sole train

Parent bloggers and Ryka have offered a soleful opportunity to many of their reviewers as well as anyone reading this post (did you know they are giving away 50 shoes every day until October??)

I used to work out religiously before having M. I'd hit the gym five or six days a week before work and on the weekends. I felt fabulous. In fact I worked out until the week I went into labor and I had never felt so strong. And then M was born and a year slipped by, then two. My exercise was increasingly sporadic and I couldn't find a groove. So about a year ago I went and bought new shoes, and my first time out I got a blister. The second time out I got a new one. So the new shoes sat in the closet and when I would go out walking I'd put on my old pre-baby shoes, the ones with barely any tread. My shins protested.

And then the Ryka opportunity came along. I was a bit apprehensive, sneakers on line that I didn't get to try on had a fair shot at not fitting, at the blisters redux. But I loved the Ryka shoes; not only are they comfortable, the soles have a tremendous amount of cushion and the right amount of flex, but they are also cool and understated, a perfect white.

Since I've gotten them I've gone out walking 3-4 times a week and I've never gotten a blister. And my shin pains have disappeared (the wonders of shoes with proper tread).

And this could be your post, your story. Because Ryka is giving them away. You never know, you might be walking on soft white sneakers soon too. And your shins will thank you, and so will your muscles and joints. I know I still need to move more than I do, but the right shoes go a long way.

ninos y espanol es muy bueno

The good folks at Kids Love Spanish and Parentbloggers have teamed up again to offer some of us a chance to review their DVD series that teaches kids to se habla espanol.

I jumped at the chance because we've really been wanting to offer M the opportunity to learn other languages but are realistic to know that as long as we are only speaking English that's all she is going to learn. J jumped on these DVDs when they arrived and he and M settled in front of the TV and lo and behold, M LOVED them. They sat for over an hour watching various DVDs and practicing words. M took to it like ants on sugar - she can now count to 10 in Spanish, say about 10 animal words in Spanish, and can practice the Spanish alphabet (ha, I hadn't even realized all the extra letters until I watched the DVD myself...)

I think the repetitive nature of the DVDs really work - things are repeated again and again which gives the child a chance to say it over and over. And M will sit and talk back to the TV (not that I am necessarily proud of that) repeating azul, caballo, pez, uno, dos, tres...and I think it's pretty cool.

The graphics are pretty low tech and the videos can seem a bit hokey sometimes, but my initial reaction was minimized when I realized exactly how much M was learning. She will say words in Spanish when she's not watching the videos as well which is really amazing given the exposure hasn't been near what her exposure to English has been.

It goes to prove their brains are little sponges and the more we can show them the more they can learn.

Con Mucho Gusto, Compadres.