In honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, here’s a great site for Dr. Seuss games:  PBS Kids.

And here’s a great picture of Principal Winckle from Lincoln Elementary in his Dr. Seuss Hat at their Dr. Seuss Birthday Party tonight.

Principal Winckler at Lincoln Elementary as Cat in the Hat

Three days, two Family Fun Nights, two showcases.  Whew!  What a week!  I have the coolest job ever.

I want to be a writer when I grow up!

I know, this isn’t an art site, it’s a writing site.  However, the theme of the contest is “What I’d Like To Do Someday,” which is very much the theme here, except we’re doing it now!

Mashable (one of my favorite tech sites) is helping to spread the word on the contest.  After you check it out, subscribe to Mashable’s blog as well.  Well worth it, and they don’t get too techy – just enough to make this reader feel a little bit hip.

There’s a book fair coming up in West Hollywood on September 26, 2010.  I found this link when I was wandering around the Once Upon a Time Bookstore website.

Here’s a goofy video.

Take the kids, take yourself, and have a great time.  There’s nothing like a great book fair to remind us how much we love books.

My friend Lauri Goldenhersh is a classical singer friend of mine who is also a talented writer and artist.  Every time I talk to her, I’m surprised by another facet to her personality.

She wrote a great article on her blog about the art of balloons after our article came out in the LA Times.  I’m always charmed by her insights and wanted to share them with you here. Make sure you look around on her blogs for more very cool stuff.

p.s. Our article has been picked up by several other newspapers, as far away as Kuwait!

Just recently, my dear friend Eddie Medrano (www.FunnyEddie.com) invited us to The Griddle Cafe (www.TheGriddleCafe.com) for a balloon “jam” / birthday party.  He also invited a reporter and photographer from the LA Times (Bob Poole and a guy whose name I will find out ASAP because he was great).

They were lots of fun and took the time to really get a feel for the spirit of our jam.  Thanks for the awesome article and pics, guys!

LA Times 9/13/10 by Bob Poole:  They Make Balloons Into a Full-Blown Art

p.s. Happy Birthday again Ramon!

Children learn the most through play.  I’m completely convinced of this.

Her Name is Lucy and She Likes Flowers

So when I recently saw KOCE’s A Place of Our Own www.aplaceofourown.org, it warmed my heart that experts agree too.  Recently they aired an episode on how drawing (1) develops fine motor skills, (2) develops storytelling skills, and (3) develops imagination.

Here are some tips from this show to get the most out of time spent drawing with your preschooler:

• Use unlined paper

• Use all sorts of drawing instruments

• Ask the child about his/her picture

One suggestion I thought was really great:  Encourage storytelling by asking open-ended questions:  “Tell me about your picture” instead of “what is that?”

When I’m teaching children how to work with balloons, I take this one step further.  I give them a specific compliment such as “I like how you used so many colors,” and then ask them to tell me about it.  It’s pretty amazing the stories and descriptions I hear after opening up the conversation this way.

So Technorati told me to write a post claiming my blog and include this code:  NCJVAHRWA66Z

I can’t think of anything clever to say, but here’s a fun balloon pic for ya.

The URL on the photo used to be my website when I lived in Colorado, and now it’s the home of April Strong, The Balloon Diva, here in SoCal.  Hi April!

As a follow up to yesterday’s post about The Next Food Network Star and how I love the way they teach, I thought I would suggest titles for a few new shows I want to see on the Food Network (with descriptive alternate titles):

Healthy Cooking for Lazy People — or — Cooking Healthy While Hardly Lifting a Finger

Cooking for Your Sack Lunch  — or — I’ll Gag if I Have to Eat Another Sandwich

Cooking With Your Kids — or — If He Cooks It Then Maybe He Won’t Think It’s Gross

Cooking With No Mess — or — If I Have to Wash One More Dish We’re Never Eating Again

Ninja Cooking — or — Fun With Large Knives

Cooking With ADHD — or — Let’s Not Burn the Kitchen Down, Ok?

Balloon Wine Bottle

I hate to cook.  Seriously.

But I love the Food Network.

Because they make me feel like I can cook just fine.  They walk me through their dish, tossing wildly imaginative ingredients into the pan while joking into the camera.  See, it’s easy, they say.  You can do it.

Yep, I’m going to saute garlic like a pro and make a pizza with Indian spices.  I’ll do it with great flare, a fabulous wardrobe, and flawless makeup.

I’m certainly not going to put banana bread in the oven while I’m building shelves for the bedroom, then go to the hardware store for more screws, then come home to black smoke billowing out of the kitchen window an hour later.  (True story, unfortunately.)

This is why my all-time favorite Food Network show is The Next Food Network Star.  We follow them through the competition, feeling their highest highs and their lowest lows.  They actually have trouble talking and cooking at the same time (me too!), relating to the camera (me too!), and explaining their unique point of view (me too!).

The three finalists this time, Arti, Tom, and Herb, were all so wonderful.  Never before have I been unable to pick a favorite in a competition show.  See the final videos and see if you can choose.

Hey Food Network, how about giving us shows by all of them?  These three could even convince me to voluntarily pick up a pan.

Parents Looking Over Shoulder

Kids have always had a secret language.  Way before the 1960s attitude of “trust no one over 30,” kids in the 1920s were using slang no one could understand but themselves (how about “bee’s knees” and “cheaters”).

I’m sure it goes back to the beginning of time when teenagers tried to sneak out of the cave without their parents being wise.

What’s the good news?  In researching my new Internet Safety show, I’m finding the coolest resources for parents to keep up with what’s being said online.  The latest is an app described in a blog post by www.MomLogic.com that deciphers texts, lingo, and emoticons.  Here’s a link to her post:  http://ow.ly/2lEEC.

So whether you want to make sure your kids are safe online or just make strides towards understanding more of what they say, this looks like a great app.  It’s really easy to use and only 99 cents.

P.S. A really fun site I found while googling 20′s slang is from a vintage car club.  Here’s a list of fun 20′s slang for ya.