http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vm-cdxDSxz0/S3W9VN9dtjI/AAAAAAAAHB0/NUof8MHrxB8/s1600-h/477_4839.JPG Yesterday I was at the grand opening ceremony for http://thankyoumom.com/ at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.  Marc Pritchard from P&G shared his vision for the home, "A place to gather, celebrate, relax, have some fun and enjoy the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games experience together as a family.” And believe me, the athletes like Noelle Pikus-Pace are going to love recharging their batteries here. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vm-cdxDSxz0/S3Xac3EF7fI/AAAAAAAAHCM/Vq0nGLLQal8/s1600-h/477_4916.JPG Noelle was generous enough to chat with me at the Family Home opening.  The http://www.nbcolympics.com/photos/galleryid=262313.html had lively red and blue streaks in her hair and was simply bursting with energy and enthusiasm. Her daughter and husband were set to arrive soon and she said this experience is a "family dream." Noelle told me husband works full-time so she can train and plans to make the most of these Olympic Winter Games. Noelle told me the being here was the "best opportunity." I took a moment to ask Noelle about the P&G Thanks Mom campaign and what her mom did to help her achieve her goals.  "My mom is my hero--she took of hours and hours of work to help me and always believed in me." Nabbing time with this mom, was such a treat and I was moved to see her basking in the spotlight.  Watch her compete on the 18th and 19th. Athletes like Pikus-Pace, Jeret Peterson and speed skater Chad Hedrick gathered to celebrate the home and the inspiration behind the home--all the moms that made it possible for these athletes to achieve greatness.  P&G rolled out the two commercials that will début tonight (and believe me you'll want to have your hankies ready--these are emotionally packed ads!).  As Pritchard shared the all the details of the P&G campaign, he shared the spotlight and the stage with Jenny Chu's mom, Miriam, and gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi. One special detail of the evening was P&G efforts to bring families together in Vancouver.  The P&G team offered athletes up to $3000 to fly and house their families here in Canada.  This is an amazing offer for athletes that have had to scrimp and save for training and equipment.  Several athletes were moved to tears at this generous gesture. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vm-cdxDSxz0/S3XG_3thveI/AAAAAAAAHB8/MKMgMCmy3mA/s1600-h/477_4848.JPG After athlete photos, I got a grand tour. The multi-story home is centrally located in downtown Vancouver.  Within the home are experiences designed to take the pressure off for a little bit of time.  There's a cyber lounge with free wifi, an incredible Pringles snack bar with more than two dozen flavors, and that's just on the first two floors. From there you head to the Tide Laundry Lounge.  That's where athletes can drop off laundry and pick it up clean and folded the next day.  Tots will adore the Pampers Village packed with toys, a diaper changing station and tons of the new Pampers Swaddlers and Cruisers Diapers with Dry Max. Crest had a cool interactive photo session (I'll post my virtual speed skating image soon), but this mom loved the top floor.  It was packed with all the beauty supplies this mom uses and loves.  More on that soon! http://thankyoumom.com/ will be the online place to check out the action.

The White House's Big Earth Day Announcement by Josh Loposer http://www.greendaily.com/2010/04/22/the-white-houses-big-earth-day-announcement Want a a free home energy upgrade courtesy of the federal government? As part of the White House's official Earth Day festivities, Vice President Joe Biden unveiled the "Retrofit Ramp-Up," a plan to dole out $452M in energy retrofits to 25 communities across the country. Using funds set aside by the Recovery Act, contractors will literally be going door-to-door to offer Americans a chance at a free energy-saving upgrade. The only problem is that you have to live in one of these 25 privileged communities. Lucky for me, my town made the cut. Did yours? (mine didn't make the cut - bummer - but I think this is great! And I know we have lots of Michigan moms on here - the State of Michigan is listed so you'll have to let us know if you get to participate in this!)

