Weekend Approved Project: Ride a NYC Carousel!

Labor Day Weekend: What are you going to do? I say ride a carousel! Here's a list of carousels in all the boroughs. But I think you should ride this solar powered Carousolar in South Seaport. It's FREE and only running until September 6th. We went yesterday and rode it 4 times. No line! Although one time we had to wait 10 minutes for it to charge. Hurry up Sun!

I was curious about the carousel and why they white washed it. Turns out it's a vintage 1920's carousel that was destined for the dump. GE saved it, white-washed it, and made it solar. In three weeks. What do you think of the white paint? Did they cheap out by not truly restoring it? Perhaps they should have used hot pink? Neon Green? Regardless, I think it was a clever marketing idea. The video below explains more.

 Enjoy these last few days of summer. Eat an ice cream cone. Ride a carousel. Say Farewell to Summer!

ps The car is fixed! Strollers are getting delivered tomorrow!  

Weekend Approved Project: Stay Inside!

Hey East Coasters: Good News! I dug out an old rainy day post and Hurricane Irened it! I've put together a list of three classic things to do while you're waiting at home for the storm to pass. Including a playlist! Mostly Michael Jackson! With Links! Here you go, an oldie but goodie. Enjoy it while the power still works.

1. Pillow Fight! No one wants to be defeated. Especially Oscar. Here's six pillow fighting songs for your playlist:

Beat It! Micheal Jackson 

Whip It by Devo

Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas and Vivian Hawke

Hit Me With Your Best Shot by Pat Benatar

Stand by R.E.M

Mama Said Knock You Out by LL Cool J (the clean version? No?! Still too much for 3 year olds?) 

2. Toilet Paper Mummies! What else are you going to do with all the toilet paper you rushed out to buy unnecessarily for Irene? Put it to good use. It's a fantastic way to make a mess that you'll be cleaning up for days! Again start with, Michael Jackson's Thriller.

From there add:

The Munster Theme Song

Ghostbusters Theme Song (of course, no playlist is complete with out this classic!)

Scooby Doo Theme Song

Monster Mash

1. And finally, end with flying lessons. Micheal Jackson's song about flying is lame so here's what I came up with:

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by the Beatles

Fly by Nick Drake (humor me, I adore this song. The kids won't like it at all.)

Superman Theme Song (it's over 4 minutes long ha!)

Let's Go Fly A Kite from Mary Poppins

Fly by Nick Drake (Again! That'll show em who's boss around here.)

There it is. That should give you around 45 minutes of something to do this weekend. An hour if you repeat the Superman Theme Song a few times. But I'm not suggesting that as an option to my boys. They would be all over that. What songs did I miss? What are you doing while all cooped up for Irene? Stay safe!

Weekend Approved Project:

Let me start by saying thanks to all of those who participated in the last Weekend Project.  I'll keep you updated on the progress here. Five strollers have already arrived at my house!

This weeks project is an easy one: Get a back to school haircut. 

Here in NYC, we still have a few weeks until the first day of school. Just about the time that haircuts start to look their best in my opinion. In our family, Oscar is the twin that gets a haircut by a barber. It was decided that he would have the longer hair (read more here). Owen gets a buzz cut by dad. Equally as memorable/special to me.

Here's Oscar getting his haircut in a museum-like barber shop in Greenich Village called Moustache: Greenwich Tonsorial. It was great, totally recommend it. The stylizing of the shop couldn't have been better. The haircut was thoughtful. Only downfall? No lollipops and a 1982 edition of Playboy on the coffee table in the waiting area. Nothing I couldn't cover up with my backpack. The lollipops? I always hate the mess any way.  I was apologetic for having all my kids there at first, but everyone (including the owner) made me feel welcome. 

It took me about 10 minutes of picture taking to realize the barber was a total fox. Mommies, here's another reason to take your kids to this barbershop!

Or do you cut your/your kids hair yourself? If so, you're brave! How did you learn? Barbers make it look so easy.

Weekend Approved Project: Let's Do it Together!

Covenant House is a crisis center for kids under the age of 21 who find themselves homeless. It's a safe place to sleep, get a hot meal, and find someone to listen and care for them.  They are allowed to live there for 30 days. I was invited to a baby shower at Covenant House last night. It's the kind of thing I would have never done on my own.  It took an invitation. I'm so glad I got one. It completely changed my mind on the term "homeless". The moms at the shelter were not the ones I see on the street with the signs mumbling and begging for quarters. The moms I met were an energetic, friendly group of woman who are having a rough time establishing themselves. Covenant House is helping them in so many ways!

