Joy Makin Mamas

Gaithersburg Book Festival

Meghan — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:22:44 +0000

The Gaithersburg Book Festival is a celebration of the written word and its power to enrich the human experience. Our mission is to foster an interest in reading, writing and literary conversation. Since its inception in 2010, the Festival has quickly become one of the nation’s top literary events, attracting hundreds of award-winning and best-selling [...]

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Back Yard Science: 17 Year Cicadas

Meghan — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:00:00 +0000

If you happen to be blessedly unfamiliar with the 17 year cicadas, let me enlighten you. They are a species of cicada (yes, those big googly-eyed bugs that make that only exist in order to make that annoying sound so you know it's hot all summer long) that has evolved to emerge from the ground in force on a 17 year cycle. Unfortunately for us, that doesn't mean they only come once every 17 years. Each brood comes every seventeen years, but there are overlapping swarms of these things.

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Lower Carb Italian Sausage Casserole

Meghan — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:00:42 +0000

OR how to salvage your eMeals recipe after a well-known, popular grocery delivery service brings you such badly damaged zucchini that you can’t make grilled stuffed zucchini boats after all. (Yes, we have huge, giant, first world problems. It weighs heavily on us.) This was not Plan A, but it was delicious and we’ll be [...]

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There is nothing wrong with you!

Meghan — Sat, 11 May 2013 13:30:19 +0000

Perhaps you saw or heard some of the furor surrounding the statement given by A&F CEO Mike Jeffries regarding why they don’t make their clothing in larger sizes. A great many people seem to be of the opinion that the biggest indictment against this statement is that it reflects a desire to make women feel [...]

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Easy microwave fudge frosting

Meghan — Fri, 10 May 2013 19:34:48 +0000

I needed a quick, easy, and food coloring-free frosting recipe for a birthday playdate, and this one really came through! It works up fast in the microwave, and, as a bonus, you dirty exactly one bowl and a set of mixer beaters. (Which my guys wouldn’t lick. Because they are WEIRDOS.) To turn these into [...]

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Give us what we want, what we really, really want!

Meghan — Thu, 09 May 2013 11:43:29 +0000

Some dads I know have confided (not very confidentially) that they think the expectations for Mother’s Day are confusing, hard, and guaranteed to make sure they are always wrong. And a whole lot of moms of my acquaintance have confided (fairly confidentially, as the “insult to injury” part of the program is the need to [...]

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Surviving Sick Days

Meghan — Wed, 08 May 2013 17:34:21 +0000

Here it comes- the stomach bug is making its way around your kid’s school, and the school nurse just called to ask you to pick your child up. There’s only one thing you can do. Well, two things. You can either keep your sense of humor, or go under for the third time. Brace for [...]

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40+ kind, clever, smart, hardworking, and creative boys in children’s literature

Meghan — Wed, 08 May 2013 10:20:42 +0000

After you all helped me compile a list of awesome girls in books every kid should read, I asked you about your favorite boys in children's literature. A bunch of Joy Makin' Mamas and Papas, the odd English Teacher or two, and some dudes who just love books weighed in to create this (very long) list, and thereby expand my summer reading list by quite a bit! Thank you all so much for your help. Without further ado, here are your favorite boys in literature!

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Chicken Noodle Soup

Meghan — Tue, 07 May 2013 10:52:23 +0000

Today I was on the mom side of the “your kid is sick” call from the school for the very first time. It made me remember how the time between when they called your mom and she came to get you was an eternity, no matter how long it actually took. We are fortunate enough [...]

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More giveaways!

Meghan — Sun, 05 May 2013 14:31:29 +0000

I love signing up for group giveaways so you guys will have the opportunity to enter to win great stuff! To help keep things organized, they are located on a sub-domain and you can always find the latest ones here. In the future I may tag them by category, but for now it should be [...]

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Jack and the Beanstalk (plus lesson resources)

Meghan — Sat, 04 May 2013 11:40:59 +0000

Jack and the Beanstalk simply couldn’t be a more perfect foil for hands on storytelling. First of all, Good Ol’ Jack doesn’t listen to his mother and mass chaos ensues. If you can’t make that work for you, then you just aren’t trying very hard. Secondly, he grows a giant beanstalk that turns out to [...]

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Make Way for the Live Ducklings Cam!

Meghan — Fri, 03 May 2013 20:44:27 +0000

If you enjoyed our review of Make Way for Ducklings, you will no doubt enjoy this live stream, courtesy of the Coralville Public Library. Mrs. Mallard has apparently decided that the library is an excellent nesting spot! Free desktop streaming application by Ustream Hey! Stay in touch. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Also,would you please [...]

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