I know, I know—as parents, we shouldn't be advocating violence—but to me, nothing says July like a poolside BBQ or an impromptu water gun fight. So when it comes to this adorable Condiment Gun, I say yes to packing heat.
Just fill the pistol's two reusable cartridges with your squeezable sauce of choice (ketchup, mustard, perhaps some Cattlemen's), grab a burger or a hot dog, and take aim at a perfect afternoon cookout.
Spotted over at Shelterrific, via CHOW
Ahh, birthday parties...the everlasting struggle to avoid SpongeBob or Dora the Explorer is an eternal battle. "For moms who need a creative outlet, sometimes hosting clever birthday parties is just the thing," says Gabrielle Blair of Designmom.com, where I discovered one of the best birthday parties I've ever seen—The Mr. Man Party from Full House.
This party was designed for a set of 2-year-old triplet boys, and here is a list of the precious elements: Necktie cookies by Anything But Ordinary; a necktie clothesline garland with photos of the boys and paper 2's; chocolate mustaches on sticks; necktie napkins, and a welcome sign that read "Come one, come all or just COMB over!"
I simply have no words to describe how much I heart this party. Job well done!
Every year, my husband's birthday falls during the week of our annual vacation with his family in Hilton Head, South Carolina. This year, the kids (ages 3, 5, 8, and 10) began planning the festivities right when we got there, sharing cake, gift, and party ideas (with visual aids, I might add). We took group trips to the grocery store(s) and the craft store and the creativity was flying! So here's what we came up with:
All in all, it was definitely his most colorful birthday ever. Thanks to the tiny party planners.
I'm loving Junior Society's Sunshine on a Stick roundup of popsicle molds, especially these fantastic Jewel Pop molds from Kitchenworks. (Complete with "built in drip guard!") Now that it's officially summer (and finally starting to warm up here in New York) it's the perfect time to make some frozen bling.
It’s not always easy to know which foods have a lot of sugar without scrutinizing the label—although it’s no surprise that soda tops the list. Check out Sugar Stacks, which has cool photos of all different types of foods including snacks, breakfast items, fruit and beverages, along with the equivalent number of sugar cubes they contain. (Each cube contains 4 grams of sugar.) We won’t talk about the fact that my preschooler first got a glimpse of sugar cubes recently when I ordered iced tea in a restaurant and begged to eat them!
In the June issue of Parents (on sale now!), there's an article on page 158 called "Pregnant Pounds" that talks about how gaining too much weight during pregnancy may pose serious health risks for you and your baby. So if you're expecting, read that first and then check out a new book, Feed the Belly. In it, new mom and author Frances Largeman-Roth, RD, provides answers to common questions about weight gain, nutrition, and food safety, as well as more than 65 recipes that will help you satisfy those cravings the healthy way. Bon appetit!
Temporary parents relieve mothers who need a hand to get their lives back on track.The New York Times
What hidden ingredients are lurking in supposedly healthy foods in your kitchen? The Wall Street Journal
The newborn brain: Why your baby is more aware of the world than you are. The Boston Globe
Some schools are thinking of cutting back to a 4-day week to deal with budget crunches. The Los Angeles Times
A bad economy breeds good neighbors: Experts are seeing an uptick in community activities and caring. The Washington Post
Original photo via
For the first time in their more than 100 year-long existence, the Campbell Soup Company is making available their specially cultivated seeds that grow tomatoes for the iconic Campbell's Tomato Soup. At a community garden here in New York City, they kicked off Help Grow Your Soup, a campaign to grow more than one billion tomatoes in communities and backyards across America. After New York, Campbell's will travel with the National FFA organization and Urban Farming to Atlanta, GA, Campden, NJ, Chicago, IL, and Detroit, MI to plant similar gardens that will offer free food and agriculture education to urban community centers.
Danny Seo, green guru extraordinaire, was there to talk about farming, planting, and the environmental and cost-effective reasons to grow your own food. He got down in the dirt with the kids from the Brotherhood/Sister Sol community center to plant tomatoes in their garden. One of my favorite parts of this event was seeing the Urban Farming Food Chain Edible Wall, an innovative vertical garden that produces tomatoes and other veggies—the ideal solution to grow food in a limited space (also eliminating the potential for the neighbor's dog to trample your crop).
Wanna reap your own harvest? Visit Helpgrowyoursoup.com to learn how to get your free packet of Campbell's tomato seeds!
Tomorrow, get your morning buzz and help a good cause at the same time. Dunkin’ Donuts has declared April 21 as Iced Coffee Day, a one-day event when Dunkin’ stores throughout the country will sell small iced coffees for the reduced price of 50 cents. 10% of sales will go to Homes for Our Troops.
Homes for Our Troops is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that is strongly committed to helping those who have selflessly given to their country and have returned home with serious disabilities and injuries. They assist severely injured service men and women and their immediate families by collecting donations of money, building materials, and professional labor and then coordinating the process of building a new home or adapting an existing home for handicapped accessibility. The finished home is then given to the veteran. Visit Dunkindonuts.com to watch a very moving video of true stories.
Turn 50 cents into something you can feel good about. Come on, you Kin' do it!
I can't remember exactly when I signed up for free daily emails from hungry-girl.com, but now I look forward to reading Hungry Girl's easy, healthy recipes every morning. Her can-do, guilt-free take on eating right has made it easy to incorporate lots of little tips and tricks into my meals (like substituting broccoli slaw for pasta noodles in just about any dish). Better yet is the super simple theme of her new book (out tomorrow!), Hungry Girl 200 under 200: 200 Recipes Under 200 Calories. You can preview all of the recipes here.
