by Alissa | Jul 26, 2017 | Alissa McClure blog, educational activities for kids, lifehacks, motherhood
I love music. I admire talented musicians and appreciate the time and effort they put into practicing and developing their talents. We wanted our children to learn how to play the piano. There is a great article about some of the benefits of music lessons here and...
by Alissa | Jul 19, 2017 | Alissa McClure blog, family finance, lifehacks, motherhood
Today I want to share with you how I approach meal planning and why this system works for me. I have been planning our meals this way for at least five years and I know it has been a big money-/time-/stress-saver for our family. Take it or leave it, I’m just putting...
by Alissa | Jul 18, 2017 | Alissa McClure blog, motherhood
I think I’ve mentioned this before, but in case you are new here let me be up front about this: I am a mom. I gave birth to 5 children and “thanks” to my one set of twins, I only had to have 4 pregnancies. Unfortunately because I had twins first and an emergency...
by Alissa | Jul 12, 2017 | activities for kids, Alissa McClure blog, educational activities for kids, reading activities for kids
When I wrote A Nace’s Adventure, my inspiration came from teaching. I wrote the book for my nieces and nephews when the majority were about the age of 4. I thought that this would be the perfect age to introduce the concept of rhyme and so I sat down to brainstorm...
by Alissa | Jul 8, 2017 | Alissa McClure blog, lifehacks, motherhood
I remember well the multitude of fights that occurred in our household when I was a child because each child believed he or she should be the one to choose the music in the car or the TV show we watched or the first to play with a coveted toy (or play the...
by Alissa | Jul 7, 2017 | Alissa McClure blog, lifehacks, motherhood
During the school year, we maintain a pretty rigid routine (especially on school days) to make sure the boys get to school on time, get their homework and piano practice done quickly, dinner eaten, baths taken, and everyone is in bed by 8pm. But the summer is a whole...
by Alissa | Jul 7, 2017 | activities for kids, Alissa McClure blog, educational activities for kids, motherhood, reading activities for kids
Summer Enhancement #1: Read-a-Thon I remember my childhood summer days were almost always a combination of LOTS of TV watching and swimming. Sound familiar? School is tough and exhausting, so I definitely want my kids to have this summer time to emotionally decompress...
by Alissa | Jul 7, 2017 | Alissa McClure blog, family finance, motherhood
In the past year something clicked inside my head and helped me to realize that I needed to be WAY more organized with our family’s finances. Because I am a big researcher, I set out to learn all I could learn from others who have forged the way before me and then I...
by Alissa | Jul 7, 2017 | Alissa McClure blog, Updates
Hello and Welcome to AliMcJoy.com! I am a broad spectrum of emotions as I am typing the very first blog post for my brand new website! I am excited, nervous, intimidated, and hopeful all at once. I am so glad you are here, reading this post right now! For a couple of...
