I hope you all enjoyed this lovely weekend! In my opinion it was the perfect amount of snow -- plenty to be pretty and fun to play in (Laurel frolicked outside for two hours with her cousins yesterday!) but not too arduous to shovel. Oh, and also, congrats to the Patriots! Now, here are some handy/fun ideas to consider in this week's Weekly Blueprint:

January 23: Come glean the best ideas for getting organized.

January 23-29: Bread and Puppet Theater brings a carrot circus to Boston.
January 24: An event for women looking to get back on the career track.

January 25: Pretty, pretty. An exploration of color.

January 27: A Chinese New Year celebration in Acton.

January 27: A different kind of Green Eggs & Ham.

January 27: The Wizard of Oz kicks off its run at Wheelock Family Theatre.

January 27-29: Enjoy Lincoln's winter carnival.

At your leisure: Nominate your favorite nonprofit to win a $1,000 charitable donation. So easy, so awesome.

At your leisure: Pick up some hand relief (Hydrolatum is totally working for us!).

At your leisure: Make something yummy. I just made a pan of magic spinach pie yesterday (see my recipe revision in the comments) and it was fantastic, as always. And so gratifying to watch the kids gobbling it too.

At your leisure: Chip away at organization. I love these ideas for using pocket organizers all over the house.

Image credit: Wheelock Family Theater

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you're gearing up for a wonderful weekend. Here are 12 picks that caught my eye:

1. Hail to The Monkey King! (Cambridge)

2. Hooray -- there's actually snow on the ground for this family snowshoe walk. (Mattapan)
3. I'm admittedly curious about how big the big red dog will be. (Boston)

4. A perfect pick for Elmo fans. (Worcester)

5. For those who are curious about creatures. (Arlington)

6. Magic! (Arlington)

7. Classic children's stories, puppet style. (Brookline)

8. Cinderella, apparently with a twist. (Brookline)

9. Geckos! (Boston)

10. A family friendly musical jamboree. (Cambridge)

11. A healthy family expo where you can jump to your heart's content. (Everett)

12. I am admittedly a little obsessed with penguins right now. This would be perfect. (Boston)

Image credit: Peabody Museum

Happy Friday! I hope you're looking forward to a lovely long weekend. Here are 12 picks that caught my eye. And stay tuned -- this weekend I'll post some ideas for fun, creative, and educational ways to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day at home.

1. Dance, arts, crafts, and critters to celebrate Chinese New Year. (Dorchester)

2. A family friendly show at Club Passim. (Cambridge)
3. More Year of the Dragon festivities via drumming, dance, tea, games, and more. (Boston)

4. Hooray for magic! (Brookline)

5. My father-in-law would go berserk over this train show. (Wenham)

6. Thanks to the Sound of Music, I'm intrigued by this marionette show. (Arlington)

7. Listen to the Boston Children's Chorus perform their annual Martin Luther King, Jr. tribute concert. (Boston)

8. Make some noise at this Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration. (Easton)

9. A family folk song concert in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Boston)

10. Celebrate friendship and honor Martin Luther King, Jr. (Acton)

11. Learn about Native American art and make a drum that represents your family. (Salem)

12. Enjoy free admission and special events at the MFA MLK Jr. Day Open Houes. (Boston)

Image credit: Franklin Park Zoo

I hope you all enjoyed the gorgeous weather this weekend. It's hard to imagine that this time last year we were buried under piles of snow! I hope you have a fantastic week lined up -- here are some handy/fun ideas to consider in this week's Weekly Blueprint:

Starting January 10 (multiple sessions): Consider signing up for this program about giant ocean critters. Yay for giant ocean critters!

January 11: Learn how to make a windowsill garden.

January 12: Enjoy fire and ice in New Bedford.
January 13: Inspire a love for chemistry.

January 13: Humpty Dumpty kicks off at the BCA Black Box Theatre.

At your leisure: Purge! Over the holiday break it felt phenomenal to purge my closet and donate to a drop box. We just purged some kids clothing yesterday and Laurel is working on a playroom purge to donate toys to kids in need.

