So many people on the East Coast have been affected by Hurricane Sandy in one way or another. We personally lost power for an evening and our town held a rescheduled trick-or-treat day on November 3rd due to so many being without power for many days.
But I wanted to share my brother’s story with you. He lives in the Pocono Mountains of PA. Power outages in any storm are not uncommon around there. So it was no surprise when the long arms of Sandy knocked his power our pretty early in the storm.
Sitting at home, alone, in the dark for hours, my brother decided to take a break and charge up his cell phone and listen to the news for a little bit in his truck.
And here’s what he posted on Facebook a little while later:
He told me, “I went out and sat in the truck to charge my phone and listen to the news. I was out there maybe 5 minutes and the tree fell on me.”
Later he commented that, “A little boy in this area died last night when he was hit by a falling branch. I count myself extremely lucky.”
The pictures below show just how close he came to meeting his maker.
So what did we learn from this? DO NOT GO OUTSIDE DURING A HURRICANE, even if it’s just to your car!
Just Between Friends is a franchise of mega consignment sales that you can find happening twice a year across the country. Check the Just Between Friends site to see if there is a sale running near you.
I have only been to one consignment sale before. It was a couple of years ago and I made the mistake of going the last day and not even early in the day. Do NOT do that if you really *need* to stock up on clothes or are looking for something in particular. All the great deals will be gone. The only good thing about going at the end of the sale is that many things will likely be half off. Consigners have the option of offering their items half-off if their item didn’t sell earlier in the sale. What doesn’t sell is either returned to the consigner or donated to charity.
This year my kid was in dire need of Fall and Winter clothes so I sprung at the chance to preview the Main Line Just Between Friends sale.
I went with my mental list of wants and needs: Jeans, pants, long-sleeve shirts, boots, a coat, Lego Duplos, Thomas trains and/or Chugginton Trains, and maybe some games.
Between the crowds and the sheer amount of stuff, when you first walk into one of these mega sales it can be a little overwhelming so you really need a list.
Having a budget in mind even is a good thing too, even if it might be hard to keep. I spent almost twice my budget. Oops!
Big bags and maybe a shopping cart, or a big basket to lug around your finds is a good idea too, if allowed. I didn’t think of this ahead of time but noticed a number of power shoppers who did. Luckily the JBF sale had holding area were I was able to drop off bigger items as I continued to shop.
What kind of deals can you expect? This will vary from sale-to-sale and from region-to-region. The sale I went to was in a somewhat affluent area.
But I’ll let you be the judge on how well I did. Here’s what I scored and for how much:
Coat with detachable and reversible hood. Outer jacket with removable and reversible inner jacket. So 2 jackets with 3 looks. The consigner helpfully put the original tag back on so I was able to see all the features at a glance. $8.
Three pairs of trendy GAP Jeans. $5 each.
2 Piece NIKE athlete outfit and 3 piece Thomas outfit. $5 for each outfit.
3 long sleeve shirts and a pair of athletic pants. Brands = Carters, Jumping Bean, & Garanimals. $2.50 each.
Button down plaid shirt with vest and corduroy jacket by Good Lad of Philadelphia. $5 for the 3 piece set. Wasn’t sure about this one, but thought it might make for cute holiday pics.
Dinosaur costume = $10 (Saw this at Target for $30+)
Big box of Mega Bloks. Consigner had a note saying there were less than 250 pieces but definitely more than 200. $5
Lego Duplo Race Action set. The box was taped shut but at $3.50 I took the gamble. The set turned out to be missing one guy and the paper number track. No big deal!
(Mega Bloks and Duplo sized Legos are compatible!)
And here are a bunch of pics of things I DID NOT bring home to give you an idea of what else is available:
disclosure: I was not financially compensated to write this post. The opinions expressed are my own and are based on my observations. I was provided a small shop credit to facilitate my experience.
I was super thrilled to be invited to the first Blogger Beach Bash hosted at the Golden Inn in Avalon, NJ.
And the reason was purely selfish. My son is 3 and I hadn’t taken him to the beach ever before. What better way to do it than with a bunch of bloggin’ friends!
Unfortunately, the X-man ended up being terrified of the ocean and after the first ankle-deep wave he would have nothing to do with it. He wouldn’t even go near the wet sand. And it was H-O-T. And we traveled 2.5 hrs to get there. And I bought a swimsuit (on clearance for $50), a swim suit cover, beach towels, toys, etc. Ugh!
