☰

Giveaways to Giftaway: Fantasy in Lights, Callaway Gardens

Posted on by Angie

Wrapping up our Giveaways to Giftaway this year comes from our friends at Callaway Gardens, a secret gem that is only a few minutes from Auburn in Pine Mountain, GA.

Each year Callaway Gardens hosts it’s Annual Fantasy in Lights. 8 million lights. 15 dazzling scenes. 1 magical night. Fantasy In Lights is not only the South’s most spectacular holiday light and sound show, it is one of the world’s “Top 10 Places to See Holiday Lights,” as named by National Geographic Traveler.

From Christmas Tree Lane to Santa’s Workshop, we’re certain that this will keep children of all ages entertained from start to finish.

With school being out and many parents being off work, Callaway Gardens is a great option for a last minute, quick trip that will provide fun for the whole family!

Now.. On to the giveaway! Up for grabs is a 4 pack of tickets to Fantasy In Lights, The tickets MUST BE USED on December 29th or 30th. (If you cannot go one of those nights, please do not enter and take the chance away from someone who can)

How to Enter:

1. Leave a Comment here letting us know you want them.

2. Head over to the Callaway Facebook Page and give them a like.

3. Share this post using @BirminghamMommy on your Facebook page.

Giveaway will end Tuesday, December 24th at 10am. Winner will be notified via email and on our Facebook page.

Good Luck!

To see more of the pictures from our trip, check out our Callaway Fantasy in Lights Album on Facebook. Thanks to Callaway for the chance to get the pictures.

For more information on dates and how to purchase tickets visit their site.

Photography by: Scott Butler.

Take a Holiday from Weight Gain

Posted on by Angie

iStock_000002585449Small Are you feeling the weight of the Holidays? And no we don’t mean your inlaws. Did you know that the average American gains approximately 5 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years? Well, you don’t have to be average anymore. BirminghamMommy is here to help you with a few tips for getting those exercises in and trimming the fat this holiday season.

Since we here at BirminghamMommy tend to throw caution to the wind during the holidays (Hey! Do as we say not as we do.) We decided to seek a little guidance from a fitness expert.

Mary Zarate, who runs Birmingham Bootcamp says, we should be aware of the temptations and recommends planning ahead if you know you will be attending a party with some yummy goodness. Try to eat healthy that day, “get plenty of fresh fruits and veggies, fiber and balanced protein,” then go for the fruit and veggie trays first, “all holiday parties have healthy options,” filling up on those healthy foods will make you less likely to over indulge in the good tasting, but bad for your thighs type foods.

When it comes to alcohol, Mary suggests “making a spritzer with your wine, choose a low calorie beer, and always drink a glass of water in between each drink.” We think this is good advice for any party or night out. Let’s face it, the kids couldn’t care less how much you had to drink the night before, they are still going to want their breakfast before noon.

What about exercise you ask? Well, we inquired about that too because we just knew how anxious you would be to find out how to take a workout program on the road with you! Mary stresses the importance of keeping an exercise schedule, even if it is just a quick walk. Aim for 3-4 times a week, for 60 minutes, and remember that anything is better nothing. When we pressured her to recommend just one exercise, Mary said, Jump rope. “Try for 1 minute then rest, then repeat as many times as you can! Go for longer if you’re conditioned. Jumping rope is a great calorie burner, good for balance, coordination, core and also detoxifies the body.” The best thing is that it’s cheap, you don’t have to leave your house and it packs up nicely for any holiday traveling you might be doing.

Also remember if you think you are going to be sneaky and just not eat all day in an attempt to “save calories” you aren’t doing yourself any good, in fact it works in reverse, causing your metabolism to slow and your body to store everything wondering when you plan to feed it again. “If what you eat is bad, what you store is bad.” Her best advice for keeping off the weight this holiday? “Eat as natural as possible (whole grains, fruits, veggies, lean proteins) so when you splurge, your body will not hold on to it. If you eat healthy you may not have such an urge to splurge.”

Now you are armed and ready for whatever White Elephant party, Office shin dig, or family gathering that will be thrown your way over the next few weeks. Don’t worry if you slip up, New Years Resolutions are just around the corner….. We kid, we kid. (kind of.)

