas expenses dropped $42 from February to March, I have to think that the efficient route planning and lack of drive-thrus were absolute game changers.

YOUR TURN. What change did you make in the last week?

Did you know that April is Financial Literacy Month? The folks at TD Bank are all about getting kids to save, and as luck would have it, they sent over the below tips just this afternoon. Perfect timing if you ask me.

Tomorrow? A super healthy, super delicious dinner.

Wednesday? Wordless.

Thursday? We head South. And to the zoo.

*The winner of the lunch tote will be drawn tomorrow to give those doing the challenge a chance to check in.

**I’m going to be doing the Live Better for Less Challenge the first week of every month, so stay tuned for more tips and challenges to come.

***That sunset at the top? Random picture the kids took last week for me.

****Tweet today’s post for an extra entry.

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Summer Reading: It’s Fundamental

July 5, 2011 · Narrative

For as long as I can remember, reading has been a huge part of my life. Growing up, having a tv in our bedroom was not allowed. But more often than not, you could find me in my bedroom, door closed, lying on my bed, completely engrossed in a good book.

The Trixie Belden series.

Nancy Drew.

Beverly Cleary.

Judy Blume. Who could forget being forbidden to read “Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret?“

The Sweet Valley High girls.

I dove head first into The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and the rest of the Narnia world. Escapism at its best. And without a remote.

Roald Dahl and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Followed by James and the Giant Peach.

How to Eat Fried Worms. Which was more recently turned into a fun movie that I introduced the kids to.

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