Babyccino "Spring!" Curriculum

Hey Ladies!

Babyccino has some fresh new material! The Spring 2014 curriculum has just landed last week, and the theme is "Spring!" - featuring the elements of the nature around us via plants, bugs, water, and earth. This growth-themed series will encourage young children to explore our world with their senses, communicate with creative art, and express themselves through music and movement. Due to popular demand, this particular 8-class curriculum includes classes and activities for the holidays of Lag Baomer and Shavuos. Join the Babyccino team and watch your community of little sprouts blossom!!

Buy-in will include this complete package:

• The rights to use the name “Babyccino”
• The Babyccino promotional material – text altered to your needs
• The philosophy behind Babyccino
• The method to promote the classes
• The complete classroom layout (including links for furniture purchases)
• The Circle Time “how-to” (including song playlist and links for props)
• The fully descriptive Fall 2013 Curriculum (including links for supplies)

The Curriculum consists of a “theme”/unit, the music playlist for that theme, and 8 detailed classes. (We will be selling 3 different curriculums throughout the year –  8 fall classes, 8 winter classes, 8 spring classes.) It basically lays it all out for you – you can practically spend one Sunday getting things together off the list of items detailed here, set them aside all ready-to-go, and never have to plan another mommy & me again. Seriously.

You should hit up the Babyccino facebook page to get an idea of what I’m talking about. There you can view full photo-documentation of all our previous classes and you’ll see what it’s all about.

Click here for a more detailed blog post about Babyccino and here to see what buyers are saying about it.

Happy Spring and Chag Sameach to you all!!

Fun with Fiete

Since my initiation into modern adulthood, I've discovered some simply fabulous apps that have slightly changed my mind about things. It's taken some time to sift through the junk and come out with some treasures, so while I already did the dirty work, I figure I'll share the bottom line goodies with you! Starting with one for the kids:

Fiete is an adorably illustrated interactive story board, inviting pudgy little fingers to try their hand at helping this friendly european sailor, Fiete, with his basic tasks: putting on his reading glasses to read the paper, fry his morning eggs, load cargo onto the ship, fix the tires on his car, etc. There are 16 different interactive scenes, including different levels of the sweetest matching game you'll ever find.

I originally bought this app for Freida, but it's Hudi who's been adoring it! She loves figuring out just how to put the sunflower seed into the planter pot, is obsessed with giving the ladybug back her spots,  and cracks up when she uses the needle to pop his balloon! It's a perfect app for babies and toddlers, and the best part is the peaceful mellow backround music - something you don't find very often - this app won't make you want to pull your hair out. : )

It is the most beautiful children's app I've ever come across, and the charming little nuances and wonderfully well-done sound effects make this my very favorite app at the moment. Believe me, it's well worth $3 - perfect for lazy Sunday mornings in bed.

Babyccino In Space!

Just wanted to put it out there. If any of you want to join our mod moms meet on Monday mornings, now's the time! We're already 3 weeks into our Spring series, but there is still an astronomical amount of outer-galactic fun to be had!! Here are the deets:

While creating this space-themed series, I spent lots of time browsing the www in search of any and all creative concepts revolving around space, galaxies, planets, elements, and anything other-worldly. There is such a plethora of creative people and projects out there - doing creative research like that always makes me reflect on what a magical place the internet is!!

There were many many things that caught my eye, but this animated short film by Pixar called La Luna, totally stole my heart - the way a great film should. Enjoy!

http://vimeo.com/60381274

P.S. We also had a great time with these simple yet wonderful sensory discoveries: Moonsand, Galaxy Dough, and Space Putty (scroll down a bit)!

The Rebbe on Having Children

Thinking about the Rebbe today... And how grateful I need to be for having access to his holy voice of wisdom and understanding.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=m-ljQyvhhGE]

Weekend Round-up!

Happy weekend, dear readers! Hope it's a long one for you and you're getting a bit of a break thanks to MLK! I usually teach Hebrew School for Shul By the Shore on Sundays, but on this sunny Sunday off my day started out with a very early morning "sweet shop" set-up by my two favorite little ladies...

Lots of people I know find it ridiculous (and even a little obnoxious) when parents "take turns". And I must say, before I had kids I definitely felt the same way. That was until we tried "taking turns". Since Freida was about 9 months old we've had pretty much a solid sleep-in schedule. I sleep in on Shabbos morning while Manasseh plays with the kids until he has to get ready for Shul, at which point he rises the slumbering mother-queen and I take over. On Sundays I wake with the kids and he sleeps in until he has to get up for minyan. As I said, we started it years ago just to give it a try, and it's worked so seamlessly that we've never stopped. Obviously, it's not something that's never tampered with, but for the most part we love it and stick with it. Honestly,  just the thought of sleeping in so late one morning a week gets me through some of the toughest days ever. And let me tell you, when I go to sleep every Friday night knowing I most likely won't wake until an ungodly teenage hour - the pleasure  and relaxation of conking out is so awesome!!

Anyways! Now that I've finished my little rant on parenting... :)

Here's a few things I thought you might like to check out over this extended weekend:

- This art form has got me in stitches - so cool!!

- This week's Babyccino is Mexico-themed and while googling snacks I happened upon these - yumm!

- Lovely printable wrapping paper!

- With the Superbowl coming up, score some brownie points by being a good NFL wife and email your man this hilariously bad lip reading!!

- I'd love to use this retro barber board as my new babysitter info center.

- Talk about playing "sweet shoppe"....

- #MLK

- Freida's school has been going on about the flu - this non-alarmist guide cracked me up!

- Booze + Botanics.

Hope you have a good one!!