Anita VP

All aboard the reading lesson train again!   Now that we’re quasi settled in between leaving our Colorado home and finding our new one, it’s back at it to so-called “regular” life for tiny humans. As I mentioned in another post , we’re learning to read over here using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons .   “What’s the first sound?” “Now the next sound.” “Are you a snake?... SSSsss” I can appreciate that this is genuinely the most complex thing that my four-year-old has ever had to take on – and there’s decided challenges in that!   In my child’s case, the comprehension of the material is there without question, but the desire to be compliant and obedient was seriously lacking.   However, I think that it might be fair to say that at this juncture I am perhaps the one who is learning more.   Patience.   Flexibility.   Persistence.   Endurance.   More patience.   I may have garnered a point this week in parentin...

Today’s entry is brought to you by the Little Red Hen: Over the past several days, I profoundly learned the sentiment behind several idiomatic expressions.   Cherries make for good teachers.   Picking all that I planned on using myself and then turning around to do anything productive with them is in fact a time-consuming process; time-consuming processes allow ample space for contemplation. I put on my shoes.   I got the bucket and the ladder.   I walked out to the tree.   I picked.   I discarded the bad.   I de-stemmed.   I washed.   I pitted.   I divided into groups – freeze, jam, crumble.   I bagged.   I chopped, stirred, and jarred.   I fixed crumble topping and baked.   I washed my hands.   I ate. First and foremost, let’s be thankful for orchardists and anyone picking fruit (and God’s good green earth).   Secondly, I used to understand the term “low-hanging fruit” primarily in ...

A song that my husband and I first loved about ten years ago, Easton Corbin’s Roll With It , came on the radio yesterday.   As I sang along, I realized that perhaps what “rolling with it” meant to us a decade ago looks so vastly different than it does now.   To say this season of life, with a preschooler, a baby, moves, developing careers, etc., is crazy suffices as an understatement.   As we try and adapt our lessons of “assuming positive intent” and “agility” from what we’ve learned in a business capacity and apply them to our “regular” life, we’re constantly being tested and pushed.   No one sufficiently prepares you and your spouse for the amount of time spent in this stage of life that you will exchange glances with the singular look of “what in the heck?!” “Did you read that paperwork the car insurance mailed?” “Which reading lesson are we on?” “Did you make a payment on this already?” “What’s in her hair?” “I thought we already placed that ...

Now that preschool is over and summer is here, I feel like it’s time for reading some new picture books!   While I’m a longstanding lover of the classics for children, a little bit of fresh meat is always good.   I’ve found this awesome list from Brightly called The Ultimate Summer Reading List for Kids Ages 3 – 5 that we’ll be working through this season.   I’m very excited for some of these titles, especially HIGH FIVE from the DRAGONS LOVE TACOS duo. What newer picture books are on your kids’ summer reading list? #AnitaVP #summer #summerreading #readmore #picturebooks #preschooler #preschool 

Perhaps one of the sweetest sides of fatherhood for a dad of young children is evening story time.   After a long day of work for dad and a long day of being with mom for the kids, curling up together and delving into picture book magic land produces a win for all.   Creative voices, funny looks between page turns, and observing all of the little details.   And as a mom, it’s so pleasant to watch your kids and their dad bonding this way. So to my husband, the father of our two humans, and to all story-reading dads, I bid you Happy Father’s Day! #AnitaVP #fathersday #dadsday #fathersday2019 #father #dad #storytime #picturebook

Last Friday, we left Colorado.   I’ve written here quite a bit about my move – how my orchids have anything to do with it , why I’ll miss my sink , what to pack , etc. etc.   Yet, when I sat down to write to the prospective homeowners, I stared at a blank screen for a quite a bit. To bring my story full circle, please allow me to share what was finally worth saying to them: Welcome home!   When we moved into this house in 2013, it certainly looked a bit different – nearly every wall was yellow and the outside was a super faded yellow.   Our lack of furniture was nearly comical!   Fast forward a few years and add a few gallons of paint, it transformed into a home for us. Moreover, at the time we moved in, we had no children; subsequently, we’ve had the blessing of bringing both of our children home here. While there’s certainly a million little things that I would like to share with you about this home, I’ll just leave you with two thoughts. ...

Today, I bring to you something slightly different, inspired by my years of working as an editor in corporate America: Have something short that you’re writing in a hurry and no second set of eyes?   It’s still important to mind your Ps and Qs.   Here are seven quick tips and fixes for reviewing your own words: -           Change the font size    and/or type while you review. o    Perhaps nothing as drastic as the above is needed, but it certainly caught your eye, didn’t it?   There’s something about an error in text that will stick out differently when you’re reading it in Comic Sans .   -           Actually use the spell check feature. o    It can be easy to mentally filter out those little red, blue, and green squiggles, but spell check is your friend. -           Walk away. ...