Why I'd love to attend the Digital Family Summit-in Philly!

My daughter has always been pretty creative, she loves to paint & draw but recently, she has started to write.  She recently wrote a persuasive piece about why you should eat a certain (left unnamed) restaurant.  It was good.  I mean really good---so good I didn't think she actually wrote it.  It sounded a little too mature & used big words but it was all hers.  Now she has high hopes of starting her own website for kids (don't worry, ya'll will know when or if that happens!).  She has the name picked out, the concept & even a few friends she wants to have help her. 

I am so excited that the Digital Family Summit will be in Philly!  June 29th-July 1st, Philly will be a hub for tech savvy tween & teen bloggers & their families.  Located at the Sheraton in Society Hill, this conference is close to home for us & exactly what my child would need to get her site up & running.  My daughter wants to learn ways to make money---I want to make sure I do everything right so we can keep her safe online!  I especially love that there is a session highlighting young entrepreneurs. Is there any better way for my kid to learn how to start her own business that kids who are doing it?!  I don't think so-I want her to see that it is possible. 

If you're interested in attending the conference check out all the information & schedule HERE!

Weekend Family Fun!!!

Friday:

• First Friday Lansdowne
• First Friday Main Line
• First Friday Swarthmore (The Creative Living Room has a great kids program tonight!)

Saturday 

• Kids Workshop at Home Depot 9am-12pm
• Strawberry Festival at Linvilla Orchards

Sunday:

• Media 46th Arts & Crafts Fair info HERE!
• Devon Horse Show Family Day info HERE!
• Italian American Festival at Rose Tree Park noon-6pm (Rain or shine, go for music & great food!!!)
  

All Weekend

• Devin Horse Show info HERE!
• If you have a Bank of America Card, check out Bank of America Free Museum Admission to Cardholders HERE! You can gain access to thousands of Museum's across the country for free on the first full weekend of the month!

Save Upper Darby School District Specials-it takes 60 seconds to help!

I recently received the following letter & was asked to share with the readers of this website.  Please take a moment from your busy day to read it & sign the petition. As a parent not in Upper Darby School District, I am concerned about how these state cuts will affect my school district in the future as well.  I'd encourage you to contact your local school administration if you don't think these cuts will be a problem for you-I think you'll be surprised. 

We are writing to you, mother to mother, parent to parent, to ask for your help.  You may be aware that in the Upper Darby School District, located just outside of Philadelphia, the administration has proposed cutting arts, music, library, and physical education at the elementary school level, and foreign language at the middle school level.   This is critical—the board will be voting on this budget by June 30th, and implementing in the upcoming school year if it passes.  Their budget proposal was formed in response to a funding crisis that is sweeping across the state of Pennsylvania. 


Many people who are not directly affected think that this is not relevant to them, but we want you to know that if you believe in public education, it is critical that you pay attention. We plan to travel as a group to Harrisburg on June 6th and are collecting signatures on the attached petition.  Please take the time to go and sign it.  We need a total of 30,000 signatures and need your help! 


Thank you from the concerned parents at Save Upper Darby Arts (SUDA).


Sign the petition HERE (This is the most important action you can do right now and it takes less than 60 seconds-they need 14,000 more signatures!)  Then share it, ask your friends, husband, etc to sign too. 

Save Upper Darby Arts information and website can be found HERE

End of Year Teacher Gift Ideas (Home-made & Store Bought)

The end of the school year is upon us. Many of you might be wondering, "What can I get or make for my child(ren)'s teacher(s) as an end-of-year thank you gift"?

Here are a few of my favorite ideas that I have done in the past:

Teacher tote bag- decorated with iron-ons, fabric paint, etc. I am a big fan of finding nice quotes to put on gifts. I used fabric paint to write a quote about books/reading on the decorated bag. I paired this great home-made gift with a gift certificate to a book store and placed it in the card inside of the bag.

