just4moms.netExciting News Every Mom Should Know…

by Jo Overty

The Laxey Institute is celebrating its first birthday on Saturday 19th may having been open for a year following a complete restoration, which brought the building back from the edge of dereliction.  The volunteer committee, whoís job is to make the facility available for community and arts groups, are inviting anyone along to a free night of entertainment featuring some of the many acts who have played there over the past year.   Its definitely a birthday party said Debbie Callister the committee member who take the bookings, “we have a fantastic cake being made to mark the occasion, the Institute is our baby and we are very proud of what we have achieved”.   over the past twelve months the building on new Road, in the heart of the village, has provided 137 fitness sessions that have included yoga, cardio tone and circuit training, in addition to which it is the home to the Laxey dog obedience club, the sketch club, mums and tots, has been used for childrenís parties, charity variety concerts, quizzes, a Christmas fair, the polling station in two elections and the venue for 24 music performances. you will find people using the building for community events and activities every day of the week.   Chairman of the management committee, Richard Henthorn said, “the use has far exceeded our expectations and this has allowed us to keep the cost of hiring low with the income is allowing us to keep the building in good shape.  We depend entirely on volunteers and I think because we have all seen how valuable its been, and how people have really appreciated the activities and events, it has spurred us on and the number of volunteers has grown over the past year”. Whilst the building is similar in many ways to the traditional village hall, it is run by a charity and the Trusteeís wanted it to been something a little different and so included what has become a very popular and well respected performance space.  Most of the community groups run their clubs and activities on weekday evenings or during the daytime and this leaves Friday and Saturday nights free for performances.   The 1st Birthday Party not only marks a successful year, it will also be used as an opportunity to acknowledge the support the project has received from the Arts Council.  They provided the funds to purchase the sound and lighting equipment, which transformed the hall into an arts centre. “The quality of the equipment and the attention we have put into making the space somewhere musicians can have their art taken seriously is the secret formula,” explained Ken Callister, Trustee and volunteer.  “We have helped a very diverse range of local artists from choirs, brass bands, rock musicians, blues, folk, singer songwriters, and also acts from the UK and America. The positive reactions we have had from the performers and their audiences has been fantastic and it is this we want to report back to the Arts Council and our other sponsors”.   Chris Corlett, music guru and Institute supporter is organising the acts for the night. Playing will be A.M. Frequency, The Zone, John Barker, The Neighbours and special guests.  Doors open at 7.30, it is free but with admission limited to 90.  For more information about the event and the Institute visit www.laxeywmi.org or check out facebook.

Isle of Man top Stories in Other Isle of Man News

Life is short, and childhood is even shorter! get some use out of that wooden swing set — it can be used to enhance your family traditions.

 Make something old new again for your child’s spring or summer birthday by making the swing set the centerpiece for creating a themed birthday party.

 This is a unique twist to an outdoor kids’ celebration, but it’s perfect because you’re using something that children all love that’s already in your backyard.

 Surround your backyard swing set with other physical challenges to make the day a very active yet rewarding one for partygoers (an added bonus is that the kids can burn off all that sugar).

 Here are some ideas you can use:

•  Set up a trampoline.
• Put down a tire or hula hoop obstacle course.
• Set up a jump rope arena.
• Have a ring toss.
• Set up a rock wall on your play set.
• If it’s hot outside, add a kiddie pool to the bottom of your slide to turn it into a mini pool party.
• Use the swing set bars to do the limbo.
• Hang a pinata from your swing set. make sure children are all safe during this game by watching closely to ensure that nobody gets hit.

 And don’t forget the birthday-themed food, of course. For your cake, have a swing set shaped cake and perhaps some swing set cake toppers.

 After the candles have been blown out, you can have a dance party near the swing set! Turn on some “swing” music, and dance the afternoon away on a boring afternoon. Invite your friends over and ask the moms to have their kids dress for a swinging jazz party and then everyone can just dance around the swing set. The little ones will have fun twisting, and then you can add some fun swinging into the festivities.

 Fun swing music suggestions: Swing Kids, by James Horner and Benny Goodman,

Jazz and Swing for Kids, by Abby Burke. also check out Kinderjazz, a fun complement to your swing set party.

 There are endless ways to make your swing set part of a fun and energetic birthday party!

Thanks to Jeff Snell, the founder and president of Kid’s Creations, for sharing the above. Kid’s Creations offers redwood swing sets and accessories that can be customized to your needs.

