When:              October 28, 2011

Time:               7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Location:         RosevilleParksand Recreation, 18185 Sycamore,RosevilleMI48066

Come and have a Blast at the Family Halloween Monster Mash!  Activities for the evening include:  DJ Dance, petting farm, inflatables, Mad Scientists projects, Palm Reading, Airbrush tattoos, Sandy Candy, refreshments and we wrap up the evening with a Trick or Trunk!!  Registration is $ 10.00 per person — REGISTER EARLY — this event usually SELLS OUT. Contact information:  586-445-5480.

Looking  for a fun, FREE event for the family?

The Weston Preparatory Academy (22930 Chippewa, Detroit, MI 48219) is hosting its annual Harvest Fest on Friday, October 28^th from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the Detroit and surrounding communities. They have a lot of fun activities planned, including free dinner for those who come!

There will be a Halloween costume contest, trick-or-treating rooms, game rooms, arts and crafts, coloring contests, dancing and drawings as part of the activities. It is a fun-filled family event that parents and kids look forward to every year. Each month Weston hosts a family fun night for parents and guests in the community and it draws a big crowd.

A Full Moon Campout is being held in Macomb County the weekend of August 13-14, 2011.  You must register before August 5^th!  Bring along your camping gear for some outdoor fun.    Planned for the evening is a community campfire, (complete with hotdogs and marshmallows), hiking, games and storytelling.  It begins at 6 p.m.  Saturday evening and runs through 9:30 a.m. on Sunday.    There is an eight dollar fee for residents and eleven dollars for non-residents.  The event is being held at the Sterling Heights Nature Center located at 42700 Utica Road.  For more information please visit www.sterling-heights.net

Two nights a week, my husband is not home for dinner so I cook for me and the kids and a leftover plate for him. It’s hard to motivate myself to cook something really involved. I want to throw something together quickly and easily so that preparing and clean-up aren’t difficult and I can move on to an evening with my family. I came across Real Simple’s Grilled Chicken and Spinach recipe and everyone loved it.

One thing you should know about me, I hate cooking with chicken. It’s too risky. There is too much responsibility and I am always afraid that I will kill someone by under-cooking it, but they could also choke on it if I overcook it. My family has become accostumed to eating dried out chicken just so mommy didn’t feel like there was any chance of it being undone in the center.

I have nothing against the chicken.  I will eat it at restaurants or even if someone else prepares it, but I really loath cooking it myself.

When I see a recipe with chicken, I have a propensity to gloss over it, or even just fear it the entire time I’m making it. Chicken, to me, is so difficult to cook. Undone will kill you (well not really, but I guess it cook) and overdone is no fun. But this recipe worked for me. Mostly because it uses those cheap rotisserie chickens from the grocery store.

Here is the recipe:

Directions

1. Heat grill to medium. In a large bowl, combine the chicken, spinach, and cheese.
2. Dividing evenly, place the mixture on one half of each tortilla. Fold over the other half to cover.
3. Grill the quesadillas until the cheese has melted and the tortillas are crisp, 3 to 4 minutes per side.
4. Serve quesadillas with the avocado, salsa, and sour cream.

The finished product.

So how did it work for me? You can see that this is a really simple recipe with really easy steps. For me, especially on a night my husband is away, this is perfect. I thought it was incredibly tasty. The meat wasn’t dried out. It had good flavor and that alone helped set the tone of the meal. My kids like it, although they opened it up and ate the chicken and then ate the cheesy tortilla. Even reheated, my husband said it was awesome, and I often don’t get dinner compliments like that.

The best part was that it contained spinach and even the non-veggie lovers in our abode were surprised they couldn’t taste it.

The kids and I did not eat it with salsa. They also hate avocado so we skipped that too. Instead, I served it with a side of corn and some sour cream. It’s definitely going to be on our dinner table again this summer. I’m even thinking that this would be a great dinner for when we are camping.

Give it a try and let me know when you think.

WHAT:

Oakland County Parks and Recreation is offering free park entry to all guests in honor of

Armed Forces Day.

Guests can enjoy the natural areas and trails at Addison Oaks, Highland Oaks, Independence Oaks and Rose Oaks county parks. The dog parks at Lyon Oaks, Orion Oaks and Red Oaks are ideal for dogs and their owners.

WHEN:

Saturday, May 21

All day event

WHERE:

Addison Oaks County Park, 1480 West Romeo Road in Leonard

Highland Oaks, 6555 Milford Road in Highland

Independence Oaks, 9501 Sashabaw Road in Clarkston,

Lyon Oaks, 52221 Pontiac Trail in Wixom

Orion Oaks, 2301 Clarkston Road in Lake Orion

Red Oaks, 29600 John R. Road in Madison Height

Rose Oaks, 10400 Fish Lake Road in Holly

Adventure seekers are invited to try out the sport of bicycle motocross (BMX) for free at Waterford Oaks County Park on May 21.

“We’re inviting people new to BMX to come out and try the sport,” Recreation Specialist Matt Pardy said.

Waterford Oaks offers BMX

The event will be held Saturday, May 21 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free and includes bike rentals, helmet rentals and track time, saving participants a total of $15.

All ages are welcome.

“Many people who participate in BMX have been doing it since they were kids, and now their children are doing it,” said Pardy. “It’s a great way to stay active while participating in a fun family sport.”

The Waterford Oaks BMX season is underway. BMX practice is 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays from May through September. Weekly races take place Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday afternoons and Monday afternoons for rookie BMX racers.

The .25-mile Waterford Oaks track was built in 1974 and hosts state and national races.

The BMX track is located at 1702 Scott Lake Road in Waterford.

