November 12th, 2009
My sister-in-law is pregnant and has selected turtles as her room theme. We were asked to bring a book for the baby’s library to her baby shower. I wanted to find something nice that related to turtles and stumbled across this heartwarming story of Owen and Mzee. After reading several articles online about their friendship, I decided to order a copy for my own kids as well. I’m sure glad I did because this is a wonderful story for all ages and the photos are magnificent.
Owen & Mzee
November 12th, 2009
If you are looking for some free indoor fun this fall/winter AND you have a Whole Foods Market near you, check out their website. Each of the local stores has their own website and calendar. Our local Whole Foods does a Mommy & Me event each Wednesday morning for kids ages 1 – 3. Each event involves either a craft or planned activity and each child receives a juice and snack. This is a great, free event, not to mention an easy way to meet & connect with other moms. Yesterday we attended and this is what we made:
Turkey Picture from Whole Foods Mommy & Me
We were then provided with an apple juice box and an apple sauce as snack. Previous events have included crafts, storytime by a local children’s company that incorporates dance into their stories, and yoga for children. Did I mention it is FREE???
November 5th, 2009
Yesterday, the boys and I headed to the beach. Yes – the beach in November! Our beach (Point Pleasant, NJ) is lucky enough to have a small aquarium that is open all year. CheezWaster was itching to go to an aquarium and since we had never visited this particular one, I thought it was the perfect time. The aquarium is only 2 floors and not very large – perfect for toddlers. When we arrived we were lucky enough to get there just in time to see the penguins fed. Afterwards, we walked a little bit on the boardwalk and then headed onto the beach. There were tons of shells to pick up and the kids loved seeing the bigger waves of autumn. There was also tons of wildlife to be seen. We chased seagulls, looked at some jellyfish that washed ashore and even stumbled across a half of a (sadly dead) starfish. The kids had fun playing in the sand and just enjoying the beautiful day walking on the beach. And so – did I.
October 30th, 2009
So – if you are like me, your kid decides to pick the one character in the world that doesn’t have a pre-made, store-bought costume option. CheezWaster decided he wanted to be Ice Man from the X-Men this year.
Iceman from the X-Men
This costume is relatively simple to make. We purchased a boy’s light blue mock turtleneck unitard from an online dancewear company. I was a bit upset that this wasn’t shiny spandex material when it arrived, but the website didn’t really have pictures of the unitard colors either. I think the shiny spandex would have made the costume a bit more true to the character. We then purchased 2 types of wide ribbon – 1 piece of light blue and one piece of clear/white with silver sparkles. We overlayed the ribbons and sewed them on to the costume – attaching them to the side and back seams of the unitard. We then used silver trim to make the X in the middle of the belt.
We used a make-up set from Ice FX. I found mine at Walgreens but also saw them at Party City and several other costume shops. These sets come with everything you need to do the light blue makeup and ice crystals. We added the ice crystals to CheezWaster’s eyebrows, cheeks and hands. We also used a blue gel hair dye on his hair. And WHA-LA – there you have an Ice Man from X-men costume.
October 27th, 2009
While I myself do not have a child with food allergies, I was a child with food allergies. And Halloween, much like every other holiday that revolved around food, was no fun at all. In light of having been through it and knowing what it was like, I always keep some non-food Halloween treats on hand, just in case. We have in the past had people ask us if we had any nut-free candy (I always do!) and I’ve offered the non-food treats, to which they have always been appreciative and usually accept them over the candy. I’ve also had friends who would pre-deliver special treats to the houses on their block and then take their kids with food allergies trick or treating to only these houses. My treats this year are cute little Halloween pads and pencils. Not the most exciting thing, but if you can’t have candy, it is probably like Christmas getting something other than candy at any house. My mom also always keeps a roll of quarters by the door, just in case.
This year, even though I was fortunate enough to outgrow (most of) my food allergies, I’ve thought long and hard about how I’m going to avoid the candy in the house, given I’m on Weight Watchers. 1) I’m just saying no. 2) I’m giving my kids neat little color changing Halloween books in their treat bags. 3) Depending on how much candy we get, the Halloween fairy might stop by our house and exchange most of it for a nice toy instead. Save the kids’ teeth, Save mommy’s butt!
