Summer Break

where are my feet? it's a shame because I'm wearing great shoes. 

I'll be back on Monday!

Happy Fourth. Hope you have fun today!

Last year was fun--a parade, a huge block of ice, and shouting, "Happy Fourth of July" from the rooftops. It's going to be hard to top that. We had plans, but those plans fizzled out. It's 8:43am. We still have plenty of time to make something up. I can't wait to see where this day takes us.

Crisis of Faith

Greens!

I watched Forks Over Knives last night. Oh dear. The movie made it very clear that animal products are setting me up to have breast cancer and Rob to have diabetes. Such a bummer. Let my crisis of faith in ice cream and potato salad and hamburgers begin! Right before Fourth of July no less. It's not the first time a documentary or book has made me reconsider some of my decisions. Here's a few other documentaries and what I've learned from them:

Waiting for 'Superman' and The Lottery: The US public education system is turning my kids into dopes. 

The Business of Being Born: Ella was induced and I had a c-secion with my boys? The horror!!  

Food Inc.: I haven't eaten at McDonald's since watching it, except for 2 ice cream cones. Sinner.

Born to Run: Yay for running, boo for shoes. 

Ethos: Stop buying so much junk. Darn gift shops and Spanx.   

How do you process information that defies everything you thought was true? Especially if it seems like you're powerless to make a difference? I like to start small with my family. Otherwise I'll probably get squashed like a bug.  Off to buy some creamed coconut milk! Cows might finally be getting a break from me for a while.

ps

Anyone else converted to Amazon Instant Video? I have. Poor old Netflix.

A Few Things I Forgot to Mention

Whoops, sit back down. Somehow I forgot to mention: 

A few weeks ago Rob and I got into an argument in public. Read my side of the story here.  

Joanna of Cup of Jo mentioned me in a her interview on Elizabeth Street and again in the Top 10 Parenting Blogs list she curated for SAYMedia. So flattered. A new discovery for me from Joanna's list is Brooke Reynold's blog inchmark. This simple father's day craft won me over. Pinned it.  

My scooter was stolen a few weeks ago at the playground. Hopefully whoever stole it is finally getting to work on time. That's the only reason someone would steal a junky scooter, right? To solve their chronic lateness? When replacing my old one, I decided to upgrade from the A2 ($29) to the A3 ($39). It's totally badass.

I feel like an idiot for learning all about Nora Ephron for the first time this week.  It's the same feeling I had when I discovered the greatness of Julia Child through the movie Julie and Julia. While I'm at it, I've also never read a Jane Austen book. How can I call myself a writer? A woman?!

At a luncheon with the editors of Ladies Home Journal last week, I found out they want their readers to write the majority of magazine. Submit your best work here to be considered for future publications.  They pay! The only requirement is that you must have read and enjoyed a Nora Ephron and a Jane Austen book. Dang it! haha

And finally, don't forget to enter this contest for a chance to win $250 gift package!

Ok--I'm done. Now you can be on your way. Have a great weekend! 

Governors Island Summer 2012

(Tip toeing across Lady Liberty's forehead.)

After an incredibly wishy washy morning of lounging around, watching TV, and asking each other over and over, "What should we do today? We should do something. It's so nice out," we finally decided on Governors Island.  It's one of my favorite summer activities.

I love that it doesn't have to be an all day production. It was 2pm when we finally made up our minds to go. The island closes at 7pm, so even though we got there at 3ish, we still had plenty of time for fun without over doing it. Plus, the weather had cooled down and most of the people had gone home. It was perfect.

Most importantly, we still had time to order ice cream from a Mister Softee Truck. Of all things, Ella ordered a snow cone, Oscar chose Sponge Bob with bubblegum eyes, and Owen picked Sonic with bubble gum eyes. They totally ignore the fact that Mr. Softee makes the best soft served ice cream in the world. I even offer to sprulge on getting their cones dipped! Cherry, Chocloate, even Blue Mystery flavor! Anything! Please pick something without bubble gum eyes! Blank stares. Mr.Softee is totally wasted on them. Might as well be a 7/11.

Beyond ice cream, I love the sculptures and art found through the island. This year includes 1/1 ratio of the Statue of Liberty's face and a gathering of crazy red chairs, among other things. There's also a donation golf course that is so visually interesting. We noticed it too late (closes at 6pm) so we couldn't play. I didn't take any pictures of the course because perhaps I'll go back and do a post about it later?

There's only so much picture taking I can take in one day before I start to drive my family bonkers. I'd already shot a bunch of butterfly pics and then Lady Liberty became my next obsession.  Enough is enough. But isn't the sculpture fabulous? I love the perspective and statement of standing and jumping off of the Statue of Liberty's nose. What does it allllll mean?

(Hot punk rock dudes in the background. Something for everyone at Governor's Island.)