Then he had to go potty and we had to trudge all the way back to the hotel. That’s when I started to overheat, get cranky, and was about to pack it up wondering why I wasted my time and money. Tried to call the Other Half for moral support and basically ended up yelling at him for [being a douche and] not coming. You’ve been there, right? I’m not the only one, right? Some days this mommy stuff really gets the better of me.
Regrouped and cooled off in Luigi’s Pasta restaurant which is attached to the Golden Inn and served the breakfast we mostly missed earlier due to traffic.
Headed back out just in time to see Sandman Matt from the Travel Channel’s hit show, Sand Masters, start his sand castle building lesson and demo. We also received The Can You Dig It Sand Tool Super Deluxe Sand Sculpting Kit. This kit has everything you need to build awesome sand castles like the masters, including an instructional DVD.The DVD might be the best part of the kit if you are sand-castle-building-clueless like I was. We’ve watched it twice. It’s cheesy but full of tips and super helpful.
I can’t wait until the X-man is older and not afraid of the ocean. I’m imagining lots of kickass sand castle building in our future!
After learning the art of sand castle making we headed back to the Golden Inn for a beach side lunch. Next was the Golden Inn’s pool area.
It was X’s first time in a big pool (I know I’ve totally been depriving the poor boy). I was prepared for a big freak out and thought we’d be leaving soon because I took him to the Y a few months ago thinking we’d try swim lessons. He was terrified of the pool then. I mean shaking and grabbing on to me for dear life even though we were just taking a tour.
Well, guess that’s all gone because he had NO fear and we stayed in the pool for HOURS! Seriously. I was shocked. And as a nice bonus I could actually chat with other moms for a few minutes here and there as we moved about the big pool or sat in the kiddie pool. The pool ended up being the best part of the day.
Worth all the earlier stress and trouble?
As we were heading back to the car: “Mommy, I’m going to miss the beach.”
Totally!
Except next time remind me to treat myself and stay over a night or 2. In fact, I think I need to head back to the Golden Inn for one of the Girlfriend Getaway weekends and REALLY treat myself!
First time with his toes in the sand!
Sand Master Matt Long at work.
Learning from the expert! Sandman Matt teaches us the art of sand sculpting.
Shout out to the other event and goody bag sponsors:
Found this old nest in my yard that had lots of plastic incorporated into it including duct tape. I’d like to think that the birdies were being cool suburban upcyclers and had a successful nesting season but who knows.
The Reading Rainbow App was released the other day and I had the pleasure of attending a sneak preview event in NYC the day before the release. You can read all about the Reading Rainbow App at JustChildrensBooks.com.
I don’t know about you, but I always wanted to be of the kid book reviewers featured on the show!
The excitement started on the train ride when I tweeted that I was on my way and LeVar Burton retweeted me! That totally made this Reading Rainbow and Star Trek fangirl’s day … until I was later able to snag a quick photo opp and exchange pleasantries in person.
Photo by Barbara @ Homeroom At Home
But I became a huge LeVar Burton fan when he emotionally came on stage and told us the story behind the App’s launch while wiping away tears. Reading Rainbow and children’s literacy are his lifelong passions and you can tell.
One of my favorite moments of the event was when Burton introduced us to Tina Fabrique. She’s the original singer of the Reading Rainbow theme song. After so many years, they had just met for the very first time. But that didn’t stop them from singing the theme song together live and then getting all of us to join in.
The quality isn’t great because I was not prepared to film anything but I managed to catch the special moment on video:
After the presentation we were all surprised by a room filled with children reading and playing with the new Reading Rainbow App and a cake from the famous CakeBoss! Thankfully, there were iPads set up for the adults to use too. I doubt the kids would have given their iPads up, they were having way too much fun!
The tablet side of the cake was very good. It was a red-velvet with a cream cheese filling. Yum!
While there, I couldn’t help but admire the view from Studio 450. I risked looking like the tourist that I was and snapped a few pics. I didn’t know it at the time, but the view below shows part of High Line Park and a mural that was completed not long ago by JR, a French street artist. The paper mural is titled “Brandon Many Ribs, Standing Rock Reservation, North Dakota,” and is part of the Inside Out Project.
After the event, I walked around NYC a bit and had lunch with Barbara of Homeroom At Home and her adorable daughter – my traveling buddies for the day!
And don’t ya know it, Barbara suggested we visit High Line Park. I was expecting a regular park but was pleasantly surprised! A much to my delight, I had just unknowingly took a picture of it part of it.
