How to keep your kids learning and growing during the summer.

A lot of kids are now out for the summer and they are easily bored.  We want our children to keep learning and growing during the summer months so they are ready when school starts back in the fall.
Summer vacation affords us a lot of non-traditional ways of stimulating our kids intellectually.   Below you will find some tried and true methods and others that will give your kids a wealth of information they can use and also introduce to their friends.



The public library:  A lot of us use our computer but we forget what the library has to offer.  You can take your kids and they can read and learn about things of the past and the future.  You can truly educate yourself by going to the library and search for any subject that you want.  You can teach your kids about studying in a nice quiet environment.  A lot of libraries have a movie night and arts and crafts.  The library, in my opinion, is a free, public educational institution where you can learn any subject at your own pace.

A Museum:  This is another wonderful place to take your children so that they can see paintings and sculptures from the past and it is a great place to go and spend time with your children and teach them about art and its beauty.

The Zoo:  The zoo is such a wonderful and fun place to take your kids to learn about different animals.  It exposes them to animals that they would never see in their ordinary environment.   Kids who love animals are usually more friendly and tolerant.

Money management:  We can let our kids make a list of things that they want from the store.  Tell them that you will get coupons for the items.  Give them a budget or make them pay for these things from their allowance.  Teach them to calculate to the penny how much they need and add in taxes and they will learn that they have to learn how to save and budget for the things that they want.  Get the Sunday paper and show them how to clip out coupons.

Play Monopoly: Monopoly is a good game that will teach your children about money in a fun way.  We all have played and loved this game but this is a way to teach kids in an entertaining manner.

Day trips:  Take your kids for a drive through the most disadvantaged areas in your state and then have a discussion with your children on ways you can end up living in these areas.  Such as poverty, drug abuse, drinking alcohol or not doing well in school . The next day drive through wealthy areas in your state and have the same conversation on ways you can improve your odds of living in these areas and living the best life possible.  Tell them about living a clean life, excelling in school, staying drug and alcohol-free and staying out of jail.

Cooking:  Get your children together and let them participate in preparing meals for the family.  This activity is good for both boys and girls.  This is a skill that they will always have and they could also make a career out of it.

Teach your kids about exercising:  I wish I had embraced this concept earlier in my life but it is never too late.  I know a lot of people go to the gym to do exercise and there is nothing wrong with that but, I think that you can get fit by running in the park. walking, exercising at home and if you start your children early, they will never have to shell out a lot of money to keep fit.

Start a container garden:  Take your kids to a store such as; Home Depot and get some seeds and containers and watch some YouTube to learn how to garden.  Let your kids start this and let them enjoy the "fruits of their labor" when the plants or vegetables start growing.
I hope you all enjoyed these tips.  Happy Summer!

Finding Your Happy Sweet Spot In Your Life.

I decided to touch on this subject because I had a conversation with my daughter a few months ago and she asked me " What age were you the happiest?".   I told her that I was my happiest at age 40.  She looked very puzzled and she said " Why age Forty?".  Carefully I explained to her that it was the age that I started to fully embrace myself.  I had raised her into adulthood and it was the time that I could truly live my life and do the things that I wanted to do.

It was a time that I was no longer responsible for another person.  When you are forty you have gone through the times in your life when you were totally insecure with yourself due to weight gain or maybe other flaws that you have.   Forty is the age that you can look back and perhaps see the mistakes that you have made and truly thank God for his protection and seeing how you made it through.  You see, life is not perfect or easy but the way you deal with things makes all the difference.

My twenties was not easy at all and you would think that being young would present me with more opportunities and happy experiences.   The road to my forties gave me a chance for forgiveness, and it gave me the wisdom to speak to another young person and tell them that if you persevere, you will be alright.

I am so much calmer now and when things go wrong I know that there will be a way of escape and know to pray for God's guidance.

Through hard times, The Lord showed me how to be resourceful and now I count it as the many gifts that I have.  Happiness starts with self acceptance.  We have all seen the person who the world may see as unattractive but this person thinks they are the most beautiful person in the world and it seems to draw people and make other people think this person is beautiful too.  Deep down this person may know that they are unattractive but the positive image that they project is charismatic.   This shows that you can draw positive things into your life, if you just believe.

If you are young and short on money; buy yourself little small gifts that makes you happy and project a positive image to the world.  I promise that one day you will tell your own story of how you found your happiness in life.  Many years ago when I would be short on cash, I would go to a discount store and buy nail polish that cost $1.00 and keep my nails beautifully polished everyday.  This made me feel happy.  You can find beauty and solace in simplicity.

There is an old saying "Paint a picture of what you want to be."   Project happiness into the world and that is what you will get back.



                                         ***********SashaMoniqueTalks**************

The View ( Bathing Suit Body Shaming)

Today I watched The View and they were speaking about the body shaming incident with Amy Schumer and the ladies on the program did a segment supposedly with their bathing suits.  Whoopi came out with her signature outfit with the big pants and a big button up shirt, then Candace came out with a bathing suit with a cover-up and she didn't remove the cover-up and she looked uncomfortable.

Then, Joy came out with pants and a top on and I started scratching my head and said to myself " what the heck!!!"     Paula came out and she had a bathing suit with a big cover-up and she did not remove it to show her bathing suit.  She was also uncomfortable.

I have no problem with what Whoopi  and Joy had on because they are women of a certain age but it would have been nice if they actually had  on a suit with a cover-up. I was appalled at Candace and Paula because if we are going to show young ladies that their bodies are perfect just the way they are, we have to lead by example.


I don't know who came up with the idea to do this segment but it was a very poor attempt at supporting the cause against body shaming.

Shame on you The View, we must do better!

Lies And Myths About Plus Size Women.