The baby shower had it all. A dinner, presents, center pieces, balloons, table clothes, a game and, of course, plenty of giggling women. It was even a surprise for the two pregnant girls!  My favorite was baby themed Bingo because all the moms were winners. The Social Worker in charge passed out new baby blankets to everyone in attendance. They cheered! The feeling in the air was light and festive. A lot of the girls asked me to take their picture. One held her baby up high. Another wanted me to take a few of her baby smashing a cake into her face. One requested that my entire blog be pictures of them. Her friends nodded their heads in total agreement. Here you go ladies:

I asked one of the social workers if the moms needed anything. She suggested that they need strollers. I completely understand why. If NYC has taught me one thing, it's that trying to get around the city without a stroller is extremely difficult. I consider my stroller my tiny minivan. I don't go anywhere without it--and my kids are almost all over the age of four! City mamas use their strollers forever! The worker pointed out one of the mothers who has a little one, with one on the way. A stroller would make this young mom's life so much easier.

So let's do it! Let's all donate a little money for strollers!  Call it the NYC Taught Me Mother's Need Strollers Fund!  I set up a paypal account. It's located on the bottom of this post. Deadline is Monday night (August 15th).  I'll keep you posted on donations throughout the weekend here. Yay!

Here's to my most ambitious weekend approved project yet. I'm excited to see the results of our joint project. :) I created a new page on the top left to show our progress. Thank you Emily for being the first person to donate!


(POST EDIT: My fundraiser is over, but if you would like to donate directly to Covenant House, you can do so here.)

More about my experience at Convenant House below:

After the baby shower, I got a tour of the facility and learned more about this particular branch of Covenant House. This facility only serves woman under the age of 21 who are either pregnant or already mothers. They are a loud to stay for 30 days.  Each bedroom is shared by 2 mothers and their kids. Two of the girls graciously let me see into their room. There was just enough room for two twin beds for the mothers and two cribs for their babies. The room was neat and clean, albeit small. A small airconditioner was buzzing in the window. The mother's had a shared bathroom with another set of girls in a conjoining room. The building also has a childcare center, a roof deck with an amazing view, a computer room and a small living room. In their 30 day stay, they have access to proper health care, job training classes, and full time childcare. They also receive help on obtaining long-term housing, getting employment, parenting skills.

The experience was great! Let's see how we can help! Just an FYI: This is not a sponsored post. They contacted me to spread awareness of their organization. I fell in love with what they are doing and agreed to write this post. I'm not getting compensated for anything. :)

Weekend Approved Project: Adopt a Tree

I'll start by giving all the credit to today's Weekend Approved Project to my sister Christine. She told me about a book she's reading filled with activities to do with kids. Since my two fallback kid activities are usually PBSkids.org and Backyardigans on Netflix, I'm always open for suggestions. One of the ideas she read about was adopting a tree. She said it's super easy so I decided to put it to the test. Here's my adoption story:

Supplies:
Paper
Crayons
Measuring tape
Picnic Lunch
Blanket

1. Picked a tree. Let the universe speak to you and help you pick the tree that needs you the most. Or just pick any old tree like I did. I know my kids should have helped pick it out, but I wanted to eliminate that fight.  I said: Here kids, here's the tree we will be adopting. Not even a peep out of any of them!  Perhaps the universe was telling them to keep their mouths shut and listen to mommy. Dear Universe: Where were you at bed time?

2. Measure the tree. I still can't believe I found my measuring tape in the exact drawer I last put it.

3. Color it: Draw a picture of the tree and do tree rubbings. 


4. Enjoy the tree. Have a picnic, lay under the tree's shade, talk about it's leaves, and estimate how many leaves are on the tree. Perhaps you could also read books about trees.  My favorites are the The Giving Tree, The Lorax, and A Tree is Nice. I didn't read any of these books, but for this post let's pretend I did.

5. Take a picture of the tree. One of my regrets about this activity is that I didn't take a picture of the tree with the kids. Oops. I'll do it this week.

6. Name the tree. This one is crucial. By this time the boys were totally over the activity. I think Ella was too. She named it: Round. Inspired? I think so.

There you have it: My simple weekend approved project.  It's a fun way to spend an afternoon. Go for it!

I hope your weekend is great!! In honor of this post, I will ask that all your comments be submitted electronically. I know most of you prefer to mail in your comments. But together we can save an adoptable tree.

Weekend Approved Project: Hopscotch!

While waiting for the Boston Children's Museum to open, we found this beautiful hopscotch board painted outside the building. My kids found small sticks and played the game using the traditional rules. Then I read the sign that the museum posted next to the board. It suggested I call out numbers and see who could land on it first. My kids loved the variation. They stood on the perimeter of the board and waited with anticipation for a number. Here's some other games I made up using this hopscotch board:

1. Call out addition and subtraction problems, see who runs on the correct number first.
2. Shout out colors, have kids run/jump/crawl to it.
3. Yell out an object (frog, a tongue, your favorite color) and have the kids run to coordinating color. Example: Frog = Green.