For more information about Waterford Oaks BMX, visit DestinationOakland.com or waterfordoaksbmx.com. Find us on Facebook.

First, we watched eggs hatch, now we are watching cuddly little fur balls sleep, play and be cared for by their mother.

Puppy Cam

The puppy cam focuses on a mama Shiba Inu with her third litter of days-old puppies. This will be her last littler. The “C-Team” pups all have names that start with C. They spend their days in front of the camera mounted in their area. The mommy dog, Kika, takes care of her babies, feeding them, cleaning them and cuddling them while they sleep. It’s sure to captivate you far longer than it should!

This is not Kika’s first Internet debut. The camera also looked over her and her pups from her first and second litters.

Video clips at Ustream

One of the scariest truths about influenza is that it can kill healthy children of all ages. Parents like Detroit area resident Zack Yaksich know the heartbreak only too well after his 5-year-old daughter died suddenly of influenza complications in 2003.   Yaksich created Alana’s Flu Foundation so that other parents can be made aware of the dangers of the flu.

This flu season, Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Michigan urges parents and children to get vaccinated, and ‘Say “Boo!” to the Flu’ clinics create a Halloween themed atmosphere that tricks the flu and treats you to good health.

Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Michigan will be conducting Say “Boo!” to the Flu clinics on:

• Saturday, October 16, 2010, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the North Oakland YMCA ( 3378 E. Walton Blvd. ) in Auburn Hills
• Friday, October 29, 2010, from 4 to 7 p.m., at Ultimate Soccer Arenas ( 867 South Boulevard ) in Pontiac

“Vaccination is a key step in helping fight the flu,” said Kay Renny, RN, manager of community programs for Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Michigan.   “According to the CDC, the flu vaccine can prevent as many as two-thirds of influenza infections in young children, with even higher estimates for older children .”

Say “Boo!” to the Flu events provide influenza information for parents, fun Halloween-themed activities for kids and make vaccinations convenient for all.

This season’s annual flu vaccine will protect against the H1N1 virus and two other viruses that cause the flu. Flu Mist, the nasal vaccine, is available for healthy individuals ages 2 to 49.   The traditional flu shot is also available.

The cost is $25 for the flu shot and $30 for Flu Mist. VNA also accepts the following insurances: HAP, Blue Care Network, Priority Health, Health Plus of Michigan and Medicare and Medicaid for adults 19 years and older. A limited number of free flu vaccines is available for people without insurance.

People can also visit the VNA Oak Park office Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. to get their flu shots or visit us at our many other public clinics.

About Say “Boo!” to the Flu

Families Fighting Flu (a group of families who experienced the loss of a child to the flu), Visiting Nurse Associations of America (the largest non-profit network of flu immunizers) and The Clorox Company join together for the Say “Boo!” to the Flu program, a national campaign to increase the number of families vaccinated against the flu nationwide.

About VNA of Southeast Michigan
Founded in 1898 and headquartered in Oak Park, Mich., Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Michigan (VNA) is the largest, independent nonprofit provider of home health care and hospice services.

With the little ones home all summer long, we like to make a list of things that we want to do, visit, or accomplish while they are home.  I like to post it on my refrigerator, so that I can get ideas each week about planning a fun outing or activity.  There are so many fun, family friendly activities in Metro Detroit and we love to take advantage of as many as we can.  We have started Summer Activity List and this is how it looks thus far ( more to be added as the  MI festival season gets into swing).

$1 Kids Movies M- F at Canton Cinema

Wednesdays Music in the Park in downtown Plymouth 12 noon

The Toledo Zoo

The Detroit Zoo

Beach and waterpark outing to Kensington Park

Canton’s LibertyFest and Fireworks- June 19

U Pick Blueberries at the Dexter Blueberry Farm

Visit to the Detroit Science Center for summer kids activities

Ann Arbor Street Fair

Tall Ship Celebration

Visits to various Farmer’s Markets

Royal Oak, Plymouth, Northville, Ann Arbor and more!

Comerica Park Sunday afternoon Family package to Tiger’s game

Detroit mommy Ally Cohen is a talented photographer who has launched a very successful photography business.  Her portraits of families, children, celebrations, and more are absolutely stunning!  Clients truly receive one of a kind service.  Visit Frameable Faces website for more information and to see the gorgeous work featured in the galleries.  www.frameablefaces.com

About Frameable Faces:

Ally Cohen has always had an eye for detail and an optimistic outlook – which is a perfect fit for photography. Until the birth of her daughter Lacey in 1999, Ally had wanted to be in front of the camera, working in broadcast and related media. But when she took one look at her beautiful baby girl, she knew that behind the camera she would be snapping pristine, perfect shots to record all the fleeting moments of her growing family’s life.  “Photography is the ultimate keepsake,” says Ally, “You take one shot, capture that moment, and a few minutes later another opportunity arises. How could we possibly remember all of those wonderful, doting but ultimately blurring moments if not for pictures?

So Frameable Faces was created in 1999 to offer a wide array of photographic services for families, professionals, corporations, and schools. The West Bloomfield-based business is driven by Ally’s passion as a multi-faceted photographer who loves showing people how beautiful they really are through exquisite photography.  Frameable Faces specializes in custom photography, designing each setting, focus and theme according to the client’s wishes and goals. From children’s portraiture and family photographs to special event packages (including weddings, bar mitzvahs, communions, and graduations) and on-location corporate pictures, Frameable Faces does what its title suggests: presents every face in an utterly “Frameable” way.

Ally Cohen lives in West Bloomfield, Michigan, with her husband, Doug, their supremely photogenic children, Lacey and Tony, and an infinite number of lurking pets.