Holidays


Mother’s Day Ideas (of the Useful and Not-so-Useful Kind)

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

It’s that time of the year.

Mother’s Day is looming and Cribsheet’s inbox is overflowing with pitches. I know, I know, marketing is a hard job and somebody’s gotta do it.

But really, some of these are a stretch.

Friends of the Earth ($15) is offering half-price memberships for mothers ($15). “Show all the mothers in your life that you care by giving them a gift membership today.” (But does it show you care about the earth or about your mother? I’m not sure…anyway, I’m all for anything that helps Mother Nature.)

“National Survey Shows Adult Children Choose Mom over Dad” came the e-mail blast from Senior Helpers, an inhome provider.

“Just in time for Mother’s Day, the national poll found 70% (7 out of 10) adult children would overwhelmingly choose their mom over their dad to move in with them if their elderly parents could not take care of themselves.”

(Argh, do we have to make dad feel bad in order to make mom feel good?)

And the “best” one: “Moms-to-be Need NOT be Nauseated on Mother’s Day” from Psi Bands, the company that makes those wristbands with acupuncture points to overcome nausea. (Anybody tried them? Do they work?)

Then there’s this vaguely annoying pitch from momAgenda, a company that makes organizers for moms. 

“This year cook mom a celebratory meal.  Store her favorite recipes in the momAgenda Kitchen Folio for a quick reference. This powerhouse system is ideal for keeping track of sports team’s practices, camp schedules, family vacation dates and even storing take-out menus for those late nights.  Another use of this product is to centrally store all your kids’ forms including birth certificates and other documents required to jump their sports activities. Help mom stay on track and never forget another game, recital or practice with momAgenda desktop or Mini-Daily.”

(Do I really need more guilt on not having all Vital Documents at my fingertips? And for parity, is there a dadAgenda?)

Now this one I really liked - make a slideshow of mom’s favorite pics on Animoto. Click here for sample video.

“Just upload your photos, pick a song, and Animoto will take care of the rest, creating a one-of-a-kind video with the visual energy of a music video and the emotional impact of a movie trailer.  Now, you can even add personal messages in text (captions, messages, dates, etc.) or give your video a professional-quality effect with stock images.”

(And it’s free! Though I’d skip the stock images if you’re trying to personalize…)

And here’s Kay’s favorite: super cool personalized greeting cards from Snapily. Upload your fave pic of Mom and you can turn it 3D, or Flip or Morph more than one image. Greeting cards start at $3.50.

Of course, you’ve got to check out Cool Mom Picks Mother’s Day ideas

Plus a recent article from Real Simple on Memorable Gifts for Mom

Any other ideas for Mother’s Day gifts Cribsheeters?

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(Reminder - we’ll be @ Salon Aura near 50th & France this Evening for Mom’s Time Out - make an appt to get pampered, or swing by and chat if you can join us for some wine & cheese. If you can’t make it this evening - they are still taking appointments today and tomorrow for 2 treatments for $50 - a seriously great deal!)

click on image below for more information

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Share Mother’s Memory Box

Thursday, April 16th, 2009

Today we have a reader query. A series of notes and stories about these mom-entos will be compiled to run as a feature on Mother’s Day weekend. Send in your stories! Read below.

From baby teeth to a dog-eared driver’s permit, a mother’s memory box for her child can be a strange assemblage of their lives together.
For Mother’s Day weekend, we’re asking moms what saved item will cause their child the most chagrin, shock or embarassment when it’s eventually revealed? An umbilical cord? A bent fish hook? Send a short note about the item and its story to tellus@startribune.com with “memory” in the message field, or write to Kim Ode, 425 Portland Av. S., Minneapolis MN 55488. But be sure to include your name and address.

Deadline for submissions is April 25.

Hmmmm - I have a few curls of hair, and seven of Ben’s first stitches taped to a popsicle stick. Nothing too embarrassing….yet.
What do you have?

All Kinds of Photo Opportunities

Monday, April 13th, 2009

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A couple of links and alerts today:

Bunnies & Bonnets:
Hope all of you had an Easter weekend full of family, fun, great weather (and photo opps). So why not upload your cutest jpgs of your kids in their finery, ears, bonnets, on egg hunts, dressed up etc and share them with us. Not a contest -this is just fun! You can upload them at our Bunnies & Bonnets gallery.

Cutest Baby Winner:
Check out Emilie and all of the adorable finalists of The Cutest Baby Contest winner

Mom & Me Look-Alike Contest:
Any mother/child look-a-likes in your family? Enter the Mom &Me Look-Alike photo contest on StarTribune.com that is now taking entries.
Winner wins $1000. Here are the rules and links.

TV/Tivo alert Matt on OPRAH!
If you haven’t already read (or seen the Oprah promos) Matt Logelin & Maddy will be on Oprah today at 4pm.
That’s so great. Speechless. Not at all surprised. Hope he has an enormous server to handle all of the additional blog traffic he will be getting.

Fuzzy Ducks and Such

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

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Easter weekend is coming up and looks like the weather will be decent for a few egg hunts and being outside.

We did several rites of spring last weekend such as the requisite…

Petting zoo…

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Homage to the Minnehaha Parkway (& Portland Ave) Bunny Sculpture

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Made my annual “Bunny Cake” Ben helped and tried to put jellybeans on the cake instead of IN his mouth…

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Here’s a list from Mpls Parks & Rec for Easter egg hunts and events going on around the city.

Of course there are the Farm Babies at the Minnesota Zoo.

Macy’s Flower Show is also an annual favorite.

What are your plans for the weekend and more activites or suggestions?

Bunnies and Bonnets 2009

Monday, April 6th, 2009

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It’s that time to find or snap those photos of your kids in their spring finery.
Our Bunnies and Bonnets photo gallery was so fun last year we are opening it up to more than just Cribsheeters and added it to the StarTribune.com photo gallery.

Start uploading your photos under Family Photos, Bunnies & Bonnets album.