New York Chica

I just received an email about a great event that is happening this weekend on March 20, 2010.  The Children’s Museum of Manhattan will be offering free entry to everyone all day this Saturday from 10am to 5pm.  It’s an all day event to celebrate their 20th anniversary.

The museum is located at 212 W. 83rd. St. by the 1 and 9 train.  For those of you who have strollers (for the little ones), please keep in mind there will be limited space so come early or let your kids roam around and leave the strollers at home .

They will have different activities for everyone such as Yoga for kids presented by Olay, Pampers will be sponsoring a Kid’s Zone, Story Circle from 12-12:30pm, Baby Loves Salsa from 1-2pm and lots more!

For more information, visit www.cmom.org.

Last week I was invited to an event that was sponsored by Ragu® pasta sauce for their “Feed Your Kids Well – Recipe For A Good Start” campaign.  It was a private event that I was excited to be a part of because my family and I love Ragu® pasta sauce.  We use it for a lot of our meals and for each half cup of sauce is a whole serving of vegetables, which is perfect for two picky kids in our household.

Upon arriving, I couldn’t help but notice the smells that permeated the air. My daughter immediately asked if she was going to eat pasta because pasta is her all-time favorite food and it was literally everywhere you looked.

The best part of the event (besides the food, of course!) was that we were going to meet Molly Ringwald and have a meal with Food Network’s newest star, Marcela Valladolid, who is the host of the show, “Mexican Made Easy.”

I don’t have to explain who Molly Ringwald is because if you don’t know who she is, where have you been? She starred in a bunch of movies such as Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club & For Keeps – just to name a few.   In my opinion, she’s a great person for this campaign since she also has 3 children.

After everyone settled into their seats, Molly Ringwald took the stand and explained to everyone why she decided to partner with Ragu®.  This is a part of what she said:

“I might be known for my roles in movies and on TV, but my most important role is being a mom,” said Molly Ringwald, actress and mother of three. “I am so proud to partner with Ragu® to recognize all the special things that parents do to give their kids a good start — like helping them with their homework, encouraging them to play outside and making sure their kids eat their veggies,” she said.  ”Thanks to Ragu®, my family gets a delicious, nutritious meal and I get extra time to do the things I know will give my children a good start – like finger painting and family reading time.”

After her great speech, everyone was divided into three groups.  Each group was then brought to a station that was also divided into three.  One was Lasagna making, the other was eating a sit-down meal with Marcela and the last one was a round-table discussion on how parents can get their kids to eat healthy.

The group I was in was the yellow team so the first thing we did was make a meatless lasgana.  At first I thought we were going to use the no-boil noodles but we actually used regular lasagna noodles.  It’s a great time saver and you save money too.

Immediately after the lasagna making, it was time to get our grub on.  The table looked amazing.  I was kind of star-struck at first because we were going to have a sit-down meal with Marcela Valladolid.  But after hearing her talk about her ways of cooking and how she incorporates healthy eating with her son, I realized that she’s just like the rest of us and afterwards I felt very comfortable.

Although it was a rushed meal (it was the other group’s turn to eat), it was fantastic.  The food was amazingly good.  We ate meatless lasagna, no-fry chicken parmesan, skillet pasta and beef dinner and a nice mixed green salad with a side of Italian bread & bread sticks.  My daughter and I were in heaven.

Ragu® and Molly Ringwald has also partnered together to launch the “Recipe for a Good Start” Contest. Through the month of March, you can send in an original recipe using Ragu® pasta sauce along with a 250 word essay sharing their tips and tricks for giving their kids a healthy start in life.

The top three finalists will cook at a live cook-off in New York City in August 2010 and compete for the grand prize of a $5,000 college scholarship for his/her child.  Visit Recipeforagoodstart.com for more information and all the details.

Can you tell we had a blast?

Thanks to Ragu and everyone at BSM Media for a wonderful time. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience.

You would think that by the time your youngest (that is, if you have kids over 5 years old) is 4-5 years old, the mommy brain would go away.

