SUMMER IS UPON US AND I AM IN THE MIDST OF TRIP PLANNING FOR OUR FAMILY. We have two different trips on the schedule. First up? The cycling dream my husband and friends are pursuing to cycle the entire Natchez Trace Parkway this summer. On Monday I’ll share more about how planning happens around here and what tools I use to map out the fun with a family.

What are your favorite planning resources and websites when making arrangements? Does your family love to travel or is it a chore?

MY MOST RECENT SAVVY SOURCE ARTICLE IS OUT. Our editor challenged us to find words and letters which might catch a young child’s eye. The city of Atlanta is filled with great examples, but I choose to go suburban on this piece and make it an adventure day. Decatur, Georgia is known for it’s great shops, restaurants, easy commute, and creative spirit. At night there are listening rooms and bar rooms where the next big stars are getting their start. Often musicians such as Shawn Mullins, John Mayer or The Indigo Girls drop by to visit their memories and perform unexpectedly. But by day, the City of Decatur is alive with flowers and sidewalk cafes, bookstores and community gardens to visit. A series of murals have been created in the city and they are alive with color…and letters.

I remember the first reading and recognition of letters happened on car rides. Jordan immediately began to see the meaning of things like Toys’R'Us and McDonalds. (I always cringed when she mentioned the golden arches!) I love the idea of finding these learning tools in our everyday life.

I’d love to know if there are unique sightings in your own town which might excite a preschooler on an afternoon outing. Maybe even send me a link. I plan to finish the walking itineraries mentioned on the city’s website this summer with my “big kids”. 

SCOUTING — BOTH BOY SCOUTS AND GIRL SCOUTS — IS A SOLID WAY TO EXPOSE YOUR CHILDREN TO THE “CAN DO” CAPABLE SPIRIT. William has gained some great skills from his scouting experience. He is now a Weblo 1 Scout, which is a fourth grader who has finished Cub Scouting. One of the qualifications needed to complete the Arrow of Light in Weblos is called ‘Readyman’. It is the next step after their initial first aid training. The idea is to prepare them for many situations where they will automatically do the the logical things to assist in an emergency situation. As the boys begin to go on bigger adventures it is important that they are able to handle accidents and get medical help properly.

A few weeks ago our leaders arranged for the school nurse to teach them the necessary steps for this level. I came along to see what they were learning after school. I took some pictures and actually learned some things myself. Nurse Jeannie used the Red Cross training for the major issues and then supplemented with her own hands-on teaching. {And seriously, aren’t school nurses the best? Ours is such a great asset for the school and has literally been a lifesaver.}

To look at the pictures you’d think that the boys were goofing off. And they were…I mean what does a group of 10 year old boys do when faced with something embarrassing or personal…they snicker and goof off. Amazingly they got the importance of the training. Through all the silliness they absorbed the critical message of each skill. My gosh they look silly in these photos though. I just love the acting of the unresponsive victim in each of these photos:

And I learned that there was a certain way to take gloves off which keeps the germs and bodily fluids off of your skin. There were also some interesting questions from the boys about what “bodily fluids” were…oh my those were interesting questions!

 The boys were extremely disappointed that Nurse Jeannie did not cover the amputation portion of the training. {insert a motherly eye roll and sigh here}

FROM THE MOMENT A COUPLE FINDS OUT THEY ARE PREGNANT THE PARENTING RESEARCH BEGINS. Each new stage, milestone, and logistical problem tests us in ways we had never imagined. I’ve been through those early stage three times and still I am amazed at the products and information to be deciphered for the benefit of the family. The one thing which always helped me? Putting my hands on new tools and products. It allowed me to filter the information and make sense of the overwhelming chaos as a new parent.

I am so excited to be hosting a giveaway for VIP tickets to the Atlanta Baby & Child Expo for expecting and new parents. Imagine having parenting and baby products in one location along with professionals who can answer specific questions for your family. This is designed as an elite experience – like a party for the parents – without being overwhelming. It’s a party for YOU, the expectant, the new parent, the grandparent and the supporting cast of family and friends.

When: May 12th, 11am-3pm (VIP ticket holders get early entry, starting at
10:30am)
Where: Fox Theatre Ballrooms, 660 Peachtree Street, NE, Atlanta, GA 30308
Tickets: www.atlantababyandchildexpo.com has all the details and tickets

This event features a Maternity Fashion Show, Red Carpet Photos of attendees as they enter, a Stroller Trial Track, Cravings Corner and so
much more!

