KidsOutAndAbout.com newsletter

Sent March 21, 2008

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Dear KOA readers:

First, I want to welcome all of the new readers who have signed on through hearing about KOA on Fickle 93.3's Ace, Marti, and Bob in the Morning show. I love going on Fickle, they're the greatest people, and you can tell that they honest-to-goodness love what they do. Especially Marti. I think she knows all of the lyrics to every single song they play. And if you ever wonder whether there's anyone singing along there in the studio when the music is on...well, Marti is. I'll never think of Abba's S.O.S. in quite the same way again. Anyway, I always see a nice little spike in web statistics and newsletter signups whenever I go on, so welcome, all you newcomers! I hope you enjoy everything that KidsOutAndAbout.com has to offer.

2) Remember, most everything that you see on KOA is there because someone in our community made it happen. Not only do readers regularly submit articles and reviews, but we also have a great online calendar on which are posted dozens of Rochester-area events each week. Organizations log their own events to the calendar (it comes to an administrative page so I can click OK to post) by clicking on Calendar and then Log Upcoming Events or going right to this form: http://rochester.kidsoutandabout.com/event-announce.php And then to see the events, you just click on one of the links at the top of any KOA page to see the calendar. I'll be changing the look, feel, and wording of some of this stuff over the next few weeks and months to make it even easier to find what you're looking for. Here is a shortcut directly to this week's events, which always gives you what's going on for the next 10 days: http://rochester.kidsoutandabout.com/calendar-search-display.php?dr=tw&EventCity=1

3) We also have a nice giveaway section for local organizations and businesses to get some nice visibility while offering you the opportunity to enter to win a drawing for tickets or a product or a service. That's at: http://rochester.kidsoutandabout.com/city-articles/giveaways.html

This week, our drawings are mostly tickets for performances (although that could change at any moment because I get giveaway submissions all the time) for the Bach Children's Chorus annual concert Gala on April 5 (drawing is Monday); March 28 Rapunzel tickets from TYKEs Theatre (drawing Wednesday); and the Harley School's Bebop to Bach concert on April 6 (drawing April 1). We also have a Mary Kay drawing from independent Mary Kay consultant Tammy DeMarle.

Does your business want to host a giveaway? Just email me at ross@kidsoutandabout.com.

4) Speaking of giveaways, congratulations to Toni of Rochester, winner of the gift certificate giveaway from hairstylist Marie Avallone at Salon Hermitage on Monroe Avenue (SalonHermitage.com). During the month of March for all KidsOutAndAbout.com readers, Marie is offering all parents a free haircut when getting a color, highlight or perm. Please mention the KidsOutAndAbout.com website to get the offer.

Congratulations also to Chelsea of Rochester. She won a Close To My Heart My Acrylix stamp set worth $22.95, from local CTMH representative Leslie Tomanovich! For more information on our products or upcoming classes, check out Tammy's websites, http://ltpapercrafts.blogspot.com or http://www.ltomanovich.myctmh.com. And, check back with KOA for future drawings!

5) I have been impatient for spring, lately. Very, very impatient. The fact of my impatience has been on my mind. I notice our whole family sometimes sliding over to a bit of edginess with each other, and I attribute it to The Long Winter. And so I found this blog entry by Melissa Wiley quite inspiring. Melissa is the author of the precursors to (speaking of The Long Winter) the "Little House" series of books (The Martha Years, The Charlotte Years), and is a fellow homeschooler. This article is at http://melissawiley.com/blog/2008/03/17/every-face-i-look-at-seems-beautiful-to-me/ I have to say, it helps.

6) Speaking of blogs, if you're a mom who is trying to do it all and is struggling to have time simultaneously to nurture the best within herself, you're not alone. I found a very nice blog called "First Ourselves" and it's written by Karly Pitman who lives in Montana. Her goal is to reach a million women with her message of self-nurture. Check out at FirstOurselves.com.

7) Speaking AGAIN of blogs AND finding time, this week I did something that I'd been meaning to find the time to do for a while: Investigate "blog feeders" (also known as RSS readers) in order to make it easy to find the new entries in the blogs I read on a regular basis. Now, I read a lot of blogs. I'm inspired by them. It's one of the things I love about the internet, how ordinary people can put their ideas to the page, for free, and so make a difference in readers' lives. It's one of those great natural sorting mechanisms, too; the wheat gets separated from the chaff pretty quickly: The well-written blogs get read, the badly-written or poorly-thought-out blogs get ignored.

There are many free readers, and I chose the one from Google, Google Reader. Now instead of wasting so much time clicking around and scanning to see what is new, I go to just one web page and Google Reader tells me which blogs have something new, and presents the new content there for me. So if you're spending lots of time reading blogs, try one of these systems and get back some more of your precious time. Google Reader is at http://www.google.com/reader.