WRONG!

I have been suffering from Mommy brain ever since I was 21!!!! In case you’re wondering, I was almost 22 when I had my son and it hasn’t gotten any better. In fact, it’s getting worse and I’m getting worried. I’m worried because I don’t want to get Alzheimer’s when I’m an old lady.  I want to be able to remember the good times I had with the people that I care about and love and I also want to remember the happy memories too.

I’ve heard there are many products that help with memory like Ginkgo Biloba and other stuff but I would even forget to take that! LOL

Here are just top 5 things that I’ve forgotten this week:

1. Pay our  car payment & mortgage – ON TIME!

2. Eat breakafast.  I remembered once I started feeling dizzy. This one is odd because I LOVE food but I hate making breakfast so maybe that’s why.

3. Put gas in my car.  I drove around with the gas gauge in RED! Not a good feeling.

4. Went to the supermarket to buy milk because we were all out and I bought everything else EXCEPT the damn milk! – Even things I didn’t need.

5.  Brush my 5 year old’s teeth before school. We had to drive back so I can brush them. I REFUSE to let her go to school with morning breath – That is just nasty!

How about you? Do you have a case of Mommy Brain or Daddy Brain? I would love for you to share your “moments” so I won’t feel alone.

Photocredit: http://www.mommybrainlife.com/

My four year old and I have lots of conversations in the car.  Some conversations make me laugh and some make me wonder, “where does  she hear this stuff from”.  Anyway, they’re all so cute because it lets me me know what she’s thinking.

Here are two small conversations I just had to share with everyone.  It made me laugh out loud because she’ll come out and just say some random things.

4 y.o.  – Mama, that’s a hospital truck, right?

Me – Hospital truck? (looking around really quickly while I drive) Oh yea, that is actually an ambulance baby (yes, I still call her baby).

4 y.o. – What is that for?

Me – It’s how they take sick or hurt people to the hospital.

4 y.o. – And dead people too, right mama?

OMG! I had no idea she would say something like that.  So I had to say,

Me – Yes, and dead people too.

Immediately I changed the subject because I knew the conversation would go somewhere else along those same lines.  I was not ready for that!

Another funny conversation happened while driving home from picking her up from school one day.  She said she was hungry so she asked for lunch and said she wanted pizza.  So I told her that right before we go home, that we’ll get pizza.  This is the conversation that we had in the car:

4 y.o. – Mama, I’m hungry, can we have pizza for lunch?

Me – That sounds like a good idea. Right before we get home, we’ll get it.

4 y.o. – But I don’t want pizza at home (she meant she didn’t want Ellio’s pizza).  I want triangle pizza from the pizza place.

Me – Oh, excuse me missy (saying it with a laugh).  Ok, then, we’ll go to the pizzeria and get you triangle pizza.

4 y.o. – YAY!!! I love triangle pizza mama.

I had no idea a 4 year old would know how to distinguish between frozen pizza and “pizzeria” pizza.  C’mon, at her age, a pizza is a pizza…right?

It’s true, kids say the darnest things.

Do you have some wacky conversations you’d like to share? I would love to hear them!!

Happy Sunday!

There’s nothing I hate more than a bully.  When I hear horror stories from kids, it just breaks my heart.  I just wish I could do something to make it all better but the truth of the matter is, I can’t.  Kids have to learn how to deal with many things and sometimes parents don’t even know that their kids are being bullied but dealing with a bully is harder than we think.  It’s a sad fact but true.  Some kids have even committed suicide because they fell into a depression and could not take another day with bullies bothering them.  This has got to stop!

This reminds me of when my kids (particularly my son) were in summer camp.  I thought everything was going great because he seemed to be happy, but it wasn’t.  One day he came home upset and he was not himself. I asked him what was wrong.  He said nothing is wrong but I knew he was lying because he wasn’t “himself”.  As a parent, I know when my kids are not themselves. Read the rest of this entry →

Yup! That’s what my kids think (& say behind their breath) by they way they huff and puff when I tell them to do chores and stuff around the house.