At your leisure: Menu plan. We're trying to get back in the habit of mapping out at a weekly menu plan, using the chalkboard circles we have up in our kitchen. In general we opt for a strategy of 2 more involved meals (things that require assembly and longer baking times, e.g., lasagna), 2 quick meals (e.g., quesadillas, breakfast for dinner), leftover nights, and one night for take out.

At your leisure: Hydrate. Drink lots of water. And take care of scaly skin. I'll be sharing a community inspired post on hand creams soon!

At your leisure: Start a new book. Head to the library, used book store, or Amazon armed with this awesome reading list. (I just ordered Cutting for Stone and Left Neglected on Amazon last night since I haven't been able to find the titles at my local used book store -- so excited for them to arrive!)

At your leisure: Engage in some self care. I can't seem to find a ballet class that fits my schedule so I just ordered this ballet DVD. Also handy, here are 11 easy ways to get back to fitness.

At your leisure: Bake something. I love baking as an activity with kids. Yesterday Laurel and I had a great time making lemon sugar cookies (YUM). This recipe from my friend Rachel looks deadly but I'm completely intrigued. I have a weakness for caramel and pecan

Have a wonderful week!

Image credit: New England Aquarium

I hope you've all had a fantastic first week of the New Year! It's been a tad crazy here, attempting to get caught up on things, but I feel grateful for all of the good stuff going on -- not the least of which is the incredible outpouring of applications in response to my call for writers. Please be patient while I sift through the responses over the coming weeks and thank you so much for your interest and kind words. Meanwhile, I hope you're gearing up for a fun and relaxing weekend -- below are 9 picks that caught my eye. Enjoy!
1. Family friendly activities and warm galette? Sign me up. (Boston)

2. Who doesn't love a magic show? (Arlington)

3. I love the idea of taking a parent/child knitting class with Laurel. (Jamaica Plain)

4. I always feel so inspired browsing at open studios. (Lowell)

5. Head to Amazing Things if you want to see Gustafer Yellowgold rocking the live music, animated illustrations, and storytelling. (Framingham)

6. Get green and crafty in the New Year. (Mattapan)

7. How pretty would a full moon hike be? (Topsfield)

8. Support local at the Cambridge and Dorchester winter farmer's markets opening this week! (For other winter farmer's markets in Massachusetts, visit the Mass Farmers Markets site -- scroll down and follow instructions on the site to search for winter markets.)

9. This or another upcoming cold weekend, it would be fun to hit up the MFA Family Art Cart (Boston).

Image credit: French Cultural Center of Boston

Hello folks! I'm currently digging out after a few days away on a press trip (more to come on that front in the next week or two) and hope you had a spectacular weekend! Meanwhile, here are some handy/fun ideas to consider in this week's Weekly Blueprint:

Now through January 1: Christmas Festival of Lights at Edaville.

December 20: Hanukkah party at Inside Playground.
December 20: Menorah lighting on Boston Common.

December 21: Winter Solstice Night at the Harvard Museum of Natural History.

December 22: Hanukkah celebration at the Discovery Museums.

December 22: Winter solstice celebration at Stony Brook.

December 22: Two opportunities to study coyotes.

At your leisure: Chip away at wrapping gifts, or if you're time crunched, pick up a bunch of gift bags to make your life easier.

At your leisure: Outsource. Whether for wrapping or otherwise, right this second I'm considering hiring a rabbit for an hour or two to take a little off my plate. My office, especially, is a disaster and needs organizational help.

At your leisure: Take care of a little grooming before the holiday photo blitz. The other month I stopped in at Infinity Beauty Salon last minute and was shocked to pay a mere $15 for a lip and brow wax.

At your leisure: Hit the grocery store for holiday baking supplies. I'm excited to make cookies with Laurel this week!

At your leisure: Do some preventative care. Whether it's yoga, walking, drinking hot lemon water with honey, or other tricks, take care of yourself. This is prime time for pushing too hard and getting sick.

At your leisure: Pick up mason jars or other supplies for little holiday treats. I have a big batch of magic salt awaiting packaging. I always like to do up some extra jars for last minute gifting.