To enter the giveaway for 2 VIP tickets to the Atlanta Baby & Child Expo, follow the instructions below and enter daily! Take advantage of the multiple options for entry to increase your chances to win the VIP tickets which give you early entry into the event, VIP seating during the event, and an awesome swag bag full of goodies.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

<a href=”http://rafl.es/enable-js”>You need javascript enabled to see this giveaway</a>.

I FOUND SOMETHING TO SHARE. Yesterday I gave you a glimpse into some of the family treasures I found while doing research at my parent’s home. Lots of the keepsakes were stored in old suitcases which are airtight and mostly moisture resistant. They are the kind of old suitcases being used for side tables these days, but back ‘in the day’ people like my parents received them as high school and college graduation gifts from their grandparents. It was kind of a useable token gift which said, ‘you’ll go far in life’. They have served as good keepsake keepers at the home where I grew up.

Every time I opened them up I had a kid over my shoulder thinking that there must be buried treasure inside. About 20 minutes into my sorting they would go away out of boredom. Well, except for William who took the time to tell me that I was looking for the wrong side of the family. He knew my primary goal was to find out information about my paternal grandfather’s adoption and life records. When I picked up something interesting which had nothing to do with my Grandfather Lonnie, William would tell me to put it down and keep looking. Taskmaster.

At one point I had looked through a filled suitcase and began sorting through the last papers inside. I stopped dead in my tracks when I found this special discovery:

Don’t let your imagination run wild with the title. {And knowing my parents makes this even more unlikely to be a wild party book.} It was filled with games that are usually used as torture at wedding and baby showers, but I did get a good laugh from the cover photo. Maybe this is what I need to throw a rocking party like that!

ATLANTA IS FULL OF PARKS TO EXPLORE, BUT I WAS CHALLENGED BY MY SAVVY SOURCE EDITOR TO FIND UNIQUE ONES IN OUR CITY. It surprised me to see that there were some unusual experiences right in our area which would make for a memorable morning out. I skipped some of our great supersars like Piedmont Park and Centennial Olympic Park to explore new ideas. Come take a look:

“Exploring Our Neighborhood Parks in Atlanta”

MY MEMORY WAS JOGGED YESTERDAY BY THIS IMAGE. Yesterday my creative friend Erin shared a photo she took of a young couple near some graffiti. She captured the perfect combination of fun and personality in the shot. That reminded me of a trend which is spreading across Pinterest right now – photography using sidewalk chalk. A few months ago I followed a Pinterest link to the Modern Parents Messy Kids blog and fell in love with her design ideas. You’ll enjoy her initial post explaining the trend:

Balloons always make me happy…especially when they are part of an imaginative photo:

Kindergarten photo? Year by year school photos? Yes, please!

Isn’t this a cute way to send a Save the Date card for a wedding?

On Pinterest you can search for things like “sidewalk chalk, photos” and come up with an interesting amount of theme ideas like this:

That’s where I found this adorable Three Month Photo pinned by Taylor Roberts. Isn’t it sweet? Not sure they would lay so still once you get to the One Year Portrait!

And this sweet girl full of personality that makes a lightning bolt strike mentioned by Stephanie Lynn:

And Getz Creative Photography did this adorable picture of a “strong man” using chalk and some imagination:

And finally, I found this neat idea from ArtrageousAfternoon which details a nature hunt you can do by taking collections the kids have gathered on a pretty day and composing them within sidewalk chalk frames. Once you make the photo then you can preserve the day forever. I want to do this soon with my crew:

The spring weather is perfect for creating fun photos. Spend the sunniest part of the day getting set up for the photo and when the light softens in the afternoon you will be able to capture your own masterpiece!

A SUNDAY AFTERNOON OF LEGOS? SOUNDS PERFECT TO MY GANG! We were invited to visit the latest family attraction in Atlanta — the LEGOLAND Discovery Center. I’m in the midst of the full write-up, but wanted to share a few pictures with you. LEGOLAND is located inside Phipps Plaza, one of the nicest malls in Atlanta. So nice that my kids had never been there since they have a cheap Mom. It’s awesome to look up inside the atrium area while waiting for an elevator. The kids were already excited:

After going through the main entrance and seeing how legos are made, we weighed Grace and found out that her little ballerina body weighed the same as 21,000 LEGO bricks. I thought that was a neat comparison for families to see.

Annual passes will allow you to do the early preview days on Tuesday, March 13th and Wednesday, March 14th. If you are considering a nice indoor headquarters for this summer’s sweltering heat, you might want to purchase and see the fun earlier than the rest.

