Great American Backyard Campout

This coming Saturday, June 25, is the Great American Backyard Campout. Organized by the National Wildlife Federation, the idea of the Campout is to get kids enjoying the outdoors -- where they feel safe and comfortable.

I think it's genius!

(Not to mention, I know plenty of grown-ups who would say yes to camping in their own backyard over a wilderness area. Any month of the year.)

If you ask me, June isn't exactly the right time for tent camping in Florida (The heat! The oppressive humidity! The disease-carrying mosquitoes!), but my family is going to try it this year. Ever since we went camping in the Everglades over New Year's weekend, my preschooler has been asking to go "tenting" again. If we get miserable, we'll just go inside and say we gave it a try.

I think that's what's so appealing about the Great American Backyard Campout: There's little risk and little commitment, but a big chance of fun.

If you want to camp in your yard or a local park that offers camping, check out the Great American Backyard Campout's site for tips, games, recipes and more. You can sign up to say you are planning to camp out and also make an optional donation to the National Wildlife Federation to support its programs for kids.

And then we can swap Campout stories....

Every Mother Counts on Mother's Day and every day

I bought a CD yesterday, and it will help save a mother's life.

A woman dies every 90 seconds from complications from pregnancy or childbirth -- and 90% of those deaths could be prevented. That's what's behind the Every Mother Counts campaign to educate people about how mother's lives (mostly in developing countries) can be saved.

The campaign was started by supermodel Christy Turlington Burns, who is behind the documentary No Woman, No Cry, which premieres this Saturday night at 9:30 pm on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). Burns directed and produced No Woman, No Cry, no doubt encouraged by her filmmaker husband, Ed Burns.



That's where my new CD comes in, which is named for the campaign, Every Mother Counts. It's a compilation featuring songs by Madonna, the Dixie Chicks, Jennifer Lopez, Sheryl Crow, Ani DiFranco and other women artists. The album is available at Starbucks for $12.99, and $8.00 of that goes to CARE's maternal health programs.

There are other ways to take action and help efforts that aid mothers.

Right here in my state of Florida, midwife Jennie Joseph has worked with the Every Mother Counts campaign, and she appears in the film.

As we're thinking of Mother's Day this weekend, we can think of mothers who aren't ever given the chance to take care of their babies, and offer help to prevent that from happening to more women.

It's B Kind 2 Earth Day

Today is Earth Day (and also Good Friday!), and lots of people headed out to enjoy the earth and do kind things -- including my kiddos and me. A couple weeks ago, I joined the B Kind 2 Earth celebration, which is a partnership between the National Wildlife Federation, Nickelodeon and The Motherhood.

Yesterday, I led a nature walk through a cypress swamp that had been saved from development by local high schoolers -- that's inspirational! A few moms came out and brought their children to what is now a city park with an excellent boardwalk. We saw two species of butterflies and identified four species of birds and many more species of native plants. And it was fun!

Today, my boys and I headed to the nearest beach (not our favorite beach, but staying close saved gas!) and picked up five pounds of trash along the shore. I think until you do something like this yourself, you don't realize how appalling the amount of garbage in the ocean and our coastal areas really is. (Have you heard about the giant island of garbage that is floating around the Pacific Ocean? Gross!) Mostly, it was little bits of plastic, and a lot of it seemed to be stuck in the seaweed that washes ashore -- but there was also a slimy shoe on the beach. Yuck.



For more earth-friendly ideas on what you can do today and every day, check out the B Kind 2 Earth Facebook page.

B Kind 2 Earth Day celebration

The good news: Earth Day (Friday, April 22) isn't one of those "fluffy" holidays that requires you to send a card to someone or go out and buy special food or decorations. The bad news: Well, there isn't any!

There are lots of ways to celebrate Earth Day, and you can be as simple and easy or as involved and productive as you like. The point is to do at least one thing -- one thing! -- for the earth and get others to do the same. If you can do that, then head to the B Kind 2 Earth Day Facebook Fan Page and "like" it to show that you are in for doing an earth-friendly deed and spreading the word. Then, click here to register your location.

You can probably come up with a list of things for your family to do without thinking too hard: recycling, using a washable cloth instead of a paper towel, buying something pre-owned instead of new, planting a tree, using "green" household cleaners, switching out light bulbs to the newer less-polluting ones or donating to an ecological good cause.

I would like to lead some mom friends and their little ones on a nature walk and pick up any litter we see along the way -- something that young children can do and get into. Now I just gotta invite my friends . . . .

The B Kind 2 Earth Day cause is a joint effort by the National Wildlife Federation, Nickelodeon and The Motherhood. Naturally, I think this is all awesome because I am a NWF Be Out There Founding Mother, I won the Nickelodeon 2009 Parents Picks Award for Best Local Blog (Miami) and I've met Emily McKhann and Cooper Munroe from The Motherhood (at the Blogalicious conference in Miami last fall).

What are you going to do on Earth Day?

City of Hope Show of Shows

Stars are coming to South Florida for a good cause.

If you are interested in fighting life-threatening diseases -- or in seeing Hal Linden, Robert Klein, William Michals, Steve Solomon, Sal Richards, Stewie Stone, the Platters and the Bronx Wanderers -- get your ticket for the City of Hope 16th annual Star-Studded Show of Shows. The event is set for March 14, 8 pm, at the Barry Kaye Performing Arts Auditorium, Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton campus.

In its 16-year history, Show of Shows has raised $500,000 for the life-saving work of researchers and clinicians at City of Hope.

To buy tickets, call 800-564-9439.
Reserved tickets are $40-$60 and VIP tickets are $125, which includes a post-show dinner at Matteo’s.

City of Hope is a leading research, treatment and education center for cancer, diabetes and other diseases. Designated as a comprehensive cancer center, the highest honor bestowed by the National Cancer Institute, City of Hope is a pioneer in the fields of bone marrow transplantation and genetics. For more information, visit www.cityofhope.org or follow City of Hope on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Flickr.

Aventura Chocolate Festival

Aventura Mall will host the annual Chocolate Festival on Sunday, Oct. 10, 12 pm – 4 pm. Come enjoy an array of chocolate items filling Center Court from Chef Allen’s, Grand Lux Café, Schakolad Chocolate Factory and more. Tickets for the chocolates can be purchased for $1 each, or 13 tickets for $10, with proceeds benefiting the Children’s Craniofacial Association. A runway show featuring the latest in chocolate-inspired fashions designed by students from Miami International University of Art & Design will begin at 2 pm.

Aventura Mall’s Chocolate Festival is sponsored by Gym Kids, Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Shape and Cupcakes for Change.

Back-to-school consignment sale in Miami helps kids with cancer

The Five Ladybugs Consignment Sale presents its Back To School Event on Friday, July 30, 4 pm to 8 pm and Saturday, July 31, 9 am to 4 pm at Sunrise Presbyterian Church's Fellowship Hall in Miami.

Shoppers will find everything their children need for back to school: pre-loved uniforms from many of the area's schools, sports and dance gear for after-school activities, homeschooling materials, plus clothes, toys and much more all at bargain prices.

Seasonal consignment shopping is a fast-growing trend in many parts of the country, but this will be the first of its kind in Miami. It provides a great opportunity for you to clean out your closets and make some extra money too.

Consigning is easy; just register online, price and tag the items at home. Then drop them off before the sale and collect the earnings after the sale. Unsold items as well as a portion of the sale's proceeds will benefit local nonprofit group Children Battling Cancer, Inc., a foundation that raises awareness and supports children battling cancer and their families.

Find out more at the Five Ladybugs Facebook page or e-mail thefiveladybugs@yahoo.com