Perth, Australia

I have always wanted to go to Australia. There are so many amazing places to see and visit- Queensland, the Great Barrier Reef, Perth, the Sydney Opera House, more and more places spring to mind. Wait- Why Perth? Because it has a cool name and seems like a nice place to visit for so many reasons. Actually, according to The Economist, it is the eighth most livable city on the planet. Sweet, right?

Perth is the capital of western Australia and has a population of 1.74 million people, and was originally occupied by the Whadjuk Noongar some 40,000 years ago. Perth is also well known for its nickname the “City of Light.” It is called this because residents lit up all their house lights and streetlights as US Astronaut John Glenn flew over their city, twice! Once in 1962 when he was orbiting in the Friendship 7, and again in 1998.


Perth [Read more…]

Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins Recipe

I got this recipe from a friend who says it’s the only way her kid will ever eat oatmeal! I love those recipes where you sneak in something healthy and kids don’t know about it. The kids are too busy marveling at the bursting blueberries in the muffin they will never even question about oatmeal. Besides the bursting flavor I love how little sugar it uses – only one third of a cup! My family enjoys this as a breakfast on the go,an afternoon snack or even a sweet dessert throughout the summer. Easy, delicious, quick, what more can you ask for?

Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

Ingredients
1 1/3 cups flour
3/4 cups oats
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup fresh blueberries
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 ( my oven runs hot, so 375 works perfectly for these muffins, adjust the time) Grease muffins cups or line your muffin pan with liners.
Toss the oats and flour together. Add in the sugar baking powder and salt. In another bowl combine the wet ingredients , leave out the berries [Read more…]

Birthday Party Food Ideas to Please Kids and Adults

When it comes to throwing a birthday party for your kids, you may be keen to change
it up a bit this year when it comes to the food selection. Sure pizza is easy. So are hot
dogs and hamburgers. Throw in some chips, soda, and a cake and you’re good to go,
right? But kids and parents alike can get bored with the same old stuff. And if you’ve
followed current events at all, you may be aware that childhood obesity is a major issue
at the moment, reportedly affecting one in three children in this country. So filling your
kids and their friends with sugars and fats simply may not be part of your agenda moving
forward. And any parents that join you in the festivities will no doubt appreciate having
healthy options on hand. So here are just a few party food ideas that are sure to please
everyone.

Let’s start with the notion of a main dish. Unless you want kids spreading germs and
racking up the calorie count as they graze through a spread of artificial foods like chips
and candy, you should probably limit them to eating at certain times during the party
rather than having tons of food sitting out for the duration. Of course, you could set out
plenty of fruits and veggies without worry since these items provide for a healthy snack
regardless of how much kids ingest. At the very least it’s better than cookies or candy if
you want to provide snacks for the kids. But when it comes to the entrée you’ll probably
want something that is equal parts delicious and nutritious. So what can you offer that is
healthy, easy, and appealing to both kids and adults?

For one thing, you could make pizza or burgers. Wait…what? Didn’t we just agree
that these foods [Read more…]

Hop Along Friday!

Welcome to the Hop Along Friday!
As most of you may be aware of, GFC will no
longer be available to self hosted blogs and non blogger blogs
shortly. We don’t want to leave all of those people out! So, we are
adjusting our hop to include everyone! There are other ways to
follow blogs such as Google+, Networked Blogs, and various other
options. We want everyone to link up!

Here is what we would love for you to do. Please link up your blog and
at the end of it, leave how you would like to be followed.
Example: Chubby Cheeks Thinks *Google+”
This way, readers aren’t coming to your blog and are at a loss for how
to follow you. It is simple [Read more…]

Fun Finds! Today’s Savings and Deals


Right now at Saveology you can pay $7 for a 2 Year Subscription to Eating Well Magazine!! You will be saving $12.98 (65%). EatingWell delivers the information and inspiration to make healthy eating a way of life with great, easy recipes (usually in 45 minutes or less), the latest nutrition science, gorgeous photos and crisp, evocative prose.
Kidorable is a great site for kid friendly items! They have the cutest English Rose Umbrella and Boots that are on sale right now! Below you will see the savings on which items and the code [Read more…]

Fabulous Fathers Event – Join Free #CMediaMagic

Dads are special to us at the Collective Media Magic team. We’ve teamed up to bring you one fabulous prize pack to tempt dad, whether he is techy, health conscious, or free spirited.
Just Like June, Have Sippy Will Travel, Closer To Lucy, 3 Princes and A Princess 2, and That’s What She Said would love for you to join us for this fun, free, follower boosting event! By participating you receive one free link of your choice on our rafflecopter form.

To Participate:
1) Write a Post about the event. Feel free to use the information provided in this post.
2) When you’ve completed your post, please [Read more…]

Summer is Nearly Here- Are Your Kids in Camp Yet? Oasis Day Camps #NYC #NJ

Can you believe that summer is almost here? I can’t. Since school will soon be over, it’s time to figure out what to do for summer. One of the best ideas is to find a great summer camp. My Little Man will soon be attending Oasis Day Camp.

Oasis Day Camp is accredited by the American Camp Association and has won the New York State Department of Education’s Promising Practices Award for children’s programming. They run their camps at other institutions in order to keep costs down while not sacrificing quality or high standards, which are very important to them. (and to you too, right mommy?) Why pay through the nose when you can have a great experience for your child without taking out a second mortgage?

When I spoke to president and CEO of Oasis Children’s services earlier today, Bernie Tessler, he told me that they never hire high school kids to take care of the Oasis Campers. Why? Because they only hire qualified workers with experience dealing with children. As a mother and a teacher, I never understood why anyplace would hire young kids to take care of REALLY young kids. With a few exceptions, most high school kids are not responsible enough to be in charge of little kids. And in an atmosphere where there will be non-swimmers and water, sunblock that needs to be re-applied, and sports? This mommy is much comforted that there will only be qualified employees with her son. Or he wouldn’t be going. For Little [Read more…]

Wordless Wednesday! With linky *WATERFALLS!!!!!

Please leave me a comment with your Wordless Wednesday [Read more…]