Grace E. Hester, just-turned-30, corporate-working mom of 2 young daughters who sold out her creative soul when she moved from Singapore to Cleveland, Ohio when she finally found a man who was worthy. Join her on her journey from concrete jungle to mid-west surburbia of Westerville, Ohio, from college grad to mother of two, from mtv to numbers-crunching . . . all while trying to balance the pretty with practical in her life.
I will be at Alt Summit NYC this year on June 20, 2013 and am looking forward to meeting some of you and other fellow bloggers there! This year's event will be held at the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia office and "The Martha" herself will likely make an appearance. More to come as we approach the date either here or on my Pinterest and Twitter feeds.
I am looking forward to the partnership between Tales of the Multi-Tasking Mom and Blick Art as well as both my daughter’s art teachers to promote the Blick Art Art Room Aid initiative. As most of you would have heard through the news or through personal experience at your kids’ schools, a lot of schools or arts programs catering to education program are struggling to keep their art programs alive. This is where Blick Art’s Art Room Aid can help! It is a program that seeks to, and is helping teachers across the country enlist the aid of parents, families, friends, and other art advocates to fund their art projects and keep creative learning going.
Want to learn more? A group of bloggers and I are participating in a Twitter Party to share the word on how you can
Support art education
Make sure art continues to play a role in your children’s lives, and
Spread the word about Art Room Aid in your community
We'll be discussing projects you can do with your own kids, and sharing sources of inspiration. I am also looking forward to sharing the two very different, but very relevant projects that both my daughter’s teachers have so graciously agreed to work on that in turn, takes the program to the next level by giving back to the community.
When: Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2 p.m. ET
Where: We’ll be on Twitter – follow the #BlickARA hashtag to track the conversation. See this Twtvite for more info and to RSVP: http://twtvite.com/BlickARA
Hashtag: #BlickARA
Prizes: We will give away five total prizes - two $25 Blick gift coupons, two $50 Blick gift coupons, and one $75 Blick gift coupon.
So we've tried the spectrum of sports with Naia (basketball, karate, swimming, gymnastics) and some others with Gianna (swimming, gymnastics). Now they are not over-scheduled kids at all, there are no sports activities during the week and I managed to squeeze both swim and gym in on Saturday mornings so we have flexibility the rest of the weekend. But the overall purpose is to let them try different things and see what they like and what sticks.
While re-enrolling for this season's swim classes at Westerville Recreation Center, I saw that they were offering summer tennis classes through Skyhawks Sports Academy and after looking through their program information, was impressed enough to sign up Naia for the Quickstart sessions. Then it turns out they were offering bloggers a chance to try their sessions out too so I signed up Gianna as well. To be honest, I do not have high expectations for how much they will retain. To clarify, it's not for lack of skills, they're just easily distracted by "socializing with other kids" at this stage :-) But I hope they have fun. And from looking at this video, I think they will!
I want to go to sports camp too!
I like the part about them "napping" being able to learn some skills and be safe.
I used to play tennis and remember the time a net play ended up on my upper thigh and I got a bruise the size of a large chocolate chip cookie.
So I got right back out there by way of signing up my kids. :-)
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Sponsored posts are purely editorial content that I am pleased to have presented by a sponsor. Skyhawks did not produce the content, I did, and it is absolutely based on me reporting my experience so far.
Thanks to The Bully Project for sponsoring my writing. Visit their website to join the movement and learn more.
This weekend, I observed a sweet moment between a group of teenage girls and my 4-year-old. Basically we were waiting for Gianna's class to start and she saw three older teenage girls casually nudging a basketball soccer-style to one another in a circle and was intrigued. Being the social bird that she is, she just walked over and inserted herself into the circle and wanted to play along. Instead of stopping the game or looking awkwardly over at me, the girls simply opened up their circle and gave my little one a chance to play along despite the fact that she was not even close to being as skilled as they were. The pace was all off, the ball rolled out of the circle each time it was Gianna's turn. But these girls never lost patience and in fact set-up chances for her to participate.
