Who can make you rock? The Candy Band can.

Seriously.  I wish my mom would have been in a punk rock band when I was a kid.  How cool would that have been?!  Pretty cool, I think.  I mean, it’s cool when your dad is in a band…but…YOUR MOM?  Seriously freaking cool.

There’s just something that makes me smile from ear to ear when my one year old tries to scratch off my Alkaline Trio or Hot Water Music tattoos.  Like, I know I’m a cool punk mom on so many levels.  Other than having tattoos that show my dedication to a couple of my favorite bands, you wouldn’t be able to tell by my appearance but it runs in my blood.  I just wish I was talented enough to be in a band.

Who’s in a punk rock band?  YOUR MOM IS IN A PUNK ROCK BAND!!!

Ok, I think you get the picture.  It’s obvious that I think The Candy Band is pretty freaking rad.  I kinda want to be best friends with them.  Check them out:

Even if you don’t have kids, you should come by Kidzapalooza this weekend and check them out…because you know you wish your mom was as cool as these moms.

The Candy Band performs twice this weekend at Kidzapalooza:

Friday, August 6th at 1:30 pm
Saturday, August 7th at 12:30 pm

Check out The Candy Band online here.

For daily updates on performances and activities, follow Kidzapalooza on Twitter

(The Candy Band image above is from The Candy Band website)

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For those about to rock:  The Chicago School of Rock will be performing at Kidzapalooza this year.

Every town and every city should have a School of Rock.  Music education is so important for kids.  Have you ever watched The Heart Is a Drum Machine?  We are music.  It’s everywhere around us, all of the time.

School of Rock has 58 schools in 23 states across the nation.  Their mission is to “inspire kids to rock on stage and in life.”  The staff at School of Rock in Chicago consists of professional musicians (guitarists, drummers, voice instructors, bass players, etc.)  who seek to teach and inspire our kids.

School of Rock will be performing twice at Kidzapalooza:

Friday, August 6th at 12:30 am
Sunday, August 8th at 11:30 am

If you want to learn more about the School of Rock (in Chicago) click here.

For daily updates on performances and activities, follow Kidzapalooza on Twitter

(The School of Rock logo and Chicago image above from the School of Rock website)

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The performance line-up for Kidzapalooza 2010 is pretty fantastic.  I have spent some time checking out all of the bands and I’m stoked to highlight them all.  Better yet, I’m stoked to have the chance to see them all this coming weekend at Grant Park in Chicago at Lollapalooza.

First on my list is Chicago’s very own, “The Happiness Club“.  This group of young and talented Chicagoans has got the moves, the rhythm and the energy.  They radiate positive vibes and inspiration wherever they perform.

Check out their performance of “So Hot”:

You can catch The Happiness Club performing twice at Kidzapalooza:

Friday, August 6th at 11:30 am
Saturday, August 7th at 3:00 pm
and also
Sunday, August 8th – Dance Exhibition at 3:00 pm

View the group’s performance calender here.

For daily updates on performances and activities, follow Kidzapalooza on Twitter

(The Happiness Club image from The Happiness Club website)

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In case you really don’t know…Kidzapalooza is part of Lollapalooza.  You’ve surely heard of Lollapalooza, right?  If you haven’t, where the heck have you been?!  Lolla was founded by Perry Farrell and has been around since 1991.  It was the first, huge outdoor music festival that I attended and that was way back in 1995, when the festival was still touring the country.   Since 2005, Lollapalooza graces its presence in one city each summer and lucky enough for me, that city happens to be Chicago.

I took the preschooler to Kidzapalooza in 2008 and we caught one of our favorite kid acts, The Terrible Twos (Matt from The Get Up Kids/New Amsterdams).  Here’s a video from their performance:

It was Kidza that rekindled my love for Lolla (are you getting confused yet?).  How many of us can say that we attended our first big outdoor music festival twice before we were 5 years old?  My kid can. 

Anyway, we’re stoked.  We’ll be there on Sunday the 8th.  We’re thrilled to feature Recess Monkey here on ParentSphere.  We’ll be dancing with them, singing with them and interviewing them in just over a week.  We’re equally as stoked to finally catch Dan Zanes.  He’s been a favorite for a long, long time around here.

Here is the 2010 Kidzapalooza line-up for all three days:

Give us a shout if you’re planning on attending the festival and would like to guest post your review(s) here!

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I was recently on a mission to find picture frame ornaments but not just any picture frame ornaments.  I wanted simple, small wooden frames that we could decorate.  I went to several stores and couldn’t find what I was looking for.  I told Eric about it and he came up with this ingenious idea – make them ourselves out of popsicle sticks.

Well, duh.

I just so happen to have had some small sticks leftover from a project we did a couple of years ago.  So, I had our four year old color some of the popsicle sticks.  We then glued them together, making a small square (about 2″ x 2″).  She decorated the colored sticks with some holiday stickers and I tied a string (actually, some holiday ribbon) around the frames to hang on the tree.  This is what our homemade frames look like:

Very cute.  Very four-year-old-looking.  I love them to pieces.

See the two furry things in the frames?  Those are our two fabulous kitties, Indie and Ollie.  We recently lost both of them (just over a month apart).  So, this was a very important project for me.  It’s going to be a different Christmas without them around.  I’m thrilled that we completed our project and our furbabies now have a place on our Christmas tree.

We encourage you to make some homemade ornaments this year.  When you pull them out of the Christmas bin next year, you’ll have a lovely memory to look back on.

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My iPhone keeps me company while I’m feeding the baby or swaying her to sleep.  It also provides entertainment to my four year old when she’s restless.  Half of the apps I have are for me and half are for her.  Not to mention I have at least three movies loaded and some episodes of Blues Clues.

