In two weeks (Tuesday, May 6 at 8:40 a.m.) the Bear Creek School will have a Parenting Topics and Tips seminar at their Sammamish campus (located just down from MQP at Pine Lake Covenant Church). This talk with be with Kellie Anderson on “How to Talk So Your Kids Will Listen and Listen So Your Kids Will Talk.” Anyone is welcome to join! Below is the link to register for the event. Registration is free. Register Online: parentingtopics-listen.eventbrite.com
Here are some fun online play resources on animals for the kids:
For kiddos: 2 to 3 years old
We have a link to a download for little ones to cut and paste animals in their natural environment.
Thanks tlsbooks.com for the free download kids are sure to love!
For kiddos: 4 to 5 years old
We have a link to a fun, free printable worksheet by Maureen spell at spelloutloud.com.
MOPS Int’l publishes a monthly calendar on their blog. It’s full of great ideas (when you’ve run out of your own) of things to do on any given day, strange days (National Garlic Day anyone?). So, if your short on ideas…try out the MOPS Int’l’s monthly calendar. It can be found on the MOPS Int’l Blog.
Most have you have probably been to Fox Hollow Family Farm, but if not….check it out!
The Fox Hollow Produce Stand and Farm Store is chock full of fresh cut flowers, live plants, veggie starts, scrumptious ORGANIC fruits and vegetables, plus lots of primitive and farmy homegoods (such as baskets, holiday decor, soy candles, homemade soap, and homemade jam). We also sell our organic free range chicken eggs from our happy hens. The Produce Stand is open EVERY DAY 9:30-6pm.
But if you’ve never visited the farm before, the produce stand is hardly the end-all-be-all of the farm, though. It’s a farm after all, and that means ANIMALS! Horses, pigs, cats, dogs, chickens, sheep, birds, goats, etc. They also have bounce houses (they do birthday parties incidentally), play houses, have a train to ride, and horseback rides. On a sunny day, there’s truly no better place to hang out with the kids. The farm also sits on a beautiful piece of property backing up to the Issaquah creek (a salmon bearing stream). And, if you’re looking for a killer Easter Egg Hunt, they do that too! Here’s the Easter Egg Hunt Details:
Dates: Saturday, April 19th – 10:00 to 12:00, 1:00 to 3:00, and 4:00 to 6:00
Sunday, April 20th – 10:00 to 12:00 and 1:00 to 3:00 and 4:00 to 6:00
Cost: $10 (ages 13-100)
$12 (ages 1-12)
*Children under 1-year old are free.
The farm is located in Issaquah at:
I’m bossy. I always have been. And today, I’m a boss. I’m the founder and CEO of a global and newly public company. And you know what? My bossiness helped get me here.
Except I’d call it leadership.
Growing up, I was very aware of my strengths organizing people, listing out projects, and assigning tasks. At age 5, I was handling the phones for my parents’ business. I was assertive, and my parents needed that and appreciated it.
My tendency toward problem-solving was seen as a good thing and it evolved so that I handled dinner reservations, vacation planning and mediating between my five other siblings. It wasn’t until high school when I realized this leadership style wasn’t appreciated everywhere. And it wasn’t expected of me, simply because I was a girl.
So I appreciate the Ban Bossy campaign (#banbossy) spearheaded by Sheryl Sandberg and the Girl Scouts. If we can get the word “bossy” out of the mouths of parents, friends, teachers and peers, we can make a dent in eliminating the negative connotations of female leadership.
Just imagine: “Your daughter is such a leader.” instead of “Your daughter is so bossy.” A 2008 Girl Scouts survey shows that girls between the ages of 8 and 17 avoid leadership roles for fear that they will be labeled “bossy” or disliked by their peers. And one study Sandberg cites says sixth- and seventh-grade girls said they’d rather be perceived as “popular and well-liked” than “competent and independent.” While their male peers said the opposite.
That’s scary. And heartbreaking.
I believe the role I was able to play at home – how my family embraced and encouraged my natural strengths — helped get me through any high school negativity. I knew I was valuable. I knew I had ideas to offer. I felt this in my core. And so I embraced being bossy….if that’s what they wanted to call it. Because I embraced who I was.
As the CEO of an online care-finding service, I know that the people who influence our children come in all forms: grandparents, day care employees, teachers, nannies, babysitters and parents. So it’s important that we take this village – and teach them – what we value in our children, and how we want to see our daughters thrive. Let’s teach our daughters the same things we teach our sons…to be strong and kind and confident and proud. That their style, spunk, flair, creativity, leadership, unique interests — are huge assets. Everyone might not always like them (not a bad life lesson in and of itself) and that’s OK. Just stay true to who they are because that’s pretty terrific all on its own.
