Silicon Valley Moms Blog

Leapfrog And The Learning Path For Kids

Silicon Valley Moms Group bloggers, first in Chicago then in New York City and Silicon Valley, recently had the opportunity to attend Leapfrog- sponsored discussions about how children learn to read and how technology can help them. 

In Silicon Valley, they heard from Dr. Anne Cunningham, from the University of California , Berkeley, Graduate School of Education, talk about children learning to read (and loving to read). They also took a look at the new Leapfrog online community site.

In New York City and Chicago, bloggers discussed how technology can help kids learn with  Dr. Elliot Soloway, from the University of Michigan Schools of Education and Information, and Dr. Cathleen Norris, from the University of North Texas College of Education and former president of the National Education Computing Association.

CLICK HERE to SEE THE LINKS from our Silicon Valley, Philly, New Jersey and New York City Moms bloggers who shared their thoughts about the events on their personal blogs. For Chicago Moms, click HERE.

Living Strong

Yesterday, the Silicon Valley Moms team (consisting of myself, Ana and Courtney) from the Silicon Valley Moms Blog met up for the Livestrong Challenge 5K Walk/Run in San Jose. No, it was not 2000 miles, like our fellow Silicon Valley Moms Group bloggers and road trippers...it was only a 5K (about 3 miles). We may not be getting interviewed by the morning news, taking hilarious videos or logging miles with cool technology, but we were doing something important. We were picking a fight. Oh, and we "met" Lance Armstrong. Check out Courtney's story here (did I mention she raised $1,500? Go Courtney!). Ana is showing her support here. For Linsey's story, read on...

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I send a text to about 6:50 am to let Ana and Courtney know that I am standing by bag check and next to a sign that says "Starbucks -->" (tempting...). Ana originally organized us Silicon Valley Moms as a team and here we are. I see a cute girl who has a "I'm a Survivor - 11 YEARS!" and I ask her where she got it. She points and I head that direction, feeling a bit lame because......

PANDAmonium

Yeah, that's my daughter.  The one flirting with the giant panda.  She's two.

Thanks to HP, the Silicon Valley Moms and families were treated to another fun party to celebrate the opening of Kung Fu Panda, the Dreamworks film.  Where does HP fit in?  Well, their servers power the Dreamworks development software and they participate in other ways promoting one film a year with things like make-your-own toy kits out of paper, cool puffy stickers, and printed images of the kids at play with the pandas.

We prepped for the party a few days before, telling our daughter she'd get to go without a nap, go to a party, and meet a big panda.  She didn't know what a panda was, so we showed her pictures.  Turned out she had a panda on one of her many fashionable pairs of sunglasses, so she wore those and everything was OK.

Full Transcript - Maria Shriver Private Book Signing

Maria Shriver is known for being many things - First Lady of California, award winning journalist (and former NBC news anchor), wife of Arnold Schwarzenegger, daughter of Sargent Shriver and Eunice Kennedy Shriver who were instrumental in founding the Peace Corps and the Special Olympics, and as the niece of JFK. She is the mother of four children, and she recently wrote her sixth book, Just Who Will You Be? as a message to those of high school and college age who are trying to figure out what to do with their lives, their careers, and themselves. She was surprised, she says, to discover that it resonates with people of all ages. Shriver approached the Silicon Valley Moms Blog to have a "combination book-mom-ice cream-neighborhood-girls' night out get together" and tonight, that's what we did. And since I read her book, I feel more comfortable referring to her as 'Maria' henceforth.

Shortly after 6pm at the new Books Inc. in Palo Alto's Town & Country Shopping Center, Maria and the Silicon Valley Moms Blog contributors and friends gathered to meet the First Lady and listen to her thoughts on the book. As we all are active parents who are also writers and active participants in our communities, we felt an instant connection with her. The ice cream - Lovin' Scoopful - is a project she embarked upon with one of her brothers and a couple of friends as a business and fundraiser for the Special Olympics (25% of all proceeds are donated there.) And it was GOOD! (Maria's favorite flavor, she says, is the caramel which I normally would not have tried, but she was right - it was excellent, as was the vanilla, cookies & cream, and "Yummy Cake & Cookie Dough". How can you go wrong with a name like that?)

Like Moths to Fame?

What do you get when dozens of moms who have recovered their kids from autism are at a dinner with celebrities . . .  in the midst of an historic battle over light brown apple moth (LBAM) aerial spraying?  ACTIVISTS! I and these moms attended a comedy show and auction on Friday night to benefit San Francisco autism organizations, such as The Ryder Foundation. We worked the celebs in the room as best we could.

These moms are not crazy "fringe" moms. Among the eight in our group that night, were five who founded non-profit organizations. These are intelligent moms whose research led them to believe autism is indeed treatable. They have the recovered kids to prove it. They know not to let the California Department of Agriculture pull the proverbial wool over their eyes without an independent environmental impact report on CheckMate, the LBAM spray.

These moms have experience going against the grain. Parents who choose biomedical treatments are constantly on guard from those who don't know the strict program, which can include a wheat and dairy free diet and sometimes heavy metal chelation. According to the Autism Research Institute treatment ratings, two-thirds of parents who have tried biomedical interventions say it helped their child.

