What's Better than a Turkey in the Oven at the Holidays? Two Ovens!

Frigidaire has launched a new range with Symmetry Double Ovens that can hold not one, but two 28 lb turkeys!

We have had double wall ovens for years (not Frigidaire) and they have been what makes hosting the holidays at my house even a possibility. While the bird is cooking in one oven, I can be making appetizers, baking an apple pie, or reheating side dishes that my family members bring.

The Frigidaire Symmetry range is a freestanding ranges, so you don't need the wall space, preheats in just 4 minutes, and has a Keep Warm zone.

Get Turkey Tips, Donate a Turkey to Save the Children

To celebrate the Symmetry and the ability to cook 2 turkeys, Frigidaire has teamed up with Jennifer Garner to help you with turkey tips for this holiday season.  For the first 550 visits to maketimeforchange.com and Jennifer's Turkey Tips, Frigidaire will donate $1 and a turkey to Save the Children to support their US programs and families.

Disclosure: I received a gift card to purchase two turkeys this holiday season as a thank you for continuing to support Frigidaire. I was a Frigidaire Test Drive Mom a few years ago and still am loving my affinity washer and dryer. All opinions expressed here are my own and these posts are neither reviewed nor approved prior to being published. Also, my dad worked for Save the Chilren for a few years and we sponsored various children, so my interest in this program goes way beyond turkey.

Dancing with Beyonce and snapping Larry King's Suspenders at the Wax Museum

A Little History and a Little Camp Never Hurt Anyone

Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum offers the right balance of campiness and seriousness for a Washington, DC  museum. Wandering among the wax figures of famous people, you can actually learn a little about history, as you experience it.

You can cross the Potomac with General George Washington.

You can sit at the back of the bus with Rosa Parks.

And you can dance with Beyonce...

dancing with Beyonce

Flirt with Larry King

Well Hello Larry!

Hang with the President and First Lady

El with the Obamas

Plus, even the bathrooms are fun. Em felt right at home.

The rule at Madame Tussauds is no touching the hair and face. Everything else is welcomed and they even supply props. The museum is located in downtown DC just around the corner from the Metro Center station. You can save 15% if you pre-order your tickets online. Expect to spend at least an hour, maybe more if there's a crowd because you'll have to wait your turn to pose with the figures.

Have you been to a Madame Tussaud's in another city?

5 Rainy Day Playdate Activities

Today my kids have a half day of school. To get some work done I invited 2 of their friends over. 4 tweens running around for 3 hours. Oh how I wish it wasn't raining!

But it is. So here are 5 activities I plan to pull out while they tear up my house for 3 hours...so I can work.

And then clean up.

1. Fort Building

 blanket for the Twofer built just in time to block football on our wall of TVs

I've already scattered the blankets, pillows, small folding tables, etc across the house so it will take them a good 30 minutes just to gather the supplies! Building it is half the fun but the other half is snack time inside the fort.

2. Mold and Bake Cookies

Can you imagine 288 packs of deeelish frozen cookie dough? MMM

If the fort doesn't keep them occupied I have some Pillsbury Frozen Cookie Dough they can mold with their clean hands into various cookie shapes. Saves me the messy kitchen of mixing from scratch, but still loads of fun.

3. Crafty McCrafsters

I'm not known as a crafty mom but in a pinch I can whip out one of my 14 aprons (YES - 14!) and my craft supplies and get them working on something fun. Whether it's picture frames or beading, I've got something to keep kids busy for at least an hour.

4.Walking in the Rain

image via Wikipedia

Eight year olds still need to get outside and get some exercise. I always have extra sweat pants and socks around so kids can get soaked and have fun without ruining their clothes. We usually have extra shoes too! So why not dig out our supply of umbrellas and head out for a walk in the rain? Only if it's not thundering or lightening of course!

5. Wiiiiiiiii

I'm not too proud to get a good Wii tennish match going to keep them moving in the basement! They'll need to clean up that fort first though.

What do you do when you've got a 3 hour playdate at your house and it rains? Besides panic...

Janine

Disclosure: some links are affiliate links. That means if you click the link and buy something, I get some pennies.

Swim. Bike. Run. Done! Twofer Complete a Kid's Triathlon

With all the news about childhood obesity, the kids triathlon movement is a welcome dose of the alternative.

Not only CAN kids do things even their parents wouldn't dream of doing, but they often WANT to, and they have FUN doing it!

Who knew?

A friend of mine put together the Moco Mojo Kids Tri that was held last weekend in Silver Spring, MD. At first, I was resistant to have the girls participate and I actually talked Em out of registering because she can be such a whiner when we go on our 2 mile bike ride (one way, so I guess really 4 miles) to the library. I was like, "You complain after a 2-mile bike ride! Imagine adding a swim and a run to that!"

She, surprisingly, agreed with me. Until 2 days before the event when she went to watch El practice transitioning from pool to bike. It just looked like a lot of fun to her, all her friends were doing it, etc. So, I've learned a lesson.

Who am I to keep my kid from tapping into her competitive spirit and taking on a challenge?

bthe bike staging area, preparing to swim, and running through the finish line

Here's what they had to do for their age group (7-9 yr olds)

Swim a 50 meter

Bike 2 miles

Run .5 miles

Kids Tri Events Keep Kids and Parents Moving...in the right direction

The distances varied for the younger (yes, younger!) kids and older kids, and some parents were able to run along or even bike with their kids for encouragement.  The event started in waves with the older kids heading off first. The pool was COLD and the temperature outside was EVEN COLDER so the swim was optional. We took some extra time after the swim to get El's bathing suit top off, and a dry shirt on, because she had had a fever the night before and...oy, that sounds so awful but honestly, she wanted to do this and felt FINE besides the fever!

Above you'll see the t-shirt designed by one of the participants, Em getting marked before the start, the perfect tri set-up as taught to us by the organizer, and my two triathlons!

The best part was the volunteer team that helped coordinate, set up, manage, and break down the event so that all these kids could feel like real athletes. THAT is how you get kids to keep moving and live a healthy lifestyle.

For more information on kids triathlon event in your area check out:

Iron Kids

TriFind

Have your kids joined a running team or participated in an event like this? If so, please tell us where and post a link if you have one in the comments!

We are the proud owners of not one but two...

This is the biggest news that my family has had to announce since the Twofer's Disney Surprise when they were six!

We have not one, but TWO new pets!

The girls squealed as they walked the pets out of the store.

They immediately came home and made little beds for them.

They have remembered (All. On. Their. Own.) to take their pets for a daily walk.

Announcing....
Honey and Goldie

My Own Pet Balloons are the BEST pets!

Probably the BEST part about these pets is that they have cured the girls of their constant asking, begging, and pleading for a REAL dog!

And my kids are not the only ones drawn to them. We had the dogs filled at a local party supply store. We attached the leashes that came, and just about every kid and parent we passed walking to the car stopped and asked where we got them!

I'm guessing that party store has already placed their order.
My Own Pet Balloons are available online at http://www.myownpetballoon.com/ and at Amazon.com

You can find more information on:
Facebook
Twitter

Which Pet will you get?

Disclosure: We received 2 My Own Pet balloons at no charge for the purposes of this reivew. I did cover the cost of the helium but walking out of the party store was half the fun with these things! All opinions expressed here are my own and this post was neither reviewed nor approved prior to being published. Some links are affiliate links.