Yesterday, my little one and I went to the JUSTIN ROBERTS and the NOT READY for NAPTIME PLAYERS Concert at SPACE in Evanston which is a really cool concert venue (in case you are reading this and are local to Chicago). He started the concert with JRB AND my favorite song…Giant Sized Butterflys! It’s from “Pop Fly” and if you ever need a mood lifter, this is the song for you. Here’s a link to hear it or buy it on itunes. Click Here
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY. In gratitude to the troops, Beth
By now, you have probably figured out that we are HUGE Justin Roberts fans!!! Not only is his music engaging and happy, but many of his songs’ lyrics crack me up!!! Jenna and I are so thrilled because in 4 days he will be on our Mommy on a Shoestring Radio show. Can’t wait? Check out this clip, courtesy of YOU TUBE…
Beth and I are so excited to have the fantastic children’s rocker Justin Roberts on our show next week—and I have been on Cloud 9 since yesterday when I got my sneak peek at his new album “Jungle Gym” (coming out June 8!). His others albums are fantastic, so you may wonder how he and his band can keep coming up with great tunes that appeal to kids and parents alike, but he did it again. Songs with that jump up and down vibe, songs that are laugh out loud funny, songs that remind parents of the wonder of childhood without being sappy. We’ll be playing clips during our interview on Thursday 1:00 CST—now the only dilemma is which ones should we pick? I’ll just have to listen over and over again to decide—what an awful way to spend the week!
Best, Jenna
Win a copy!
I am a big fan of Disney’s Family Fun magazine—they just get me. And I’m in a food rut. Which is why I was so excited to get their new special collector’s edition “Dinnertime”—it has over 98 recipes, collecting the best from their 19 years of publications—broken down into fun categories including “30 minute meals” and “Picky eater pleasers”. It also has games, crafts, fun at the table and lots more. Plus, like always, the design and organization is easy to follow and festive, with great photos and illustrations.
And we are excited to announce we are giving one copy away!
Leave a comment here, and tell us the yummiest thing you’ve eaten this week. We’ll enter you into the drawing for “Dinnertime”. Deadline: Tuesday, June 1, 11:59 PM PST. Good luck! —Jenna
Hi! Today I dropped by the set of You & Me this Morning on WCIU the U in Chicago. I love coming to the studio because everyone is so nice… even at 5:00 AM. Jeanne Sparrow is amazing when it comes to hosting because she is so funny and so real! I also ran into Melissa Forman who I LOVED when she was on WLIT. She did a really fun segment on the Candy Convention that was here in Chicago (poor Gal) apparently there are a bunch of new flavored gums that will soon hit the market. So excited. In the meantime, here are my 2 segments. CRAFT FUN and FOOD FUN. They were both inspired from past Pioneer Press articles. Have a teriffic holiday weekend. What are you doing?
Shoestrings and Peace, beth
My family is celebrating and reveling in the last show of my girls’ dance production this afternoon. We are fortunate to live in a community that values the arts, and we do not take it for granted. In past years, the arts have been on the chopping block in public schools—luckily our school district has been able to retain some arts, at times completely on a shoestring. But general funding for teachers, teacher training and textbooks to fulfill new legislated curriculum needs to be fully funded, and not by each district’s PTSA. With all the new cuts our district is facing, I get very frustrated. But I did just hear about new funding that is coming up for a vote soon—the an education amendment has been added to the pending jobs bill in Congress, which will help schools avoid more cuts. We must let our congressional representatives know how we feel about children’s education!
Go to http://www.capwiz.com/nea/issues/alert/?alertid=15045411&type=co
to forward a letter directly to your representative. More information on this important legislation can be found at http://www.educationvotes.nea.org.
I personalized a letter to my representatives and it took less than one minute.
Thanks for supporting public education! Jenna
Sound familiar? Every year I have the BEST of intentions and order a stack of Valentines Day cards to send out to family and friends. And every year I give myself enough time to order the cards, pick them up, address the envelopes and mail them out. And every year ”the mail them out” piece falls flat and the cards never make it out the door. Maybe it’s because designing them online is the fun part, while stuffing and addressing envelopes is not? Whatever the reason, I am excited that a new “ap” has been added to Facebook that not only lets you design the cards, but will also address and mail them out for you too! Yes, a bit more expensive than doing it yourself, but it is a whole lot less expensive then just keeping them stockpiled in a drawer. The ap is called fidipidi and here’s cute video that tells you all about the process. Click Here to Watch it!
And now here’s the shoestring part…fidipidi will offer the first card free for the first 15,000 people who sign up for the ap. Just use the code: 1stCardFree. So check it out, design a card, have it mailed and keep those drawers free to store something useful like…socks!
As a former Kindergarten teacher, there are few issues that are as close to my heart as education. I know our children’s quality education is under threat from budget cuts. Programs that matter dearly such as music and arts programs, bus routes, sports, extracurricular activities, books, crossing guards and foreign programs are all on the cutting block–and potential teacher layoffs could mean perhaps as many as 35 or 45 students per classroom. But there is good news…
An education amendment has been added to the pending jobs bill in Congress, which will help schools avoid such drastic cuts. So let’s work together and get the word out. We need to be one voice telling Congress to pass the Education Jobs Fund. We must let our congressional representatives know how we feel about children’s education!
Ask your community to take action now because next week may be too late!
Have them go to http://www.capwiz.com/nea/issues/alert/?alertid=15045411&type=co
to forward a letter directly to their representative to have their voices heard. More information on this important legislation can be found at http://www.educationvotes.nea.org. Please also feel free to contact me! I am happy to answer any questions you might have. Thanks everyone, I know together we can be many hands with one voice!
This week is American Idol Week on the Her Insight network on Toginet Radio… where favorite past American Idols will stop by by all week to visit our shows. On Thursday we will welcome Leslie Hunt to our show at 2:00 EST. I love Leslie’s family friendly music. Here’s a sample:Let them Go
All week, I’ll share some other musical goodies from american Idol as we count down to our show. In the meantime, tune into www.toginet.com and check out the American Idol fun, games and guests! Everything’s coming up Shoestrings!
No, that’s not a typo…Jeanne Sparrow and I really did turn a pizza box into a vanity. Check it out here on You&Me This Morning.
Tomorrow’s post: Having fun in the kitchen with the kiddos!