Hope you have a very deep weekend filled with a mix of sculptures, punk rockers, family, and islands. Really does make for a great day.

Supplies for Your Expert Butterfly Catchers

I got suckered into buying these butterfly nets from the farm's gift shop last Saturday. At the time I was annoyed at myself for giving in to my kids every want and desire, but now I'm glad I did. We've had so much fun and success with these things. We've gone butterfly hunting twice--once at the farm, the other time at Governor's Island. Can you believe we've caught a total of 16 butterflies? Ella made sure to keep track. Owen caught two in one swoop!  Skillz.

The kids had the most success trapping a butterfly while it was on the ground. Once caught, we use the catch and release method (like fishing). Bonus: It's such good exercise. My kids wore themselves out running after these crazy creatures. Here's a few supplies if you too would like to try a butterfly adventure this summer. It's the best!

Schylling Creature Catcher Nets When I bought these nets from the gift shop, I asked if they had a life time warrenty. Eh, no. But the nets have endured two outings flawlessly despite boys standing in them, holding soccer balls in them, ect. So far so good. I like that they're solid wood with a metal frame. No plastic parts! That helps.

Insect Creature Peeper. Magnifies the creatures 3x their size! I don't own it, but it's tempting.

Butterfly Pavilion. Owen's teacher gave him this butterfly house on the last day of school. It's a fun way to keep track of all the butterflies we collect during the day. I can't wait to release them all at once. Got to stick to my no pets policy. :)

And a here's few butterfly books I plan on checking out from the library: National Geographic: Butterflies, My, Oh My--A Butterfly!, From Caterpillar to Butterfly, Where Butterflies Grow,Waiting for Wings, (of course) The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Catch and Release!

So agressive. Watch out butterflies.

Catch and Pose.

F it.

Rob, the laziest butterfly catcher ever. This method yielded zero butterflies FYI. 

Technology and Motherhood

I have partnered with P&G to discuss technology and motherhood at Mom.me this month. How has technology changed the way you parent? Leave your answer and/or link to a blog post you wrote about the topic on Mom.me for your chance to win one of five P&G gift baskets valued at $250!! Click here to enter! 

Ah the joys of Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and blogs. Technology at it's finest. Mechanical swings at the fair can't even compare! While it sounds over dramatic, social media it has allowed me to hand select a community of moms that I find interesting and inspiring.  As a result, they shape the way I parent. Here are a few on my favorites.

Gabrielle Blair from Design Mom influences the books I read to my kids. My favorite feature on her blog is the author interviews. Just the other day she did this one with Judith Byron Schachner, author of the Skippyjon Jones book series. After reading the interview, guess who bought a Skippyjon Jones book? Me.  Had I never read the interview, I might have over looked the book entirely. But since Schachner’s answers were so thoughtful and relatable, I realized she's an author I want to support . When I saw her book for sale, I snatched it up. My kids were stoked to get a new book!

Jordan Ferney from Oh Happy Day has changed the way I throw a party for my kids. I’ve never met anyone who loves parties more than Jordan. It only took a couple of years of knowing her before I tried my hand at a birthday party for Ella filled with personal touches and a solid theme. I made party hats, candy bags, pinwheels, fake mustaches, a dessert table with labeled candy, and so on and so on and so on. I even spray painted all the musical instruments white to keep within the color scheme. I had a blast putting the party together. That said, my daughter has never had a party like it again! It exhausted me.  I’ve since scaled down my kid's parties a bit, but I know if I wanted to, I could search Jordan’s blog for tons of ideas. Next time though, I’ll pick one idea, instead of ten. Jordan makes it look so easy that sometimes I get carried away :) Enjoy this old video of the best party Ella will ever get. It's a shame I set the bar so high on her fourth birthday. A real shame . . .



And finally, there's Betsy from Eco-Novice. I've mentioned her before, but she's my green influencer. Her recent post with tips about getting the most out of your farmers market reminded me I need to attend mine more often. Above all, she makes me feel ok about going green gradually. While she’s a few steps a head of me in the process, it’s inspiring to watch someone make small changes that have a big impact on the earth. She’s honest about her failures (homemade yogurt!) and balances it out with her successes (early potty training!). She brings things to my attention I’ve never thought of and makes me less scared to try them. Remember my bar shampoo experiment? Anyone else make the plunge?

While I used to hang out with Jordan and Betsy when I lived in California, it’s nice to know that despite our distance, I can still learn from them as I follow their blogs, twitter, and facebook accounts. It’s also amazing that a person I’ve never met before like Gabrielle can have an influence on the books I read to my kids at night.

Isn’t it fabulous how technology brings like minded moms together?

Now it's your turn. How has technology changed the way you parent? Leave your comments on Mom.me for your chance to win!