A reusable lunch bag- decorated (very much like the teacher tote bag mentioned above) with an an iron-on and nice teacher quote. We paired this home-made gift with a WaWa gift certificate  and placed it inside the lunch bag.

 A children's CD for the classroom -  This year for my son's preschool class, I got them a Kids World Music CD that has animal themed songs from around the world. (It was a Putumayo Kids World Music Adventures CD... check them out HERE). 

I got mine from Earth & State Check their website out HERE! This type of gift would be great paired with cool percussion instruments from around the world  --some of which can also be found at Earth & State.

Puppets/Finger puppets paired with a book-  example: a lion puppet and a mouse puppet paired with the award-winning book by Jerry Pinkney The Lion and the Mouse (a wordless adaptation of one of Aesop's Fables in which an unlikely pair learn that no act of kindness is ever wasted).








 A Gift certificate to a school supplies store-  Example: Becker's This is always a great idea too! Check out Becker's website HERE.

-Crystal

Weekend Family Fun!!!

All Weekend:
Devon Horse Show is taking place now through June 3rd.
Head to the National Constitution Center in Philly for a variety of activities on Saturday, Sunday & Monday!
The Barnes Foundation is celebrating its new Philly location with 56 hours of free  free access and activities on Saturday, Sunday & Monday.


Saturday:
Lowes Build and Grow-Registration required
Tyler Arboretum-Opens SIT A SPELL: Seats That Tell A Tale

Memorial Day Activities:
Media Parade-10 AM State Street
Radnor-Begins at 9:45 at the corner of Runnymede and South Wayne Avenues
Springfield always has a parade but I didn't find a link---anyone have the answer?
Ridley Park-9 am at Veteran's Park
Lansdowne- 9 am from Lansdowne and Lacrosse Avenues

Any additional parades we should know about?  Leave a comment below!!!

T-Fal Actifry Review & Giveaway!!!

I think everyone knows that I received the T-Fal Actifry to review.  I've been using it as much as possible to get as accurate review as possible and I LOVE IT!!!

The T-Fal Actifry has patented pulsed air technology and a paddle that continuously stirs the food so everything is cooked evenly.  As a busy mom I loved throwing everything in the Actifry and then helping my daughter with her homework.  I didn't have worry about checking on dinner-set the timer, turn it on and it is super easy to clean-the main pieces are all dishwasher safe!

The T-Fal Actifry also fries food with much less oil than traditional deep fryers----like 1 Tablespoon!  So it is much healthier but still tastes great!  Here are a few things I made:



The first thing I made was my grandma's granola recipe and for the first time EVER I didn't burn it!  The paddle stirs in the entire time so it was evenly coated with honey & cinnamon.  It was also much easier to clean that when I tried and failed (sadly, many, many times) to bake it in the oven. 

Next up was french fries-one tablespoon of olive oil made enough french fries to feed my family of 4---

and they were tasty too!

Strawberry Jam!  I just used my regular recipe that I usually make on the stove.  I dumped the warm strawberries & juices into the container that will go in the fridge & gave it a few smashes to make it more "jammy". 


I also made taco meat & chicken nuggets but didn't get pictures of it.  Next up---hot wings!!! 

Want to learn more about about the T-Fal Actifry? Check out the video below, find them on Facebook, Twitter or a the website found HERE!  You can buy the T-Fal Actifry on the website, at Bed bath & Beyond or Amazon.com




Now on to the giveaway!!! 
Congrats Randi L-entry #253!!!
 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I received a product to facilitate my review, as well as compensation for my time. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own...

Primo Hoagies & PB&U Wayne!

Two places I love to eat-I'll be buying both of these deals!!!

Primo Hoagies Prospect Park location deal HERE! $10 for $20 Worth of Hoagies

PB & U deal is HERE!
$10 for a peanut-butter meal for two (up to a $22 value), which includes:
•Two peanut-butter creations (up to a $4.50 value each) •Two milk shakes or smoothies (a $4 value each) •Peanut-butter fondue (a $5 value)

Or $10 for a punch card for five peanut-butter creations, such as the peanut butter, apple, and cheddar sandwich (up to a $4.50 value per punch; $22.50 total value)

Kids Yoga with Alissia

 I recently took my daughter and some of her friends to try Yoga with Alissia. Here is a glimpse of their experience:

Interview questions answered by my daughter:

What did you think of the yoga class? "It was really fun and a good experience."




