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What to Do While Out of School

Posted on by Angie

Many parents are off work for the next few days or maybe the week, the kids are our of school for a while still so how are you spending your time?

Here are some things going on around town that will get you out of the house and keep the cabin fever from setting in.

  • Zoolight Safari – Birmingham Zoo

The only place in Birmingham where it snows every night!

December 26-31 from 5 to 9 pm

Admission $8 – Ride Tickets $3.50 – Unlimited Attraction Wristband $10

Members get in FREE – Join Today

  • Enjoy synchronized lights as they blink to your favorite holiday tunes
  • Experience the holiday train ride, the carousel, story time, animal demos and more
  • Take a hayride
  • Watch the Santa Rollers
  • Children’s Zoo barn will be open every night
  • And so much more!

All prices include tax.

The Zoo will close at 4pm every night of ZooLight Safari and reopen at 5pm. Animal exhibits will be closed during ZooLight Safari.

Lots of fun happening right now at the McWane Science Center.

The Magic of Model Trains exhibit offers families a chance to see toy trains of every shape and size zipping around the tracks. This year children will enjoy the chance to become a conductor at one of the new stations and also see several new additions to the train sets. Running until January 8th 2012

Snow is in the forecast at McWane Science Center this year with the return of the Winter Wonderland exhbit. This magical holiday experience gives families a chance to learn about the science of the season together as they play in the snow, go ice fishing, and watch toy trains zip around the tracks.

Winter Wonderland offers something for everyone in the family to enjoy together. Inside the snow room, children can make snow angels, build snow castles and more. Children can catch fish through the ice in the ice fishing area.

Guests can even sled down the giant slide between the third and second floors in the museum or try the zip line.

Open until January 8th 2012

If you’re in the mood for a movie, check out SANTA VS. THE SNOWMAN, it brings the laugh-out-loud story of a Santa and the Snowman showdown to the IMAX large-format screen in high-tech computer-generated animation.  The holidays have never before looked like this…on Birmingham’s biggest movie screen reaching 5 stories tall.

You can still see some holiday lights if you want to head out to the Homestead Hollow Christmas Light Spectacular. Thursday through Sunday from dusk to 10:00 pm through New Year’s Day! Come and enjoy a scenic drive through Homestead Hollow as it is radiantly lit by tens of thousands of dazzling Christmas lights. Stop at our Christmas Village and experience real outdoor ice skating and rejoice in the splendor of the Homestead Hollow holiday spirit as you enjoy a delicious cup of hot chocolate.

At the Birmingham Public Library Central Branch you can take the kids in for a Winter Holiday Scavenger Hunt. Kids of all ages can participate in a Winter Holiday Scavenger Hunt in the Youth Department. Children will learn interesting facts about a variety of Winter Holidays including Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Everyone who completes the Scavenger Hunt can enter their name in a drawing for a Winter Prize. The Drawing will be held on January 4th 2012.

Mondays & Tuesdays 9-8
Wednesdays-Saturdays 9-6
Sundays 2-6

Have fun with the kiddos and enjoy your time off!!

Celebrating Kwanzaa

Posted on by Angie

The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute will celebrate the spirit of family and community with its annual Kwanzaa program on Wednesday December 27th.

The event kicks off with a hands-on workshop in the Abraham L. Woods Community Meeting Room. Elinor and Winfield Burks will lead this creative activity for families. The community celebration will be in the Odessa Woolfolk Gallery, highlighting the principle “kujichagulia” (meaning self-determination). Maurice Muhammad will be the speaker.

Kwanzaa – which means “first fruits of the harvest” in Kiswahili – is an African American cultural holiday with a focus on the traditional African values of family, community responsibility, commerce, and self-improvement. It was founded in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga and is celebrated December 26-January 1.

Birmngham Civil Rights Institute
Wednesday, December 27th

Hands on Workshop begins at 5pm
Community Celebration begins at 6pm

Busy Mommy Bonding: Christmas Fun! Don't Forget to Feed the Reindeer

Posted on by Angie

We all know that Santa loves his cookies and milk but have you been forgetting that the reindeer really do all of the work? It must take a lot of energy to pull a fat man around the world with a sled loaded down with toys!

