Did you know that the American Academy of Pediatrics announced today that children should get double the usually recommended amount of vitamin D because of evidence that it may help prevent serious diseases?  What does this mean?  Millions children will need to take vitamin D supplements to reach the new recommendation of 400 units daily (up from 200).

I know there are parents all around who are wondering how to get this additional amount of Vitamin D now into their children.  The best source of vitamin D is sunlight because the body makes vitamin D when sunshine hits the skin.  However, if you like in a state like me (Illinois), we don’t often go out in the winter, because it is way too cold.  The only way most children are going to be able to get this much vitamin D is too supplement it.

I luck out that my daughter takes vitamins without a problem.  However, my cousin’s daughter will not take anything.  An easy way to get the vitamins into your kids is to use Emergen-C Kidz Complete Multi Vitamin and Multi Mineral Supplements.  For kids 4 and older, all you do is add a packet of Emergen-C Kidz to 4 - 6 ounces of water and stir.  For kids 2-3, use a half a packet with 2-4 oz of water.  Emergen-C Kidz has 24 essential nutrients including choline, 500 mg of vitamin C, and 400 IU of vitamin D.  It also has beta carotene, vitamin E, zinc, iron, and phosphorus (there are several more vitamins too!).  If you notice, Emergen-C Kidz offers more health boosting vitamin C than the leading brand to help support their immune systems.  It is available in major grocery stores and drug chains and in health food stores.

This passed the kid test in my house.  We tried the orange pineapple explosion, and Madison drank it in one sitting.  She like the flavor and wanted more after she was finished.  If that flavor doesn’t sound like something you’d be interested in, this also comes in Strawnana Berry and Cherry Yumberry (ok, I can’t even type that without giggling a little.  Your kids will love those name as much as I do.

Your kids will like their fizzy drink and think they are getting a treat, and you, as a mom, will know that they are getting all the vitamins and minerals they need.  I promise, I’ll keep it our little secret.

I took Madison to Burger King yesterday, and we went through the drive thru.  Burger King has a new product or two that they added to their menu.  You now can order apple fries or macaroni and cheese with your kids meal.  I thought this was great since I really don’t like getting Madison french fries.  Needless to say, I was a little surprised when I saw my receipt and found out that they charged me extra for the apple fries.  Of course, the huge sign in front of the drive thru did not state that. You know, I am not asking for it to be on sale or anything. However, I would have liked to see something on that sign letting me know that the apple fries were going to be 49 cents more. The other thing that irritated me was that, for free, McDonalds gives you way more apples.  Needless to say, we won’t be frequenting Burger King any time soon.

Another cooking blog I came across that you need to check out is Cooking With Kimberly.  The first thing that will catch your attention with this blog is her beautiful header.  There is so much food in there that I couldn’t even name it all.  It is a great attention getter.  Some of the other things you really need to check out is some of her advice posts.  I personally enjoyed the one on how to peel an onion.  I’ll be honest, I never thought of doing it this way.  It is defintely something I will be trying the next time I have to make something that has onions in it.  Her category listing also makes it very easy to find what you are looking for on her blog (makes me want to recategorize my cooking blog!).  She even has cool food gifts! If you are looking for a great cooking blog to check out, this is your one stop shop!  There is a little something for everyone (except if you are looking for instructions on speaker mounting — that one you’ll need a home improvement blog!).

If you are ever in Green Bay Wisconsin and you have kids, this is the place you must go.  You can easily spend a morning there and not spend $20 (unless, of course, you head over to the food stand).  We just took our kids there, and they had a blast.  The tickets are a quarter a piece.  For the kiddie rids, you usually only needed one ticket.  Now, if you are in the need of an acne treatment (which would mean the bigger kid rides), then those usually were 2 tickets.  For rides, they have everything from the scrambler to a ferris wheel to a merry go round to bumper cars.  There really is something there for all ages and it is quite affordable.

This is a show moms will enjoy as much as their kids. Lazytown is was created and is filmed in Iceland. The creator is Magnus Scheving. He is both a professional athlete and aerobic champion there (and he’s really good looking when not in his Sportacus costume). The show is about the struggle of being lazy and being healthy. Some of the characters you meet on this show include Stephanie (she’s the pink haired girl), Sportacus (the good looking health conscious superhero), and Robbie Rotten (the villian who likes to be lazy and eat unhealthy. These are all human characters. The other characters are a mix of live action puppets and computer generated animation. The main goal of this show is to promote healthy eating and lots of activity. For example, instead of looking for cruise deals, Sportacus would be off swimming. There are many learning goals that this show achieves (taken from the Noggin website):

• Value healthful habits, physical activity, and joy of effort
  • Benchmarks supported in particular include:
    • Recognize physical outcomes of healthful habits and being active.
    • Appreciate the fun inherent in physical activity.
• Cultivate healthful eating habits
  • Benchmarks supported in particular include:
    • Eat balanced diet.
    • Understand food is necessary for health and growth.
• Explore a variety of movements, indoors and outdoors
  • Benchmarks supported in particular include:
    • Run, climb, jump, balance, hop, and swing safely
    • Express self with controlled movements.
    • Practice.
• Interact with movable objects
  • A benchmark supported in particular is:
    • Bounce, roll, catch, throw, and kick balls.

If you want to get your kids to play outside more, have them watch this show.

The one gift that I thought I would never want, because we would never use it is our George Foreman Grill. Honestly, I never dreamt in a million years that we would use it as much as we do!  It makes dinner so much easier and healthier.  I love that you can see the fat draining off your food.  However, your food remains just as tasty if not more so.  We often season our steaks and burgers right on the grill.  It doesn’t heat up your entire house, and cleanup is a breeze.  All you have to do is take a wet cloth to it.  We have made things like hot dogs, brats, steaks, chicken breasts, and hamburgers on there.  I even know people who have done bacon!  This is a must have in everyone’s kitchens!

The Playdoh Creativity Center is a winner in both parents and kids eyes. If you find you have playdoh and playdoh accessories all over your house, you need one of these! Not only does it have a table for your little one to play on, all of the playdoh and accessories go inside. I know it has been a lifesaver in my house. Now, Madison and I both know where all of her playdoh stuff is. There is enough space inside that you can put other playdoh accessories and playdoh in there. We have several different sets in ours. On the table (which is the cover) there are also spots (or molds) that allow the kids to make all sorts of different shapes like strawberries and such. You can also buy the plastic that goes on top and gives the kids a theme to build playdoh things with. I think it comes with one that looks like four plates, so the kids can make playdoh food to put on the plates. I can’t tell you how many hours Madison has played with this. It is worth every penny. You can’t get it at places like directbuy, but it should be pretty easy to find at Kmart, Target, etc.