 Did it make you feel relaxed? "Yes"







What was your favorite part? "The relaxation."




Did you like the teacher? "Yes. She was really nice!"




What did you like about how she taught the class? Anything you didn't like? "I like how she cheered us on, waited for us to do the poses, and that she made it fun for us." "There is nothing I didn't like about it."








What kind of things did it help you practice? "Balancing, relaxation and focus."




Why did you want to do yoga? " I heard people talking about it and saying that it was helping them relax, concentrate, and focus".





Would you like to take more yoga
classes with Alissia? "Yes, very much!"









What did Ms. Alissia do to make the class fun? "

"She let us do freeze dance &

use the parachute while doing 

some of the poses; so it was like 

learning and playing 

at the same time."

What pose was easiest? "I thought the bird or plane, what ever you want to call it was really easy". 

Hardest? "I thought the boat was the hardest and we sang "Row Row Row Your Boat" while doing the pose, so it was hard to hold it that long". "You can really feel it in your tummy muscles".  

Your favorite? "My favorite is the tree".



Do you think yoga will be useful to you? "Yes, when I get mad, I can do yoga and relax.."


Would you tell other kids to try yoga with Ms. Alissia?
"Yes''

Check out her website HERE

She teaches Kids PJ Yoga. Check it out June 16th and June 27th at  the Community Center Adjoining Borough Hall in Media. For kids  ages 4-8, 6:00pm - 8:00pm (drop off). Register HERE (spots are limited).

Peggy's Pampering: A FREE Pay it Forward Service

I recently met a very caring person who started a service of "paying it forward" over seven years ago.

I caught a glimpse of this service in action. While at a meeting at the Swarthmore Community Center, I popped in to check out this "Pay it Forward" Volunteer Night. (The Swarthmore Community Center paid if forward and donated the space for the volunteers to work). There were so many volunteers helping to fill baskets to pass along to people in need of some cheer-- and the baskets were full of great stuff!

Who is this person and what made her take the time to start this service?
Her name is Peggy Kelly Jansen and she started Peggy’s Pampering about 7 1/2 years ago, after helping of a friend going through a rough time feel a little bit better. When the friend offered to pay her for her help, she replied with, "No charge, just pay it forward." She said it was that day she "realized that she really could make a difference –that we can all make a difference, if we all took the time to care about one another a little more".



Peggy feels that people, just like you and me, can make a positive difference in this world by practicing “paying it forward”. Simple acts of kindness can really make a difference: What started out as one person's act of kindness has now grown into a huge community effort to help one another.

I told Peggy I loved what she was doing and told her I would being doing a post about it. She welcomed me with great enthusiasm and asked me to take a basket to help her pass it along to someone who could use some cheering up.


I found Peggy and her "Pay it Forward" service very inspiring, and plan to get involved. You can too!
Check out Peggy's website and find out how: Click HERE.

Thanks Peggy!

--Crystal

Weekend fun!!!

All Weekend Events:

• Antique Car Show & Flea Market (Sunday, May 20th) plus Mini Golf open all weekend at Linvilla.   
• Knights of Columbus Spring Carnival-Boothwyn (I can't find any links on line---post in the comments if you have info!)

Friday:
The Philadelphia Museum of Art will offer free admission all day on Friday, May 18, in celebration of International Museum Day. Info HERE

Saturday:

• Hot House Band Creative Living Room $7 admission, 4:30pm
• Philadelphia on Parade at The Mann Center: Fab all day event!!!
• Live from the Plaza Stage: Korey Riker, 6 pm Info HERE

Sunday

• Free admission to the Brandywine River Museum
• Marple EMS Days Info HERE

Easy Crafts for Father's Day

 I have always found it easier to come up with craft ideas for the kids to make for Mother's than it is for them to make for Father's Day (without always re-using the same old gifts with themes like ties, golfing, fishing, and grilling).

