Elyria City Schools October lunch menu

October 2009 lunch menu for Elyria City Schools.

Full price lunch: $2.35, reduced: $0.40. …

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State tells mom to stop watching neighbors’ kids

By The Associated Press

IRVING TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Each day before the school bus comes to pick up the neighborhood’s children, Lisa Snyder did a favor for three of her fellow moms, welcoming their children into her home for about an hour before they have to leave for school.

Regulators who oversee child care, however, don’t see it as charity. Only days after the start of the new school year, Snyder received a letter from the Michigan Department of Human Services warning her that if she continued, she’d be violating a law aimed at the operators of unlicensed day care centers.

“I was freaked out. I was blown away,” she said. “I got on the phone immediately, called my husband, then I called all the girls” — that is,...

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More parents piling on multiple middle names

nameberry.com

It’s no longer just foreign royals who are using multiple middle names for their babies. More and more parents — both celebrity and civilian — are doubling or even tripling up, seeing it as an opportunity to widen their naming options, both in terms of honoring a namesake, or just for the sheer pleasure of choosing and bestowing an extra name or two.

One appealing possibility is that of honoring both maternal or paternal grandparents, as Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin did using all fourof their parents’ names for their children Apple Blythe Alison and Moses Bruce Anthony. It’s also an opportunity for a Mom to use her maiden name a venerable tradition, along with another, hand-picked one. This is among the positive points...

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Six DIY Halloween costume tips for kids

By Cara Davis, www.freeshipping.org/blog/

Hard to believe Halloween is around the corner. Avoid buying expensive costumes by waiting too long to plan your kids’ wardrobe. Plan now and scout out inexpensive materials to make a creative and fun costume.

• Set a budget. If your child is old enough, get them in the act of planning their ghoulish gear. Set a budget and give them ideas on how to pull off their costume for that set amount of cash.
• Stay general. Costumes that aren’t commercial characters such as SpongeBob or Hannah Montana will be easier to pull off cheaply like ghosts and witches. But don’t limit yourself to traditional Halloween fare. Anything out of the ordinary can be a treat: cowgirl...

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The pain of separation – for mom

The fact that I’m not a young woman anymore was rudely brought home to me this weekend when I lost a foot race to my 9-year-old son, Ryan. The icing on the cake was that I hurt myself in the process.
My oldest has become increasingly less of a “little boy” and more aware of the fact that he’s fast approaching double-digits in age. We’ll deal with how it’s even possible that my baby is almost 10 years old another time…
So, the family is gathered on a beautiful fall Sunday to celebrate my nephew’s 3rd birthday. We throw around a Frisbee and there’s an impromptu game of softball with grandpa on the mound.
Apparently, this was not enough to burn off the cake buzz the kids had so they began to race each other around the back yard. Feeling pretty good from...

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Teens and sex: Can we talk?

By Niesha Lofing, McClatchy Newspapers

Do you think your teen is having sex? Many parents would say no.

The harsh reality is that only about half of those parents would be right.

Children are engaging in sex at younger ages than in the past, experts say, and research indicates that about 40 percent to 50 percent of 15- and 16-year-olds in California are having sex.

Combine that with a steady increase in sexually transmitted diseases among teenagers and a rising teen birth rate, and you have a growing need for parents to educate their children.

“Comprehensive sex education really makes a difference,” said Dr. Glennah Trochet, Sacramento County’s public health officer. “People always think teens aren’t influenced by...

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Web site, book offer recipes for food allergy sufferers

Disney FamilyFun magazine

Even if your child doesn’t have a food allergy, chances are that one of her classmates does, which can make bringing snacks to school events challenging. Enter Kelly Rudnicki, a food allergyawareness advocate and mother of four from Wilmette, Ill.

Rudnicki’s Web site, foodallergymama.com, is loaded with useful recipes and tips for handling food allergies at home and in school.

“When my son turned one, the only recipe I could find for a dairy- and egg-free cake that he could eat was terrible,” says Kelly. “So I set out to make treats that would taste as good as the real deal.”

To try her recipes (such as the banana chocolate chip muffins shown here), check out her blog or her book due out...

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More students enrolling in completely online schools

By Marc Freeman, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Five-year-olds entering public school for the first time this year can get a complete, computer-based education without leaving home.

As early as kindergarten, Broward and Palm Beach County students can bypass traditional schools by enrolling in full-time virtual school programs. And they can take it all the way to high school graduation.

Mostly for convenience, South Florida families in growing numbers are choosing state-sanctioned online instruction over classrooms, commuting and even home-schooling.

In fact, Florida ranked first among all states last year in online education policies and programs, according to a report from the Center for Digital Education, a California-based research group. Nearly 60,000 Florida...

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Mom helps other moms get back in shape

By Krista Jahnke, Detroit Free Press

One look at TV trainer and author Tracey Mallett’s flat abs and rock-hard thighs is probably enough to send most postpartum women into a depressive tailspin.

But Mallett wants those women to know that she’s been there.

“I remember staring at myself in the mirror thinking, ‘This is what a mom is supposed to look like,’ ” said Mallett, who gained 55 pounds with her first pregnancy. “Then I stopped and thought, ‘Wait a second, that can’t be right. Moms can look fabulous.’ ”

The Exercise TV personality and author of 17 books, including “Super Fit Mama” (Da Capo Lifelong Books, $17.95), which comes out Tuesday, struggled for months to lose...

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Plan your weekend! Here’s what’s going on around Lorain County

Visit a museum

Museums across the country will celebrate Museum Day 2009 with free admission Saturday.

Participating Cleveland museums:

• Western Reserve Historical Society, 10825 East Blvd.; Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; www.wrhs.org.
• Cleveland Museum of Natural History, 1 Wade Oval Drive; Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; www.cmnh.org.
• Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, 8501 Carnegie Ave.; Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; www.mocacleveland.org.
• International Women’s Air & Space Museum, 1501 N. Marginal Road; Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; www.iwasm.org.
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, 1100 Rock and Roll Blvd.; 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; www.rockhall.com.

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