SV Mommy Bloggers Mix-It-Up With Mickey

What is a mommyblogger? When I answer this question, I usually say that, while no two are really the same—working out of the home, staying at home, liberal, conservative, big kids, little kids—they all go through their days with their eyes wide open, taking mental notes about what happens around them and how they are reacting to it. And that they know that they are not likely to be alone in their reactions; they are representing moms everywhere. They are not the type to keep their opinions to themselves; they’ll tell people what they think, whether those people are reading their blog, or standing in line in front of them at the grocery store.

These qualities, it seems, is why companies love to meet mommybloggers. They want to tell us what they’re doing, they want to know what we think, they want us to share our honest experiences with others. And we’re happy to do so. Which is what we did with Disneyland Resorts in Silicon Valley on Sunday afternoon; Disney reached out to Silicon Valley Moms Blog, hosting an exclusive event for our contributing bloggers and their families. The Disney folks wanted to show us what they call the Disney magic, they told us about new attractions coming into the parks, and wanted our feedback about all sorts of things, while Mickey and Minnie and Cinderella and Buzz Lightyear entertained our kids. The attention to detail was amazing. Mickey-shaped pasta for the kids, castle cookies to decorate, a Disney artist on sketch duty, Disney tunes playing in the background, a little stage set to place each character in their own Disney world, character-shaped mints in the bathroom, and mouse ears for all; that’s what it takes to bring a piece of Disneyland north. And watching the children, you knew that it completely succeeded; these kids on Sunday visited Disneyland, don’t try to tell them they never left Silicon Valley.

But we’ll let our individual bloggers give you the details......

• Sarah from SFBayStyle - An Afternoon With Disney In Silicon Valley
• Glennia from Silent I -  Disney Comes to The SV
• Linda from It's Never Easy But Always FUN! -A Disney Party? Really?  Are You Sure It's Not A Timeshare Scam?
• JB from Go-Go Mommy - My 30 Days, 15
• Kari from The Karianna Spectrum - The Magic of Disney
• Kimberly from Tippy Toes and Tantrums - A Dreamy Day For All
• Stacy from Laptop Television Mom - Disneyland - Year of a Million Dreams
• Rose from It's My Life- Those peeps at Disney sure do know how to throw a party
• Bonnie from Just Peach Baby Blog - I Love You Mickey
• Nicole from Not Just a Working Mom - Go Disney, Thank You Disney
• Michelle from Mom Without A Map - Disney, you've haven't lost your magic
• Robyn from Who's The Boss - Fairy tales do come true
• Ana from BonggaMom - Show me the Magic
• Nanette from Smiling Mom - The Disney Effect
• Lia from Freitas Family Follies - Disney, How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways
• Sheila from XiaolinMama - Princess Dreams and Big Boy Pursuits
• Beth B. from TechMamas - Disney Came To Silicon Valley - And Made A Mom Geek Feel Like A Kid Again

www.flickr.com

This is a Flickr badge showing public photos from the SVmoms Blog Disney Party group pool. Make your own badge here.

Silicon Valley Moms Gather To Put The Live Back Into Blogging

The Silicon Valley Moms Bloggers had the opportunity to meet out of cyberspace and into a beautiful space at the Four Seasons East Palo Alto.The rooftop pool area was primed with private cabanas where our mom bloggers received hand massages and cocktail tables to hold the cocktails and yummy appetizers. Graco, who just came out with a new product called Sweetpeace, sponsored the event.  The Sweetpeace soother is a much needed improvement on the vibrating bouncy chairs we used in the past, and we were all talking about how fun it would have been to have them at restaurants so parents can have a meal or better yet adult versions for moms to relax in after a long day.

Best of all was seeing everyone socialize like they were old friends, when in reality we stay up-to-date on each other's lives through the blogosphere. Here are some of the pictures we took at the event:

www.flickr.com

This is a Flickr badge showing photos in a set called Silicon Valley Moms Blog/Graco Party. Make your own badge here.

Some of our bloggers also shared their thoughts on the night:

• Stacy had a celebrity sighting
• Ana is enjoying the pampering hand massage
• Rose enjoyed the wine and schmoozing
• Sheila felt the evening confirmed that blogging does create a community virtually and agreed that she would enjoy a mommy sized soother.
• Linsey blogged about hanging out with fellow bloggers that are also fellow twins moms.
• Kimberly grabbed the wrong size slippers, but had a great time, nonetheless!

Here is a link to our get together page on the Graco site that has pictures, links to blogs and podcasts.

www.flickr.com Graco Get Togethers' Meeting with Silicon Valley Moms Blog contributors and friends photoset

Silicon Valley Moms Blog (and Chicago Moms Blog) Contributors Party The Night Before BlogHer!

Wow.  This has been a wild 24 hours!  Forty plus Chicago Moms Blog and Silicon Valley Moms Blog Contributors gathered at the oh-so-trendy and hip, Viand Restaurant to celebrate "The Night Before BlogHer" Party and finally get a chance to meet each other in person!  We promise to share more pictures and stories about the night, but we wanted to get this post up before we head over to the conference, today.

A very warm thank you to Yahoo, who sponsored this party and to all the companies that donated items to our "swag bag", which all contributors of both sites will receive.  Also, a HUGE thank you to Amy Mueller who was the swag bag depot/dropoff and production center.  Without Amy, none of these swag bags would have been put together! 

Again, we promise to share more, shortly. Including more details on our swag bag and listing names on our Flickr photos.

For now, here is the Flickr badge were we captured a bunch of photos from last night.  Click below and enjoy viewing!

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www.flickr.com

BlogHer 07 Pre-party with Yahoo and the Silicon Valley & Chicago Moms Blog contributors. Make your own badge here.