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By CAROL VERAVANICH Q. we attended a birthday party for a kid from school. The mother was nice, but the kid just misbehaved. When the character came out to say happy birthday to him, he punched the character in the face. He totally ignored my son at …
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Children of all ages swarmed to wire mesh cages containing young farm animals including sheep, goats and calves for the chance at petting a patch of warm fur at the Baby Animal Birthday Party event on Saturday at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi.

In addition to petting opportunities, families enjoyed a pig trough snack game, milk jug knockdown and a ring toss. Sandwiches for hungry tots were available within the grounds of the event. a tractor hitched to a series of cow-shaped pods tugged kids around a grassy plot out past the barns.

Tanya Gallego and her two sons, Thomas, 5, and Jonathan, 3, took a break from the petting part of the event with the tractor ride.

 ”The children love this,” Gallego said. “As a parent, seeing your children enjoy this is nice.”

 Elyse Garrison and her son, Will, 3, along with a group of friends, spent time near the stable while petting a two-week-old sheep.

 ”He’s never seen baby animals before,” Garrison said. “We’re having a really good time.”

we enjoyed a great birthday yesterday, thank you everyone for the birthday wishes!

we are 29 years…yikes!  29 great years and look forward to many more wonderful years of life!!!

check out the gift my dad gave me

thanks dad

it happened to be for the first night of the NFL draft, and our dad threw a party for that plus it tied into our birthday party!

then late last night we headed to the beach with two of our best friends (the rest arrive today). and now we are getting showered and ready to hit the beach!

next time I check in I will be Lori Morris!

have a great day, I am off to enjoy the sun.

Lori

“It's a birthday party for a hunk of wood and sand, but it's also a reminder how much fun we had creating it,” said Dan Smith, general coordinator of Operation Playground back in 1991 and '92. “With so many people having worked for a year to plan 'the …
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Logann Etinger, 91/2 of Wentzville (CQ ) brought her doll Abagail to her friend's birthday party at the American Girl Birthday Party Wednesday, April 18 , 2012, at the new American Girl Store in Chesterfield. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, …
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I’ve been hearing whispers lately of parents asking other parents to sign a waiver before their child comes over to play, or before their kid is dropped off at little Suzie’s birthday party. at first I thought it was a joke. Surely parents aren’t that nuts, I thought. sure, many of us are a bit more uptight, shall we say, about our children’s safety than in generations past. But a waiver? That’s just a whole other level of insanity. Turns out it’s a thing.

In a recent Miss Manners column in the Washington Post, for instance, a reader wrote in with the following:

“my son is invited to spend time in the home of one of his classmates. The classmate’s parents request that I sign a release of liability before my son arrives. I think this is unbelievably rude — as if to imply that I would sue them if there is an accident or injury! Am I overreacting, or has our society really come to believe that anyone who visits your home, and is injured, will sue?”

She replied by wondering “what goes in that household that such a precaution is necessary?” though that’s not how I see it all. I see it as this classmate’s parents being ridiculously paranoid, plain and simple (I wouldn’t leave my child there unattended, that’s for sure).

And at one of my favorite sites, Free Range Kids, a mother writes in asking to deal with a playdate waiver (yes, a playdate waiver) she was asked to sign by a new neighbor. it was actually four pages long and referred specifically to the trampoline in their backyard (death trap!).

Look, I get that parents don’t want to be sued. who does? But to ask your kids’ friends’ parents to sign a liability waiver pre-playdate is just absurd. what ever happened to just having some faith? That said, many indoor playgrounds, for example, asks parents to sign a waiver (I think I had to sign one for my son’s birthday party at a trampoline place). That’s different, though, as it’s a business as opposed to someone’s home.

The truth is, kids get hurt. It’s a part of childhood. Our job as parents is to help avoid injuries as much as possible, but that doesn’t mean we should be hovering over our kids 24/7. and it certainly doesn’t mean we should be asking our friends to sign waivers every time they drop little Johnny off at our house for a playdate. has the world gone mad?

But take it from me, as a lifetime member of the Guy Club for Men, most of us would rather clean a bathroom than go to a birthday party, and we hate cleaning bathrooms.” Many things divide the genders and cake-and-candle-day is one of them.
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The city of Macomb's namesake, General Alexander Macomb, was honored with a community birthday party Tuesday in Chandler Park. Macomb Mayor Mike Inman issued an official proclamation declaring April 3 as “General Alexander Macomb Day.
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