8) Speaking (WAY above) of the Bach Children's Chorus, I want to remind all my readers that the evening of April 5 is the BCC's annual concert Gala, at the RIT Inn & Convention Center. If your child is interested in singing in the Bach Children's Chorus (ages 8-15) or the Mozart Children's Chorus (ages 5-8) next year, it's a great opportunity to hear a concert and mingle with Chorus directors, members, and parents. Plus, it's a lovely and inexpensive way to go out for a grand evening, both with, and also without, your kids: After the concert at 6:30, kids go to some adjoining rooms and have a pizza party and other entertainment (all well supervised) while parents enjoy a more elegant evening: food, entertainment by the Bow Ties, and a silent AND live auction. I've been working like a busy bee gathering auction items for the last several weeks from local organizations and businesses; go to http://rochester.kidsoutandabout.com/nonprofit/BCCAuction.html to see some of the cool stuff being offered. (Among them is a "backstage pass" to the Ace, Marti, & Bob in the Morning show!) Tickets are only $25 for adults and $10 for kids, and may be ordered by calling 585-582-3082. (Make sure you also enter the drawing for free tickets on the giveaway page, but don't hesitate to order also, because if you win, your credit card won't be charged.)

There will also be a 2008-2009 BCC information session held on a Saturday morning in late April.

9) Are your kids getting that I-need-to-be-moving edginess that so characterizes the last days of winter? (Because let's not kid ourselves, it will still be winter for a while here.) Mine, too. That's why they and I were delighted that Ttalf Corporation, the company that produces Yackle Balls, sent me a couple of Yackle Balls for review last week. A "Yackle Ball" is a "sports ball" that is shaped like a big X, kind of like a jack without the extra spike, and is about the size of a basketball. It is big, firm, soft, and grippable, and much easier to throw and catch than regular balls. And, one would say, more fun, at least my kids thought so! The design makes the Yackle Ball aerodynamic, although I made my kids go outside before testing its limits (whereupon they found that a Yackle Ball is both fun in the snow AND makes for a good "capture the flag" target at the top of a big snowpile). The Yackle Ball comes with game descriptions, although my kids made up their own Yackle Ball games. They even made up their own Yackle Ball song ("Yackle Ball, Yackle Ball, how I love my Yackle Ball") sung to the tune of the old "Spiderman" cartoon series. Anyway, Yackle Ball is a perfect way to build up the confidence of "catch-impaired" kids like Madison and is a lot of fun to boot, so I just thought I'd bring you the resource: YackleBall.com. You can buy them at some stores, or order direct from the Yackle Ball web site for $22.95.

10) Tickets go on sale Monday for the Brighton High School production of the musical Starmites on April 4 and 5. Information is at http://rochester.kidsoutandabout.com/calendar-event.php?id=15200 or call 242-5046.

11) Oh, you wanted events this weekend?

Tomorrow there are a bunch of Easter Egg Hunts from various organizations, and it's not too late to sign up. See the calendar for details. http://rochester.kidsoutandabout.com/calendar-search-display.php?Month=3&sd=2008-03-22 Some of the events require pre-registration, and really, it is the decent thing to do so that the folks can make sure there enough eggs.

Speaking of Egg Hunts, reader Kim Schaff has a timeless article posted on KOA on How to Host the Perfect Easter Egg Hunt. The link is on the blue navigation box on the top right section of KOA, and I'll leave it there after Easter, too, because that's the perfect time to snap up the deals on the plastic eggs for next year. Here is a quick link: http://rochester.kidsoutandabout.com/main-articles/EasterEggHunt.html

Tomorrow, also, is a big day at the Rochester Museum & Science Center: Not only are they debuting a new star show, Face of Earth, at 1pm, but they're having a whole Easter Family Fun Day of "Puppets, Peeps, and Bunnies." The Easter Bunny will be on the third floor available for pictures. There will be story time with the Easter Bunny throughout the day. They will have books about Spring and Easter out for families to quietly gather and read throughout the day. There will be two Easter Egg Hunts - one at 10:30 and the other at 2:00. Kids can guess how many jelly beans are in different size jars. And...there will be Peeps. I love Peeps, especially stale Peeps (I poke holes in the packaging and let them get good and hard). If you bring in a Peep you get $1 off admission. But more than that: At Murray's Mobile Lab, you can the science of growing and shrinking Peeps at 2:30pm and 3:30pm.

Tomorrow, also, Genesee Country Village's maple sugaring event, Sap, Syrup, and Sugar continues from 10am-5pm (it will finish up next weekend). Linda Bender out at the Nature Center says that conditions have been perfect for sap, and that it is very sweet, running between 2% and 3% sugar. She says that, interestingly, the sugar content varies from place to place and even tree to tree.

And what to do on Easter? Well, Mud About You, the ceramics painting studio on Penfield Road near Four Corners in Penfield, will be open from noon to 6pm. It's owned by Chuck Jones, a.k.a. Chuck Kelley, former DJ of Mix 100.5 and all-around great guy. Chuck is exhibiting uncommon courage, I think, in encouraging a bunch of kids high on chocolate bunnies to come into the studio to paint ceramic, make a mosaic, or create a glass pendant.

There's more on the calendar, as usual, folks, so don't hesitate to check it out at http://rochester.kidsoutandabout.com/calendar-search-display.php?dr=tw&EventCity=1

For those who are celebrating, happy Easter!

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