This year, use this simple recipe to make some food for Rudolf and the gang.

You can even print this cute little tag for free and take them to your gatherings for your cousins and friends. This is a great activity for the little ones to do.

What you’ll need:

  • Uncooked Oat
  • Sugar
  • Sprinkles or glitter (any color you want or have on hand)
  • Bowls
  • Something to scoop with

What you’ll do:

  • Mix up a scoop of each ingredient above for every bag of food you want to make.
  • Put it in a little zip lock bag and staple the poem on the front.

Done!

We poured all of the ingredients in to separate bowls, gave each child a bowl of their own to mix in, a scoop and let them “mix” their own food.

Sprinkle on your lawn before bedtime on Christmas Eve and make sure the reindeer have plenty of energy to finish their job!

Medical Minute: 2 Things to Know Before you Get Pregnant

Posted on by Angie

There are a few things every woman should know when it comes to getting pregnant. A healthy pregnancy starts well before you start showing your adorable baby bump. The 2 most common rules of thumb are Don’t drink or smoke. Here’s why:

Don’t smoke! Smoking can damage the fetus in several ways and may cause low birthweight, stillbirths, preterm births, and/or birth defects. Babies born to smokers may also have problems like poor lung development, increased risk of SIDS, growth or development deficiencies, asthma, or behavioral problems.

Babies of mothers who are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke during pregnancy are more likely to have reduced fetal growth and low birthweight. However, according to the FDA, if a woman quits smoking early in her pregnancy, she increases her chance of delivering a healthy baby.

Don’t drink alcohol. Alcohol consumption by the mother is a leading cause of preventable birth defects in the fetus and is the only known cause of mental retardation that is completely preventable. Everything a mother drinks goes to the fetus and is broken down more slowly in the immature body of the fetus. This can cause the alcohol levels to remain high and stay in the baby’s body longer. Even light or moderate drinking can affect the developing fetus. Because no amount of alcohol is safe, the US Surgeon General recommends that pregnant women avoid alcohol during pregnancy. An infant born to a mother who drinks alcohol during pregnancy can have problems included in a group of disorders called fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). FASDs include the following:

  • Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS): these are the most severe effects that can occur when a woman drinks during pregnancy,and include fetal death. Infants born with FAS have abnormal facial features and growth and central nervous system (CNS) problems, including mental retardation.
  • Alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND): children with ARND may not have full FAS but have learning and behavioral problems due to prenatal exposure to alcohol. These problems may include mathematical difficulties, impaired memory or attention, impulse control and/or judgment problems, and poor school performance.
  • Alcohol-related birth defects (ARBD): birth defects related to prenatal alcohol exposure can include abnormalities in the heart, kidneys, bones, and/or hearing

Time to Celebrate Hanukkah: Great Books for Kids!

Posted on by Angie

Whether you’re celebrating Hanukkah or teaching your children the beliefs of others, here are some fun books for you to read with your little ones..

1. The Hanukkah Hop! Rachel and her parents prepare the house for their family to visit for Hanukkah. They’ll light candles, play dreidel, eat latkes, and dance the Hanukkah Hop! By Erica Silverman, illustrated by Steven D’Amico

2. The Hannukkah Mice: It’s the first night of Hanukkah, and the mouse family secretly looks on as Mr. Silman lights the first Hanukkah candle. Then they watch Rachel Silman open a gift from her family, a beautiful dollhouse with a wraparound porch and tiny lace curtains. Just the right size for the Hannukkah Mice! By Steven Kroll, illustrated by Micehlle Shapiro

3. It’s a Miracle! A Hannukkah Storybook: Every night of Hanukkah, after Owen — the Official Candle Lighter — lights the menorah, Grandma Karen kicks off her cowboy boots and tells him a bedtime story. Stories of a girl who dreams of becoming a rabbi, an amazing story of the alien who gets lost in a little girl’s backyard, a silly story about a boy who wants to be a baby…and whose parents let him! By Stephanie Spinner, illustrated by Jill McElmurry

