Introducing our Book TRACKer, Aylin Regulski!

Aylin lives in Apex with her dear husband, 10-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter. Her background is in science and law, so this blog is clearly a deviation from her prior writing experience. She does, however, have a passion for reading, as do her husband and children. Sometimes she tries to sneak in reading during the day but just as often ends up taking her book out for a ride and some fresh air while watching her children at their many arts and sports activities and talking with other parents (some who are also airing their books or doggedly trying to read the same page for an hour). Sometimes the discussion turns to the books they aren’t reading. However, bedtime reading is an unwavering ritual. Her family enjoys many activities the Triangle has to offer, including hiking the local greenways and trails, visiting the museums and zoo, and attending outdoor events. Aylin and her husband also help teach church school at their church and do their best to squeeze in an occasional date night together.

They still find time to take care of Beauty and Flipper, their two long-lived and demanding (for fish) female Betas, and to feed most of the squirrels of Apex with their “squirrel-proof” bird feeder. However, there is another plan being hatched to keep the squirrels at bay. It has become clear that squirrels don’t actually care if one dashes out the door in pajamas with a squirt gun to excitedly shoot water at them. They’ve got nothing but time and people eventually need to get on with their lives. Send Aylin a blog idea here and check out her debut blog here.

Win 4 Tickets to North Carolina Theatre's Premiere of Disney's "High School Musical 2" on Stage!

Triangle TRACKS is excited to offer our members and visitors in the Triangle region another awesome contest opportunity. This time, we're giving away 4 tickets to the North Carolina Theatre's regional premiere of Disney's "High School Music 2" on stage at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium June 13-21!

To enter, have your child dress up as his or her favorite "High School Musical" character, take a picture and submit it along with your child's name, age and the character he or she is dressed up as by Wednesday, June 10 at midnight. We'll ask all of our Triangle TRACKS members and newsletter subscribers to vote for their favorite photo, then email it to epshugg@triangletracks.com or via the Triangle TRACKS messaging system by midnight Thursday, June 11. We'll announce the winner at noon on Friday, June 12. Good luck to all the Gabriellas, Sharpays, Troys, Ryans and other HSM characters out there!

We Found Belle's Biggest Fan!

Visit www.triangletracks.com to see our winner and her 68 Belle items! The prize: two tickets to the Carolina Ballet’s premiere performance of “Beauty and the Beast.”

Here is why this is the only "Jon & Kate Plus 8" blog post you'll see on Triangle TRACKS

We've received emails from several Triangle TRACKS members and/or visitors asking if we will be addressing the "Jon & Kate Plus 8" drama. We will not for the simple reason that we believe Jon and Kate need to put their children first, and their show last. At this time, they do not appear to be doing that. Since Triangle TRACKS exists to improve the life of children, we do not feel posting information about the current direction of the "Jon & Kate Plus 8" show is within our mission. Feel free to post your own comments about the show here, but keep in mind that this is the only time we will address this topic until and unless we see the children's best interests being put first.

Triangle TRACKS Contest Seeks Belle’s Biggest Fan

How much does your little girl love Belle? Does she have more Belle paraphernalia than a Disney store? If so, she could win two tickets from Triangle TRACKS to see the Carolina Ballet’s premiere performance of “Beauty and the Beast” the night of either May 29, 30 or 31.

If you would like to participate in the contest, just itemize and photograph all of your daughter's Belle stuff (dolls, jewelry boxes, necklaces, clothes, etc.), then email your list and photo documenting the items to epshugg@triangletracks.com by noon on May 29. Triangle TRACKS will announce the winner that day at 2 p.m., in time for the first show.

Triangle TRACKS is a social networking site for local parents that links to almost 2,000 resources for local kids. To visit the site, go to http://www.triangletracks.com.

Check Out Our New Discount TRACKS Page

Everyone is looking for ways to save money these days, so we've added a
Discount TRACKS page. Please email us your discount sites so we can add them to our list.

"The Mysteries of Harris Burdick" Inspires Young Writers

My son's 4th grade teacher recently introduced her class to "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick." Have you heard of these? My son loves to write so he really got into this project. The students were asked to look through the book, select one of Burdick's drawings and descriptions, then write a story to go with the picture. What makes this book so interesting and mysterious, is the manner in which the images came to be published. Here's an excerpt from the book's official website describing how "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick" came to be. Keep in mind, this was written in 1984, so the meeting he is describing actually took place in 1954. The meeting involved Peter Wenders, who once worked for a children's book publisher, and Harris Burdick himself.

Thirty years ago a man called at Peter Wenders's office, introducing himself as Harris Burdick. Mr. Burdick explained that he had written fourteen stories and had drawn many pictures for each one. He'd brought with him just one drawing from each story, to see if Wenders liked his work.

Peter Wenders was fascinated by the drawings. He told Burdick he would like to read the stories that went with them as soon as possible. The artist agreed to bring the stories the next morning. He left the fourteen drawings with Wenders. But he did not return the next day. Or the day after that. Harris Burdick was never heard from again. Over the years, Wenders tried to find out who Burdick was and what had happened to him, but he discovered nothing. To this day Harris Burdick remains a complete mystery.

So, if you are a public, private or home school teacher--or if you're a parent who likes to offer your children inspiring writing assignments--this is the book for you. You can find it at most bookstores and public libraries, so be sure to check it out!

Photo source: www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com