Jim Averback who wrote In a Blue Room is holding a holding a contest to

give away a one-of-a-kind, archival quality, signed giclée print of Tricia Tusa’s art from In a Blue Room (est. value $600).

Read my review of the In a Blue Room. I loved the book and the illustrations are gorgeous.

Here’s how you can win. If you have a blog or website, embed either the vertical or horizontal widget below into your blog by copying the code from the appropriate code box and pasting it into your blog.

Then leave a comment with your email address and the URL where the widget is found.

The first 50 to post the widget will also receive a copy of In a Blue Room signed by the author. Those receiving books will be contacted via email for their US Postal address. (Sorry, no international mailing will be possible.)

Random drawing for the winner of the art will be held on October 15, 2008. The winner will be contacted by email and posted on the contest blog and at Jim Averbeck’s blog. The winner may choose the image that they desire from the book.

If you’re a blogger, it’s worth giving up some sidebar space to win a beautiful print. Until then check out In a Blue Room at your favorite bookstore or at the library. You and your children will fall in love with it.

My kids love video games, but we’ve managed to avoid buying gaming consoles. Then we went over to a friend’s home and they had a Nintendo Wii. Seeing all the fun the kids had with it, I’m seriously considering asking Santa for a Wii this year. I want it for the Wii Fitness and my husband, who regularly bowls in a league, thought the bowling game was very cool. The kids loved the golf and the baseball, too.

But I know my kids. Gaming for them is like heroin and I could see eight-year-old Nathan going into a store and coming out with Grand Theft Auto. That’s why I’m glad a GameStop opened closed by. GameStop is a family-friendly source for video games of all kinds and for all ages. Their employees have helpful suggestion while keeping in mind the ESRB standards. In fact, they will actually refuse to sell mature-content games to a child who isn’t of the appropriate age. Love that.

If you’re a gaming family GameStop offers a trade-in program that lets you bring in the old games and get credit towards new titles or systems. This is great when your kids grow out of their old games, get bored with them, or find a few oldies but goodies at a garage sale to trade in.

If there’s not a GameStop in your local mall, you can also shop online at their website. Right now their prices seem comparable with online retailers like Amazon. The Nintendo Wii Accessory Bundle sells for $349.99 and their Wii Fit Bundle (shipping 9/5/08) $149.96. Both bundles come with lots of extras. Also, some of the bundles are not available in their stores.

Dear Santa, go by GameStop and get me a Wii, please.

I’ll be blogging at MOTHERS Book Bag for MOTHERS and the National Association of Mothers’ Centers (NAMC) this week at The Big Tent in Denver during the Democratic National Convention. So, I will be too busy to blog here. However, I urge parents – no matter what their political affiliation – to watch the convention, read the newspaper and Internet coverage, and talk with your children about it.

There will be a lot of speeches of course, (click here for the schedule) so you may just want to save up your viewing time for Barack Obama’s acceptance speech on Thursday live from Invesco Field in Denver. (Rumor has it that Bruce Springsteen will be warming up the crowd.)

I’ll be home with Nathan and Lucie watching the hoopla and dancing to The Boss.

In the meanwhile, check out these children’s books on politics, presidents and elections:

• Presidential Elections: And Other Cool Facts by Syl Sobel for ages  nine to 12. Young readers will learn: Who can run for president? Who can vote? What is the Electoral College? What is a third-party candidate? What if something happens to the president? Some of the unusual facts they’ll discover include: Which Republican president had a Democrat for his vice president? How many candidates have won the popular vote but lost the election? You may learn some things, too.
• America Votes: How Our President Is Elected by Linda Granfield for ages nine to 12. Granfield breaks down information about the American electoral process into manageable chunks. Subjects range from qualifications for voting, the troubled history of voting rights, the Electoral College, campaign finance, and election fraud. Granfield delights devotes the chapter “Animal Farm” to animal metaphors, including the Democratic donkey and the Republican elephant, and “Pass the ‘Lection Cake, Please!” to foods associated with various presidents.
• If I Ran For President by Catherine Stier for ages four to eight, Six  children take turns explaining the election process as if they were running for president. They discuss their decision to run, campaigning, primaries and conventions, debating, being interviewed, meeting the public, voting, and being sworn in on Inauguration Day.
• Grace for President by Kelly Dipucchio for ages four to eight. Grace discovers that no women have ever been president, and decides she’ll be president one day. A teacher at her school decides to stage a school-wide election for president to teach the kids about the electoral process.
• If I Were President by Catherine Stier. This book provides an introduction to the responsibilities of the present for children ages four to eight. 
• Duck for President by Doreen Cronin and illustrated by Betsy Lewin. The book has been updated for the 2008 election:

Our fellow Americans, It is our pleasure, our honor, our duty as citizens to present to you Duck for president in 2008.

Here is a duck who began in a humble pond, who worked his way up to farmer, to governor, and now perhaps the highest office in the land.

Some say if he walks like a duck and talks like a duck, he is a duck.

We say if he walks like a duck and talks like a duck, he will be the next president of the United States of America.

Thank you for your vote.

It’s my favorite election book of all. See the video based on the Duck for President book.

When I saw the magnificent herb garden that my husband planted complete with parsley, basil, Texas tarragon (I kid you not – must be really big tarragon to get that name), cilantro, and sage, I knew I had to enter a post in Kalyn’s Kitchen Weekend Herb Blogging.

But what to make? Then I saw this recipe at the Animal, Vegetable, Miracle website that supplements Barbara Kingsolver’s fantastic book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, I knew I had the perfect entry for the next edition of Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Srivalli from Cooking 4 All Seasons - Basil-Blackberry Crumble.

Basil in a dessert? Actually, it’s amazingly good in a sweet ‘n’ sour, slightly sophisticated sort of way. In fact, it reminds me a little bit of cold beet borsch. The vinegar (!) and basil may not be to your children’s taste, but have them give it a try anyway. If they don’t like it, don’t worry. Then there’s just more for you!

And not only did the basil come from our yard, so did the blackberries.

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Even though I was bookworm, as a child I spent time outside. I walked to and from school. I explored my town by bicycle. I also played in the backyard, catching fireflies at night, digging for rocks, or playing on our swing set.

Zoom ahead almost 40 years later and my children are driven to a school over three miles away. Our backyard is boring compared to a fast food restaurant play land or the play area at the local indoor mall. TV and computers beckon, too.

We try to find ways to get them outdoors. In the summer, they help mow and gather berries and vegetables in the garden. We go camping and fishing in the Colorado mountains. My husband also takes our children hiking in our national park.

The National Wildlife Federation (those nice people who bring children those Ranger Rick, Your Big Backyard, and Wild Animal Baby magazines) recommends that parents give their kids a “green hour” everyday – time for unstructured play and interaction with the natural world in a garden,  backyard, or park. To support this they’ve developed the Green Hour website rich in family-friendly content that hosts a supportive virtual community where families can learn, explore, and share their outdoor experiences and backyard adventures.

What’s going on at the Green Hour?

The first thing you should do at the Green Hour site so you can participate in their Member Spaces and Community Corner. Afterwards, subscribe to the Green Hour® e-Newsletter. The last issue I received featured 7 Ways to Spread the Green Hour Message from the Green Hour Blog.

The site also features a Parents’ Guide to help you find the best ways to make Green Hour work for you. It includes tips like discover nature together and be prepared by packing an explorer’s kit.

The Green Hour also features a link to NatureFind – just plug in your zip code or city and state to locate the green spaces in your neighborhood. I did and it gave me nearby state parks, museums and nature centers. Very cool! Finally, there are seasonal activity suggestions like Ice Sculptures or a Lazy, Hazy Reading Day.