The park is built on an old elevated freight rail line and is definitely the most unique park I’ve ever visited. It’s gorgeous in both its architecture and natural landscaping. This is a view from the park of the Chelsea neighborhood.
After looking this mural up online, I found out that it’s new too and was completed just a day or two before I happened upon it. Nice! This Kissing Sailor remix was done by Eduardo Kobra, an artist from Brazil. Lucky me getting to see both of these fresh and fantastic murals in person.
Support the No Kid Hungry® Share our Strength campaign by visiting http://nokidhungry.org/farmbill to send a message to Congress, share your story, or make a pledge.
Do you know if your neighbor or the kids down the street are hungry? What about any of the kids in your child’s classroom? Or maybe the friendly older woman on a small fixed income at church?
The thing is we don’t always know who might be hungry, who is struggling with bills and who is food-insecure. They could be old, young, fat, skinny, healthy-looking or not. The may look clean and well-dressed or not. They could live in the ghetto or a nice suburb.
I learned the term “food insecurity” within the past year or so. But I’m no stranger to food insecurity. As a family, I was on welfare and benefited from food stamps (now known as SNAP) for I don’t know how many years as a child.
I’ll save the Why’s and How’s for another time because the reasons don’t really matter.
I remember a time that I went to school hungry and my teacher took me out of the classroom. She brought me to a vending machine and bought me a snack. I sat in the hallway eating it by myself.
I don’t really remember feeling hungry or poor but I guess if a teacher felt compelled to take money out of her own pocket to feed me the signs must have been there.
I remember eating “government cheese” – it was good, but hard to slice!
I remember going to the welfare office and waiting in line with my mom – it was boring!
I remember going to the store for my mom with paper food stamps in hand. As I got older I remember learning to be embarrassed by the funny-colored money.
I remember my mom bringing home lots of small milk cartons from church and freezing them to make them last. I think they were extras (soon to-be-expired) from a daycare that was run on-site or the church ran a food-pantry. I’m not really sure.
I remember seeing my mom cry.
Assistance programs have evolved and changed over the years. For instance, there’s no longer funny-colored money. But the overall issue has not. There are hungry people out there, including MANY children. And until this world in which we lives turns into Utopia, there will always be hungry people out there for one reason or another.
More changes may be coming to SNAP soon and they may not be all for the good. That’s why I shared a bit of my story above and am now asking for your help.
Members of Congress are working to reauthorize the Farm Bill, legislation that provides funding for the SNAP program and for the SNAP education program. Drastic cuts to SNAP are on the table for the Farm Bill.
More than half of all SNAP participants are children, elderly, or disabled. If Congress cuts funding for this poverty-relieving program, it will affect millions of children and families, leaving them even more food-insecure.
As one of the wealthiest nations in the world, it is our privilege and honor to help feed those who would go hungry otherwise.
Quick Facts:
• 1 in 5 children in America doen’t get enough to eat.
• Nearly 50% of SNAP participants are children.
• More than 46 million Americans – a majority of whom are seniors, children, or people
with disabilities – rely on SNAP to feed their families.
• The average monthly SNAP benefit = $1.48 per meal
• More than two-thirds of the funds in the most recent Farm Bill help feed hungry
kids through Federal Nutrition Programs.
• 280,000 children would lose free school lunches as their eligibility is tied to SNAP status.
• The average income (not counting the SNAP benefit) of families receiving SNAP is less than $9,000 per year.
• A family of 4 making less than $23,000 per year qualifies for SNAP benefits.
• For every SNAP dollar spent, $1.79 is returned to the economy.
SNAP reduced the poverty rate by nearly 8% in 2009.
Support the Farm Bill and No Kid Hungry® by visiting http://nokidhungry.org/farmbill to send a message to Congress, share your story, or make a pledge.
You and your kids will have fun making adorably shaped hard-boiled eggs with these egg molds from Japan. They make a fun treat in a lunch box and are known for enticing toddlers to eat their eggs. Popular with the bento lunchbox-making crowd, these molds are available in 6 different shapes on Amazon. Best of all, you can grab all of them for between just $10-15 total!
Who wouldn’t have fun cutting pizza (and maybe other things like potatoes, hot dogs, veggies, etc.) with this piranha pizza cutter? It comes with a stainless steel blade so you’ll have to watch little fingers but bigger helpers will get a kick out of this pizza cutter while little ones have fun watching.
