I recently joined my 7 yr. old son in Cub Scouts. My older boys did the same back in the 1990's. Still a traditional group & still a good thing for kids to do.

Hi, New to the site for about a month or two, glad to have found this place to meet other moms, mother to a beautiful 8 month old daughter named Olivia

Does your partner look like you? My husband and I are similar in coloring and height, but no one has ever mistaken us for blood relations. ____ Reflection connection: Finding your face mate By Georgia Garvey I RedEye Ever look into a mirror and say, "Hey there, good-looking. Come here often?" Some online dating services are banking on just that--an affection for your reflection--and matching clients based on similar facial features before lining them up on the other stuff (likes, dislikes, level of distaste for Coldplay). The sites use facial recognition software to match features and then pair couples who have the most in common. Among them are the New York-based findyourfacemate.com, which launched this year and claims to pair daters based on their faces, and an offering from Coca-Cola, which recently announced a face-matching app on Facebook. Some dating experts said the new focus puts too high a priority on looks and not enough on personality. "It makes no sense at all. ... How self-conceited do you have to be?" said Vilius Gavrilenka, an event director for Chicago-based Date & Dash, who did say he can see how some would want to date someone of a similar level of attractiveness. But, he added, "There are so many other variables in a relationship that are more important." The idea behind the sites is based on studies like one published in June 2010 by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign that examined people's sexual attraction for others who resembled them. In that study, people said those who looked like them or their parents were more attractive. R. Chris Fraley, who authored the U. of I. study, said he can see implications for dating. "If you were to set people up on the basis of similarity in their facial features, those people would find one another as more attractive than they would if they were paired in a less systematic fashion," Fraley said in an email, but added that "simply finding someone attractive doesn't guarantee that the relationship will work well in the long-term." Others said the computer-based scheme takes some of the mystery out of dating. "It sounds so scary," said Jim Sullivan, a New York-based dating coach. "It's an abomination of the whole dating process." But many acknowledge there's no harm to the approach. Ultimately, any excuse to chat someone up can be a good ice-breaker. "It's actually both goofy and it makes sense," said Kevin Chmura, a River North dating coach. He said that regardless of whether there's "legitimate" psychology behind the process, just having a seemingly scientific rationale for setting two people up "can give them that kind of [dating] confidence." Read the article: http://www.redeyechicago.com/news/redeye-reflection-connection-finding-your-face-mate-20110605,0,6484535.photogallery

My daughters and I joined a national mother-daughter organization a few years ago called National Charity League, Inc. (NCL). They have a chapter in our community. At first I was hesitant, because the dues were a bit high and it has a bit of a "junior league" feel, but it has been worth every penny. To be a member, you and your daughter(s), from the time they're in 7th grade until 12th, put in a required number of hours each year volunteering in the community. NCL sets up ties with a variety of organizations and you and your daughters "go and do". The teen years have been turbulent in our household and some of the only really good "mom and daughter times" for us have been when we're working side by side, volunteering. It's win-win-- we help make the world a better place and bond with each other. We've helped out at such organizations as Special Olympics, the animal shelter, a food bank, and a center for abused children. One of my daughters always says, "Well, we could always volunteer at those places without being a member of NCL" but having to "report hours" to the organization keeps us doing it-- I know we'd probably let life make us too busy otherwise!

My daughters and I joined a national mother-daughter organization a few years ago called National Charity League, Inc. (NCL). They have a chapter in our community. At first I was hesitant, because the dues were a bit high and it has a bit of a "junior league" feel, but it has been worth every penny. To be a member, you and your daughter(s), from the time they're in 7th grade until 12th, put in a required number of hours each year volunteering in the community. NCL sets up ties with a variety of organizations and you and your daughters "go and do". The teen years have been turbulent in our household and some of the only really good "mom and daughter times" for us have been when we're working side by side, volunteering. It's win-win-- we help make the world a better place and bond with each other. We've helped out at such organizations as Special Olympics, the animal shelter, a food bank, and a center for abused children. One of my daughters always says, "Well, we could always volunteer at those places without being a member of NCL" but having to "report hours" to the organization keeps us doing it-- I know we'd probably let life make us too busy otherwise!

