How do I find out about all these cool events?

I am often asked after I tell people about cool things that I have done with the kids: "How did you find out about that?" Things like what we have done lately and blogged about... Darien Lake, Tinker Nature Center, WXXI.

I am going to fill you in on my little secret "Rochester Kids Out and About".

Just go to the link and look for events for the week or you can have a reminder to check the site and a highlight of upcoming events come to your email by putting your email address in the upper right hand corner. Even if you do not live in Rochester but occasionally come to Rochester it is a great resource. I have seen events listed on it from as far away as Auburn, Buffalo, Wyoming (the town, not the state my dear western relatives), Naples. It is a great resource. I have found SO many fun things to do with the kids from this site.

The lady that does the site is a homeschooling mom of two so obviously she loves to learn and explore with her kids. I highly recommend this site to everyone within an hour or so from Rochester!! Check it out.

WXXI's Open House

On Saturday for another "field trip " we went down to WXXI for their 50th anniversary open house. WXXI is a public broadcasting station downtown with several TV and radio stations. It was a lot of fun to explore the master control rooms, TV sets and radio studios. There were characters from various children's shows that they broadcast and tables for the many neat programs that they have available. There were also lots of other fun things going on. We really learned a lot and I was able to realize what a great resource WXXI really is in our area. Here are a few pictures of the fun things that we did:

We met Curious George.














We got to play with a SmartBoard on the set of Homework Hotline.














We got vision and hearing screenings done. We found out that Caleb has great vision and that both Hannah and Lydia may have a little bit of an astigmatism in their right eyes. We also found out how really bad my hearing is in my right ear. I had had a tempanoplasty and mastoidectomy done when Hannah was a little baby but soon thereafter got pregnant with Lydia so I never had the reconstructive surgery on my ear. The doctor who tested me said that I really should not be driving without amplification in my right ear or getting the reconstructive surgery because my brain can't tell which direction sound is coming from. I already know this because I always have to have my kids search for my phone whenever it rings because I can't tell where the ringing is coming from. I didn't realize that it was as bad as it is so sometime soon I should really get that dealt with. The doctor told Glenn he should raise his pitch and make sure to let me see his mouth when he talks to me for improved communication. The producer of Second Opinion that was there with him laughed that he was giving out marriage counsel :)














We visited the set of Assignment the World which is also made here in Rochester and broadcast across the country and Glenn disappeared. I love the look on the little boys face.














The anchor for the show said that she has to be very careful not to wear that shade of green or she looks really funny on TV:)














Another fun thing that we got to do was play with the RPO's (Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra) Instrument Petting Zoo. Here are my little musicians in the making.

Deaf Awareness Day and Curious George

We went to the Strong Museum of Play yesterday because it was Deaf Awareness Day (homeschool field trip!!) and because we hadn't gone to check out the new Curious George traveling exhibit yet and to get out of Daddy's hair while he was working on his secondaries. We had a lot of fun doing all kinds experiments in the Curious George exhibit. I have included a few pictures here but I posted more to facebook here if you want to see more.

Lydia really loved the rocket ship slide. There was also a goofy mini golf course, a produce market, a farm, a place to learn about wind power, a construction site, a place to play with shadows and I am sure many other things that I can't remember right now. I like this exhibit much more than the Clifford one that just left though that one was fun too. This is the 4th traveling exhibit that has been here since we got our membership last September.

I like going to the Museum of Play on the special days that they have throughout the year when they have other activities going on. For Deaf Awareness Day they had a concert (that we missed - big bummer!) by the Rochester School of the Deaf and School #1. There was also a song time where we got to learn a few children's songs in ASL. There was also an interpreter for story time. Instead of just reading a book this time they did a performance of Goldilocks and the Three Bears with volunteers from the audience - Caleb got to be "baby bear." He was a good sport but he is pretty embarrassed about the pictures I took so they may not be on facebook long :) There were also finger spelling letters for the kids to make their names on either a crown or a necklace... as you can see in the picture Hannah made hers into a belt (like Grandpa Maas) so Abigail did as well.

As we were getting ready to go the Wii was available so Caleb got to play for a while. We also found that our favorite toys were back out - the create your own animal toys so we stopped and played with them for a while. We also made a quick stop at Wegmans for one shopping trip. We hadn't been to the Museum of Play in a while and they have all new grocery items (possibly not in the produce and bakery section but everywhere else). There are a lot more healthy options out there which is fun. I talked to one of the workers and she told me that the sugar content went way down. I like all the new options but they moved stuff around so I had a hard time finding where to put stuff back (just like when they move stuff around at a normal grocery store!)

Oh, I love that place. It is so much fun!