Mary Zarate has been a trainer for more than 10 years and is certified through NSCA and NESTA. She is a certified athletic trainer with a Masters in athletic training and has been teaching Birmingham Adventure Bootcamp, an outdoor, year round fitness program for more than 4 years. To learn more about the BootCamp Program visit their site.  Tell them BirminghamMommy sent you!

Busy Mommy Bonding: Christmas (or Hannukah) Slime

Posted on by Angie

Slime has absolutely nothing to do with the holidays, unless you call it Reindeer Snot or Elf Snot. Regardless, we needed something fun to do with our kiddos, so we made slime!  We made red and green for Christmas colors, but you could do blue for Hannukah, or choose some Kwanzaa colors.
To make slime, all you need is borax, white glue, water, and food coloring.

Easy:
Borax (in the detergent aisle)
Elmer’s School Glue (clear makes translucent, white makes opaque)
water
food color

  • Mix 1 tsp Borax in 1 cup of water and stir to completely dissolve.
  • In a separate container, mix 1/2 c glue with 1/2 c water, add a few drops of your desired food coloring.
  • Pour the glue mixture into the borax mixture and stir. It will instantly start to polymerize. The more you work it, the more like putty it will become. There will be a bit of leftover colored water in the bowl. Just toss it.

Keep it in a ziploc bag to prevent it from drying out. Don’t eat it!

Event of the Week: Happy Holidays from Railroad Park

Posted on by Angie

Tis the season to have fun! Head down to Railroad Park as Mayor William A. Bell, Sr. presents Happy Holidays from Railroad Park.

This year the ceremonial tree lighting event will feature live music from Yung Vokalz & Percision Grooves, free carnival games and Babe Ruff from the Birmingham Barons! Plus, George’s Boxcar Café will be serving up some tasty treats! This event is free and open to the public thanks to the generosity of the City of Birmingham’s Mayor’s Office, Summit Media Group, Bud’s Best Cookies, Fun Source Rentals, SanGuard Security, the Birmingham Barons and Railroad Park Foundation. We look forward to seeing you! Happy Holidays!

Saturday, December 21st, 3pm – 5pm.

Giveaways to Giftaway: $50 from MovieTickets.com

Posted on by Angie

Everyone loves going to the movies, especially around the Holidays!! Up for grabs are some vouchers totaling $50 from MovieTickets.com as a part of their Holiday Movie Preview.

With Disney’s Frozen in theaters now, and The Hobbit, Saving Mr. Banks, and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty coming out soon, it’s the perfect time to head to the movies with the family. MovieTickets .com http://www.movietickets.com/redir.asp?uid=1517  is offering $50 in movie tickets to one winner during the MovieTickets .com Holiday Movie Preview Giveaway.

Avoid holiday movie sell-outs and long lines by purchasing advance tickets on http://www.movietickets.com/redir.asp?uid=1517 .  MovieTickets.com Gift Cards make it easy to give something they’ll love.  Gift cards can be mailed or emailed, and are available in any denomination.

To enter:

1. Leave a comment here letting us know what movie you would like to see.

2. Share this giveaway with your friends on Facebook (make sure to use @BirminghamMommy.com)

This giveaway will end on Wednesday, December 18th at 6pm. Winner will be notified via email and on our Facebook page. Vouchers must be used by 12/31/13

 

 

Holiday Tipping: Who Gets What?

Posted on by Angie

“To tip” comes from the acronym “to insure promptness.” Although tipping is now thought of as a distinctively American practice, it was actually an Old World tradition that did not take hold until after the Civil War.

It seems like we always find ourselves in a rush to get hair cuts in before Christmas or maybe we’re lucky enough be able to get our hair and make up done for a special party. Maybe you have someone that helps you around the house with the never ending cleaning or a caregiver that helps with the child wrangling and chauffeuring.  The list of people that you could tip is probably longer than your actual shopping list. The question now is, do you tip extra because it’s the holidays and how do you decide who gets what?

According to this recent article on US News here are a few of the going rates:

Day care teachers and nannies: For day care teachers, cash gifts are definitely appreciated and, in some cases, expected. Consider joining up with other parents to give each teacher $100 to $300. Think of it more as a holiday gift than a tip. Meanwhile, full-time nannies have salaries, and a standard tip would be to give an additional check equal to their weekly paycheck.

