Margarita and Salsa Festival!

We had a great time last Saturday at the Margarita and Salsa Festival! My good friends Ashley and Marie helped me 'till all hours of the night Friday night preparing our amazing concoction. It's great to have such amazing friends to help you out when you need it!

We worked really hard making gigantic pinwheels to decorate our booth with. While we weren't sure if we'd have a chance to win the Salsa Contest, we felt like we were a shue-in for the decorating contest. Unfortunately, the judges didn't see it our way, and we won a big fat nothing.

We did, however, have a BLAST!! We tried lots of salsa, and a few margaritas, and can't wait for next year! We even managed to raise a handful of dollars in our meager little bucket for the Arthritis Foundation.

Keeping Busy!

We love to keep busy around here. Just ask my husband. If I don't have ten thousand things going on at once, well, then I'm just not happy. So in light of that, we are gearing up for a fun-filled fall! School is starting soon, and the lazy days of summer will be over. We will be hosting all kinds of interesting groups, classes and activities. Of course, we want these to be relevant and important to YOU!

So take a look at the classes and groups we are considering adding to our Fall schedule. Let us know which ones you would love to see, and if there is something missing, let us know that as well! We will still be having our T, TH and F 9:30 and 11:30 story/craft time.

Cupcake Cuties Club-
1 1/2 hour (1 day a week for 4 weeks)
All supplies included
120.00 for 4 week series(discount for siblings)
Each week will focus on a different theme
Each student will be provided 1 dozen cupcakes a week.
Instructor will focus on various themes every week for boys and girls.Cupcake cuties members will recieve certificate,icing reciepes,cupcake reciepes,and a cupcake goody bag that will include various cupcake decorating items.

Kindermusik Baby Sign:
5-week course, ages birth-18mos. Cost will be approximately $50-60 for each mom/baby pair. This class will be held during the week, probably Monday or Wednesday mornings.

Cloth Diaper Club:
A group for cloth diaperers to come and meet, discuss their diapering systems, any problems they are having, and any tips they'd like to share. Great way to meet other like-minded moms and possibly even set up a diaper swap! We are looking at Thursday nights for this group....cost is FREE! :)

Attachment Parenting Support:
A group for parents practicing Attachment Parenting to come together and share their experiences. Also for new parents interested in finding out more about Attachment Parenting. Informal group, held on either Thursday evenings or Saturday afternoons. FREE

Baby Trek:
Parent/Baby hiking group, to meet in Cameron Park on either Saturdays or Sundays. Led by Heather Jenkins, hiking enthusiast and park steward. This group is for parents interested in taking their babies outdoors and looking to increase their fitness level by hiking with their babies. Parents of all fitness levels welcome! Soft structured baby carrier recommended. Group is FREE.

Working Parents Playgroup:
Tuesday evenings from 6-7pm. Crafts, stories and other activities.

Big Kid Craft:
Fun activities designed for the kiddos age 5+. These crafts would include a material fee of approximately $5, and will include things like Tie-dying Tees, making sock puppets, paper mache and more! These will be held on Monday afternoons, and will require registration to attend.

Dr. Sears LEAN nutrition and Maternity nutrition:
A comprehensive lifestyle awareness class. Find out why some of the foods we feed our kids are bad, what the alternatives are, and why getting your child to move is so important! Taught by Geneece Arnold, certified LEAN instructor. Cost is $25 per person, $40 per couple. Saturday mornings.

We Love to Read! Book Swapping at Pinwheel

Many of you know that I was an English teacher at Waco High last year. I received my Bachelor's in English from UT, and I have always been (and always will be) a book hound. I hope to instill the same passion for reading and love of literature in my kids. But I've found that children's books are so expensive, and my kids tire of a book in a few weeks. The library is great, and we used to go frequently when I was home with my kiddos, but it isn't always convenient to drag a 2-year-old into the library while helping my 7-year-old pick out books.

So I came up with a solution: wouldn't it be awesome if there were a place to go to swap out the books we don't read anymore? Just a simple swap. Trade the old books for something fresh and different to read to the kids? No cost involved, no signing up, no membership required. And wouldn't it be even better if this place were 2-year-old approved?

Voila. We have set up a Book Swap at Pinwheel Kids! It's a small bookshelf with books for all ages: board books, story books, early readers and even young adult/tween fiction. It's a place where you can go and trade any time!

We are starting small, but we hope to grow the collection into a great resource for parents! The best way to do this is to encourage all of you to participate! We ask that you bring your gently used children's books in and swap them. It's an honor system, and we ask that you only take 4 books at a time, but you are welcome to leave as many as you like. In fact, any books that you donate above the four you swap will help us to make our collection even more comprehensive!

This is a mom-to-mom service we are offering. We hope you take advantage of this and bring your kiddos in to choose new books to read!

Rachel