You wanna know what I make them do?

Here’s the list (and it’s not every.single.day!):

• I make them brush their teeth.
• Take showers everyday (if I’m lucky!)
• They MUST clean their own rooms.
• My son (12 yrs.) has trash duty everyday!
• My daughter (10 yrs.) clears the table every nite (if I’m lucky!).
• The older two takes care of the animals. We have one dog and one cat.  They need to make sure the litterbox is clean, their bowls are filled with water and food and pick up the dog’s crap outside. (Yea, it sounds like alot but they wanted the animals.)
• Help with yard work.
• and whatever else comes to my mind when I’m busy doing other things (and no, it’s not blogging, lol).

They’re lucky they didn’t have my mom for a mother becuase she had my sister and I like slaves.  We did everything! Especially if we wanted to go out and play.  From the bathroom, our bedrooms, to the kitchen and floors. After we were done, we were lucky to go outside to play with our friends.

Most of the time, we weren’t even allowed to go anywhere, no matter if we cleaned or not.  She said she was afraid that someone would take us or something bad would happen to us.

If you ask me, my kids got it good! They get to play outside with their friends after they are done with their chores.

So, what do you think? Am I MEAN? Do you have your kids do chores or do you have them spoiled by doing everything for them? This definitely does NOT apply if your children are under 3…..just in case

It’s just not fair to go through so many disappointments in one week.  It’s not but I guess that’s inevitable.

So, I finally saw Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince last night.  It was OK.  I liked it but…ok, I have to be honest here….I really didn’t like it.  I still feel the need to watch a Harry Potter movie.  This one left me wanting more and I didn’t get that, unfortunately.  It’s sad because my family and I are HUGE fans and the only one that really enjoyed it was my 12 year old son.  I wanted more action, more spells and more action (yes, I know I said that already).

To say the least, it was kind of boring. Oh man, I can’t believe I said a Harry Potter movie was boring! Sorry, but I have to honest.

I did enjoy something.  The ONLY thing I did enjoy was the scenery. Hogwart’s is a very beautiful place.  The whole area is breathtaking and looks very serene.  Sometimes I wish I can go back into time and go to a school like that (as if that even exists, lol).

As always, I tend to read reviews of movies that I want to see. The reviews were so positive.  So that made us even more excited to see it because they either gave the movie an A or a B.  I really don’t understand what happened to this movie.

Or maybe it’s just us.

We’re the only ones that didn’t really take in the full effect of all the “rage and hormones” between Ron Weasley, Harry Potter and their “little flings”.  Maybe I’m being too opinionated.  All I know is this….I wanted more from this last movie. The Order of The Phoenix was so good and full of action that I automatically thought The Half-Blood Prince would’ve been as good.

I can honestly say that this movie will not be seen as often as the other ones.  I may not even buy the DVD.  Who knows.  It’s hard to say.

I REALLY hope the next one is better than this one.

Anyway, you don’t have to go by my review. This is my opinion. If you’re a Harry Potter fan like me, you may have a different view on this movie.  You might even like it.

So please,  go and see it if it’s on your must-see list and have a good time.

After you see the movie, drop by and let me know what you thought of the movie.  I would love to know what your thoughts are and I also love to read comments

They’re celebrating their new Peace & Love Bear.

(Isn't he cute?)

You’re invited to reserve a spot at Build-A-Bear Workshop on 5th Avenue & 46th. St. on July 31st. at 10AM. Parents are free and kids are only $20.

The cost includes:

• Story time with Beremy – The Most Huggable Mascot.
• FREE snack for your child.
• FREE gift for your child.
• $18 Bear Bucks gift card to make Peace & Hugs Bear or another furry friend of your choice.

You get ALL THAT for just $20! I think that is a an awesome deal.  So hurry and reserve your spot.

Reservations are REQUIRED and Space is limited so call now!

Call (toll-free) at 1-866-343-BEAR (2327)