Cleaning service provider: Give the value of one visit. If you usually pay $100 per week, then give at least an extra $100 around the holidays.

Regular hairstylist, trainer, aesthetician and other service providers: Similar to the cleaning service recommendation, consider giving a tip equal to the value of one visit. This guideline only applies to people you see regularly (more than once a month). Otherwise, a 20 percent tip per visit without an additional holiday boost is standard.

People to skip: Here’s some good news for your budget. There’s no need to tip the owner of an establishment (like a hair salon), salaried staff (like store clerks), full-service gas attendants, furniture delivery people (delivery charges are included) or a flower delivery person, Bowman says.

Final words of advice: Tipping 10 to 15 percent is old school, Bowman says. The new standard is 20 percent and up. And if you’re a regular customer at a restaurant, you might want to consider leaving more to guarantee that you get good service on each visit.

What are your rules for tipping when it comes to the Holidays?

Birmingham Events Calendar: December 15th – December 22nd

Posted on by Angie

It’s so hard to believe the we are closing out another year’s worth of weekly calendars. As things are picking up for you in your preparation for the upcoming holidays, parties, and family gatherings, things are winding down for us here at BirminghamMommy. This will be our last full calendar of 2013. Make sure to follow us on Facebook. We’ll be posting various events there between now and the end of the year.

Thank you so much for coming back here each week and making us a part of your routine! We look forward to seeing you in the New Year!

It’s Not Our Fault if Your Kids are Bored!

Sunday December 15th:

Zoolight Safari – Birmingham Zoo
Celebrate the Holidays at Wells Fargo ZooLight Safari. Plan ahead for this exciting holiday-centric event! Be amazed by more than half a million lights, holiday music and plenty of festive activities as the Zoo comes alive for 18 nights of fun in this transformed winter wonderland!
$8 Non-members
Members free
5pm – 9pm

The Seasoned Performers Present The Magic of Christmas – Homewood Public Library
Join us for as the Seasoned Performers, Alabama’s only professionally run senior theatre troupe, presents a charming collection of yuletide tales, tunes, and reminiscences that the whole family will enjoy. Light refreshments will be served.
3pm

—————————————————————————————

Monday December 16th:

Holiday Monday Movie – Homewood Library
Join us for hot movie popcorn and a cool holiday movie.
3:30

—————————————————————————————

Tuesday December 17th:

A Roger Day Christmas – Hoover Public Library
Sing-a-long with Roger Day and stick around after the show for Season’s Eatings and Greetings with Santa. In the Library Theatre. Come early, limited seating.
6:30pm

Family Tours – Birmingham Museum of Art
FREE // Meet in the Main Lobby
Join us for an in-gallery family experience! Children aged 3 – 8 and their adult companions are invited to join Museum educators to explore our collection, discover activities that make looking at art fun and exciting, and create new family memories about art.

No reservations required. Family Tours are also available by appointment for groups of 10 or more children aged 3 – 8. For more information or to schedule a tour, call 205.254.2964.
10:30am

Storytime for All Ages – Homewood Public Library
Story Time
10:30am

—————————————————————————————

Wednesday December 18th:

Family Story Time with Mr Mac – North Shelby Library
Storyteller Extraordinaire – Come join Mr Mac and his musical storytime complete with puppets! All Ages, no registration required.
10:45am

Storytime – Barnes and Noble Summit
The energetic little mouse from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is back with a host of holiday antics. Come see what he does with popcorn and string!
11am

—————————————————————————————

Thursday December 19th

Mommy and Me Storytime – Homewood Public Library
Story Time for our younger patrons (birth to 30 mo.) and their lap partner.
10:30

—————————————————————————————

Friday December 20th:

Stories on the Mountain – Ruffner Mountain Nature Center
What a perfect way to enjoy a crisp, cold night – bundled up around a warm toasty fire listening to entertaining stories from Storyteller Zechariah Hook. This event is perfect the entire family. After he spins his tales, we will indulge in S ‘Mores and cocoa.