The End Has Come

Several years ago (when we were living in Waterloo the first time) I ordered Family Fun magazine when a lady from Mothers Against Drunk Driving called asking for a donation. I had remembered that my mom had gotten it for a while and it always had fun ideas in it and I always enjoyed looking through it. I remember when I got my first issue and realized that I would be getting the magazine until Caleb was 8 and it sounded like forever! (I'm not even sure that he was 2 yet at the time.) But... Caleb is 8 now... "IT'S OVER!" no more Family Fun. I have decided not to continue the subscription because the magazine often just makes me feel guilty over all these cool projects that I never make time or get the materials to do with the kids. I figure with the 6 years of magazines (I have thrown some of them away... need to get rid of more when we unpack!) I will have ideas for years to come. So... good bye Family Fun... it has been fun :)

Our new favorite magazine is Ready Made. It is so much fun. There are all kinds of creative ways to re-use stuff and make your small space more usable. We got a free 3 year subscription to it from some free sample website. The issue we got today said "50+ ways to improve your shoebox." I thought... hmmm... I am moving into a small space (I just edited the blog about our new house to include a picture of the outside) with 5 other people... this will probably come in handy. I am looking forward to tomorrow night when Glenn and I will have a "date" looking through it.

Not Exactly Free

Tonight was Cold Stone Creamery's World's Largest Ice Cream Social to support the Make a Wish Foundation. We had never had ice cream from Cold Stone so we thought we'd make the trip over to Pittsford and check it out. Hannah, Lydia and I enjoyed Nutter Butter Ice cream with yellow cake, white chocolate chips, and Kit Kats mixed in - it was very yummy! Glenn, Caleb and Abigail had the other choice - marshmellow ice cream with fudge, Oreo Cookies and chocolate chips. I tried both and I am glad that I picked the Nutter Butter one. They were both so rich though that I don't think that I could have eaten more than the 3 oz free cup that we were given. (I took a picture of us enjoying our ice cream outside with my phone but with no flash you couldn't really see anything so no picture for this one.)

If you are a Maas and you go to Pittsford Plaza you are required (I think) to go to EMS. We miss the old EMS at Marketplace (especially when Galyans was across the hall to compete) but it is still fun to go there. Of course you always have to check out the clearance and returns racks (I am sure that we have never paid full price for anything at EMS) to see what is available. We went in looking to possibly buy biking shorts for Glenn but he also needs some kind of head light for riding his bike since it is getting darker earlier (boo hoo) I am looking forward to 12/26 when the days start getting longer again (though, I guess we have much more daylight today than we do then... hmmm... maybe I should rethink my theory on that one). Anyway, back to my story... I guess that a picture is worth a thousand words so the picture is to the left here. We bought a headlamp that straps to the front of a bike that the "batteries need replacing" for half price. Also a head lamp that Glenn can wear while riding his bike and I can wear when we go camping for half price because it was "removed from packaging." Glenn also got a Buck knife for half price because it had a "rusty blade." There were just a couple of specks of rust on it that will be easy to remove with a little elbow grease. He has been wanting a new knife so he was happy. He tells me all 3 will keep him safe on his ride home through the 19th Ward... I'm not sure that I think that he should carry the knife. This is the first time that we have found good returns since EMS has moved to Pittsford so we were excited. Oh, I am remembering some things that we have paid full price for at EMS so I don't want to lie but we have found some good deals there over the years including tonight. :) So much for going to Pittsford for free ice cream :)

An Unexpected Haircut

As the years have gone by I have escaped one of those experiences almost every parent has to go through and as the years have gone by I have thought "maybe it won't happen in our family"... Well, it happened. Today, while we were working on math, Lydia wandered off with a pair of scissors and I didn't think anything of it because cutting things is one of her new favorite pastimes and I told her she could cut up anything in the recycle bin. Oops... she came back in with a guilty look on her face and a fist full of pretty blond curls. Here is a picture of part of what she cut off. It could have been worse. I think that this is actually most of the hair she cut. She told me that she wanted to show her hair to Sammy (Brian and Kristina's cat). She gave herself a haircut on the side that is usually shorter anyway because she twirls that side and it snaps off. I am not sure if you would be able to tell a difference in a before and after picture because, thankfully, she has some natural wave in her hair. I am thankful that (so far) she has been the only one and she didn't to a major chop job like I have seen in some "after" shots. Well... one more life experience down... many more to go in this parenting adventure I am sure!

Faithful

For most of last week during my quiet time I was stuck on 1 Thessalonians 5:24 "Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass."

I love this verse and have been so encouraged by it lately. The verse is so freeing! He has called me and He will do it! It does not negate my responsibility to do my part BUT the end result does not depend on me! HE will bring it to pass!

He always takes care of the details so I don't have to freak out... what a blessing! I can trust Him. My future is in His capable hands. How great that I don't only have to depend on me!