Rachel Prieur and her brother Ryan were captivated by a radio commercial flooding the airwaves in Dallas. It offered children a shot at stardom — maybe even a part on a Disney show — and all they had to do was show up for an audition.

The teenagers begged their parents to take them. Crammed into a hotel ballroom with 200 other children, they took turns reading short monologues in front of a judge. (Read entire story here)

After attracting massive amounts of attention for her Young Versace advertising campaign, Cindy Crawford has revealed that she is putting her 10-year-old’s modeling career on hold – and RadarOnline.com has the details.  Read the entire story at Radar Online.

I wonder what made Cindy change her mind?  If anyone is in a position to know what that world is like, it’s Cindy. Hats off to her for making what must have been a difficult decision.

To this, in what seems over night (I’m guessing because not only have I not experienced this transformation with my child but even if I did, I have been sternly forbidden not to write anything about said child online).  Tweens, got to love ‘em.

Please, keep your fingers and crossed that this will happen quickly and I can put this episode far, far behind me. I only have three words to say to the next person who may be considering co-signing a loan for their friend, brother, lover or Jesus….DON’T DO IT!

 Topdentists.com is sponsoring a contest – Who Makes You Smile? All you have to do is to uploada captivating, exciting photo of yourself with someone who makes you smile, and write a brief description about the picture in 140 characters or less (think Tweet caption).  Hit the social media campaign trail and use Twitter, Facebook, blogging, email and word of mouth to enlist all of your friends, family, friends of friends, family friends – everyone! – to vote for your submission by February 24.

The five submissions with the most votes will be eligible for the grand prize. The top three entries within 100 miles of Troy, MI; Philadelphia, PA; Aventura, FL; Austin, TX; and Beverly Hills, CA, will be judged for the five regional prizes.  Go here for complete details.

Good luck and keep smiling!

Whatever dreams, hopes, and waist-size you had has fallen by the wayside as you’re consumed with potty training, milestones and the hunt for the perfect preschool.  How much of your dreams do you sacrifice for the needs of your family?  Of course, being moms, there’s pre-bundled guilt that accompanies those thoughts – am I neglecting my family, not spending enough time with the kids, etc.

Let’s face it, as exhilarating and life changing as motherhood is, sometimes it’s just not enough (or maybe it’s too much). Of course, it goes without saying many women (show offs) have been able to juggle the two with panache but I believe there are just as many who are struggling to find a balance, a sense of purpose outside of motherhood.

And in the book The Mothers of Reinvention: Reclaim your Identity, Unleash Your Potential, Love Your Life, by Jennifer Pate and Barbara Machen (also known as Jen and Barb), not only do they assure you that you’re not alone and it’s ok to feel this way, more importantly, they give you a plan of action to reconnect with your goals and dreams and incorporate them into your life.

Inspiring to say the least!

“I think we have a hard time with the role of [what] being a good mom is,” says Barb via telephone, “and I think we need to realize that being a good mom means, as Jen said, having something for yourself, it makes you a better wife, it makes you a better mother and this whole notion of giving it all to your family is really, it’s a crock, it’s not healthy. It doesn’t make you a good mom, it makes you a mean and angry mom.”

Jen and Barb met like many moms do, in some type of kid-related activity. In their case, it was eight years ago in a Mommy and Me class for their toddlers and they quickly connected. Both women call Los Angeles home, but Jen is a Chicago transplant and Barb migrated south from northern California.

Through their friendship the idea for the web series Mom Life was born.  Their web series covers everything from cooking to lifestyle to health and beauty, all with the mom in mind – single or married. Coke recently came on board as a sponsor and 92 episodes later, they’ve now birthed a book giving mothers a blueprint on how to reinvent their lives.

Creating the book seems like it would be a natural progression. They spent a year writing, talking to other women, going through the experts they had had on previous shows and looking for those life-changing moments.

“We really started talking about the steps and the process we took to reinvent ourselves and the amazing part for me was that when we reached out to these other women for their stories, we learned they had gone through a similar process and we were like wow! There are real steps to take, there is a real format to reinventing yourself,” remember Jen.

The result is a book that is part inspirational, part self-help and part workbook; a recipe for success when used correctly. I love the chart for age-appropriate tasks for kids. It’s a reminder that kids are very capable of helping out and that chapter guides you into creating a dialogue with your family to make the reinvention process a joint venture.

There are also other chapters on building your village, getting your house in order and putting that much needed pep back into your step.  There’s no magic bullet or “secret” to attaining the life you want to live. What Mothers of Reinvention shows us is that if we roll up sleeves, make the time, and put in the work, it can happen. There are examples through out the book of women who made the leap of faith and landed in the middle of their dreams.

If there’s one take away from the book, it’s “to have something that their [women] are passionate about in their lives, outside of the role of a mother and a wife… to have a piece of the pie for themselves,” says Jen.

Bon appetit, Mama!

Sibylla Nash is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and author of the novel Bumped.

You can go onto their site and help fund projects in Los Angeles public school classrooms. These projects are posted by the teachers. They’re asking for your help.  Supplies won’t last long, so get your coffee fix and do some good at the same time. If you don’t know of any schools, here’s a serious plug for my daughter’s school – like many public schools in Los Angels, they could use the help.

Gift cards expire on March 16, 2012

Check out last year’s winner doodle, to the left, by 7-year-old Matteo Lopez.

Check out the judges – Katy Perry (I don’t get) and Mo Willems (totally get). This is year’s theme is  ”If I could travel in time, I’d visit…”  Deadline is March 23, go here for the details and rules.

Little Jonah Folk of El Segundo wasn’t really flying through the air in the Doritos commercial.

And the smiling toddler didn’t actually snatch a bag of chips from the hands of an older boy teasing him – those are special effects added by his father, Justin, a post-production editor.

But never mind the reality. In the 30-second spot, viewers can watch Jonah achieve the impossible with the help of his on-screen, wheelchair-bound grandma – all for the chance to munch on some Doritos.

The commercial won enough fans at the company that it has been named a top-five pick in Doritos’ Crash the Super Bowl challenge – an advertising contest that in its sixth year drew more than 6,100 entries. (Read more)

Watch video here.