LEGOLAND Discovery Center of Atlanta

I’ll have a full recap article tomorrow with details from our experience and advice. Let me know if you have any questions. There are so many more features including rides and a miniature model of Atlanta…can’t wait to show you our fun!

MY LATEST ARTICLE ON THE SAVVY SOURCE WAS PUBLISHED TODAY.  I’ve been waiting anxiously for this publishing date because I had some fun exploring the High and the possibilities for fun within it’s white walls. So often museums are considered a boring option for family fun…at least that’s how the first impression occurs. Don’t believe me? Try saying the words “amusement park”, “movies”, and “museum” and see your kid’s reactions. I think we sell art museums—especially ones with ideas for families to experience their art—short.

It’s no secret that my family has found fun at the High Museum. Last Spring we included it as part of our city adventure day by using MARTA to navigate us to the various stops. You can follow the details of our adventure in the first and second posts where we then discovered an exhibition being set up…and an artist/scientist who was willing to share his excitement with our children. It was completely unplanned and incredibly memorable. So much so that they begged to go see the opening lecture and revisit the artist a week later. Truth be told, my kids had done their research on voxels after the encounter and understood what Joris Laarman was referencing more than the adults in the audience. To me, that is real learning!

Come visit my new article and perhaps try the High Museum of Art on your next downtown adventure:

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY! Whether you share with others or not, Valentine’s Day is often a nice day to enjoy a sweet treat for yourself. I had a delightful time compiling the list of sweets in Atlanta. I simply could not believe the number of unique delicacies in Atlanta. My first thought was, “How many cupcake shops can there be?” and by the end I was amazed by the shops offering special pies, handmade chocolate bars with exotic flavors, and unexpected combinations in Atlanta. Some traditional and some more innovative. Some of my favorites didn’t even make the list…I have enough notes to write the second part of the article one day.

The first link is to the Atlanta Sweets article I wrote:

Sweets for Your Sweet

And the second link is to the overall group of articles it fits within.

Sweets for My Sweet: Celebrating Our Love Affair with Sugar

Check out your nearest city and see if you agree with the author. Better yet, tuck this article away in your suitcase for your next business trip. You’ll be the one ‘in the know’ for the must taste treats.

Enjoy the little moments today and the people in your life!

IT’S COOKIE TIME IN THE WORLD OF GIRL SCOUTS. My friend George loves being a Dad. He’s a single father who is blessed with two lovely girls. So much so that he volunteered to be the Cookie Dad for his daughter’s troop. Today he went for the official pick-up of cookies the troop had sold. After returning this was his facebook status:

Dear Lord. Thank you for your lesson today while picking up the Daisy troop’s Girl Scout cookies. Thank you for making me a Cookie Dad, and not a Cookie Mom. Lord please show teach these Cookie Moms forgiveness towards amateurs like me — who like Mr. Mom are always “doing it wrong”.

Please teach them tolerance for us dads who (although we have no female organs) value and respect the advancement and self reliant teachings for our daughters. In my case this happens to be two little girls.

Most of all, thank you for showing me how scary hardcore cookie moms can be. Please shelter me from their wrath, their eye rolls, and their snide comments as this was indeed my first rodeo. Lastly…thank you for the gift of laughter you pierce me with, that allows me to laugh at them instead of taking it seriously.

—The New Cookie Dad…George

I feel like I should have protected him somehow!

FOR ME, FAMILY PHOTOS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AMONG MY MOST TREASURED MEMORIES. I THINK THEY ARE FOR MOST OF US. I am blessed to have been surrounded by family and friends who are excellent photographers. Though some are amateur like me, others are professionals. I am often amazed by their creative eye and ideas.

Recently my friend Erin offered a session idea for families in November. It was literally at 15 minute session and because of her unique ideas and perspective we got some of the best kid shots in a while. Who thinks put a bed in the middle of the woods? Who knows just the quilt that will pop in photos and seem timeless? Who strings a web of stars and the moon to give an enchanted feel? Erin’s Attic Photography does!

I’m in love with all the shots, but these three really make me smile. There won’t be too many years left for 3 kiddos in pajamas. I should mention that matching pajamas would have been great, but my older kids are now sure to express their opinion on these matters. I decided that it was better for them to feel better in their own skin and show their personalities.

What are family photos like for you? I’ve had a variety of good and bad experiences, you too?