4. Light the Candles: Hanukkah is here! There are so many fun things to do-light candles in the menorah, open presents, eat latkes and chocolate coins, play the dreidel game, and more. With the turn of each page, another candle is added to the menorah and another fun element of Hanukkah is depicted. Children can lift the flaps and see all the special ways there are to celebrate this joyful holiday. By Joan Holub, illustrated by Lynne Avril Cravath

5. D is for Dreidel: Children will love learning about Hanukkah in this dreidel-shaped alphabet book! Every page contains a letter of the alphabet along with sweet, rhyming text and words that correspond with that letter. And as an added bonus, at the end of the book is the complete story of Hanukkah! This is a fantastic introduction to the holiday! By Tanya Lee Stone, illustrated by Dawn Apperley

Mamarazzi: Jessica Simpson, Watching Her Baby Weight

Posted on by Angie
Photo Courtesy of igossip

Well, well, well. Look who is making the most of her muffintop!

Jessica Simpson just signed a deal with Weight Watchers for $3 million to lose the weight after her baby is born. I don’t know about you, but if I had that kind of money on the line, I’d  happily have my mouth wired shut.

It might be the smartest thing she’s done since she gave up her music career.

 

 

 

About Harmony:

Harmony blew into Birmingham after Hurricane Katrina and is a self-proclaimed “never home maker” striving for a balance between her career and family life. Visit her blog Working Mommy Madness to read more!

Alabama Theatre Holiday Film Series

Posted on by Angie

A seasonal must for all Birmingham Families is the Annual Holiday Film Festival at the Historic Alabama Theatre.

We think the Alabama Theatre is a pretty magical place year round, but when you add in the Christmas Decorations it’s a sight and feeling that you just can’t get anywhere else in the city. Hands down.

The film line up for 2011 is as follows:

Sunday, December 11th 2pm
“Miracle on 34th Street” (1947)

Monday, December 12th 7pm
“Home Alone”

Tuesday, December 13th 7pm
“A Christmas Carol” (1951)

Wednesday, December 14th 7pm 
“It’s a Wonderful Life”

Thursday, December 15th 7pm
“Elf”

Friday, December 16th 7pm
“Christmas Vacation”

Saturday, December 17th 2pm 
“The Polar Express”

Saturday, December 17th 7pm
“White Christmas”

Sunday, December 18th 2pm
“White Christmas”

Sunday, December 18th 7pm
“A Christmas Story”

Monday, December 19th 7pm
“Christmas Vacation”

Tuesday, December 20th 7pm
“Holiday Inn”

Wednesday, December 21st 7pm
“Elf”

Thursday, December 22nd 7pm
“It’s a Wonderful Life”

Most movies start at 7 p.m., but there are a few that start at 2 p.m. So check that time carefully!

Don’t forget about Santa at the Alabama! He’ll be there December 11th, 17th and 18th to coincide with their 2pm matinees. See our post here for more information.

All screenings will kick off with a 15-minute Christmas carol sing along, accompanied by the organ.

Tickets are $7, $6 for senior citizens and children and can be purchased online or at the door.

We hope to see you there!

 

 

 

Working Mommy Madness: Going From One to Two

Posted on by Angie

By Harmony Hobbs:

HOLY CRAP.

If you are a parent of just one child, you may want to stop reading here, lest you be frightened out of having any more.

Going from one child to two is hard, like really hard, like the OMG-I-may-not-survive kind of crazy hard that really cannot be explained. In order to understand, you just have to live it. I have entered into an elite club of women who mother more than one child, and now I understand what they were all telling me before – when they shook their heads at my pregnant belly and warned, it will be an “adjustment.”

Now I know that was their very mild way of saying, “It’s going to SUCK. It’s a major transition. A rough ride for the entire family. There will be days when you feel you can’t possibly go on or listen to any more crying or whining and you’ll just want to throw all of them out the window. It won’t be like when you had your first one. You won’t be able to sleep when the baby sleeps or relax at all, really. You might not have time to eat or drink enough water and your infant may go a great many days between baths. You will be a complete wreck for months. And you’ll most likely hate your husband at least 4 days out of the week.”

