I enjoy parenting magazines, though i admit I at times find them funny.  They ask for ‘expert’ parenting advice from someone with ONE 2 month old, or someone with multiple children has two…..where is the woman or man with four grown children?  THAT is who I want to hear from, I mentioned Betty and ERic Hayes…they have 10 children and seem to keep things together, where are families like them?  I will say this month’s issue was a lot of birthday party information.  IF you are in the early stages of planning, there was a lot of great information here.  Lots of ideas on fun, easy on the wallet things to do with kids, a few simple games, and some cool food and cake ideas.  Aside from that, this wasn’t my favorite issue…not a whole lot going on.  Here are a few highlights:

Pixar has a new movie coming out!  We are big fans of these movies (though I think “R” and I enjoy their short films more than some of the feature length ones!)  We own all the movies on DVD, and they are real favorites in our house.  Most notably Monsters, INC (LOVE Sully and Mike!), The Incredibles, Cars and Ratatouille.  I watched Wall-E with my five year old when he was home sick one day, and enjoyed it as well, though my husband has not seen it yet.  Ok, on to their new movie.  It is called Up.  Grumpy old Carl dreams of seeing South America.  So he ties a bunch of balloons to his house and off he goes.  After takeoff Carl learns that his silly neighbor an 8 year old Winderness Scout is along for the ride.  This movie looks cute, and since we are fans of Pixar we will probably buy the DVD, but I can’t say my kids are bugging us to take them to this one as they did with Wall-E.

I have read countless revies of the new Nintendo DSi, and I have to say…I want one now!  On the other hand, with $170 to blow I would rather buy a punching bag.

Tried Speed dating?  If you have kids, why not try Sitter Networking!  INstead of interviewing prospective dates, you can mingle with prospective sitters or nannies.  Sounds cool, but I don’t see this happening in my little town…although, it MIGHT be an idea for my son for this year.  A way for him to make some money….

There is a website…poloppo.com.  It sells a kit for $33, that you can either put your child’s favorite drawing on it, or you can draw right on the t-shirt. OK, I just looked it up….it is a kit that comes with ten markers, special paper, and a catalop of t-shirts.  Once your child is done with his/her drawing you send it in the postage paid envelope and in a few weeks you get your shirt back.  Cool right?  What kid wouldn’t want a t-shirt that they designed?  ON the other hand you can do the same thing with stuff you can get at Walmart for about 6 bucks, AND you don’t have to wait 2-3 weeks to get it back.

Now for us parents:  A few new apps are getting some attention.  All related to health and fitness.

Blackberry users:Start a workout log with Total Fitness for Blackberry. $30 mobiteq.com. OR if you prefer to keep your workouts outside try Trimble Outdoors GPS to map out hikes or bike rides. Starting at $6 per month on trimbleoutdoors.com.

iphone users: If you are pregnant keep track of your due date and reciever updates on your baby’s development with iPregnancy. $3. OR download Nutrition Menu from the iTunes store and look up the nutrition entries for over 63,000 items! $10.

No Frills Users: Look at FitDeck Mobile’s easy to do, no equipment needed strength training moves. $15 fitdeckmobile.com.

I haven’t used any of these so I can’t speak to how good or bad they might be…but they sound like an interesting idea, and they are certainly cheaper than a gym!