Hippo Herald

Conservation International is an organization focused on protecting the earth’s most threatened natural areas. While CI gives throughout the year, they wanted to create something special for the holidays so they developed a program called Season’s Greenings to provide all citizen philanthropists a selection of environmentally-friendly alternatives to traditional gifts.

Here’s how it works. Say you wanted to buy me a $100 Season’s Greenings gift, you’d donate a $100 to one of the causes and then I’d get an email notifying me that $100 has been donated in my name from my friend so and so…The gifts go as low as $25; think of it as an inexpensive way of bringing an important cause into the household this holiday season…

The folks at Conservation International gave me a $100 dollar donation to give to one lucky reader. So, you know the drill. Leave me a comment telling me what you would like to donate to. Do you want to save a lemur? Help out a rainforest? Or keep freshwater flowing? Let me know, and then give me a little shout out on your blog. At the end of next week - Dec 17th, I’ll announce a winner and get your donation out to you.

With Halloween just around the corner, I spent the weekend going through the garage in search of Halloween decorations. We have quite a few things already stashed away, and we try to do a few more little things each year. And I always try to get the kids involved- they love painting things in festive orange and black and making their own spooky designs.

The one thing I dread about Halloween is carving the pumpkin. I am not very good at it! My poor pumpkin always ends up with one tooth that looks like it’s about to fall out, and it always looks a bit more sad than spooky. I just don’t have the skills needed to carve a pumpkin. So I went on a quest to come up with another option and came across this cool Pumpkin Painting Book. 

You can create something that is really special, and no knife skills required! Plus, your pumpkin lasts much longer than a traditional Jack-o-Lantern so you can keep it on display till Thanksgiving if you want.

Hope you all have a happy Halloween!

Oh and don’t forget to check out some of the Halloween Crafts on KnowMore.com! They are great for kids of all ages and skill levels.

I am proud to announce our newest site in the KnowMore family. It’s called My Baby Travel Gear.com and has everything that you need to keep your baby safe and happy while on the road. From carseats, diapers bags, strollers, or carriers- we have all the coolest gear in one place.

I don’t know about you, but I live by my calender. It is full of play dates, family activities and just about everything else you could think of. I can tell you what we are doing 3 months from now, as long as my calender is near by. So, the time has come to start shopping for a 2008 calender, and I wanted to share some of my favorites with you. These calenders are designed with you in mind, you can track family activities, lesson plans and just about anything else.

Mom’s Ultimate Fridge Friendly 2008 Calendar- ***Begins September 2007!***
The perfect planner for Moms on the go! This handy planner will help you remember birthdays, plan activities, keep track of chores, and organize your family’s schedule.

Mom’s Ultimate Family Fridge Calendar includes:

• 16 monthly pages
• Super Magnets
• 432 Little Reminder Stickers
• 16-month desk calendar

Amy Knapp’s Family Organizer- ***Begins July 2007!***
Amy Knapp’s Family Organizer is quickly becoming an essential tool for Busy Families by providing a simple approach to getting and staying organized; Time Management that is Manageable. This calendar includes:

• A comprehensive grocery list will save time and money at the store
• Weekly list helps define and track important tasks<
• Week at-a-view calendar
• Current month at-a-view calendar
• Full page perforation
• Plan which coupons to redeem before going to the store
• A weekly record of accomplishments toward personal goals
• Color coded stickers mark events and appointments for quick reference
• Create a weekly menu based on activities and appointments for the week

Mom’s Family Calendar- ***Begins September 2007!***
Abounding with Boynton’s lovably goofy cows and hippos, chicks, pigs, and aardvarks, it’s family organization with a great big smile. Mom’s covers sixteen months, starting in September. Each month’s ingenious, oversized grid is laid out on a vertical, with five columns across the top (one for each family member) and the days of the month reading down the left side. One glance is all it takes to see exactly who is doing what, and when. It’s the ultimate marriage of practicality and, well, cute. Includes a magnetic phone list for the fridge and 500 stickers!

Mom’s Plan-it 2008- ***Begins August 2007!***
This best-selling organizer is the perfect 17-month planner for Mom’s busy. A handy storage pocket, built-in magnetic hanger, 442 stickers, and extra-large grid all make it a breeze for Mom to keep track of up to five family members. Two tabbed quick-reference contact sections keep everyone’s information handy. Finally, a calendar that keeps Mom’s whole world together!

What did doesn’t like play dough? It’s fun, and if you use the recipe on Knowmore.com, it’s free. But, if you are like me, you spend a lot of time creating snakes and bracelets and can’t really get inspired to create much of anything else. Which is why this book I found is so cool. It’s called Creative Playdough Ideas for Kids- and it is full of fun patterns and ideas that will have you and your kids creating works of art in minutes.

Check it out!

Have a question about parenting or education? Try Yahoo Answers:

Chores and allowances just got more hi-tech than ever before. Parents can now keep track of their child’s chores on their PDA and children can get a message sent to their cell phone reminding them to feed the dog or take out the trash. The average American 7 year old gets $7 dollars a week for doing chores around the house, but how do parents keep chores interesting in an increasingly complex world? PAYjr’s unique online tool makes managing chores and allowances simple, easy and fun for any parent.

Plus PAYjr offers a budgeting tool: the prepaid card. PAYjr’s tools enable parents to teach their children how to use plastic responsibly in an ever increasing “cashless society.”  Their teenagers develop personal financial responsibility and smart financial habits that will last a lifetime.

PAYjr Chore & Allowance System

• Keep track of their chores – online
• Get updated on chores through emails and SMS text messages
• Remind them to do their chores through text messages
• Help them learn the value of hard work
• Pay them for their chores right onto a prepaid card (ages 13 and up)

PAYjr Prepaid Card

• Prepaid card you load with money online – simple and fast
• Prepaid– only spend the amount that is put on the card
• Get updated on chores and spending through emails and SMS text messages
• No long term commitment, no contracts to sign
• Accepted Everywhere MasterCard is Accepted
• Safer than carrying cash, Full Fraud protection
• Learn to budget with a fixed amount

Get more information or sign up at www.PAYjr.com

Allow your child to show their creative side – Coming This July Teens will be able to design their own prepaid card. Try to demo at www.PAYjrVisaBuxx.com 

PAYjr In the Media

Personal Finance for Kids

ABC News

New Site Teaches Responsibility, Gives Allowance

Feb 5, 2007 | CBS Dallas/Fort Worth

Money: Paper or Plastic?
Monday, February 19, 2007 | NEWSWEEK 

Credit Cards For Teen Shoppers (Video)
Monday, February 19, 2007 | WNBC.com

Pay Jr. Helps Kids, Parents Get a Handle on Money Matters
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 | CHICAGO SUN TIMES

Allowance 2.0
Friday, January 06, 2007 | WALL STREET JOURNAL