Had anyone been truly honest with me and told me that, I probably would have been offended. You just don’t know until you KNOW. It’s probably better that way, because otherwise no one in their right mind would continue to have more children.

I am an only child, and I feel like the greatest gift we could give my older son was a sibling. And so we did. A brother. And this morning alone, I dealt with my three-year-old whacking the baby on the stomach, squishing him in various places, trying to show him his penis, spitting on his face, yelling “RAWR!!” into his crib to see if he would cry (he did) … etc. Not to be mean. Just to see what will happen. He’s in that stage now. I’m not a fan of it.

My husband and I stupidly thought it would be fine to start a family even though we live six hours from our parents. After we had the first one, it was difficult but we managed. I don’t know WHAT we thought would happen after the second, but we had another and have found it almost impossible to handle on our own. Duh. What did we think would happen?! Oh well … you live, you learn.

I looked forward to Thanksgiving with great delight this year, not because of the food, but because I knew I’d have HELP. Someone else could hold the baby while I stuffed my face. Someone else could watch the three-year-old and make sure he didn’t run out into the street or smother his brother with a pillow.

It was fantastic.

Motherhood has some really tough times. I’m in the midst of the toughest I’ve known. I’m not depressed – I don’t have postpartum anything. I’m just fatigued and hanging on by a teeny tiny thread … wait … is that the definition of postpartum?! Oh dear.

Thank God there are moments when it is all worth it, the exhaustion, the under eye circles, the never-ending cycle of dirty laundry and baby bottles … because when one of my children smiles a big sunbeam smile at me I know that something I am doing is right. It gives me hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. There HAS to be. And if there isn’t … there is always medication.

I say all of this not to whine, but to share with you that through this ridiculously challenging experience I have been truly blessed. This is by far the craziest and most exhausting task I have undertaken, and yet, it is giving me the most reward. Every day.

Raising two boys takes strength I didn’t know existed, determination I had to dig deep to find, and a toughness that I’ve had no choice but to develop. Lately when I run my household I feel like I’m channeling Caroline Manzo. For anyone not familiar, she’s a tough Italian mama from The Real Housewives of New Jersey with a heart of gold and one tough attitude. Her kids LISTEN. But they LOVE her.

I want to be like that.

Ladies, you are all tough cookies whether you are aware of it or not. It’s one of the gifts we have been given — along with the ability to bear children, we have the strength to raise them. That’s no easy task. I’ve tapped into my toughness and it’s very empowering … have you? If not, I highly recommend you do.

I also recommend Smoking Loon pinot noir, it’s less than $10 a bottle and can be found at almost any grocery store … I’m just saying.

About Harmony:

Harmony blew into Birmingham after Hurricane Katrina and is a self-proclaimed “never home maker” striving for a balance between her career and family life. Visit her blog Working Mommy Madness to read more!

Giveaways to Giftaway: Zoe's Giftcard

Posted on by Angie

Next item up in our giveaways to giftaway is a gift card to Zoe’s Kitchen! Have you checked out their cool new location in Vestaiva? Been meaning too? Well, now you can….. or you can gift this away to someone on your Christmas list, 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/7Xap1 ”
(1 per person, come back here to let us know you tweeted)

3. Go like them on Facebook (1 per person, come back here and let us know you liked them)

This giveaway will end on Wednesday, December 14th at 6pm. Winner will be announced by email.

Good Luck!

Jingle

Posted on by Angie

By: LK Whitney

Jingle, jingle. Ho. Ho. Ho. Merry Christmas, y’all.

