Jazz Festival, History Playground Top off Exciting Weekend

Happy Friday to you all!

There's lots going on this weekend to help you have a good weekend.

First up, if you like music, there's plenty of it. The Lake Arbor Jazz Festival (http://lakearborjazz.com/) will be going strong starting at noon Saturday. Acts performing include Yvonne Johnson, Marcus Young and Frederic Yonnet, as well as the bands On Kee, Secret Society and Frame Werk.  The festival is FREE and on the grounds of the Lake Arbor Community Center, 10100 Lake Arbor Way in Mitchelville.


If you like local history, also on Saturday check out the Blast in the Past: Hands on History Playground at the Montpelier Mansion in Laurel. The event just costs $1 per person and provides access to the grounds where they will be offering hands on demonstrations of what life was like 200 years ago.  A lot of fun, and closer than Williamsburg!

It's going to creep back up in the heat this weekend, as well, so fun activities, like checking out the new Ice Age flick or going to the Newseum, might be fun.  The Newseum is running its kids-get-in-free special, so any paying adult can bring up to 6 kids with them at no additional cost.

Also, today you can get a free chilled Refresher beverage from Starbucks from Noon to 3 pm. Details are here.

That's all for now. Hope you have a great weekend.

-Hyattsville Mom

Hungry? Me, too

Asian Salad from Nourishingmeals.com. Yummy!

Hey there! Hope all is well with you.

Short post today. One, the hubby is well and going to work today. The vomiting all stopped (yippee) Tuesday night. Wednesday was recuperatory, and he was easy to take care of as all his tummy would handle was crackers and sports drinks.

I, however, was hungry! And a friend of mine pointed me to a totally cool website with tasty, yummy recipes: http://www.nourishingmeals.com/p/recipes.html.  Just the name of the site, Nourishing Meals, makes me salivate. Everything looks tasty and nutritious. And, even better, if you scroll down the left sidebar, they have a cool subsection called Summer Recipes. This is excellent because it's nice to have recipes that fit the summer weather and require little oven use (so they don't heat up the house).

Well, that's it for me today. Catch you tomorrow.

Hyattsville Mom

Happening today: Margie Lynch, the Bubble Lady at the Beltsville library. For more information, visit: http://www.pgcmls.info/SRP2012A.  Check out our calendar for cool items to do around town.

Book Wednesday: Underworlds

"Isn't it supposed to be Book Tuesday?" you ask. Alright, alright, I can't slide anything past my wylie audience. 

Yes indeedy, it is supposed to be Book Tuesday. However,  Book Tuesday was thrown off by my husband, who was home sick, vomiting most of the day. The kids and I actually fled (vomit is vomitrocious, as Muffy Crosswire [from Arthur] would say) for the morning [we had some planned stuff at the library to do, but I was glad to be away from the sounds of retching and vomiting that seemed to carry through the house].  However, when we returned, we brought our love and tender care, as well as Pedialyte popsicles and Gatorade, which eventually went down and stopped any hydration issues.

As such, it's Tuesday night about 11:45 pm, and I'm just getting around to writing this, and I suspect it will be after midnight (hence Book Wednesday) when I finish.

Today's mention is a great new series from Tony Abbott: Underworlds. The children's author is probably most famous for his Secrets of Droon series, which includes almost 50 books (44 to be exact, if you believe Wikipedia; and this late at night, I tend to be pretty trusting of the site).  

A couple people told me my kids would love Droon. They didn't. Though, this may just have been a reflection on the time of life they were in, or personal tastes, or something more nebulous that I'll never figure out (though, truthfully, I didn't analyze the situation too deeply; I mean, who has time for that kind of analysis? I'm sure it's a great series; just wasn't for us). 

However, my son started reading the new Underworlds series a couple months ago and loves it. There are currently two published books in the series: Underworlds 1: The Battle Begins and Underworlds 2: When Monsters Escape. The series is for kids 7 and older and follows a trio of friends who get immersed into a magical world of ancient mythical creatures and gods when their friend, Dana, disappears into the floor of the school in front of their very eyes. The books is action-packed from page 1. I know, because I happened to pick up the book to see what my son was reading and thought, "Wow, this is good!" Also, it's nice that the book gives kids exposure to many of the famous creatures from varying cultural myths, including Greek, Roman, Norse and Egyptian.

The third book in the series, Revenge of the Scorpion King, is due out in August.  So, if your kids are looking for an exciting chapter book to read, check this one out. It would also be fun as a bedtime chapter book to read aloud to kids.

That's it for today. Hopefully, tomorrow (and today for that matter) will be less vomitrocious than the not-so-book-Tuesday.

-Hyattsville Mom

I see London, I see France; Wait, you're not wearing any ...

Recently,  my daughter attended a ballet recital. She acquitted herself well on stage. However, now that everything's all said and done, I would like to get some feedback on one thing.

A couple of weeks before the recital, the ballet teacher had a quick meeting with the parents to talk about the recital. The girls in my daughter's class are 5- and 6-year-olds.  The ballet teacher suggested they not wear underpants to the performance. If your mouth has fallen open, do close it (it's quite possible to do, as I managed to keep mine shut when she said it--despite the urge to shout: "What you talkin' 'bout Willis?")