Tickets:
$5/ $7 (non-member)
6:30pm

Zoolight Safari – Birmingham Zoo
Celebrate the Holidays at Wells Fargo ZooLight Safari. Plan ahead for this exciting holiday-centric event! Be amazed by more than half a million lights, holiday music and plenty of festive activities as the Zoo comes alive for 18 nights of fun in this transformed winter wonderland!
$8 Non-members
Members free
5pm – 9pm

—————————————————————————————

Saturday December 21st:

Zoolight Safari – Birmingham Zoo
Celebrate the Holidays at Wells Fargo ZooLight Safari. Plan ahead for this exciting holiday-centric event! Be amazed by more than half a million lights, holiday music and plenty of festive activities as the Zoo comes alive for 18 nights of fun in this transformed winter wonderland!
$8 Non-members
Members free
5pm – 9pm

Happy Holidays from Railroad Park
Tis the season to have fun! Come join us for Mayor William A. Bell, Sr. presents Happy Holidays from Railroad Park. This year our ceremonial tree lighting event will feature live music from Yung Vokalz & Percision Grooves, free carnival games and Babe Ruff from the Birmingham Barons!
3pm – 5pm

Bart’s Art Cart – Birmingham Museum of Art
This drop-in art program for kids and families features a different theme from our galleries and art activity each month. Stop by to make art with Bart! Ornaments // Hanging decorations are common in many cultures. Make your own for the holidays!
11am – 1pm

Storytime – Barnes and Noble Summit
The energetic little mouse from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is back with a host of holiday antics. Come see what he does with popcorn and string!
11am

—————————————————————————————

Sunday December 22nd:

Zoolight Safari – Birmingham Zoo
Celebrate the Holidays at Wells Fargo ZooLight Safari. Plan ahead for this exciting holiday-centric event! Be amazed by more than half a million lights, holiday music and plenty of festive activities as the Zoo comes alive for 18 nights of fun in this transformed winter wonderland!
$8 Non-members
Members free
5pm – 9pm

—————————————————————————————

Local Attractions Open Daily!

McWane Science Center:

IMAX
McWane Science Center’s IMAX® Dome Theater puts you in the center of the action by projecting breathtaking quality images onto the 5-story-tall dome screen and delivering intense surround sound through almost 3 tons of speakers and subwoofers.
Now Showing: Flight of the Butterflies, Titans of the Ice Age

Unearthing Alabama’s Ice Age – through December 31st, 2013
McWane Science Center is home to Alabama’s second largest natural history collection. Made up of over 500,000 specimens and objects pertaining to the natural history of the state, this important collection focuses on the preservation, education, and research of Alabama’s rich biodiversity and paleobiodiversity. One of the more significant subsets of the collection is Alabama’s largest collection of Late Pleistocene faunal remains – or Ice Age fossils.

Made up of nearly 10,000 cataloged specimens, the McWSC Pleistocene collection contains a unique diversity of fauna that not only includes those native to North America, but migrants to the state from both South America and the Old World. This collection includes mammals, both extant and extinct, reptiles, amphibians, birds, fishes, and botanical remains collected from both cave and stream localities in the state. Extinct mammals represented in the McWSC collection include mammoths, mastodons, giant beavers, saber-toothed cats, giant armadillos, tapirs, peccaries, and giant ground sloths.

This spring, visitors will have an opportunity to view some of the fossils in the collection with a new exhibit titled — “Unearthing Alabama’s Ice Age.” This exhibit will not only highlight many of the Ice Age animals from the McWane Science Center Collection, but will highlight and dispel many of the common misconceptions surrounding the Ice Age in the state. The goal is for visitors to have a better understanding and appreciation for this time in Alabama. For example, guests might learn that Alabama was on average only five degrees colder than today, glaciers did not reach farther south than southern Illinois or that all the Ice Age animals did not go extinct at the end of the Ice Age. While the largest animals, such as mastodons, giant ground sloths, and saber-tooth cats died out, nearly all the animals that are living in Alabama today were also around in the Ice Age.

The Unearthing Alabama’s Ice Age Alabama display is located in the City Gallery on Level 2 of the museum. It is included in the cost of admission to the museum and free to members.

Birmingham Zoo:

Lorikeet Aviary – Our Lorikeet Aviary has more birds than ever! Zoo guests can feed these exotic birds every day. You and your family will see these birds’ behavior as they eat nectar out of your hand.
Weekends 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

PELICAN FEEDING – A great way to see our pelicans in action is to witness them eating their favorite treats near the pelican boardwalk.