Once I showed the kids the new variations, I stepped back and had them shout out their own ideas. Owen was particularly excited to order people around.

Fun and easy, right? It would be super easy to recreate this board using sidewalk chalk this weekend. Give it a try! Here, here and here are more variations of hop scotch.  Do you know any others? Please tell!

That's this week's weekend approved project. It's great how these posts keep accidentally falling into place each Friday. I love keeping my eye out.  I definitely would have missed this one had I not committed to a Friday project posting.

Hope you have a good weekend. Come back Monday to hear how this trip to Boston has turned into the Boston Massacre. And! Find out who sneaks away from me, moons the green screen camera at the museum, and gets caught by a security guard. I don't know what to do with that child. Drives me nuts!

Weekend Approved Project: A Block of Ice!

This block of ice was the hit of the Forth of July party. Without exaggeration, the kids had hours of fun with it. All the melting stages led to new games. When it started to break, they made ice daggers. City kids! Always developing their street smart skills. Thanks Emily for making an ice block!

Only thing is, Emily refused to give me her recipe. She told me it was going with her to her grave. Rude.

POST EDIT: Just kidding of course. All she did was pour some water in a plastic tupperware container and put it in her freezer for a few days.  Then she let it defrost for a while so it popped right out.

Weekend Approved Project: Toilet Paper Maracas

I'm so lucky to live by a park that has daily art projects. I don't know who's funding this, but thank you! We've gone 3 times this week. Here's the simple project they had the kids making on Thursday.

It's easy. It uses materials from around the house. It can be created quickly.  

~IT'S TOILET PAPER MARACAS~

(cheers! high fives! cue the mariachi band!)

Materials: Toilet Paper Roll, Paint, Rubber band, Small piece of cloth
1. Paint tube
2. Cover one end of the tube with cloth, fassen with rubberband, and fill with popcorn or whatever. Cover other side with cloth, fassen with rubberband.
3. Test out your maraca
4. Wait for paint to dry and pray that no one confuses your beautiful musical instrument for trash. Especially you Owen. Oh geez. What happened?! Yours got all squished!

So there you have it. I'm off the hook for my second edition of Weekend Approved Project. This is the  ugliest craft you've ever seen? Never. It's sweet!

Hope you have a great Fourth of July Weekend!! I'll be back on Tuesday with a post I've been really excited about. You'll see.  

Weekend Approved Project: Photo Booth Hats

On Fridays I'll test out some of the DIY projects I find on my favorite blogs. I'll give you the heads up on some of the problems/successes I have while making the crafts.  I would take my advice pretty seriously: I'm about as uncrafty as it gets. And I have proof.

Today, I did a test run on the Photobooth Props #2 Set from Oh Happy Day.  I cut out the free printable props and glued them to sticks. Oscar is the real reason behind this activity. He saw the post on Thursday and has been nagging me for the police officer hat ever since. My favorite was when he told me he didn't want the stick attached. I had to explain to him that the hat was made out of paper and has to be held up with a stick. Poor guy thought it was a real hat! Finally he accepted that it was going to be made out of paper and was excited about it again.

Here's what I learned when I finally succumbed to Oscar's whining and made the props. Before reading my tips, it might be helpful to glance over the complete instructions first. 


1. 110 lb card stock is fine. No need to use foam core if you're doing it for a casual setting like home.
2. Use a glue gun.  Easier than tape.
3. Buy a few yard-length dowels at the hardware store. I cut them down myself with regular scissors. I'm only adding this tip because it seems like NYC has a hardware store on every corner.
4. No official party/photo booth required. A rainy/lazy day with no real plans could be reason enough. I loved that these props turned the night into an instant party. It was a fun way to entertain the kids while Grandpa and Grandma made a fabulous dinner.
5. Total cost for me: $15. I printed everything at FedEx Office, bought an exacto knife, and the dowels. See? Proof that I'm uncrafty. I don't even own a printer! Or an exacto knife!
6. Total Time: About one hour.

This is one of those low effort, big results projects. I say with 100% certainty: Download the FREE printable and give this project a try this weekend. I want to take the props with us to the park tomorrow. Why not? Thanks Jordan!  Question: Are you taking requests? I'm hoping you'll do a NYC themed Photobooth Props Set next. Like the Statue of Liberty, Chrysler building, a Yankees baseball cap, King Kong, etc. I have the models! And the exacto knife!

And finally, a picture of Oscar in his beloved police officer hat:

 By the look on his face, it was worth the wait. I can't wait to try out another project next Friday. I hope it will be this easy. Have you seen a project in the blog world that looks easy and has big results? Links please! I have no idea what my project will be next week. I just made this Weekend Project post up on the fly. Helllp!