My daughters and I joined a national mother-daughter organization a few years ago called National Charity League, Inc. (NCL). They have a chapter in our community. At first I was hesitant, because the dues were a bit high and it has a bit of a "junior league" feel, but it has been worth every penny. To be a member, you and your daughter(s), from the time they're in 7th grade until 12th, put in a required number of hours each year volunteering in the community. NCL sets up ties with a variety of organizations and you and your daughters "go and do". The teen years have been turbulent in our household and some of the only really good "mom and daughter times" for us have been when we're working side by side, volunteering. It's win-win-- we help make the world a better place and bond with each other. We've helped out at such organizations as Special Olympics, the animal shelter, a food bank, and a center for abused children. One of my daughters always says, "Well, we could always volunteer at those places without being a member of NCL" but having to "report hours" to the organization keeps us doing it-- I know we'd probably let life make us too busy otherwise!

We've been trying hard not to waste food here. I'm so proud of managing to a) finish off a bunch of leftovers and b) satisfy various picky appetites without having to cook three different meals that I had to post. Last night we had marinated flank steak. There was some of that left over, but not enough to make an entree. There was also some baby carrots, spinach and mixed greens left from last week's salad ingredients, along with bleu cheese bought for our Valentine's dinner. Last but not least, there was half a bag of corkscrew pasta--again, not enough for an entree for the whole family. Here's how the meal shook out: South Beach Dieting Mama: Mixed greens salad with sliced flank steak, bleu cheese and balsamic vinaigrette Picky Vegetarian-wannabe Girl: Pasta and baby carrots (with some cheese for protein) Eat-anything-except-most-vegetables growing boy: Sliced flank steak, pasta, and baby carrots Hard-working Dad: Pasta tossed with sauteed spinach, sliced flank steak, and bleu cheese. Nobody's dinner is actually all that interesting except for my husband's, but I was still pleased that everyone got a dinner they liked, the fridge got cleaned out, and I didn't have to do any extra work.

I took my four yr old son, Henry, to ride on Thomas the Train recently. This is us getting ready to ride!

Arnold Schwarzenegger: Sins of the Father

TheFasterTimes.com - A few days before Christmas 1979, I was doing what I always did during those glorious days when I was on vacation from school and home alone: snooping around in my mother’s bedroom. Back then, I was a latchkey kid anyway, so I guess it was no big deal that I was home without supervision. And I didn’t mind. Having the house all to myself meant that I could read all day undisturbed, look up interesting names in the white pages of the phone book (don’t ask), and snoop around in my mother’s room. I went through her drawers, tried her perfumes (all of them), dressed up in her clothes and high heels, and searched for my Christmas presents. They were usually under her bed, so I always saved that spot for last. This particular Christmas, I pulled out a long, white, rectangular JC Penney gift box and frowned. Clothes. In my ungrateful mind, clothes were the consolation prize of Christmas gifts. So I reluctantly opened the box.

Inside, I found not clothes but piles of paper. Tannish, legal-sized paper, which made sense because these were legal documents. The pages were typewritten and had a lot of words that even an precocious, 8-year-old voracious reader like me didn’t understand. So I went and got my trusty dictionary. It turned out to be of little help because the definitions of some of the words were equally puzzling. But because I recognized my name, my mother’s name, and my father’s name, I knew I had to get to the bottom of this. Why, for example, after each instance of my name, did they type “the bastard child”? I knew “bastard” was a bad word, like “bitch” and “motherfucker,” but what did it have to do with me, or any child?

Keep reading: http://thefastertimes.com/coparenting/2011/05/18/arnold-schwarzenegger-sins-of-the-father/

1. Being honest with myself and my dearest friends 2. New babies in our extended family 3. My sweet sweet momma:)

Got some giveaway sponsors for your blog (go on, take 'em) Hey all. I run a community site called bloggerdise.com. Essentially we link up bloggers with businesses and artists that are looking to be reviewed, do giveaways or promote their offers. Our site is totally free to register and use. We have over 800 businesses to choose from. Though I figure I'd offer up some of my personal picks on this thread. Again, to actually view all the business contact info you just need to register on bloggerdise.com first, for free. Ok, here's my first batch ... [oh, and if you have any questions you can reach me @ jesse@bloggerdise.com] Awesome popcorn company that is into sampling. Love their caramel corn ! http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=501 Novelist with a quirky sense of humor... http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=982 Skincare brand that is in to doing sampling of different kinds of products. http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=1422 Eco-lips (premium lip care) open to giveaways – http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=531 About Abby (award winning web series) looking for interesting promotional ideas – http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=1263 Vegan Web series starring Eric Roberts http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=1206 Marcal tissues (open to giveaways and reviews) – http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=872 Delicious Tea co. Open to sampling – http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=1319 Charitable search site – http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=1207 Applegate Farms (open to couponing) – http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=1233 I got a bunch more, but interested to get your feedback (like if you want me to keep posting these.) Best, Jesse Bloggerdise.com