RHINO ENCOUNTER – Embark on an African adventure and experience one of the world’s most extraordinary animals, the Southern White Rhino. Watch from only feet away as our zookeepers engage in hands-on interaction with the animals inside their African-themed exhibit. Don’t miss this exciting encounter with one of the largest mammals on the planet!
Weekdays: 3pm – 3:30pm
Weekends: 11:30am – Noon & 3pm – 3:30 pm

GIRAFFE FEEDING – This up close and personal animal encounter is a memory you and your family will have for a lifetime.
Weekday: 11am – Noon
Weekends: 10am – 11am  & 2pm – 3pm

Vulcan Park and Museum:

Vulcan is the world’s largest cast iron statue; made of 100,000 pounds of iron and 56 feet tall, he stands at the top of Red Mountain overlooking the city of Birmingham. But, Vulcan is more than a statue. Vulcan Park and Museum features spectacular views of Birmingham, an interactive history museum that examines Vulcan and Birmingham’s story, and a beautiful public park for visitors and locals to enjoy. With an official information center that is operated by the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau, Vulcan Park and Museum serves as the first stop for visitors to the Birmingham area!

Railroad Park:

Railroad Park is a 19 acre green space in downtown Birmingham that celebrates the industrial and artistic heritage of our great city. Situated along 1st Avenue South, between 14th and 18th Streets, the park is a joint effort between the City of Birmingham and the Railroad Park Foundation. Hailed as “Birmingham’s Living Room,” Railroad Park provides a historically rich venue for local recreation, family activities, concerts, and cultural events, while connecting Birmingham’s downtown area with Southside and UAB’s campus.

Southern Museum of Flight:

Earn Your Wings – Bring your little pilot and soar above the clouds in our little pilots room. Kids enjoy building aircrafts, flying kites, and more.
Museum Open Tuesday – Thursday
9:30am – 4:30pm

Do you have or know of an event you would like to have added to our weekly calendar? Please email us at contact@birminghammommy.com, subject line “Events Calendar” – We would love to hear from you!

** All information listed on our calendar is subject to change without notice to us or you… We do our best to keep the information accurate and will always update as soon as we learn that something has changed. It’s always best to double check with the event via their website or a quick call,  especially when weather can impact the event.

What You Didn’t Know Music Could Do for Your Child

Posted on by Angie

It is no secret that music plays an important role in the development of motor skills, creativity and enculturation amongst young children. But what you might not know is that research also points to music’s ability to influence language, academics and even social behavior. Here are three lesser known impacts which music can have on growing children.

1. Which Comes First, Language or Music?
Music is just another language. And because the child brain is oriented for language learning and vocabulary collecting, kids often pick up music faster and have the capacity to expand their minds in response.

“Speech and music have a number of shared processing systems,” writes Susan Hallam of the Institute of Education at the University of London. “Musical experiences which enhance processing can therefore impact on the perception of language which in turn impacts on learning to read.” So musical training can grow the language processing system of the brain to advance a child’s reading ability.

But while Language is perceived as a fundamental aspect of human intelligence. Music, on the other hand, does not receive this importance although it is still viewed as a universal human ability. But a study on music and early language acquisition, probes into a new question of which came first, the chicken or the egg? The findings imply that “musical hearing and ability is essential to language acquisition.”

2. Arts Involvement and Academic Success
Statistics and other evidence show that a correlation seems to exist between musical training and academic achievement. Americans for the Arts reported that children who participate in the arts on a regular basis are more likely to receive recognition for academic performance.

A Reuters, Ltd. poll from 2007 revealed that 88 percent of all post-graduate students as well as 83 percent of all people with an income of $150,000 or more had had extensive musical training. Of course, these statistics may result from some social factors like the fact that many post-graduates came from higher income families who would have been able to afford music lessons as well as college tuition. However, they are also a powerful testimony to the importance of music exposure within education.

3.  Music May Improve Behavior
Music can even produce a profound impact on a child’s social behavior. A recent study of children who were asked to work together to problem solve as a group demonstrated that exposure to music just before the activity resulted in children being 30 times more likely to help one another than without the prior music making.