She went on to say that the recital leotards were cut narrow and you might get panties showing. She mentioned that some girls in previous shows were upset they had polka dot underwear showing, so I totally get her forewarning parents. However, I think the warning about the cut of the performance leotard should have been enough. The suggestion that you have 5-year-olds go without their skivvies for the sake of appearances is, well, a bit much, in my opinion.  I can only assume everyone was giving her the same, "Are you nuts?" stare as myself because she kept receding in her suggestion as the meeting went on. She offered to talk to the girls about the prospect of going au naturel in case some of the girls balked at the idea (gee, you think!). Then she said again how embarrassing it was for the girls who had the polka dots peeking out. Then she finally suggested the girls wear flesh toned underpants.  (In the end, we settled on white underpants, to match the leotard color -- however, it was kind of a moot point, because their was a skirt that covered the bottom portion of the leotard anyway.)

I'm totally into having kids look nice when they're performing, but some things, like whether or not to wear underpants under your clothing, really shouldn't be presented to children by their ballet teacher.  If a parent chose that as a solution to the cut of the leotard, that's fine. But, I didn't really like the idea of her suggesting that should be our solution, or offering to talk to the kids about it.  I don't know. Maybe I'm just too old fashioned. While I get that people with a vehemence for visible pantylines go buff, I totally love my underpants, and my kid does, too.

So, I am curious what are your thoughts? OK to suggest bare behinds? Or too much?

-Hyattsvillle Mom

Happy Birthday, America!!

Happy 4th of July to you! It's our great nation's birthday. So, every birthday needs a birthday cake!

Here are some links to fun Independence Day cakes (and other treats)!

The edible eagle!

Edible eagle: http://familyfun.go.com/4th-of-july/4th-of-july-recipes/patriotic-recipes/edible-eagles-699768/

Fresh Fruit Flag: http://familyfun.go.com/4th-of-july/4th-of-july-recipes/patriotic-recipes/fruit-flag-686767/

Cake: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2011/07/01/independence-day-cake/

Red, White & Blue cake

Red White and Blue cake: http://unusual2tasty.blogspot.com/2010/06/cake-tuesday-red-white-and-blue.html

Another Red, White and Blue Cake: http://thewhimsicalcupcake.wordpress.com/2011/07/04/independence-day-cake-red-white-and-blue-vanilla-cake/

Patriotic Cupcakes: http://diaryofaladybird.blogspot.com/2010/07/independence-day-cupcakes.html

Patriotic cupcakes!

Well, now I'm salivating!

Have a happy 4th. I'm going to be hanging with the family the next few days.  I'll start posting again next week.

-Hyattsville Mom

Book Tuesday: Patriotic Reading for kids

Well, in honor of our patriotism week, I thought for book Tuesday, we'd look at some books and websites that teach kids about American patriotism, and in particular about the 4th.

Here are a few books:

The Story of the Fourth of July. By Alice Dalgliesh.   The publisher says of the book: "Two-time Newbery Honor author Alice Dalgliesh makes history come alive in this accessible story of America's birthday."

Fireworks, Picnics, and Flags by James Cross Giblin. The publisher describes the book: "This spirited look at our national birthday explores the stories behind the familiar symbols of the Fourth of July and tells how they have come to be associated with the holiday. It will make the Fourth of July more meaningful for readers young and old."

Independence Day: Birthday of the United States by Elaine Landau.


















Each of the above titles is available at the public library. The PG county system also has a special section on holiday books, including the 4th of July, here: http://catalog.pgcmls.info/polaris/Children/default.aspx?catid=5.


If you're looking for good websites, check out these two:


http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/fourth-of-july/


http://holidays.kaboose.com/july4-why.html


That's it for today.


-Hyattsville Mom

Patriotic Week

We need more than just a single day to celebrate our nation declaring its independence from those tea-taxing Brits. So, this is our July 4 week of posts. Each day, we'll post something related to celebrating the 4th of July or our great nation.

Today, here's a primer to help you get ready for fireworks. If you don't want to fool with the crowds on the National Mall, check out these local jurisdictions offering fireworks.

• Buddy Attick Park in Greenbelt (Crescent Rd. near Kenilworth Ave.). Fireworks start at 9 pm. The Greenbelt Concert Band will play from 5:45-6:45 pm, and there will be a Community Drum Circle from 7:15-8:30 pm. For more information, call the fireworks hotline, 301-474-0646.
• University of Maryland in College Park. Hosted by the city and university, the evening starts at 7 pm with a free concert by The Fabulous Hubcaps on the campus' Lot 1. Fireworks start around 9 pm, and will last 30 minutes. Detailed location information is online at  http://newsdesk.umd.edu/uniini/release.cfm?ArticleID=1918. 
• Allen Pond Park in Bowie (3330 Northview Drive) will be the site of the city's annual fireworks. Some form of entertainment is excepted beforehand, but not listed on the city's website. Fireworks are scheduled to start about 9:15. For more information, visit http://www.cityofbowie.org/Government/CommunityServices/SpecialEvents/fourthjuly.asp or call 301-809-3011.

Have a good one.

-Hyattsville Mom