CHRISTMAS IS COMING DOWN AT OUR HOUSE. WE ARE SAYING GOODBYE TO THE SEASON AND LOOKING AHEAD TO THE NEW YEAR. Before it was dismantled completely, I took a few pictures of the obvious signs of Seasonal Overload. Hope you enjoy my {not so} Wordless Wednesday:

1. Potholders have replaced stockings on the fireplace:

2. The reindeer have begun to protest about being left in the snow…uh, I mean dust storm.

They mentioned a dust blizzard and that’s when the protests really got ugly:

4. It takes a village to care for the special babe in the manger. (Possible colic?)

5. The Sugar Plum Fairy has reported a party gone awry in her jurisdiction.

But seriously, I hope you enjoyed your down time and are ready to tackle 2012 with me. Happy New Year, my dear readers!

MAMMA MIA, HERE I GO AGAIN. MY, MY – HOW COULD I FORGET YOU? This weekend is an ABBA You Can Dance weekend at our house. Everything is almost ready to go.

Mirror Ball? Check!

Funky Glasses? Check!

ABBA You Can Dance game from UbiSoft? A must! {Run immediately and buy your wife one of these games right away…so. much. fun!}

You know how the holidays bring together all kinds of people? How being together is part of the deal? Well, I’m probably one of the most social people you’ll meet…but I have to admit that it gets a little busy around the holidays. I absolutely love having family and friends come through my door, but what happens when they crowd into the kitchen? I’m prepared this time…it’s time to have a dance party while I am cooking them food. This weekend I’ll be hosting some 70′s fun and I can’t wait. In fact, the party may go on all weekend. I hope my dog doesn’t howl too loud when I sing “Dancing Queen”.

I’ll keep posting updates all weekend if you’ll promise to laugh and dance along with me. Growing up in the 70′s did have it’s benefits…

How about you? What do you love about the 70′s?

Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.

YOU CAN FIND ME TODAY AT THE SAVVY SOURCE PARENTING WEBSITE. This was an article that was both fun and difficult to write. Atlanta has so many things to offer which are unique during the holidays. As I did my research I discovered that the article could have been twice as long…except my editor would have not appreciated that very much. I may take a moment this weekend and write about the activities I had to edit out of the article.

I’m a city editor with Savvy Source for the Atlanta area. When we were given instruction for the topic, our editor asked us to find unique items that were the things that were unique to our city. These thing are the items which might make her want to jump on the plane and come visit. Atlanta certainly has its fill of those items if you know where to look.

What would you show a visitor in your town? What makes where you live unique?

AND…

Don’t forget to enter the contest to win a Betty Crocker Prize kit for baking. I want one of you to win this! Take a moment and go drop me a comment on my post or on my facebook page.

ON TUESDAY NIGHT A GROUP OF LADIES FROM MY CHURCH CAME TO CELEBRATE THE SEASON. It was a nice gathering for a rainy school night. (30 + people braved the weather to come out.) I simply love our group of women at church. My friends are all ages, from all different types of backgrounds, professions, and personalities. We have such fun together. Through the years we have laughed and cried our way through different situations. It was an honor to have them in my home.

Want to know the amazing thing…I didn’t have to cook one thing. Nope. Nothing. There was so much food there we were overflowing with extras. I made coffee and provided half and half. And water I guess. That’s another thing I like about my church friends. They are awesome cooks.

I think this little sweetie wins the most stylish friend of the night. This is my friend Eileen’s 4th baby and she is such a fun one to watch. All smiles!

The week went by in a flash for me after the party. My ballerina got a sinus infection and couldn’t dance in her last school performance. She couldn’t sleep at night either. That was challenging for me because I love my sleep as a mother. She’s feeling a little better now and on the mend.

William has his chorus performance tomorrow in a beautiful Episcopal church with his school chorus. Right after that we rush back to our church and get he and Grace ready for their Children’s Performance at church. No shepard or angel this year…they are getting too big for that apparently. Grace is singing Silent Night acappella.

She’s never done that before either…seven year olds don’t know that they can’t do something. I guess we should all be that way.

I’VE TOLD YOU ABOUT MY BALLERINA, GRACE. She had her debut appearance in the Georgia Ballet’s professional production of The Nutcracker last weekend. My parents came into town and got to see her fight in the Mouse King’s Army during the battle scene. On Thursday night we had another dancer in our family – William!

William is on the intermural dance team at his elementary school. There are 7 boys on the team…and approximately 45 girls! He doesn’t quite appreciate the odds yet, but he will eventually. It was International Night at our school so he danced a Turkish Dance. And a Beyonce dance:

So proud of him for doing something active that he enjoys. I am still not quite sure why the back of his shirt reads “Viper” as a nickname though. He choose it because it sounded cool.

Yeah. Just what a mother wants to hear her son called as a nickname!