Now that I’ve professed my geeky love for my phone, I’ve got to tell you about a couple of new apps that were just released.  They are here just in time for the holiday and they are HOT.

If you don’t know who the Grinch is, or the adorable people from Who-ville, then I guess you’ve been living under a rock.  Two new notable iPhone apps are all about the Grinch and we can’t get enough.

The first one that I fully abuse every day is the Dr Seuss Camera – The Grinch Edition ($2.99 at the iTunes app store (app store > photography > Dr. Seuss camera – The Grinch Edition)).  Here are some of the holidayriffic photos I’ve taken since downloading the app:

They are scaled down in size here but the originals are easily greeting card size.  I have been showing them off to friends and family and I have about a thousand more where these came from.  It’s too fun and we all get a good laugh.

Next on the holiday list is Grinchmas ($1.99 at the app store (app store > games > Grinchmas)).  You can be nice or you can be naughty in this one.  Throw snowballs or presents at the Who’s houses, depending on your mood.  Don’t worry, we’re pretty sure no Who’s were injured while playing the game.

Here are a couple of screenshots of the light-hearted Grinchmas app:

These two apps are available for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Soon I’ll post a list of the other apps we enjoy…hopefully, if you have an iPod Touch or iPhone, they will keep your kids entertained on the long trips to visit family and friends for the holidays.  I know they will work like a charm for me!

Thanks to Oceanhouse Media for providing me with promo codes for these two apps.  They would have been well worth it to purchase!

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I took the four year old to Michaels the other day. We were on a mission to gather items for our homemade wreath. I thought it would be fun and a little less expensive to assemble our own this year.

I added it up and figured out that we spent around $10.00 for the entire project.  It was tempting to pick out a bunch of Decorative Essentials but we stuck with just a few and in my opinion, our wreath turned out quite nice.  Plus, the cool thing about it is that we can take off what we put on and change up our wreath for the different seasons.  Score!

While we were there, I also spotted another craft project for the preschooler to pass the time.  She’s so anxious for Christmas to get here, I think I’m going to have to come up with something for her to do each day for the next 25 days.

Check out this cute little Ready-to-Finish wood decoration set.  She jumped right on this when we got home.  It turned out pretty adorable:

It was inexpensive, as well, and could be given as a gift.

I could spend hours wandering around the craft store and conjuring up fun activities to do with my sweet girl.  I don’t know what has happened to me.  I’ve never been <–this–> into crafts before.  I think I’m turning over a new leaf.

We’re working on another craft project right now but it’s not finished yet.  I’ll post about it as soon as it’s finished.

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So, yesterday, she came home with this adorable little construction paper turkey, made from her feet and hands.  Such a sweet, memorable little craft!  This is surely a quick little activity that you should have time to do before tomorrow’s festivities – or – even make it a special Thanksgiving Day activity for the family to do.  You could surprise your kiddo’s grandparents or siblings with this special gift.

Here is Hailey, proudly displaying her turkey.  What you will need for this project is:

-Colorful construction paper
-Elmer’s glue
-A pencil
-Scissors
-Little “eyes” found at virtually every major retailer in their craft section or your local craft store.

Choose different colors of construction paper and trace your child’s hands.  You can see about 8 tracings of Hailey’s hands in the picture.  Trace your child’s feet, rounding off around their toes.

Cut out the traced hands and feet.  Glue the two feet tracings together to make the body of the turkey (see picture) and then flip it over and glue the hands on for the feathers.

Cut out feet for the turkey, a beak and the beard thing.  I can’t remember what that thing is called.  Glue on the turkey’s feet, beard thing, beak and eyes.

Voila!  There you have an adorable little Thanksgiving Day craft that your little one can show off to all of the relatives.

If you make this craft and take a picture of it for your blog, make sure to leave us a comment with the link so we can come over and check it out!

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I love making memories and traditions, especially when it has to do with my family.

Each year, for the past three years, we have taken a picture of Hailey on Halloween sitting with a pumpkin. Each year, on the pumpkin, we paint one of the letters of her name. For example, since Hailey’s birthday is the week before Halloween, we paint the next letter of her name on a pumpkin. We’ve been doing this since she was born. She came home from the hospital on the night before Halloween in 2005. It’s a fun way to document the years and watch your children grow. I got this idea from a friend of mine, who does this with her children.

You could do this any time of year, really. Birthdays, Christmas, Easter, you name it. The most important thing is that you’re capturing an image of your child and creating a tradition.

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We paid a visit to Chicago’s Adler Planetarium to check out their brand new show, “One World, One Sky: Big Bird’s Adventure” and were nothing short of impressed.

We were invited to attend opening weekend and there was already a crowd lined up at the door to see the new show and to meet Elmo.  Elmo was a lot bigger in person.

This was our first time visiting the Planetarium together.  The line moved swiftly and soon we were in the Definiti Space Theater in our seats and waiting for the show to begin.  The theater is dome-shaped and provides a 360 degree view.

The new Sesame Street show was incredible.  The kids (and adults) in the audience were mesmerized by the huge, starry virtual sky surrounding them and the Sesame Street characters; Big Bird, Elmo, and Hu Hu Zhu (from China) were a plus, too.  This is a fun, informative production that gives kids an insight into the big sky that surrounds us.

After the show, the kids were invited to participate in some hands-on activities that our toddler fully enjoyed.

So, if you’re in town, we recommend checking out this brand new show.  It’s big fun for the whole family.

The Adler Planetarium is located on Lake Shore Drive, on the Museum Campus, just north of Soldier Field.  One World, One Sky: Big Bird’s Adventure runs daily and on weekends.  You can view the schedule HERE.

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