After having so much fun last week making Leprechaun traps with the kidlets, I’ve been bitten by the crafting bug! With Easter coming up, the entire family got hopping this weekend with a fun and easy “strings of spring” craft project. We created garlands made of colorful plastic eggs that we turned into a variety of bunnies and chicks.
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Added by Debra Rutt on March 18, 2013 at 9:27am —
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Last week my son's kindergarten teacher sent home a note to all the parents. Apparently my son’s classroom has been invaded by a mischievous little Leprechaun who has been disrupting the classroom such as knocking over chairs and leaving books out! In order to catch the leprechaun, the class is going to put out traps to try to get his pot of gold! All the children were asked to use their cleverness, ingenuity and of course, some help from mom and dad, to make their own leprechaun trap and…
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Added by Debra Rutt on March 11, 2013 at 1:45pm —
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Depending on when you started the academic year — and how many snow days you’ve had so far — the 100th day of school should be any day now. For my son’s kindergarten class, that day is today.

I had never heard of this “celebration” before. This was not something that I remember from my own elementary school experience. I had only learned about it this past summer when I started…
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Added by Debra Rutt on February 21, 2013 at 11:32am —
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y kidlets love to get mail. They run down our long driveway and stand on their tippy toes to reach into our long black mailbox with the bright red flag. As I sort thru the litany of bills, department store mailers and junk mail, my kidlets always ask if there's anything addressed to them. Occasionally there is – a birthday or holiday card from relatives or a thank you note from a friend for attending their birthday party & gift. I love seeing the look of joy on their faces when…
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Added by Debra Rutt on February 19, 2013 at 12:51pm —
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I love making crafts - knitting, scrapbooking or making cards, collages or photos, you name it and I'm game to try making it. Like any crafty mom, I’ve spent the past few weeks scouring the web for super cute and easy Valentine’s Day ideas and pinning them to my “Craft Ideas” Pinterest board. My hope was to make some fun handmade Valentine craft/card with my kindergartener son to give out his class.
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Added by Debra Rutt on February 14, 2013 at 12:30pm —
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Did you know that February is Heart Month? Appropriate with Valentine’s Day being tomorrow….

Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women and men in the United States. However, its effect on women is inherently different from that of men. According to the American Health Association (AHA), an estimated 43 million women in the…
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Added by Debra Rutt on February 13, 2013 at 8:15pm —
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Yesterday, The Hubs and I took both kidlets to see Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! Get the Sillies Out!, at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ. My five-year old son is a “Yo Gabba” pro, having seen them at Radio City Music Hall in NYC a few years back, but this was the first time that his three-year old sister would see a live action show like this. Now, my daughter loves “Yo Gabba Gabba.” She sings…
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Added by Debra Rutt on February 11, 2013 at 3:32pm —
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I love my job - and this time I'm talking about the one I'm actually paid to do!
For the past 19 years I've only ever worked in television public relations. The networks I’ve been employed at have been incredibly diverse and I’ve been fortunate to meet many amazing people and worked on many exciting projects. One of the things I always loved about my job was all the travel I got to do. I’ve been to both the glamorous and not-so-glamorous places across this country, Canada and even…
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Added by Debra Rutt on February 7, 2013 at 2:15pm —
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In our house, she is the ultimate rock star. She has a killer wardrobe, cool friends and awesome adventures. My daughter laughs and shrieks with delight when she sees her. Who is this hip chick?
It’s Chica the Chicken!
Preschoolers may already know Chica as one of the many fun characters from “The…
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Added by Debra Rutt on February 5, 2013 at 11:25am —
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The past few days all I’ve read about on various parenting/family blogs are lists about “things you should never say” to a stay-at-home mom or to a working mom. I’m so sick and tired of these ridiculous mommy wars.
All mothers are working mothers, regardless if they…
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Added by Debra Rutt on January 29, 2013 at 3:43pm —
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Have the winter doldrums set in at your house? If you said "yes," then it is definitely time for your family to get the sillies** out!