So let’s ban bossy and embrace our ambition, girls. Parents, tell your daughters to cherish their leadership, wit, intelligence, and personal style for getting things done. Teach them to figure out how they blend their style with others’ — but stay true to who they know they really are. These traits should not be stifled. These traits are what will make them the next great leader, entrepreneur, executive, CEO, mother, partner and friend.
I promise you that this is what matters.
I was recently talking with another MOPS mom about car seats & the LATCH system anchors most of us probably use with our kids car seats. She’d mentioned the anchors had a weight limit & I have to admit the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind! So I went on a search for my own vehicle’s weight restrictions & found it incredibly DIFFICULT to locate! I’m happy to report that upon searching for a long time, I stumbled upon a website that provided nearly EVERY vehicle’s weight limit restrictions and the weight of a lot of popular car seat model’s weight (as you need to consider the weight of your child’s seat in addition to your child’s weight) to know the limit. The new limits were restructured in January of 2013. So, here you go (scroll way down to see the car seat weights):
Remember, when the limit given by the child restraint differs from that given by the vehicle manufacturer, you must abide by the lower limit.
Weight limit of 65 lbs. including the weight of the CHILD RESTRAINT PLUS CHILD (calculate child weight limit by subtracting child restraint weight from 65):
Acura
Audi
Bentley
BMW
Buick
Cadillac
Chevrolet
Chrysler
Daewoo
Dodge
Fiat
Ford-Model Year 2014 and newer ONLY
Geo
GMC
Honda
Hummer
Jeep/Eagle
Lincoln-Model Year 2014 and newer ONLY
Mercedez-Benz
MINI
Mitsubishi
Oldsmobile
Pontiac
Porsche
Ram
Rolls-Royce
Saturn
smart
Subaru (ONLY if using top tether forward facing or if rear-facing; if using lower anchors forward-facing without top tether, 48 minus the weight of the child restraint)
Volkswagen
Vehicle Manufacturer Defers to the Child Restraint Manufacturer- Follow Instructions Provided with Child Restraint*:
Coda
Ferrari
Hyundai
Infiniti
Jaguar
Kia
Land Rover
Lexus
Maserati
Nissan
Scion
Toyota
Volvo
48 lbs., Weight of Child ONLY:
Ford- Model Year 2013 and before ONLY
Lincoln-Modely Year 2013 and before ONLY
Mercury
Saab
No Limit Stated**:
Isuzu
Mazda
Suzuki
Tesla
*When the vehicle manufacturer defers to the child restraint manufacturer and the child restraint manufacturer does not give a limit, I was taught to assume 40 lbs. (weight of child only.) I’m checking to see if this advice still applies or not. So far my responses seem to be a rather nebulous “yes.”
**Similarly, when the vehicle manufacturer does not set a limit I was taught to assume a 40 lbs. child weight limit. I am, similarly, checking to see whether this still applies. Again, so far a nebulous “yes.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Dorel manufactures child restraints under the Cosco, Safety 1st, Eddie Bauer, Maxi-Cosi, Alpha Elite, Disney, and other brand names. If you don’t see your child restraint listed under one of those brand names, it’s under Dorel. Go by the model name, they’re the same across different brands owned by Dorel.
First weight is weight limit of the child restraint (weight in parenthesis is weight limit of child who may use lower anchors with this child restraint in vehicles specifying a 65 lbs. combined limit.)This is just the math. If the weight listed is higher than that allowed by the child restraint, go by the child restraint. When two weight limits conflict you use the lower weight.
Short, non-inclusive list of CR weights as provided by manufacturers:
Britax Marathon 65/Marathon Classic: 16 lbs. (49 lb. child)
Britax Marathon 70/Marathon 70 G3: 19 lbs. (46 lb. child)
Britax Boulevard 65/Boulevard 70/70 CS/70 G3: 19 lbs. (46 lb. child)
Britax Frontier (80 lb. weight limit original model): 23 lbs. (42 lb. child)
Britax Frontier 85: 20 lbs. (45 lb. child)
Britax Frontier 85 SICT: 22 lbs. (43 lb. child)
Diono Radian RXT: 27 lbs. (38 lb. child)
Diono Radian R120: 26 lbs. (39 lb. child)
Diono Radian R100: 23 lbs. (42 lb. child)
Dorel* All in One/All in One Sport: 15 lbs. (50 lb. child- unless the CR does not harness that high, then full weight of harness)
Dorel* Alpha Elite/Deluxe 3-in-1: 16 lbs. (49 lb. child- unless the CR does not harness that high, then full weight of harness)
Dorel* Alpha Omega Elite 65/Comfort 65: 17 lbs. (48 lb. child- unless the CR does not harness that high, then full weight of harness)
Dorel* Apt 40: Lower anchors may be used to full weight limit, restraint weighs less than 65 lbs. combined when added to full weight limit.