These cool guitar ice cubes with built in stirrer are not only great for grown-up cocktails but would be PERFECT for a music or Rock Star themed children’s party. Don’t be surprised if your kid wants a guitar with every cup or juice or water afterwards though. For even more fun use them to make yummy guitar-shaped popsicles! You can make 3 guitars (each one is different) with a set so I recommended buying multiple sets if you are planning for a party.
Speaking of popsicles both you and your kids will love these monster popsicle molds. The best part for kids? The yummy home made popsicle, of course! The best part for mom and dad? They have a flat bottom and can be put down without making a mess when your kid invariably will want to hand the pop over to you so they can play for a minute. The company also makes matching push-pop molds.
I used to collect unicorns. Now I’m older and jaded, so sold most of my collection on eBay awhile ago. But, feeling a bit nostalgic, I felt compelled to include these bad boys! Seriously, what kid wouldn’t get a kick out of impaling corn with the horns of unicorns?
Sure, your mustard bottle comes with a perfectly functional lid by why stick with a plain-jane lid when you can have Mustard Marvin in your life? Marvin replaces your mustard cap with his head. Squeezing the bottle will make Marvin spew mustard from his mouth on your burger, hot dog, or what not. It’s gross, but kids will love it. Fits most standard mustard bottles but probably not french mustard bottles.
If mustard barfing Marvin wasn’t enough for you then you will definitely want to check out the Snot-a-mug Egg Separator! Simply crack your egg into the Snot-a-mug and gently tip over to watch the snot egg-whites run out. Yes, you could just use the egg-shells to separate your eggs, but where’s the fun in that? You know your kids will get a giggle out of this and want to help!
Use these to turn boring veggies into fun-shaped snacks! Or get even fancier and make home-made “lunchables” by cutting up lunchmeats, cheese, and fruits too.
While we’re making cute veggies and meats might as well bake up some interesting bread. You simply bake dough right into these heart, star, and flower-shaped molds. Don’t have time or the inclination to make fresh dough Try some Pillsbury french bread dough from the tube! You can make tiny tea sandwiches or use them for spreads. Young bakers will really have fun with this set too!
Okay, so maybe you don’t have time everyday to bake bread and cut up fancy looking veggies. You can still look like you spent of ton of creative energy with sandwich cutters. These crust cutters are specially designed to handle sandwiches (unlike cookie cutters) and are designed to minimize waste. They make all sorts of fun shaped sandwiches. Fast, easy, and available in many different designs!
So everyone’s all in a tizzy over the latest TIME magazine cover. You know the one with the mom breastfeeding her 3 year old son who is standing on a little chair.
The photo was purposely provocative. Photographer, Martin Schoeller, told TIME in a behind the cover piece “I liked the idea of having the kids standing up to underline the point that this was an uncommon situation.”
But maybe more provocative was the headline text asking “ARE YOU MOM ENOUGH?”
It’s so hard to not compare ourselves to other moms and constantly critique one another. This headline screams at us to do just that. And often we’re hardest on ourselves – at least I know I am. Mommy guilt. It lingers and percolates.
At first, having boobs on the brain, I’d thought I’d proclaim I’m mom enough because I breastfed for 19 months. Maybe I could put provocative boobies in my picture too. Or maybe I should smile and show how happy I am with this feat. Or maybe I should take the subject seriously?
But then I thought that was over a year ago and breastfeeding no longer defines my daily mom existence. I survived the ordeal and have moved onto better mommy things. Plus my lame cartoon boobies just weren’t cutting it for me.
Finally, after trying for awhile to think of some witty or thought-provoking all encompassing statement I decided I was definitely taking this too seriously.
(and we ate them for breakfast!)
So, now I ask, are you MOM ENOUGH? Please share! Link up your own photos below. They can be in a blog post, a tweet, pinterest pin, or what not.
Turn my back for a minute and this is what happens…
Yes, that’s FOUR yogurts opened and ready to be gorged upon. And let me not forget to mention that this/these are seconds too. He had just finished a cup a few minutes ago. Guess it was good yogurt!
Gosh, I love him so much and with a cute little smile like that I couldn’t even be mad.
(BTW, stay tuned for a Stonyfield’s YoKids yogurt giveaway soon…)
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Speaking of popsicles both you and your kids will love these monster popsicle molds. The best part for kids? The yummy home made popsicle, of course! The best part for mom and dad? They have a flat bottom and can be put down without making a mess when your kid invariably will want to hand the pop over to you so they can play for a minute. The company also makes 