Isn’t it time for you and your family to take a Green Hour?

It’s not too often that I get excited about cooking contests, but this one’s a winner. The Seventh Annual Jif® Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich Contest™ fosters creativity in children as they spend quality time in the kitchen cooking with their parents. Heck, even if you don’t win, you’ll have some good family fun trying.

• The contest is open to children ages six to 12.
• Entries will be accepted from August 4 through November 14, 2008
• Five finalists will win a trip to New York City for the live judging event.
• The grand prize winner will receive a $25,000 scholarship fund to help pay for college.
• Four runner-ups will each receive a $2,500 scholarship fund.

And the kids aren’t the only ones having all the fun. The Jif® Moms Voice Their Choice Contest™ gives moms (or those inspired by one) a chance to share their stories about the choices they make for their families. The writer of the winning essay will win:

• A 4-day, 3-night trip to New York City with a companion.
• A seat at the judges’ table at the Seventh Annual Jif Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich Contest final event.

For official rules and entry forms and to learn more about The Jif Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich Contest and the Jif Moms Voice Their Choice Contest, visit the Jif website. And while your there, check out the Jif recipe pages, their Cooking with Kids recommendations, and the Jif School Time Recipe Guide.

The summer, which seemed to be crawling along, has sped up its pace now that I realized school is starting in a week. So I better post those berry recipes and children’s cooking activities I promised you!

I found out from our resident gardener (my husband) that we have some raspberry and blackberry bushes that ripen early in the summer, and other  bushes that ripen later on. No wonder we seem to have pints and pints of berries all summer long. Lucky us!

A couple of weekends ago, daddy was golfing, so I had Nathan and Lucie out picking berries in the morning when it was still cool. I love my children, but they can be very lazy. They kept telling me that they were tired, hot and hungry and couldn’t find any more berries to pick. (The trick is that you have to lift the branches to get to the berries in the back.)

I figured out a solution. I wore a garden glove on my left hand to push up the branches. (Berry bushes have thorns.) Then I picked berries with my right hand and dropped them into a collender that Nathan was holding. Lucie was in charge of swatting away all the mosquitos that were trying to bite me through my clothes, and running around the yard screaming, “Oh my god, mommy, a wasp!”

Using this sure fire method, “we” picked enough berries to make berry cobbler to a friend’s home for dinner with enough left over (and then some) for berry pancakes.

Berry Pancakes

1. Make pancakes according to your favorite recipe. I use Krusteaz pancake mix that I buy in the large bag at Costco – it’s delicious and convenient. I like to make the batter using equal parts mix and milk – it’s more runny that way. However, Krusteaz mix does contain eggs, but it’s the last ingredient on the package. Lucie’s egg allergy hasn’t been that bad lately and she doesn’t seem to have problems eating baked goods with small amounts of eggs.
2. We have a non-stick double burner griddle always on the stove, so making pancakes is super easy. I turn on the burners to medium. When it’s hot enough, I melt a little butter on the griddle then spoon the pancake batter on to the griddle.
3. After letting the pancakes cook for 30 seconds (the batter must be gooey on stop) I sprinkle the berries over the pancakes. I’ve found that if you mix the berries into the batter, the batter turns pink or purple and your berries turn into mush.
4. I let the pancakes cook another 30 seconds or so. Then I spoon a thin layer of batter on top. That way when you cook the pancakes, the juicy, warm berries are in the middle. If you don’t, when you flip the pancake, the berries are cooking directly on the griddle, bubbling away and getting messy.
5. When the batter on top sets, I flip the pancakes and cook until they’re golden brown.
6. We like to serve pancakes with a smidgen of butter and real maple syrup.

KITCHEN TIP: Cut pancakes with large pizza wheel cutter. It’s so much easier than sawing away with a butter knife. You get cleaner edges, and the kids find it amusing that you’re cutting pancakes with a pizza tool. That funny mommy!

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