Here are some ideas for great Father's Day gifts that I have used!

Dragon fly Chip Clip - Paint a clothespin, glue two wooden craft sticks criss-crossed in between the clothespin and glue two black bead to the top front for the eyes!

 
Photo gifts -
Have the kids help choose the pictures to use for these great photo gifts for dad! I helped my kids get a coffee
mug made one year and a puzzle of the kids made the next year.













 Child Interview /Meet My Dad


Help your child fill out a questionnaire
or interview the kids about dad.
 Include things like:

What is something Dad always says to you?

How does your Dad make you laugh?

How tall is your Dad?

What is his favorite thing to do?

What does your Dad do when you're not around?

If your Dad becomes famous, what will it be for?

What is your Dad really good at?

 

What does your Dad do for his job?

What is your Dad's favorite food/drink?

 What makes you proud of your Dad?

How do you know your Dad loves you?

Where is your Dad's favorite place to go?

Magnets -For dads who like beer, use bottle tops from his favorite beers and glue them to magnets. For non-beer drinking dads, decorate the round metal end of a frozen juice can with something that dad likes, (think about his hobbies) or use pictures of the kids & put a magnet on the back.








Keychains. Use beads with letters and spell "Love You Dad." You can get key rings and everything else you need from the craft store.









Make him a home-made treat like Chex Mix,
Trail Mix, Chocolate Covered Pretzels, etc.
Put it in a container and write:
"You Rock Dad" -
Decorate with guitar stickers and music notes.








Picture frame - (Make your own with DAD or your family name cut outs) fill the cut out spaces with pictures of the kids.










Pen holder - Use a glass jar filled with small rocks. Write "You Rock Dad" on it.








Change jar/bank - Put  kids' hand prints on it with fabric paint & write "Best Dad, Hands Down". (The hand prints form a heart - very easy to do!)

Giggle Gang presents The Community Arts Center

Thursday, May 17th at 10:30

Spring is in full bloom, and that means the bugs and insects that have been hiding all winter are crawling and flying around everywhere! Join the Giggle Gang for a special story time about fascinating bugs and then create your own crazy critters during arts and crafts!


Location: Springfield Mall, 1250 Baltimore Pike,
(across from Rt. 320), Springfield, PA 19064
(Enter in the back of the mall behind Macy's. Concert area located usually near the center elevator.)

Check out the Giggle Gang for all the information!

TODAY ONLY! Get Happy Nappers for only $2.99!

 

Happy Nappers Reversible Pillows are $2.99 today only! 

Choose from Ladybug, Unicorn, Dragon, Penguin, Monkey, & Dog.

Alvin and the Chipmunks Chipwrecked on DVD for $8.99

Plus you get FREE SHIPPING!

Click HERE to go to the Best Buy Deal of the Day Site

Monster Truck Show---And Target Photo Groupon!

Don't worry, two different deals! My husband took our then 4 year old to this Monster Truck show last year & they're both excited to go back and see it again!!!

• Click HERE! for a Night of Fire and Destruction Monster-Truck Show for Two or Four on May 26 (Up to 56% Off)
• Click HERE! for Target's $25 for Lifetouch Portrait Package (Up to $124.90 Value).

Easy Mother's Day Gift

My kids brought home this lovely home-made creation from an after school club* this week-they were so excited to give them to me and I love them!  The jars are pretty and they even match the new colors in our living room! 

They recycled jars which they filled with various amounts of sand, pebbles, sea glass, shells & grass (make sure the grass isn't near the candle!)  

I hope everyone has a great Mother's Day!!!

*Thanks to my friend Molly who runs the club & always comes up with great ways to keep the kids engaged & for the great gift!!!