 Thunder Nationals promises to thrill with massive monster trucks pouncing, climbing, and jumping over things my mini-van could never conquer! Treat yourself and your family to this fun night out, coming to VanAndel Arena March 12-14. Plus, we've got some tickets to give away. One lucky winner will get (2) tickets and the other will get (3). To enter this contest, leave a comment on the blog telling me what your monster truck would be named (if you had one) and why. Some trucks on the circuit are Blue Thunder, Backdraft, Digger, etc, just to give you some ideas. Winners will be announced on March 8 and tickets will be left for you at Will Call. Good luck! Thunder Nationals Discount! Get your Kids tickets for just $5! Simply log onto www.ticketmaster.com, type the password KIDS, choose the $5 Price and that’s it! Can’t beat a kids ticket for $5! CONGRATS SUSAN (3 tickets) AND APRIL (2 tickets), winners of this contest! West Michigan Mom's Sale 02/22/2010
 Do you have the itch? I start to get it this time of year, thinking of consignment sales, garage sales, and all of the bargain-saving things that come with spring. West Michigan has a lot of opportunities to save, and one of those is fast approaching- the West Michigan Mom's Sale at the DeltaPlex on March 20th. If you have the urge to purge, they are still accepting table registrations for moms who are interested in selling at the March sale. Think about signing up to sell soon because they always sell out their 200+ tables! (That's because tables are only $35 and that price includes everything.) You could spend well over $35 just advertising your own garage sale! West Michigan Mom's sale has also partnered with Alpha Women's Center, a local pregnancy care center this spring and will be holding a diaper and formula drive for them at the sale. Alpha is devoted to serving some of the most vulnerable residents in greater-Grand Rapids, women and children. Please consider helping Alpha serve these young families by bringing a package of diapers or an unopened can of formula with you to the West Michigan Mom’s Sale. Alpha needs 70,000 diapers and 14,000 cans of formula this year to meet the needs of their clients. Alpha Women’s Center will be present at the sale to accept all donations. For more information on Alpha Women’s Center and the work they do here in Grand Rapids, please visit their website, www.alphawc.org. You can find additional information about West Michigan Mom's Sale at www.westmichiganmomssale.com. Plan Now for Mom's Bloom "Out Came the Sun" 02/22/2010
 One organization I love to support is MomsBloom...they bring awareness to postpartum depression and provide amazing support and resources. You can help support MomsBloom on May 1 and have fun with your family at their Out Came the Sun Run/ Walk. MomsBloom is pleased to bring you an amazing event to raise awareness of postpartum depression and related illnesses... Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services Presents the Out Came the Sun Run / Walk. The 2nd annual event takes place on May 1, 2010 and will also raise funds for MomsBloom programs. In addition to the 5K Run/Walk/Stroll, there will be a Sundae Run for kids 12 and under. A Family Market will also take place that morning with local vendors offering demonstrations and sharing their amazing services related to families. Registration is $20 and includes a t-shirt (if registered by April 18th). It will be an amazing day! Come join us. Family Market: 8:30a-11:30a Runners start: 9:00a Walkers/strollers: 9:10a Sundae Run: 10:30a  Mickey, Handy Manny, Tigger & Pooh, Little Einsteins...this is fun to the max for the preschool set! And we delight in seeing the little eyes of those we love filled with wonder. So consider taking your little person to Disney Playhouse Live at DeVos Perfomance Hall on March 7. Who knows, maybe you will be one of the lucky ones to win FREE TICKETS. I have one set of (3) and one set of (2) tickets to give away. Winners will be chosen on March 1st. To enter the contest, leave a comment on this blog telling me how you heard about grkids.com and let me know if you want (2) or (3) tickets. If you use the code DISNEY on www.ticketmaster.com you can save $3 off of your ticket! Just log onto www.ticketmaster.com, type the password DISNEY and save $3 on Disney Live at the DeVos Performance Hall. Offer Valid until Wednesday, March 3,2010. Offer not valid on VIP Seats. CContest Winners: Jennifer K (2) tickets Michelle B (2) tickets Lisa T (2) tickets Julee G (3) tickets  Have you been to the Women's Expo? I went for the first time three years ago and made the mistake of going with my son (who was 2 and in a stroller.) Why was that a mistake? With a stroller, you can't get up to any of the tables to talk to people, and with a 2 year old, you can't focus on any of the fun shopping, make-overs, seminars, product samples, etc. I paid my entrance fee and spent most of my time pushing through crowds and doling out granola bars. Not terrible, but not a refreshing experience either. Contrast that to last years experience. In 2009 I got a sitter and went with a girlfriend. We had a blast! We bought cute scarves, had our makeup done, tested lots of free samples and talked, talked, talked! The Women's Expo is a great time to get out and remember what it means to be a woman. Yes, a lot of times that involves toting around children, but if you're looking for a real treat, get a sitter and spend some girl time with the women who mean the most to you. I doubt you'll regret it! In honor of the upcoming Expo, I get to give away a pair of (2) tickets each week until the expo. So to enter, leave a comment in the blog saying who you'll bring to the Expo and why it will be fun for you. Good luck, and see you at the Expo (I will be there in a booth, so come say "hi!") And if you don't win tickets, you can use this coupon. Enjoy! Winners: Michelle J. - 2 tickets How many of you have wanted to teach your kids this lesson? A hard lesson to learn, granted, but one that hopefully will be mastered by adulthood. We live in a very generous community. Grand Rapids historically has seen high levels of charitable giving, both in terms of time and money. But how do we teach our littlest citizens about this part of life? My personal thought on the issue: Daily live out what you want your children to model and they will eventually catch on...but many grkids.com readers have asked me to address that question in depth, so here goes:
Capturing Memories 02/08/2010