Image credit: Edaville

Hello everyone! I'm soon to depart for a press trip to explore a (potentially) family friendly travel destination (hopefully I'll have excellent things to share with you in the next week or so!) so I wanted to leave you with this roundup of 13 fun weekend picks to consider:

1. Urban Nutcracker at the Wheelock Family Theatre. (Boston)

2. The opening of the Charles Hotel skating rink. (Cambridge)

3. A holiday concert by the Boston Choral Ensemble and the Choirs of Marlborough High School. (Boston)

4. The Cultural Survival Bazaar's final event of the season. (Boston)

5. Family friendly Chanukah lights celebrations. (Arlington, Newton)

6. A gingerbread castle competition at the Higgins Armory Museum. (Worcester)

7. Children's choruses and orchestras at the NEC Prep Winter Festival Concert. (Boston)

8. A Christmas Celtic Sojourn. (Boston)

9. The Christmas Revels. (Cambridge)

10. Trains galore at the National Heritage Museum. (Lexington)

11. A gingerbread house workshop at Smolak Farms. (North Andover)

12. Santa (on Saturday) and Chanukah celebrations (on Sunday) at Barefoot Books. (Concord)

13. The final showings of The Velveteen Rabbit (see Lindsey's review!). (Boston)

Image credit: Urban Nutcracker

Today, Lindsey recommends heading to The Velveteen Rabbit this upcoming weekend:

My 9-year-old daughter re-read the Velveteen Rabbit aloud to me and to her 6-year-old brother as we drove into Boston to attend the Boston Children's Theater (BCT) performance of the story. It was wonderful to revisit it, though it wasn't entirely necessary, because Burgess Clark's adaptation of The Velveteen Rabbit is faithful to the story, beautifully paced, and clear to understand for audiences of all ages. The Velveteen Rabbit kicks off the BCT's 60th season, which features four other shows. Two of those are world premieres, and taken together, the five shows represent a wide range of subject matter and style and appeal to children from pre-K through high school.
The BCT's production of The Velveteen Rabbit blends puppetry and live acting in a compelling, magical way. The puppets contribute to the general atmosphere of wonder that pervaded the theater. I've never been in a room with so many small children that was consistently quiet for two 30-minute segments (the play has one 10-minute intermission). My children were spellbound by the play, laughing out loud at certain moments and watching in silent awe at others. The play is just the right length for its young audience, and keeps moving while never losing the particular enchantment that makes the book so beloved.

After the show, the actors all came out on the stage and participated in an informal Q&A session. The questions focused on how the puppet toys (the Velveteen Rabbit, the Skin Horse, the boat, tin soldier, and toy lion) moved and on how the few special effects worked. The BCT's Executive Producer, Toby Schine, was an amiable and welcoming host who led the Q&A. My children, on the older side in the audience, were captivated by the fact that some of the actors were almost the same age as they are. The child actors were visibly confident and proud of their participation, and it was easy to see the ways in which the BCT contributes to self-esteem and feelings of mastery for children.

The Velveteen Rabbit is playing at the Boston Center for the Arts, at 539 Tremont Street, and there are three shows remaining (one on Saturday the 17th and two on Sunday the 18th). I highly recommend the show for children of all ages, but particularly those under 9 or 10. Tickets can be purchased on the BCT website or by calling the box office at 617-424-6634 x222.

Laurel and I have made a happy tradition of attending Disney on Ice together the last couple of winters, so I haven't yet had the heart to tell her that this month's DOI show, Treasure Trove (10 performances, December 26-29), includes characters from one of her favorite movies -- Tangled. However, while we will miss this run, you need not miss out! I'm a huge fan of experiential gifts (no organizing or clean up needed!) and DOI always proves fun and entertaining for all (especially the figure skating obsessed like myself!). And how cool is this? The kind folks at Feld Entertainment are offering a 4-pack of Disney on Ice tickets to share with one of you awesome readers. Here's how to enter to win:

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THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED
Congrats to winner Kristen!
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Rules*:

Simply e-mail contests@bostonmamas.com with "Disney on Ice" in the subject by noon EST, Wednesday, December 14, 2011.

Local entrants welcome.

One entry per person (please do not enter off multiple e-mail accounts).

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*One lucky winner (drawn randomly via Random.org) will receive four (4) tickets to the Disney on Ice Treasure Trove show in Boston on Monday, December 26, 2011 at 7pm. The winner will be notified directly via e-mail, then listed back at this post using first name only.