And while we’re talking about back to school containers for lunches, you may want to grab this back to school menu plan. You just need to add the UPC codes from any 2 Ziploc products.

"The Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS) Foundation is a not for profit [501(c)(3)] voluntary health organization, incorporated in Massachusetts and located in Avon, Connecticut (USA).

The Foundation provides a host of services that attract, educate, and unite families touched by this rare birth disorder which causes individuals to develop at a slower rate, both physically and mentally.

Each day, we enlist the support of hundreds of dedicated volunteers throughout the United States and the expertise of professionals from the fields of genetics, medicine, education, and psychology in our collective effort toward advancing both societal and scientific understanding of the syndrome.

Once you become familiar with a few features common to the syndrome, you will likely recognize the faces of people with CdLS forever. And once you come to know the faces of people with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, we ask…

How could you ever forget?"

Facts about CdLS (.pdf)

Text taken from website

What happens six weeks after school starts? The new school clothes are dirty or torn, and the book bag is lost?

Parents will spend over $14 Billion on new clothes and school supplies hoping to give you a fresh look and a new attitude toward the school year. But, how will these things help you in January or March?

Accent On Success®, a not-for-profit organization dedicated helping students succeed, has some ideas to help you through the entire school year.

Top 10 Rules for Success in School

1. No Vision = No Direction. Write down your goals for the first week, month and semester of the school year. Read your list of goals every day.
2. Don’t Find a Fault; Find a Solution. It’s easy to find fault with something or someone. Change your perspective. Look at the potential obstacles as an opportunity to learn something new.
3. Maximize the Count on Me words: yes, I can, and I will. These five words will tell people you are ready to take responsibility for your words and your actions.
4. Challenge yourself and get out of your comfort zone. Learn how to set and achieve goals and how to use these principles in the classroom.
5. Ask yourself everyday: Did I give my best effort to today’s activities?
6. To get ahead in life – read more, learn more, do more, and ask for help when you need it.
7. Minimizing the Bummer Words – no, can’t, won’t, never, maybe, and if. These six words can hold you back from reaching your full potential.
8. Do your homework. It will teach you how to take responsibility, set priorities, and how to manage your time. These are important life skills you will need in the future.
9. Aim high and remember to help others.
10. Take on new tasks and assignments with enthusiasm and determination.

These ten rules will help you develop a Count on Me attitude and they will have a positive effect on your class participation, personal decision making, and academic achievement. These life skills will help you perform better in the classroom, in the workplace and in life.

Good luck and make it a great new school year.

In honor of summertime I’d love to introduce you to a new Sid the Science Kid video called Weather Kid Sid! We’re big fans of Sid here in our house – I love how the show teaches kids about the science in the world around them and my five year old actually wants to do some of the experiments that Sid does with his friends and teacher at preschool!

Synopsis:
Rain, rain, go away; Sid the Science Kid wants to play! Sid’s not too happy when the rain threatens to squash his play date outside. But the more Sid learns about the rain, the more he understands how important precipitation is! In fact, Sid is learning about all the weather conditions and how they affect our world. At school Sid studies the sun and how it lights up the sky. Sid learns that temperatures are different all over the world when his family visits relatives where it’s really chilly. Brrr! Sid is learning all about our atmosphere!

Episodes:
Sid’s Rainy Play Date
Special Sunny Dad Day
Sid’s Holiday Adventure
The Wind Did It

Atomic-Mama.com will be giving one lucky read their very own copy of Weather Kid Sid!

If you would like to be qualified to win just leave a comment on this post!

Want some extra entries? Here’s what you can do:

1. Twitter about the contest (earns you 1 extra entry)@starryskye81 is hosting a Sid the Science Kid: Weather Kid Sid DVD #giveaway on Atomic-Mama! Come check it out! http://su.pr/2hB0IF #fb
2. Stumble this post and/or post to other social media sites like Digg, Kirtsy, Blogging Zoom, Reddit, Propeller, Etc. (1 entry for each social network)
3. Like this post on Facebook – there is a link at the bottom of this post! (earns you 1 extra entry)
4. Add this to any forums you belong too. Please give me the URL, so I can verify! (earns you 1 extra entry)
5. Blog about this contest on your own blog and include the link! (earns you 5 extra entries)
6. Subscribe to the blog via RSS (earns you 5 extra entries)

Here’s a copy of my blog banner:

Contest will run from today – July 22nd – until August 8th at 10:00pm est!

If you don’t want to wait to find out if you won you can go ahead and buy it yourself at Amazon! (But I would suggest just entering the contest).

Thanks and tell your friends! Oh and this contest is open to US/Canada …

The Company’s flagship offering is the revolutionary KidZui Browser, a small application that downloads easily on PCs, Macs, and computers with FireFox. The KidZui Browser was designed from the ground-up to allow children to safely and independently search, share and discover more than 2 million parent and teacher approved websites, pictures, games and videos.

KidZui’s purpose is to keep kids safe online, empower their curiosity, and engage parents with their kids’ interests (through weekly parental emails and parental controls). In addition to the core service, the KidZui Web Network includes ZuiGames (the best site for child-appropriate flash games on the web) and ZuiTube (the best site for kids to watch and explore kid-appropriate YouTube videos).

My son Xander (5) loves to use this browser because he doesn’t need to be able to read in order to find his favorite places online. I love it because he can’t get anywhere “bad” so I don’t have to watch him like a hawk just yet while he uses the computer! Plus, he’s not sure how to access the websites he likes (i.e. NickJr.com or SproutOnline.com) so he can just click on a character icon and be taken to the page he wants to visit. It doesn’t take up much room on the hard drive either and works well on laptops.

I’ve found that taking the time to search for good deals (shopping or even “fun” deals) and actually clip (and use) coupons from the paper and internet – I save a little (tiny) bit of money each month. I also try and supplement our income by taking some freelance work on the internet (be it blogging or design work). It’s not a lot of money – but it makes my PayPal account happy which in turn makes me happy because I can actually afford to see a movie or take my kid to Chuck E. Cheese occasionally. What I really need to do is try and find some easy scholarships that I can apply for and take a chunk out of those darn student loans I keep applying for! Now THAT would be a nice money saver!

What do you do to save money or bring a little extra dough into the house?

Please share your tips!

DiGiorno – $1 and $1 off coupons

Pizza Hut Deals – Various amounts

Little Caesar’s Crazy Bread Combo – $1.99 (expires 7-31-2010)

How It Works:

1. Each day we feature something cool to do at an unbeatable price.
2. You only get it if enough people join that day… so invite your friends!
3. Check back the next day for another awesome Groupon!

I check the Groupon site each day because I subscribed to the site via email. It was my friend Erica who actually got me (and about half of our kids’ playgroup) hooked onto Groupon and a lot of us bought Virginia Beach Aquarium memberships on Groupon for 1/2 off the normal price.

You can even refer a friend to Groupon and get $10 for it! I’ve got my $10 sitting in my hopper so if there is another cool coupon that I want to purchase my $10 goes towards that.

I’ve seen Skinny Dip coupons and belly dancing lesson coupons on Groupon as well as coupons for local restaurants like Finn McCools. There is a Groupon site for a ton of cities across the United States. So there just might be on for your neck of the woods!

Ps. Why yes, those are ALLLLL affiliate links! Click away m’hearties!

Pps. This has been cross-posted on my other blog too – because that’s how much I love Groupon coupons! Hurray!