Grand Opening Celebration :: The Toy Place, Tyler, TX

Next Saturday, one of my favorite toy stores, The Toy Place, (formerly known as The Knowledge Nook of Longview) will be celebrating their Grand Opening in Tyler, Texas. Included in the festivities will be a photo opportunity with Elsa and Olaf, Frozen craft activities, toy demonstrations, prizes, give-aways and more! You don't want to miss welcoming the newest toy store to town!

Located in the same shopping center as Jason's Deli, Nothing Bundt Cakes, and Starbucks, The Toy Place aims to please! Owners Paul and Brenda Allegrezza will be on hand to meet and greet new customers. The Allegrezza family has been providing toys to children for the past nine years and is eager for The Toy Place to become a household name. The store offers thousands of products from the best manufacturers including LEGO(R), Ezyroller, Madame Alexander, Hape, and more.

Offering birthday and Christmas registries, free gift-wrapping and custom orders, The Toy Place should be your first stop for holidays, birthdays and random Tuesdays!

Location: 4905 S. Broadway Tyler, TX
Phone: 903.581.5100

Giving Back this Season :: Locally, Nationally or Globally Making a Difference

 



This year, why not make a big impact in someone else's life? There are many ways you or your family can shine a light this season locally, nationally or even globally.

Every year, the boys and I help in some facet of our community. By doing so, I hope to instill a lifelong understanding that helping others in not only Godly, but also an important component of human nature. To watch those in need, when at one time, our family has been in their shoes, is something intolerable. To know the kindness of strangers who helped us our first year in California, is a blessing. To reciprocate that, is yet, another blessing.  

This year, I've worked with The Toy Place and Ellis Home & Garden of Longview to set up a giving tree for Buckner Family Services' a Buckner Family Christmas program. In doing so, individuals in East Texas can visit either location and pick a tag from our trees, shop at The Toy Place for gifts, and leave them there for wrapping and delivery to Buckner by December 11th. If families would rather make a monetary donation for toys, they can call The Toy Place and they will gladly assist you over the phone. (The Toy Place 112 Johnston St, Longview, TX 75601 (903) 753-8741, Ellis Home & Garden3110 N Eastman Rd, Longview, TX 75605(903) 663-9111 )

I am honored to be a part of this wonderful program and excited two of my favorite stores want to support such a fantastic community driven organization and the families they represent.

In addition, my Junior Master Gardener program will be holding a Fall Can Food Drive to assist one of city's most revered ladies, Mrs. Horaney, with her annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. If you are interested in starting a food drive at your work for the JMG to collect and deliver to the master drive, please let me know and I will provide you with a box and signage. We will collect our food drive items until November 22nd and then deliver to the Thanksgiving Food Drive on November 25th.

If you don't live close by for our food drive, there are still ways to help. You could partner with a food drive in your area by collecting canned goods and non-perishables or you could volunteer your time to help sort and organize all the donations. If you would prefer a more personal way to help, contact your local food kitchen. Those is need would love to see a smiling face!

 

On a much larger scale, one of my favorite ministries, Samaritan's Purse, has a wonderful opportunity for your children to serve other children through Operation Christmas Child. Help your children bless their peers this year by packing a shoebox filled with goodies they, themselves, love.  All child-friendly and toy-filled shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child are due nationally the week of November 18th - 25th. You can, however, visit your local Lifeway Store and check for their delivery date. The Longview store is accepting shoe boxes on November 16th.

These are just a few ways to help others this season. In December, I will be sharing another frugal way to reach out and lend a helping hand.

Story Time :: All About Cats!

Recently, I began a story telling program at my local toy store Knowledge Nook ~ The Toy Place. At first, we had a handful of children attending my program and then by the fourth week I had more than quadrupled our participants. It was fantastic! And, we knew immediately, the seating area would have to expand.

Initially, I had set out to help my friend establish some great programs in her store and discovered how large the need truly was in our community for *free* early educational programming. I'm joyful to be able to assist her and to also stimulate all those little minds through stories, crafts, songs and activities.

All About Cats

 

For this story time, I opened with the If you're ready for a story song as follows:

If you're ready for a story take a seat. 

If you're ready for a story take a seat.

Clap your hands and stomp your feet.

Make your hands all nice and neat.

If you're ready for a story take a seat.

 

This song is sung to the rhythm of If you're happy and you know it.

 

I then read Splat the Cat by Rob Scotton; a cute story about a cat named Splat who has his first day at cat school. He takes his best friend Seymour, a mouse, with him and taught his fellow classmates a thing or two about being a cat.

 

This story is followed by Have you seen my cat? by Eric Carle. Carle creates a fun and easy to follow storyline for even the youngest of participants.

 

For our story time activity, I asked the children to make a small fist and pretend it was a sweet kitty. They were then suppose to pet their kitty as we sang the following song:

 

Soft kitty, warm kitty

Little ball of fur.

Happy kitty, sleepy kitty

Purr, purr, purr.

 

We sang the song twice while I used the hand puppet as my kitty. The children really seemed to enjoy this simple activity.

 

After our kitty song, I read the last book - Red Cat Blue Cat by Jenni Desmond about a pair of jealous cats. Each cat would prefer to be the other and they work hard trying to figure out that in the end they are who they are.

 

I didn't get a chance to read another book I had selected (The Amazing Hamweenie by Patty Bowman) as by now the group had an extreme case of the wiggles. It's a silly book!

 

We made thumb print cats for our craft. It was an extremely simple craft involving ink pads, paper, markers and wet wipes for clean-up.