 We had chocolate cake one nice late-autumn afternoon for no good reason. Friends were visiting that day and there were lots of kids running around playing and making merry. One child must have slathered up in frosting, because the next day I noticed a perfect chocolate hand print on the outside of my patio door. At the time I was too busy to clean it, but I remember thinking, get that off of there before the weather turns. Well, I'm sure you know what happened...I forgot about it and before long, snow was swirling and I had a frozen chocolate hand print on my patio door. I stared at that thing until spring, when the weather thawed out enough and I could scrub the chocolate frosting off. That's an example of a hand print I wanted erased! But aren't there times when you think, man, these kids are growing so fast and you just want to hold onto any memory of them? Fortunately we live in the same town as Deana Brownlow, a mother with a passion to help others capture their memories in clay. She has a wide range of products, but most of them revolve around the impressions your little ones makes in clay. Color, embellishment, size, and other options are then decided to make your tile uniquely yours. Captured In Clay offers several ways to get impression made:
Captured in Clay has been taking impressions since 2002 and was the first in the Grand Rapid area. She perfected the process of creating great impressions with amazing detail! She uses soft non-toxic clay that is formulated especially for tiny little fingers and toes that’s not messy. Each tile is personalized by selecting from fun choices of color, fonts, sizes, stamps and hanging options. (Tiles take approximately 3 ½ weeks to create). It’s easy – you bring the kids and she does the work. Here's a little more background on Deana and her company, Captured in Clay: Captured In Clay is the brainchild of Deana Brownlow who started Captured In Clay to be able to offer other parents a unique way to create lasting impressions of their kids and foot prints. Taking the concept of the plaster of paris kits one step further, Deana experimented with different clay bodies and glazes until she got the desired combination. Since that time, Deana has taken over 8000 impressions of newborns, infants, toddlers, older children, adults and pets. Captured In Clay continues to expand upon that initial product by offering and adding new dimensions to create that one-of-a-kind tile that customers will love today and cherish forever. Time and time again, customers share their positive experience and continue to come back as their families grow. “One of my favorite things about this job is to be able to watch as a family grows and to be a small part of that. I love seeing customer’s coming back each time a child is born or when they refer a friend or family member. It’s been a blessing to create a product that I know will be cherished for a lifetime.” - Deana Captured In Clay Deana Brownlow 2492 Candlewick Ct., SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 616-949-9781 ofc Website: www.kidtiles.com Contact Deana to schedule your tile session. Think ahead to Mother's Day and get your appointment on the books now. Some of you know that I am a former teacher. Plus, as a mom, education is very important to me. So when I hear about new things going on in the academic world my ears perk up. I have to say, I've never heard of anything like what NorthPointe Christian is doing. They've taken traditional school and packaged it in a way that gives more flexibility while still maintaining the integrity of mainline school. Do you want to homeschool but don't know the best curriculum? Does your family need a flexible schedule for sports, music, or travel? Would you like a private education at a much lower price? Do want to partner with a school to educate your child? NorthPointe's 2-Day School program was developed to help families with these needs. They call this their CAP, or Core Academic Program. This new 2-Day School at NPCS combines a regular schedule of academic classes (language arts, math, history, science, and Bible) with alternate home instruction days. Students attend a full day of school on Mondays and Wednesdays (7th & 8th graders at the middle/high school campus) or Tuesdays and Thursdays (1st – 6th graders at the elementary campus) with other 2-Day Core Academic Program (CAP) students. On the off days the teacher will provide parents with lesson plans to teach in the home. CAP students benefit from many of the same opportunities available to full-time students such as participation in school wide spelling bees, Grandparents day, field trips, Science Olympiad, extra curricular activities including drama and sports, standardized testing, record keeping, etc. The CAP gives parents the opportunity to be involved directly in their child's education without the direct responsibility of planning curriculum choices and home education days. Plus CAP offers children time to pursue their interests to the extent they wish. If you want to learn more about this program, check out NorthPointe's website. Or, if you prefer to talk to a live person, you can contact: Laurie DeLong Home & School Partnership Coordinator NorthPointe Christian School 540 Russwood NE Grand Rapids, MI 49525 ph: 616-363-4869 Let me know if you try this out and what you think. I love that there are options out there for education. One size does not fit all when We are just blessed with wonderful things to give away at the moment! Did you know that there is a business in town that specializes in turning cookies into works of art? At Cookies by Design, people are hard at work crafting bouquets of cookies that look ALMOST too beautiful to eat. And now, just for Valentine's Day, we are giving away a 7-Cookie Bouquet valued at $51.99! To enter to win this contest, you need to visit the Cookies by Design website and tell me (leave a comment on this blog post) which product appeals to you the most and why. Any while you're there, you might just want to place an order or two :) The winner will be chosen on February 11, giving you enough time to pick up your order for Valentine's Day. Good luck! This contest is closed and the lucky winner is Jaime. Enjoy your cookies and thanks all for entering. Keep watch for more exciting giveaways on grkids.com!  The VanAndel Arena will soon be home to SuperBull, a professional Bull-Riding Tour that will be making it's inaugural stop in Grand Rapids Feb 12-13. Tickets range from $10-$40, but here they are free if you are a Great GiveAway Winner! If you are available to go to a show at 7:30pm on Saturday night, leave a comment below and you will be entered to win one of (2) 4-packs to the event. Good luck! Winners will be notified on February 11 and your tickets will be held at will-call under your name. This contest is now closed. Winners were Melissa and Meredith. Than | Welcome!This blog is a place to share the ways we spend our time with kids. A pleasant experience should not be wasted! Where did you go, what did you do, how was it? We all want to know. I will be documenting the things that I do with my two kids,6 & 3 and I'll be sure to add in a little commentary along the way. Go Ahead! Grab My Button!
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