Dorel Avenue/Uptown: Lower anchors may be used to full weight limit, restraint weighs less than 65 lbs. combined when added to full weight limit.
Dorel* Complete Air: 16 lbs. (49 lb. child)
Dorel* Complete Air 65: 15 lbs. (50 lb. child)
Dorel* Complete Air LX/65 LX: 17 lbs. (48 lb. child)
Dorel* Go Hybrid Booster: 10 lbs. (55 lb. child)
Dorel* High Back Booster (with or without armrests): Lower anchors may be used to full weight limit, restraint weighs less than 65 lbs. combined when added to full weight limit.
Dorel* OnSide Air: Lower anchors may be used to full weight limit, restraint weighs less than 65 lbs. combined when added to full weight limit.
Dorel* Pria: 19 lbs. (46 lb. child)
Dorel* Scenera (all models): Lower anchors may be used to full weight limit, restraint weighs less than 65 lbs. combined when added to full weight limit.
Dorel* Summit: Lower anchors may be used to full weight limit, restraint weighs less than 65 lbs. combined when added to full weight limit.
Dorel* Ventage Point/Surveyor/Comfort HB:Lower anchors may be used to full weight limit, restraint weighs less than 65 lbs. combined when added to full weight limit.
Evenflo Chase (new version): 9 lbs. (may be used to full harness weight)
Evenflo Chase/Express/Vision/Traditions (old version): 9.2 lbs. (may be used to full harness weight limit)
Evenlfo Generations 65: 17.8 lbs. (47.2 lb. child)
Evenflo Maestro: 10.8 lbs. (may be used to full harness weight limit)
Evenflo Momentum: 20.6 lbs. (44.4 lb. child)
Evenflo Secure Kid: 12 lbs. (53 lb. child)
Evenflo Titan: 11.2 lbs. (53.8 lbs, so may be used to full harness weight limit of 50 lbs.)
Evenflo Tribute (not overhead shield model): 9.6 lbs. (may be used to full harness weight limit)
Evenflo Triumph 65: 19.2 lbs. (45.8 lb. child)
Evenflo Triumph Advance (older model, 50 lbs. weight limit): 19 lbs. (46 lb. child)
Graco ComfortSport: 12 lbs. (may be used to full harness weight limit)
Graco MyRide 65 (with or without Safety Surround)/MyRide 70: 15.8 lbs. (49.2 lb. child)
Graco Nautilus: 26 lbs. (39 lb. child)
Graco Size4Me 70/MySize 70: 18 lbs. (47 lb. child)
Graco Treasured CarGo/Cherished CarGo/Platinum ultra CarGo: 8.5 lbs. (may be used to full harness weight limit)
Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL: 27 lbs. (38 lb. child)
Sunshine Kids Radian 80SL: 26 lbs. (39 lb. child)
Sunshine Kids Radian 65SL: 25 lbs. (40 lb. child)
It’s a “take a book, return a book” gathering place where neighbors share their favorite literature and stories. In its most basic form, a Little Free Library is a box full of books where anyone may stop by and pick up a book (or two) and bring back another book to share.
There are two LFL’s in Sammamish (none in Issaquah right now)! When I went for the first time (last week), we took 3 books & left 2. Check out the map on the LFL website to locate them & give a book/take a book! The addresses of the two in Sammamish are:
They are both located in the front yard of the homes. The one on 7th Ct even has a flash light inside (brilliant since I was there after dusk) to see the books inside.
It’s almost hard to think about…but if you are planning to enroll your child in preschool for the Fall of 2014, most Plateau schools are doing their registrations in January. If you haven’t thought that far in advance, don’t fret…there’s plenty of time to register & TONS of Plateau preschools. Most preschools start at the age of 3 (typically with a cut-off birthdate as August 31st to qualify).
Mary, Queen of Peace has a preschool (which is part of the St. Joseph School from the Issaquah parish). They, along with most area preschools, have open houses going on this month so you can tour & find the perfect fit. Here’s MQP’s preschool flyer on their open house this month:
mqpmops.com 