Little Art Monkeys

The director of Little Forrest Playschool in Los Alamos has a cool website called Little Art Monkeys. She has a whole bunch of art projects for little kids to do.

How to Save For College

In 18 years a public college education is estimated to cost over $100,000 and a private college education will be over $200,000!

There are a lot of ways to save up for college: dumping all your one-dollar bills and coins into a savings account, using reusable cotton diapers instead of disposables, buying secondhand clothes and toys and saving half the money that your kids get for birthdays and holidays.

But no matter how many pennies you pinch, you need to invest them wisely. Here are a few ways to do this:

State 529 Savings Plans allow you to invest the money you contribute in a mutual fund or other investment and the growth is tax deferred. When you take the money out you don’t have to pay federal taxes. Each state has their own 529 Plan but you don’t have to choose a college based on the state that you have your 529 Plan in.

Mutual Funds and IRAs can also be effective ways to accumulate money for your child’s future education. The tax-deferred earnings of a Roth IRA can be withdrawn before you are 59 ½ without a tax penalty if it is used for education.

Life Insurance - perhaps you have family members who depend on you for financial support like your children or grandchildren that are attending college, life insurance could be an additional approach if you need protection for a certain number of years.

Al Aglialoro is an agent with Farm Bureau Financial Services. He is opening an office in Los Alamos and can set you up with the investment plan that fits your personal needs. Email him at Al.Aglialoro@fbfs.com.

Eclipse Interrupted!

I bought Eclipse, by Stephanie Meyer earlier this week. This is my favorite book in the series so far. I am totally into the love triangle, and have been plowing through the book.

Then, last night I was only three pages to the end, and Calvin started crying and crying and saying "Boobah!" and I had no choice but to abandon the book and breast feed him until I fell asleep. It was painful.

Twilight and Madagascar

I was just explaining the plot of Twilight to Quinn, and he made a very astute observation. It has almost the exact same plot as Madagascar! One creature has to resist the temptation to eat his best friend.

The Santa Fe Children's Museum

On Tuesday I went to the Santa Fe Children's Museum with my friend Michaela, her son, John, and Calvin. Calvin wasn't feeling well, his asthma was bothering him, and so he cried the whole time I tried to install John's carseat, and was grumpy all the way down. I was afraid we wouldn't be able to go and have fun.

As soon as we got there he was ready to play. The boys ran right past the admissions desk before we even paid. Calvin was yelling "Ball!" "Fish!" And running from a rollercoaster track for pool balls to a fish tank. There was a mirror station where we could paint our own faces. I put stars and hearts on our cheeks and he yelled "Stars STars STars!" when he saw himself.

The best thing about the museum was that it was kind of messy, and you don't have to feel bad about the mess that your kid is making (because he's learning). Calvin found a concrete pool and water fountain system that was full of boats and rubber duckies. He loved throwing the sharks and octopi in the water. I gave him an apron to wear, but he still got so drenched that I had to buy him a t-shirt and borrow a pair of shorts.

John, who's three, was really into the bubbles. There was a tractor tire in the middle of the floor full of soapy water. Kids stood in the middle of it and pulled a string that was attached to a metal ring in the water, and it made a bubble that surrounded their bodies.

(Calvin also liked the bubbles, but he wanted to put his face in the soapy water so I had to keep him away from them).

After lunch we went outside, where there was a sand pit, lots of little huts and a music area where there were instruments made out of planks, pipes and hubcaps.

These balloons are freaking me out

Some of the words that Calvin knows aren't from books, but from memorable experiences. We went to the balloon fiesta last fall, and so you know that Calvin can say "balloon" perfectly. It's hard to say no to him when he points to the expensive long-lasting balloons in the grocery store and say's "balloon" as sweet as can be.

So for the past week and a half we have had a Sponge Bob Square Pants balloon and a globe balloon living as guests in our house. Just before I started I had to ask the globe to move over so I could sit at the computer, while Sponge Bob flails insanely in the wind outside the window.

At first I thought a balloon is an inanimate object, but they keep moving from room to room on their own. I'll turn the corner to the stairs in the middle of the night to find Sponge Bob grinning at me from the tall ceiling over our stairs. The globe is hovering over the stove, when I could have sworn it was in the living room just a minute ago.



They'll sneak up behind us when we're reading, jump out of the closet to scare us, or leer around the bathroom door. They spy on us while we're asleep. I was just trying to relax and read a book to Calvin and I could see them scooting along the ceiling. The globe ducked under the doorway to my bedroom, and I sent him out and locked the door behind me.

Next time Calvin asks for a balloon I might have to say no.

Big Dog Little Dog captures our bed drama

But they did not sleep well!

Upstairs Fred thrashed and crashed and thumped and bumped in the little bed and Downstairs Ted tossed and turned all over the big bed...Big dogs need big beds and little dogs need little beds.