I don’t know about you, but our household is six-feet-deep in a tinsel-tinged, yuletide coma: the tree glimmers and glows; the gifts, they keep piling up under the tree; our cheerful little children are giddy and bright with visions of ribbon-wrapped boxes full of goodies just for them. We read stories of Saint Nick. We make ornaments out of cotton balls and toilet paper tubes and popsicle sticks. We delight in all the merriment and blinking lights found throughout the city. We’ve been eating a few more sweets than usual. We’ve been licking and sticking the envelopes that hold our holiday greetings sent far and wide to those we so love and cherish.

And, I’m afraid, we’re stuffing our stockings with everything but the true meaning of the holiday season. The concept of getting is getting in the way of our giving.

It’s an easy thing to do, after all. And we, my husband and I, are full of fault. We are to blame.

As parents, we get so caught up in the Act of Getting all those bells and whistles and baby dolls and matchbox cars our little ones have set their hearts to desire. You know as well as I do how easy it is to slip in to the rabbit hole that is Toys R’ Us. We can’t help but want to give to our children. It’s our parental nature. It’s tradition. Considering that our parents made a fuss for us, we’ll carry the peppermint-striped baton and we’ll deck our halls with an abundance of presents. And we’ll delight in watching our rosy-cheeked babes giggle with glee as they realize they’ve been given the very thing they’ve wished so hard for. It makes US feel good.

We busy ourselves with a month-long preparation that involves activities like visiting Santa and writing letters to Santa and baking cookies for Santa. All this effort we put in to teaching our kids the art of wooing and wishing for a jolly stranger to make a miraculous midnight ride right to our rooftop seems just a tad bit futile. Especially since we, the parents, are completely aware that all this “magic” depends solely on our own deceitful plotting. What we’re really doing is building them up to want. We’re giving them Grace of Getting when what we really, truly long for in our children is altruistic behavior.

Now, I’m not getting all Scrooge on you here. And for fear that I might start to sound too preachy-preachy, I sought out the wisdom from other seasoned Santas, your peers and fellow Magic City mommies. Here’s what they had to say:

Nanci Neighbors Scarpulla’s family revisits the story of St. Nicholas of Myra each year. Then they discuss ways St. Nick helped those in his community. “Little things like visiting a nursing home and delivering candy canes or surprising the fire station with home baked goodies goes a long way in reversing the “give me” trend,” says Nanci. “Children love the positive attention and knowing they make a difference. That’s been our experience.”

<Love that, Nanci! Any excuse to lick a bowl of batter for cookies intended for someone else is a good one in my book! Fire Station #21, here we come!>

Katie Hopper says, “Our kids only get three toys each (three wise men mentioned in the Bible), and we give to a charity. We make a Happy Birthday Cake. We don’t make a big deal about it.”

<Another bowl-licking opportunity in the name of goodwill and God’s love…I’ll take it. Great thoughts, Katie!>

Mother of two, Kate Wiegand Agliata, makes Advent cards for the kids to read each day with a surprise of some sort written on it. Most of them are things like “drive around and look at holiday lights”, “decorate cookies”, “enjoy $1 to spend at the dollar store”, etc. Kate notes that, “We spend most of the month focusing on fun, meaningful family experiences, and their fun factor still gets fulfilled.”

<Those are all wonderful ideas, Kate, and I know I’ll be incorporating some of each in to our own holiday experience this year.>

Finally, for the expert’s advice, jump here for BirminghamMommy.com contributor Kristen Berthiaume’s “Parenting with a PhD” column where she specifically outlines ways in which you can yield some gracious behavior from your kids during the gift-giving season. It’s a must-read!

At the end of the day, we know we’re going to give gifts. Let’s just try to keep it all in perspective, shall we? Wouldn’t the best present of all be a stocking full of gratitude from your precious offspring? That’s what I’m wishing for this holiday season.

How about you?

About LK:

Magic City maven Laura Kate Whitney is a full-blooded Southerner who’s found herself planting roots in Sweet Home Alabama. Life circumstances have brought her to Birmingham, along with husband, two young sons, and grumpy old cat. In her “free time” she enjoys long walks, long showers, lots of yoga, Birmingham history, culinary programming, and date night. You can follow Laura Kate’s adventures on Magic City Manifesto and also on Twitter.

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