Back to School, Back to Soccer

Woo-hoo, soccer season is starting up again! 3Po and Jammy have spiffy new soccer cleats and a couple of weeks of soccer camp under their belt, and they're ready for their first team practice on Wednesday. I know many parents are groaning at the thought of all the carpool schedules and snack rotations ahead of them, but I couldn't be happier.

Are you Happy with the New Happy Meal?

By now, everyone knows that McDonald's will be changing their Happy Meals to make them healthier for kids. Starting in just a few days, here's what a Happy Meal is going to look like:

I know what we did this summer

Tomorrow the kids will start school, and as soon class starts they'll be asked, as they always are, the question:

What did you do over the summer?

The beginning of a new school year, the end of an era

Most years I look forward to the new school year with a sense of relief (at last, I'm getting the kids out of my hair!) and anticipation (I get to unleash my inner shopaholic and buy all the school supplies the kids need), but this year I have mixed feelings about sending the kids off to school. This year will be the last year that all three will be in the same school together. This year, The Pea starts fifth grade and the boys start second grade. Next year The Pea will start sixth grade at a new middle school. By the time 3Po and Jammy are in sixth grade, The Pea will be in ninth grade, at a totally different high school.

A Recipe for One Perfect Day

Whether you're a city dweller who's starved for something green, or you've been eating too many couch potatoes lately or you're just tired of asphalt and concrete, have I got some soul food for you. Here's a recipe that's chock-full of 2 healthy ingredients, fresh air and nature. Try it and enjoy!

100th birthday

Today I'm paying tribute to a woman who celebrates life with each passing day. Alfie's aunt turned one hundred years old today.

Spread the peanut butter, spread the love -- for Mikey

Earlier this week, I found out that a fellow Yahoo! Motherboard member, Jennifer Perillo, lost her husband Mikey in a sudden and unexpected way. The blogging community responded immediately; Twitter was flooded with messages of condolence and love, and there's talk of a scholarship fund for her children.

Yesterday was Mikey's memorial service, and to commemorate his live and the love they shared, Jennifer asked that people bake Mikey's favorite peanut butter pie and share it with their loved ones. No flowers, no donations, just pie.

The Best of BlogHer 2011

Getting up at 6AM for an early morning flight after 3 days at BlogHer -- conferencing, networking, walking and partying -- is not something I recommend. However, early flights do have the consolation of light road traffic and short security lines, so I've been able to get to the airport early enough to sit and get my thoughts together about BlogHer 2011. I did the same thing last year, when I wrote a post about the Best and Worst of BlogHer 2010. This year I've decided to stick with The Best of BlogHer 2011 (with only 1 exception), mainly because I enjoyed myself so much that I can't really think of anything to complain about. So without further ado, here's what I loved best about BlogHer 2011:

Linky love: everything you simply must know before heading off to BlogHer

BlogHer starts tomorrow (okay, the conference actually starts on Friday, but all the fun starts tomorrow), and I am beyond excited. I've spent the better part of this morning writing out my Plan of Attack (with so many sessions, parties, special suites, and activities, you're going to need one, or risk running around like a headless chicken), figuring out what to pack, stocking the fridge with food, writing out instructions for Alfie (camp pickup/dropoff times, approved snacks, approved tv shows, playdate commitments, and other valuable information I keep in my head) and catching up on laundry so I don't have a mountain of it waiting for me on Sunday.

I can't sew. Sew what?

Throughout my childhood I was never far from a sewing machine. We had a sewing machine at home, one of those old-fashioned sewing machines: a sturdy, black iron thing, with a foot pedal to turn the wheel. Later on, my mom bought an electric pedal and attached it to the sewing machine so it whizzed rather than clickety-clacked, but I always preferred the slow, steady rhythm of the foot pedal. Until I was about nine or ten, most of my clothes (school uniforms, dresses, blouses) were sewn at home, either by my mother or a seamstress she hired.

Giveaways on Bonggamom Finds

Since I'm leaving for BlogHer in 2 days, I'm trying to do my bloggy housekeeping early in the week, and as I clean up old links and do other boring stuff, it occurred to me that it has been a while since I've plugged my giveaways. I've got quite a few good ones running, including giveaways for gift cards and DVDs, so I thought I'd give them a shout out:


* Uprinting.com poster -- ends August 2
* $10 iTunes gift card -- ends August 5.
* JetBlue travel activity kit -- ends August 7.
* Totally Together planner -- ends August 7.
* Chuggington DVD -- ends August 10.
* Hairmax product pack -- ends August 10.
* RIO DVD -- ends August 10.
* Dance Pocoyo Dance DVD -- ends August 15.
* $50 to Photo Card Creations -- ends August 15.
* THE HELP movie prize pack -- ends August 15.
* Box of CLIF Kid snacks (2 winners!) -- ends August 15.
* $25 Ross Dress for Less gift card -- ends August 19.


Entries are fairly low (less than a hundred entries each for most of these) so your chances of winning are great!