Hello Ladies:  I have been a plus size women most of my life and over the years I notice and heard all the myths and lies that were told about us, so, let us look at these myths and bust them and you can even add some of your own if you can think of some.

                                     Lies And Myths About Plus Size Women

We eat all the time:  This is a myth because a lot of us in fact, do not have a big appetite.  Our bodies carry more weight or we eat sweets and carbohydrates that are not kind to our bodies.


We don't smell good:  I have heard this myth many times.With all the body weight, we know that we have to try harder to keep ourselves clean and fresh and we make it a habit to bathe both day and night.  We love to wear the finest perfumes and we smell divine.


We are lazy:  This is a myth because there are a lot of ladies who work, run businesses and take care of our families and we do the same things as a person of a so-called normal weight.  I have seen some thin people who are very lazy.


No Man wants to marry us:  Just look around and you will see many plus size women with husbands or boyfriends and some men specifically like a plus size lady.  Truthfully, you will see more "big girls" with husbands than smaller women.  Men like to take a woman out who isn't always complaining that she is on a diet.


We are desperate and will take care of a man:  This is a myth because we are like any other woman. There are women who put up with this behavior, but, I know a lot of women who definitely will not take care of a man and will demand respect from her mate.

  Some men automatically think that if you are plus size, you will be their fool and this is a misnomer.  If you mistreat us, we will get rid of you very fast.


We are sloppy and wear ugly clothes:  I remember a time when there was not a good variety of clothing for plus size women, but, times have changed and I am so thankful for this.  We love to look good and wear fashionable clothing too.

 So many retailers carry clothing in our size now, and we can also get our clothing online and we can look just as good as anyone.

We love clothing that accentuates our curves and in beautiful colors.
They think we are not smart because we are fat:  I have no idea who thought of this because a bigger body doesn't have anything to do with our intellect.

  A lot of us are very bright and if people would have a real conversation with us without worrying about our size, they would know that we bring a lot to the table ( No Pun Intended).
We should only wear black because black is slimming:  If I had to wear black clothing I would scream.

  I think that we can wear clothing in beautiful colors just like anyone and I also encourage it because black clothing can sometimes wash us out.

As long as the clothing has a good fit, we can wear it.
All of us are unhealthy:   If your weight is affecting your health, then you should try to lose some weight but I know some ladies who have no health issues at all, so, we should not be put in a box.

 There are ladies who are very healthy and you will see them strutting proudly with a big, beautiful, smile on their faces.

* I hope this post eliminate the lies and the myths and I am sure that there are a lot more.

Ladies, live loud and proud and don't let any one's perception of you, get in the way of you living your life to the fullest.

We are beautiful and we have value.  Let's show the world what we are made of!

How To Save Money.

                                               9 Ways To Save Money

I like to include some of these video's to see other peoples perspective and learn specific way's that they use to save money.

Should You Have Giveaways And Contest On Social Media Sites?

When I started my Youtube Channel years ago, I was very eager to jump in the arena and there were a lot of people having giveaways and I thought that it was a very nice way to get to know people and also a way of promotion for my Youtube Channel.

People were giving away some really nice things on their channel and I entered some contest and it was so fun to participate, and interact with other youtubers who started around the time that I did.

I decided to do a giveaway and before it was announced I started to gather the items that I wanted to give away. This was joyful to me and this gave me the opportunity to make some new friends online.

What started to happen was, people were only subscribing to my channel only to get into the giveaway and as soon as the giveaway was over, they unsubscribed.    Since this is also a form of promotion the decision was made not to do any more giveaways.

From this point I decided I  would do lovemail and  have enjoyed contacting some subscribers behind the scene's to send them things that they would like.

This is a way that I give back to the people who sincerely subscribed to my channel and who have supported me and we became friendly with each other.

I have been on other social media sites and have participated in some giveaways and have found, that, some people have a giveaway but they never give you the prize that you won.  I don't know whether these people changed their mind about the giveaway or what.

My feelings regarding this is; if you cannot follow through on your giveaway, just cancel it because things do happen that may prevent you from sending the prizes off.   This would be the fair way to deal with this situation.

Another thing that we must consider when we host a giveaway is; when you announce a giveaway, you open yourself up to dealing with some legal issues when you do not award the prizes, because this could be considered gambling fraud.

Make sure that you do a thorough research regarding contest and giveaways online to see if it is worth you taking a chance with the legalities of hosting a contest.  Also, be sure that you have the prizes already in your possession and the money to pay postal fee's before you post your giveaway.

Keep thorough records of when the contest started and it ending date and make sure that you save all receipts such as; sales receipts from the purchase of contest items and postal fee's.  This will prevent some problems in the future.

Are We Sharing Too Much On Social Media?

I have been active on social media for a few years now.  I wasn't exactly sure about what I should share and what I shouldn't share on social media.  When we start on our journey on Youtube and also start Blogging, our creative juices start flowing and since we are sharing our lives sometimes, we over share.  I am guilty of this myself, but what we don't realize is that anyone with an Internet connection is privy to all our personal information.

Sometimes we forget that there are people on  social networks that can view us and we don't know who they are.  Some of these companies demand that we use our real names which further put us at risk.  There are people who like us but there are also people for some reason or another do not care for us and we have to learn to be very careful about disclosing certain things on social media.

Like most of you, I have heard a lot of horror stories and most of the time it comes from someone becoming obsessed with you or don't like something that you revealed.  We must never forget that there are some really crazy people in this world and we have to take steps to protect ourselves and our families.

Let's make a conscious effort to share but don't share too much. We deserve our privacy like anyone else.  Do not give anyone an open door into your life.

If your life is threatened do not take it lightly and alert the proper authorities and tell the people that you love, what is going on.