Researcher Rie Davies said that her “study provides support for prior research,” while highlighting “the need for schools and parents to understand the important role music making has in children’s lives in terms of “social bonding and helping behaviors.” Davies went on to add that “Music making in class, particularly singing, may encourage pupils with learning differences and emotional difficulties to feel less alienated in the school environment.”

A neuroscience educator, Dr. Dee Joy Coulter, writes that music can also be a training ground for socialization skills and character qualities. One such quality is resilience which she says, “is not something we are born with; it must be learned and sometimes that takes many years. There is no vehicle more joyful and playful for providing such training than early childhood music and movement.”

Image from  www.psmag.com

About Jessica Socheski:
Jessica Socheski is a writer who enjoys researching how guitar lessons for kids, private piano instruction and other musical training can have an important impact on developing children. You can follow her on Twitter @JessicaSocheski.

Giveaways to Giftaway: Zoe's Gift Card

Posted on by Angie

Next item up in our giveaways to giftaway is a $25 gift card to Zoe’s Kitchen! Keep it or gift it away.. Whatever you do it’s up to you, we won’t tell. Promise.

Here’s how you enter:

1. Leave a comment on this post letting us know your favorite item from the Zoe’s menu. (1 per person)

2. Tweet the giveaway “@BirminghamMommy is giving away a @ZoesKitchen giftcard  http://ow.ly/rGFLc ” (1 per person, come back here to let us know you tweeted)

Giveaway will end on Friday, December 13th at Noon. Winner will be notified via email and on our FB page.

Good Luck!

Learning to Say No.

Posted on by Angie

Men expect more than women when it comes to “having it all,” according to a new study by Citi and LinkedIn titled, “Today’s Professional Woman Report.”

More men than women define the good life as including a strong and loving marriage with children – 79 percent, compared to 66 percent of women. And 9 percent of women do not include personal relationships in their pursuit of success – up from 5 percent in the previous survey.

“This study may be an indicator not so much that women want less than men; it may simply mean that women are feeling overwhelmed by the many roles they accept in life, and they believe wanting a happy work-life balance is asking for too much,” says Dr. Jaime Kulaga, a practicing therapist, life coach and author of “Type ‘S’uperWoman – Finding the Work-Life Balance: A Self-Searching Book for Women,” (www.mindfulrehab.com).

“In fact, I haven’t met a woman in my life who hasn’t taken on an exponential amount of roles – far more than is good for any one person. From wife to professional to cook to chauffeur, women simply do not know how to say no, even when they want to.”

While the holiday season is supposed to be a time when family members rejoice with family and free time, Dr. Kulaga says women often dread this time of year because of the additional roles to be taken on. She offers perspective for why saying “no” more often is good for them.

• An inability to say “no” is based in fear. Why can’t we just say no? It’s because we’re afraid of the consequences. Mostly, we are afraid of feeling guilt, feeling a sense that we are diminished in the eyes of others and, overall, that we will somehow lose something. Decisions based in fear, however, are often negative ones as they tend to be entrenched in irrationality or impulsivity. Try to decide things based on what you want, and not what you’re attempting to avoid.

• Women who can’t say “no” have less, not more; be mindful. Mindfulness is an excellent way to pare down the number of roles so many women assume; it’s the antidote for women who smile and nod “yes” when their brains are screaming “no,” and then go into the bathroom to cry. There is plenty of talk about women who “want it all” – and we can have it all, if we focus on what is really important and narrow the list of roles down to a manageable number.

• By saying “no” to some things, you’re saying “yes” to others. As mortal individuals, our time and resources are limited. We simply cannot take on all the roles others would have us accept and still have time for the things that truly matter to us. Working late each night, for example, means having less time for your family – or yourself! When women list their priorities, it’s almost always in relation to the needs of others, and not themselves. It’s not only OK, it’s healthy to want time and other things for oneself!

About: Dr. Jaime Kulaga, Ph.D, LMHC, CPC
Motivated by watching those she coaches become successful and with a true passion for helping others, Dr. Jaime Kulaga earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology, and  master’s and doctorate’s in counseling. As a licensed mental health counselor and certified professional coach, she has a special interest in the complex lives of today’s women. She serves as a go-to expert resource for Bay News 9, the Tampa Bay area’s 24-hour news channel, and as a coach for individuals, couples and business people. 

Advertisements