Here are some more dressing room photos of Grace before her big night. I love this look from a mouse who is patiently waiting for her time to go down four flights of stairs and hit the stage with the Mouse King:

Thanks for joining me on this Wordless Wednesday. Leave a comment so I know you were here visiting. {I’d love to visit other blogs, too!}

DOWNTOWN ATLANTA IS FILLED WITH UNIQUE PLACES TO EXPLORE WITH YOUR FAMILY. One of the more unique museums – and by unique I mean it was the first of it’s kind in the United States and is now the largest – is The Center of Puppetry Arts. It has been here in the city for 30 years and continually provides education and performance opportunities to the conitual stream of visitors and to the community at large. Best of all – toddlers are welcomed in an age appropriate way, but I’ve never seen an adult leave unhappy. It’s truly entertaining and well done.

An event which sells out each year is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Doesn’t the memory of watching that on television just warm your heart? As you can see from these pictures, the show is based on the television special we all watched as a child each year. The minute I received these photos and showed them to my children, they burst into song:

“Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer had a very shiny nose…and if you ever saw it, you would even say it glowed…”

The tickets are discounted 25% on the following dates IF you follow the specific ordering instructions:

November 4 – 10:00 am show

November 8 – 10:00 am show, 11:00 am show

November 9 - 10:00 am show, 11:00 am show

November 10- 10:00 am show, 11:00 am show

November 11- 10:00 am show, 11:00 am show

Call 404-873-3391 and use the code MBLOG to get the discount. Limit 4. Subject to availability. Not valid for previously booked tickets, group ticket sales, or with any other discount. Offer available to non-members only. Members always receive 45% off ticket prices! For information on becoming a member, click here.

A MONTH AGO I WAS INVITED TO ATTEND A TOUR OF CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL OF ATLANTA EGLESTON CANCER FACILITIES WITH THE CURING KIDS CANCER ORGANIZATION. Every since we were given the privileged to know Hailey Trainer, this has been an issue near to our hearts. More children die each year from cancer than any other disease.

We were able to tour the research facilities and hear how the unique situation in Childhood Cancer Research. Because of sharing between pediatric scientists, the most progress to be made towards a cure than any other disease besides pneumonia.

Howard Katzenstein, M.D. who is the Director, Clinical Research and Innovative Therapy Program from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, took the time to explain exactly how the research progress works. I had no idea that pediatric research is not often pursued by commercial drug companies because there is little profit in the discovery. Because of this, the community of pediatric researchers share their discoveries among all the others within the national research group so that breakthroughs can happen more quickly.

And there is progress being made:

20 years ago only 20% of children with cancer were cured.

Today, 75% of children with cancer are cured.

There is a great fund which goes directly to this research being done in the United States. Clay and Grainne Owen began Curing Kid’s Cancer one year after their son, Killian, lost his five year battle with leukemia.  This Georgia family has developed a clever way to both honor a sports coach and contribute to this research fund. Quite frankly, it is sometimes the difference between a lab being staffed to do proper research or not. It’s called Coaches Curing Kids Cancer.

This is a wonderful way to honor your Coach’s dedication to children…and make a difference in the quality of life for the children facing this illness. Once you purchase the gift for your coach, you are presented with a certificate and choice of a logo gift for your coach. I’ve actually seen coaches cry when they receive this gift. It’s near the end of football, soccer, and lacrosse season and I wanted to mention this for those of you who are wracking your brain to come up with a meaningful gift for your coaches.

Thoughtful goes to a new level when it is truly meaningful to a child’s life. Any coach would cheer for that!

THANKS TO SOME AWESOME RELATIVES AND FRIENDS, DAVE AND I GOT TO HANG OUT AT CALLAWAY GARDENS LISTENING TO SOME GREAT MUSIC. I’m filing my “this is how i spent my weekend report” for you. I have a more detailed post coming later this week, but I just had to give a Monday morning shout out to Mat Kearney for the rockin’ performance he gave during the Harvest Moon Festival at Callaway Gardens this weekend. It was a day filled with talented performers and Mat really got people dancing in the sand.

Callaway is beautiful in the Fall. The leaves were beginning to turn and the temperatures we just right for hanging out in our chairs and soaking in the sun by the beach. It was a very good weekend. We are so appreciative to those who loved on our three kiddos while we escaped in the name of a work trip…I feel so fortunate to have been choosen to do this concert review by One2One Network. They are awesome by the way. If you are a blogger you should really check them out and become part of the community. I’m off to write my articles for the week and prepare our small group’s meal for The Extension.

It should be a good Monday despite the rain — hope your Monday goes well, too.