Beautiful Oops! Book Review

You may or may not know that before staying home with Turner I was a teacher. For 5 of those years of teaching I taught Fine Arts: Art, Music, Drama to Kindergarten through 5th graders. I absolutely loved it and it was something I was passionate about. One thing I always tried to do when teaching an art lesson was pair it with a piece of children’s literature. My mom discovered a Barney Saltzburg book called “Arlo Needs Glasses” quite a few years back and I started using it with one of my art lessons. This led me to purchasing some of his other books like “A Little Bit of Oomph” and “Beautiful Oops!” and incorporating them into my lessons in the classroom. 5th graders usually do not care much for read aloud but they would beg me to reread these books to them because of all the cool elements! I was recently gifted another copy of “Beautiful Oops!” from Workman Publishing (@workmanpub) and have been reading it to Turner. He is just beginning to be able to really see and recognize colors and shapes and he was mesmerized by the illustrations!

A cool feature of the book is that it has pop-outs, flaps to life, overlays and more! It really gets your attention and keeps it on each page. Even though Turner is only two months old literacy is something that is not only important to me as a former teacher but also now as his mom. I love stories that have a positive message and lesson behind them. Beautiful Oops! is all about taking mistakes and making them into something else thats positive. I love the creativity behind each mistake it uses as an example and how it really encourages readers to think outside the box.

I have seen first hand in the art room how hard kids can be on themselves when something does not turn out as they have visualized. I always tried to take those instances as an opportunity to teach about being gentle with ourselves and making their “mistake” into something else! We always also talked about not being perfect because no one is. Today, with social media and our constant need for our self image to look a certain way it is more important than ever to teach children to learn from mistakes and use them to create something positive. Want to get a copy of this book for your own children or classroom? “Beautiful Oops!” is on sale wherever books are sold. #beautifuloops #beautifuloopsbook

Love,

Megan

Brewing Positivity

*I am compensated by Keurig® for sharing my view; all opinions remain 100% my own.*

Nothing helps get me going on the right side of bed in the morning quicker than my favorite cup of coffee and the sight of my sweet pups! I am always known as the positive, high energy personality at school (I’m a teacher.) I have even had my students comment on my demeanor before. I wanted to share some things that help me look on the positive side of things daily besides my morning coffee from !

  1. Getting enough rest and taking care of my body. This looks different for everyone but let us face it: it is pretty hard to be positive if you do not feel your best.
  2. Wearing bright colors. I love my neutrals but there is something about pastel or neon colors that helps perk you up.
  3. Taking quiet time for prayers and gratitude. I always spend my commute to school praying and thinking of the many things I am grateful to have in my life.
  4. Playing upbeat music. You know that one song that comes on and you just start to smile? Yeah, that one! I always try to set the mood with music that makes me feel good. For example: my alarm clock ringtone is my favorite song, “Here Comes The Sun” by The Beatles. How can you not feel positive listening to those lyrics.
  5. Desperate times call for desperate measures: some days you gotta fake it ’til you make it. I have gotten this question a lot over the years, “How are you always so energetic, smiling and positive?” Well, the truth is that I am not. There are days I do not feel great or in a bad mood but I have to make a decision to try to be positive or have an awful day. I really try to be positive for my students and hope it also helps my coworkers with the energy of our school.

Did you know that 4 in 5 people agree their daily cup of coffee helps keep them positive? I certainly agree! I make my coffee at home every morning to save time and money. It is just so easy to pop a pod in and have it brew while I let my dogs out. I usually take my coffee with me on my commute as a little more me time. I truly look forward to it everyday!

I love the ease and convenience of the K-Mini Plus® Single Serve Coffee Maker. It fits virtually anywhere and is perfect for preparing your cup of coffee. You fill the water reservoir, choose your favorite pod from The Original Donut Shop Coffee, add your mug and you are ready to go. Right now, I am loving the Nutty Caramel flavor.

To celebrate the power of positivity The Original Donut Shop is asking Americans to nominate a coworker who positively impacts them. Consumers can nominate a coworker through a simple entry form on www.brewpositivity.com.

25 winners will be randomly selected to win $200 and year supply of The Original Donut Shop K-Cup® pods. Nominations will be accepted through November 22, 2019.

Do not forget to enter my K-Mini Plus® Single Serve Coffee Maker and variety of The Original Donut Shop K-Cup® pods on Instagram! Just comment your favorite coffee and tag a friend and you will be entered to win. Check out Keurig on Instagram if have not already as well! Let me know how you stay positive in the comments. I am always looking for new ideas!

Love,

Megan