Hi, I'm Momwich - I've been a mommy blogger since my gorgeous daughters were 6 and 2... fast forward a few years and several thousand dollars in girl scout fees, cheer uniforms and orthodontics and they're now 16 and 12 - and I'm still blogging about my parenting fails :) http://www.momwich.net

Ruffle Flower Scarf http://mama-says-sew.blogspot.com/2011/01/ruffle-flower-scarf.html I took a couple of my favorite projects and combined them into something for me. After all that creating over Christmas for other people, it was fun to make something for myself. Not that I don't enjoy creating for others, of course. I'm sure you know what I mean. ***** I would like this in several lovely fall colors. Who will make them for me? LOL! =)

13-year-old Texas boy wins Nat'l Geographic Bee WASHINGTON – A 13-year-old boy from Texas won the National Geographic Bee on Wednesday by correctly identifying the country that is home to the Tungurahua volcano. Tine Valencic of Colleyville didn't miss a single question during the final round of the bee, defeating nine other boys and taking home a $25,000 scholarship and a trip to the Galapagos Islands. The answer that got him the win: Ecuador. "I'm just taking it all in," he said after winning and being lent tissues to dry his eyes by both the bee moderator, "Jeopardy!' game show host Alex Trebek, and the bee's second-place finisher. To get to the bee in Washington, students had to win their respective state-level competitions. The group of winners, all fourth through eighth graders, competed in a preliminary round Tuesday, narrowing the field to 10. In the final round Wednesday at National Geographic's headquarters, students answered questions ranging from identifying the flags of various countries to what country the "bandura" is the national instrument of: Ukraine. Anthropologist Jane Goodall and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton both asked taped video questions. To clinch the victory, Valencic won a best-of-five final round, which included a question asking for the Italian name for sediment deposits that connect a shoreline with an offshore island: tombolo. Valencic and his opponent, 11-year-old Nilai Sarda of Georgia, got that one right. But Sarda stumbled on the question about the Tungurahua volcano, believing incorrectly that it was in Peru. He takes home $15,000 for second place. Third-place finisher Stefan Petrovic of Lawrence, Kan., won $10,000. Aside from the three top-place finishers, the finalists competing Wednesday were: Alex Kimn of South Dakota, Kevin Mi of Indiana, Luke Hellum of Arizona, Tuvya Bergson-Michelson of California, Karthik Karnik of Massachusetts, Anthony Cheng of Utah and Andrew Hull of Alaska. The bee will be broadcast on National Geographic Channel over four nights in June and will also be broadcast on public TV stations. Read the article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_geography_bee

15 Ways to Eat Healthy Without Breaking the Bank.... I am very committed to eating really healthfully and feeding my family as much nutritious food as possible. Many people complain to me that they can’t buy fresh, organic food because it’s too expensive. It’s interesting to me that 100 years ago we spent twenty-five percent of our disposable income on food and now we only spend ten percent. Furthermore, we’re actually consuming more food than before, while getting fatter and sicker. But I do think we’re starting to make the connection that we have a lot of cheap food in this country, and that cheap food has hidden costs—to our physical bodies, as well as the environment. To read on: http://www.positivelypositive.com/2012/01/30/eat-well/

MIT project tries to turn trash into a game CNN - Here's the problem with recycling: It's boring. But maybe it doesn't have to be. A Boston company called Greenbean Recycle is trying to make the act of keeping bottles and cans out of the landfill into a fun, competitive and engaging game for students at MIT. The new company, which won an innovation prize this week from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, has converted a beefy recycling machine on MIT's campus into a point tabulator of sorts. When students approach the high-tech trash can to dump in their recyclables, they punch their phone number on a touch screen. A bar-code reader in the machine counts the number of cans, bottles and the like that the person has dropped off - and then uploads that data to Greenbean's website. Recyclers can track their progress online, and even engage in competitions with fellow students. "We want to be like the Zynga of recycling," said CEO Shanker Sahai, 38, referring the maker of such social games as "FarmVille." Competitions between fraternities at MIT have been particularly fruitful, he said, with the houses trying to compete against each other to get the top spot on an online recycling leaderboard. Continue: http://whatsnext.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/09/mit-project-tries-to-turn-trash-into-a-game/?hpt=hp_bn6