Archive for October, 2009
Oct
31
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
McClatchy Newspapers
Getting kids to pack their own school lunches may be easier if they’re having fun with the preparations. That’s the idea behind “My Lunch Box: 50 Recipes for Kids to Take to School,” written by Hilary Shevlin Karmilowicz and illustrated by Rebecca Bradley (Chronicle, $16.95). Inside the colorful recipe box are kid-friendly recipe cards decorated with cute drawings. The food suits kid tastes but manages to be healthy, too.
Here’s one option that grown-ups will like, too.
Pizza pasta salad (serves 6)
- 4 cups dry tricolor rotini pasta
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- ¼ cup light Italian...
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Oct
30
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
Walk off that Thanksgiving feast with a complimentary visit to Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. That’s right, admission to the Zoo and The RainForest is free for everybody on Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 26.
The zoo is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving, and visitors can watch the animals enjoy special holiday treats throughout the day. Animal enrichment demonstrations also will be planned for the Thanksgiving festivities.
So invite the whole family to the Zoo, and make lions, tigers and bears a part of your Thanksgiving tradition. (You can always set the DVR to record football, right?)
A full schedule of Thanksgiving at the zoo activities will be posted online at clemetzoo.com as soon as it becomes available. It also will be...
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Oct
30
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
“No Dribbling the Squid” by Michael J. Rosen with Ben Kassoy
c.2009, Andrews McMeel Publishing
$12.99 / $15.99 Canada
223 pages
Terri Schlichenmeyer, The Bookworm Sez
This year, like last, you tried out for your favorite sport. And this year, like last, you made the team. So far, you’ve proven yourself to be a definite asset.
I mean, seriously, somebody’s got to hold down the bench and shout encouragement, right? What would the team do without you?
Okay, so you’re not the World’s Greatest Athlete. But you may have talents (or you may lack brains), and that will help you compete in a sport that’s a little less-than-mainstream. Start looking for your game by reading “No Dribbling the Squid” by Michael J. Rosen with Ben Kassoy. …
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Oct
29
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Emilie Le Beau, McClatchy-Tribune News Service
New parents have the right to be tired. Newborns need to eat every two to four hours and parents must feed their new arrival around the clock.
Besides feeding, parents also have to track sleep, wake and changing schedules. Parents administering medicine must also monitor daily doses. All this information can be confusing, especially for overwhelmed and tired parents. Using a digital monitor can help parents set reminders and stay on schedule.
The Itzbeen Baby Care timer is a one touch gadget that allows parents to record baby’s feeding, changing, sleep and wake times.
The gadget has four timers and also allows parents to track medicine administered and exercise times. These timers indicate...
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Oct
29
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Marla Jo Fisher, The Orange County Register
My kids have suddenly insisted they must own a pair of “skinny jeans” and this is putting me into a bit of a quandary.
My first problem was that I had no idea what skinny jeans were, except that they probably fell in between emaciated jeans and chubby jeans, and you didn’t find them in the Husky department.
However, some people who are more hip than I am have explained to me that they’re, drum roll please … really skinny jeans.
I guess that means they’re like the Levis my parents wore in the 1950s, and they wore in “American Graffiti,” where you would buy them and then jump into a scorching hot bathtub while wearing them, so they would shrink to fit your...
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Oct
28
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
nameberry.com
Now that just about every flower in the garden has been dug up and used by baby namers for at least a century, maybe it’s time to look to their more imposing cousins. There’s a very big difference between the two: Where most floral names are frilly and feminine, many, if not most, arboreal names are strong, sturdy, and much more masculine.
The forest is fairly unexplored territory; with the exception of a few names like Hazel, Olive and Willow, most of the standard tree names are just waiting to be discovered. …
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Oct
28
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo drops its admission prices as the temperatures go down. Admission to the Zoo is discounted from Nov. 1 through March 31 to just $7 per person, $5 for kids ages 2 to 11 and free for children under 2 and zoo members.
There’s plenty to see and do at the zoo during the colder months of the year.
The animals of Northern Trek are at their most active in the fall and winter. They include Mexican gray wolves, Bactrian camels, reindeer, bears and tigers. And there are plenty of species to see indoors at the Primate, Cat & Aquatics Building, the Center for Zoological Medicine, the GumLeaf Hideout, and, of course, The RainForest, where it’s always a balmy 78 to 80 degrees.
The Zoo’s Australian Adventure exhibit is closed for the season after...
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Oct
27
Posted by
Melissa Linebrink
These days, in my personal opinion, the H1N1 vaccine is more valuable than gold or silver.
In fact, I am referring to the H1N1 vaccine as “liquid gold” when having conversations between myself and other parents.
Conversations usually start like this, “Did you see they are having a H1N1 vaccine clinic in (fill in the blank town)?”
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Oct
27
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Jodie Lynn, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Q: Each year we try to think of healthful treats to hand out during Halloween. I think we’re pretty much stuck; what’s something new that parents will actually allow their kids to eat, since it’d be homemade? Are there any new, healthy treat ideas?
A: I’ve had very good luck with finding nonfood treats to hand out to trick-or-treaters in recent years. The neighborhood children all seemed to be thrilled with the mini packs of Play-Doh I gave them. Keep an eye on your local ads; these were sold specifically as a trick-or-treat size pack at Walgreens one year and Target last year. Check out the holiday decorations section at the stores and see if any of the small toys,...
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Oct
26
Posted by
Alicia Castelli
My daughter has apparently decided random acts of vandalism against her glasses will result in her not having to wear the glasses.
Since Keira is only 4, I went with the “2 pairs for $99” deal at Great Northern Mall. I assumed the worst thing she could do was lose a pair and we’d have to bring out the backup pair.
Turns out I seriously underestimated her.
When “I can’t see with them on!” didn’t work, Keira decided she’d try sneaking them off when we weren’t looking.
When that didn’t work she tried outright refusal but she didn’t care for the swift and immediate consequences of telling her parents “no” so she gave that one up pretty quickly.
Then she insisted they were slipping down her nose. They actually were but Keira was...
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