I felt such a surge of gratitude to these girls and when it was time to break away, Gianna was just so elated at having had the chance of playing with "the older kids" and was beaming from ear-to-ear.
However, this moment of kindness and goodwill that warmed my heart felt in such stark contrast to how I felt while reading and previewing Bully the Movie. In fact, in the opening of the trailer for Bully the Movie, I freeze at this statement that comes on in white text against a black backdrop,
Over 13 million American kids will be bullied
And think, “what are the odds that my sweet young girls will become one of those 13 million bullied?” And worst yet, what are the odds that they will be one of those who bully one of the 13 million kids? Already, my 7-year-old is coming home with stories on how friends are not playing with a specific boy/girl because they are deemed annoying. Or how a classmate used a mean name on another friend. As a non-American mother to two multi-racial girls, living in a predominantly-Caucasian part of the US, I try to instill pride and teach my girls to celebrate everyone's beauty - externally and internally. And although we have been blessed not to have had a major life-changing event to cause either of them to question this, I live with this caution and hope that they never have to experience such an event.
I think it's so commendable that a group of people have taken this on and brought attention to this struggle and challenge that kids face today. And my heart goes out to the families profiled in the film who have lost their kids or continue to fear the potential loss of their kids due to this crisis. I have not paid as much attention to the public outcry on the intial R-rating on the film but am glad it has been lowered as of a few days ago. I have to believe that the world is filled with people like the three teenage girls this weekend but I still have to put on my "Mama Bear" hat and prepare my girls and my husband and myself for those in the world who are not like them. Do consider taking the time out to see and support this movie with me!
More About Bully the Movie:
Bully is a film directed by Sundance- and Emmy-award winning filmmaker, Lee Hirsch. It is a beautifully cinematic, character-driven documentary—at its heart are those with the most at stake and whose stories each represent a different facet of this bullying crisis. Following five kids and families over the course of a school year, the film confronts bullying’s most tragic outcomes, including the stories of two families who’ve lost children to suicide and a mother who waits to learn the fate of her 14 –year-old daughter, incarcerated after bringing a gun on her school bus. With rare access to the Sioux City Community School District, the film also gives an intimate glimpse into school busses, classrooms, cafeterias and even principles offices, offering insight into the often-cruel world of children, as teachers, administrators and parents struggle to find answers.
Bully will be shown in select theaters beginning Friday, March 30. Website: www.thebullyproject.com
I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. Find showings in your area for The Bully Project and buy tickets here
As the summer season approaches, I begin to look forward to bake-free and refreshing desserts that we can enjoy on our patio or at dinnertime. I tend to go with recipes that I can put together ahead of time or quickly like a classic strawberry shortcake dessert made with store-bought ladies’ fingers, fresh strawberries, and COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, or a layered trifle (in chocolate or using a selection of fresh fruits like blueberries, strawberries, kiwis, oranges, bananas, pineapples).
But when I saw this recipe on the Kraft Recipes website with Phyllo shells and knew I wanted to try it out – COOL WHIP AND PHYLLO? Sign me up!
Here’s my adaptation of the recipe for Sweet Little Fruit Bites:
Ingredients:
1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
1 pkg (1.9 oz. each) frozen mini phyllo shells (15 shells), thawed
Fresh strawberries, each cut into quarters or smaller slices
15 blueberries (you can also use raspberries or both!)
Note: They also recommend using fruit preserve for the topping but I skipped this ingredient this time as I wanted to first test out how sweet the combination would be.
Directions:
1) Pipe or spoon COOL WHIP into the phyllo shells. If you do not have a piping bag handy, you can fill a plastic resealable bag with the COOL WHIP and just snip off the corner for a piping opening.
2) Top with fruit and preserve (you can use the same piping bag method to pipe the preserve if you like).
