Friday Favorites: Veteran's Day and Books to Check Out/Latest Amazon Purchases!

Today I'm delighted to link up for Friday Favorites with Andrea from Momfessionals and Erika from A Little Bit of Everything!      

 Friday Favorites for the First Week of November!

At school, we always had a Veteran's Day assembly.  We also learned about this holiday in class.  As part of our Morning Messages, I included this beautiful poem by Cheryl Dyson:

Check out the Veterans Day poem here too.

In addition, several students brought in family military artifacts.  Adriana even wrote a book to accompany her father's and grandfather's dog tags:

Perfect Veteran's Day Picture Book:

Last summer I read The Women by Kristin Hannah so the Vietnam War is fresh in my mind.  The Wall by Eve Bunting is a touching story of finding soldiers name on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.  I remember how powerful the traveling wall was for me so I enjoy sharing this book with my students.  The Wall is a touching and memorable book that is perfect to read around Veterans Day.

A Bike Like Sergio's - a Must-Read Book!


We read this book by Maribeth Boelts:

Click on the book to read more on Amazon.

In this story, Ruben desperately wants a bike, but his family doesn't have the money to afford a new bike.  One day, while in a store, a shopper drops some money which Ruben picks up and keeps because he believes it is just a one dollar bill.  Later that night, Ruben realizes that the money is really a ONE HUNDRED DOLLAR bill.  

Well, the kids had a very strong reaction to that realization.  There's still so much more to the story, too. We had quite a lively discussion on honesty, stealing,...I am definitely reading this book again to the kids next week - that's how AMAZING this book is!

Amazon Purchases to Check Out!

1.  Shower Foot Scrubber

On Instagram, I recently watched a doctor talk about the importance of washing one's feet every day.  I also did some research on Google:

Both the UK's National Health Service (NHS) and US Centre for Disease Control (CDC), for example, advise washing feet daily with soap and water. One reason for this meticulous care is to prevent odour. The soles of the foot contain 600 sweat glands per square centimetre of skin, more than any other region of the body.  Although sweat itself doesn't smell, it contains a nutritious broth of salts, glucose, vitamins and amino acids, which serves as an all-you-can-eat buffet for bacteria that live there. And there a lot of bacteria.

Using this information, I bought a foot scrubber mat from Amazon:

You put shower gel or liquid soap on the map.  By moving your feet on the mat, your feet get clean.  So far, I am not in love with this product.  I don't want to lean down or stand on one foot in the shower either.  If any of you have any cleaning tips for your feet, please let me know!

Right now I'm leaning toward getting an occasional pedicure.  However, you're supposed to clean your feet every day.  Who knew?

2.  Hair Brush Straightener

I have fine straight hair that I color.  Over the years, my hair tends to have a mind of its own:  cowlicks; fly-aways; frizz.   To help with the situation, I bought this straightener brush:

This brush heats up quickly and is easy to use.  I like calming down my hair, but I'm still figuring it out.  I never style my hair or use any product on it.  

From these two purchases, I have learning that I'm still figuring out life at age 65.

Best Cuticle Cream!

I have exceptionally dry cuticles that I pick at (not a good habit!).  Using this cuticle cream has been very helpful:

                                Happy Veterans Day!