DJ Lance Rock and his crazy and colorful pals Muno, Foofa, Brobee, Toodee and Plex are back at it again, dancing and singing on stage in the new live-action show “Yo Gabba Gabba! Live!: Get the…
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Added by Debra Rutt on January 28, 2013 at 4:47pm —
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In some way, shape or form, I’ve been a mediator my entire life: as a child, between playmates fighting over crayons; while co-captain of my high school volleyball team, between my teammates and our coaches; in college as the vice president of my sorority, between my fellow sisters and our executive board; and in my career as a PR professional, between my company and the media. Since I often came out on the winning side of things, I thought I was a pretty successful…
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Added by Debra Rutt on January 23, 2013 at 1:37pm —
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After a brief tease of warm, spring-y like temperatures here in the northeast the past few days, winter has reared its mischievous head again and this morning blanketed our area with a coating of snow. There wasn’t too much of an accumulation only 2 inches or so, not enough for a snow day, but just enough to wreak havoc with each of my kidlet’s school openings as well as my commute into NYC to work.…
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Added by Debra Rutt on January 17, 2013 at 4:49pm —
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If your family is like mine, you’re often on the go and sometimes it’s hard to drink healthy – especially for kids. Have you seen some of those “100% juice drinks” you can get at convenience stores? Some of them can have as much as 28 grams of sugar in them! If I’m on the go with my kidlets, the last thing I need is for them is to have a sugar-high and be bouncing off the walls while I’m trying to run errands, visit with family or taking them to school/recreational…
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Added by Debra Rutt on January 17, 2013 at 4:47pm —
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My kidlets are now at that fun age where they like to play games. It really doesn’t matter what kind of game it is, just as long as they can play it with me & The Hubs. I think we have a pretty good mix to choose from. We have classic board games such as Chutes and Ladders and Candy Land, games from The Hubs & I childhood like Hungry, Hungry Hippos and Battling Tops and some new games like Where’s My Water, Don’t Wake Daddy, Red…
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Added by Debra Rutt on January 17, 2013 at 4:46pm —
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My son is home sick from school today with a mild fever and with a nose that has snot dripping freely like a soda from a dispenser that it’s upsetting his stomach (and mine too, ick!). I’m not feeling 100% myself either, but nowhere like the flu I had last month. It’s more jet lag, having just traveled to and from LA in a 48-hour span for work this past weekend.…
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Added by Debra Rutt on January 17, 2013 at 4:42pm —
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What a whirlwind the last few weeks of the year always are! It's like no other time during the year - it's not really a vacation, it's celebration time - and by the end of those last two weeks of the year, I'm ready to go back to work to relax (no more cooking, no more cleaning, no more company!).
Anyway, I've read a lot of New Year's resolutions, whether it be friends on Facebook, Twitter or the many blogs I love to read (and I hope they read me too!). I've never been one…
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Added by Debra Rutt on January 17, 2013 at 4:39pm —
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If you live in the NYC metro area – as I do – you’ve undoubtedly seen it on the news. It’s a terrifying story that’s been the lead on the local TV news, newspapers and …
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Added by Debra Rutt on October 22, 2012 at 4:06pm —
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This weekend I had one of those “you know you’re a mom when” moments. It came as I sat with the Hubs and our two kidlets at Monster Jam**. In case you’re not familiar with Monster Jam, it is the world’s largest monster truck tour and features the biggest names in monster trucks vying in events such as truck racing and freestyle competitions. My 2 ½ year old daughter asked me the names of the monster trucks and without hesitation, I started…
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Added by Debra Rutt on June 19, 2012 at 4:13pm —
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I’ll never forget the Christmas of 1982, that’s because after months of begging and pleading – Santa (aka Mom & Dad) gave my sister and me one of the original home video game systems, an Atari 2600. The games were blocky and crudely animated, but they kept us mesmerized for hours. One of my favorite games to play was Pitfall! Players had to maneuver a character named “Pitfall Harry” through a maze-like jungle and recover various…
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Added by Debra Rutt on May 31, 2012 at 11:30pm —
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