3) Serve and enjoy!
Super easy and yum-O! There’s just something about the touch of light-creaminess that only COOL WHIP provides that adds just the right touch to this dessert. I thought the combination was sweet enough for my taste but I would be game to add just a touch of the fruit preserve on some of the shells for those with a sweeter tooth. And everything just took minutes to put together.
I also pinned some of my favourite COOL WHIP recipes to my “Working Mom Recipes to Try” pinterest board. You can also find other COOL WHIP recipes by searching #COOLWHIP on Pinterest.
Sponsored posts are purely editorial content that we are pleased to have presented by a participating sponsor. Advertisers do not produce the content. I was compensated for this post as a member of Clever Girls Collective, but the content is all my own.
I am co-hosting a Facebook chat this evening titled "Holiday Cards 101 – Gifting and Giving Back." Amazing creative mind and celebrity card designer Bonnie Marcus will be joining us to answer any and all questions you might have about making your holiday cards. This chat is the second of a two-part series, sponsored by Kodak.
When: Thursday, December 8, at 8 p.m. ET. It will last 1 hour.
About the class: Those holidays are creeping up fast! If you haven't already sent them out, it's definitely time to think about creating the perfect holiday greeting card! If you’re planning to design your own this year, this Facebook chat is the place to be! As a bonus, Bonnie will be telling us all about her Celebrity Cards for a Cause and the cool new Kodak Picture Kiosks in Target and CVS stores, which use RSS technology to connect you directly to your Facebook albums – allowing you to retrieve your favorite pictures to use in your own photo creations!
The chat is sponsored by Kodak, moderated by Jenny Cisney, chief blogger at Kodak, and features talented card designer Bonnie Marcus.
I’ll be there with six other bloggers to co-host the class, and I hope you’ll join us! The people who will be co-hosting with me are:
I am so stoked to tell you about the gift sets being offered by P&G this holiday season at grocery, drug and mass retailers nationwide. At under $10 a set (yes $10 or less!), these beauty gift sets combines must-have products from Olay, Pantene, Secret, Venus and CoverGirl to keep the gift recipient looking polished and party-ready throughout the holiday season and well into the New Year. I was provided a gift set that had the following items,
Olay Luscious Luxuries Gift Set
Crest White Stripes
Ivory Body Wash
Cover Girl Lash Blast
Smoky Eye Stick
Clariol Hair Color
($90 value!)
Coincidentally I do use The Olay Body Wash, and the CoverGirl eye make-up, and my mother-in-law uses the Ivory Body Wash! I’ve also used the Clariol line of hair color before and found it to be a solid choice for at-home hair coloring. The point is, these are tried-and-tested and popular items and the value is at least 4-5 times over the $10 you would pay. I was so surprised at how much was packed into this one gift set! Think gifts for girlfriends, teachers, Secret Santa gifts, office gift exchanges, or even to break them down for several stocking stuffers! For more info and to view the gift sets, visit P&G Beauty's Facebook page!
Along the lines of holiday goodwill, I am looking forward to finishing up the holiday shopping this week (partially thanks to P&G’s gift sets!), closing shop for a few weeks, and then enjoying the holiday season with family. I look forward to our simple tradition of baking cookies, then enjoying them in front of the fireplace with warm cocoa/eggnog/milk, watching a holiday classic like, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” or “Charlie Brown Christmas”. Nothing fancy but just to enjoy one another’s company and to celebrate our health and all things good in our lives.
Well to spread the good cheer, P&G has so kinda offered up another gift basket to one of my readers! You will receive the same items I received so you won’t just have to take my word for it that these are great products – you can try them for yourself!
To enter, please share your own tips or stories about how you create simple, special holiday traditions in your own homes. Contest ends December 6th 8 PM Eastern and the winner will be announced shortly afterwards.
Note: I was compensated to share this great deal but all opinions expressed at my own.
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