Happy 4th of July! Here is a link to hydrogen explosions on Science Friday and a previous post on fireworks, Fireworks - a fun introduction to physics, chemistry, and geology. I also recommend the Liberty's Kids episodes for an enjoyable and kid-friendly introduction to U.S. history.

Today a friend sang "O Canada" to N's preschool class and then we had a "traditional" BBQ at home. For dessert, I covered graham crackers in ice cream and decorated them with strawberries to make the Canadian flag. I was told the dessert was a little messy but it seemed to be enjoyed. Before B was born, I spent several hours making a template for the American flag using card stock and an exacto knife. I then made brownies and sprinkled powdered sugar on them using the template. It required a lot of work and I'm happy to now have faster, but equally effective, holiday dishes. One of my favorites, that I will use again in a few days, is whipped cream and berries. Waffles make a great medium for flags and do not require as much work as cupcakes or cake. Plus, you do not need as many berries to make them colorful.

June is (was) strawberry month. Our season was short because all of the cool rainy weather but we managed to harvest a few good buckets worth. Strawberry's always reminds me of summer. Growing up, when we tired of our sandbox, my Dad turned it into a strawberry patch. They loved that sandy soil and we always got lots and lots of big, red strawberries. My Mom made the most wonderful homemade biscuits that soaked up the strawberry juice...and of course whipped cream. Strawberry muffins, pancakes, jam and snack bars are just a few of the great things you can make with this summertime favorite. My son has been a strawberry fanatic since he was just a baby....he just cant get enough. Run over to your local framer's market and buy a case of two of fresh local strawberry's. Alos, check out www.cookinglight.com and search for strawberry's for some great summer recipes. I liked their strawberry margarita! Next month (July) is blueberry month-my favorite!

Congratulations to our most recent giveaway winner from Columbia, Maryland! Our lucky highmaintenancemom.com winner will receive a copy of Missy Chase Lapine's newest addition to her sneaky cookbook collection, The Sneaky Chef to the Rescue: 101 All-New Recipes and ""Sneaky"" Tricks for Creating Healthy Meals Kids Will Love. This is a follow up to her earlier New York Times bestselling book, The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals, and has new chapters including low calorie recipes, allergy free recipes, vegetarian options and holiday treats.....

Father's Day doesn't have to mean yet another tie or tool. It can be a day of relaxation, fun times with the kids and green gifts. As a child, I gave a lot of simple, homemade gifts like special photographs in papers frames, poems, short stories and once a slide show. My husband has asked to sleep in on Father's Day. May seem simple but it's a huge deal when you have young kids. In addition to these ideas, there are many simple and green gift ideas for Dad.....

Summer is a great time for outdoor activities but also prime time for tick bites and poison ivy. Since we live in tick central, we have learned what they look like, how to do daily tick checks and how to remove them.

On May 19th my youngest son came home with a stomach ache. He threw up a few times and had a low grade fever. I thought he had H1N1 or a stomach flu. I called the doctor and they said we didn't need to be tested or stay home for a week. N was sicker on Thursday and on Friday morning I took him to the doctor. From there we went to the hospital where we learned his appendix had ruptured. Eight days later we came home and are waiting to see if he needs a second surgery. I've tried to figure out if we could have come to the hospital before his appendix ruptured but I'm not sure we could have. The doctors told me appendicitis is often hard to diagnose in this age range. Below is a more detailed account of our week in the hope that it will help someone else...

Check out, http://kidsedwebsites.com, a great new web site with a link to a fun and educational game each day. Many are for older kids (eight and up) but my four year-old and seven year-old love the simple machines games (under science and posted on 5/28/09). The graphics were inviting, the answers to the first sets of questions were always funny, and each set of machines could be explored in a short period of time. I highly recommend checking out the site.

There are so many pregnancy books on the market that a Mother to be can easily become overwhelmed with her choices. I was handed the obligatory What to Expect When You Are Expecting and was soon after told to dump it in the trash. I was warned that it was outdated and overly dramatic.

Fitness is not an easy thing to maintain as a parent of small children. We all have good intentions but they seem to fall by the wayside after an exhausting day or at 5:30 in the morning when all you want to do is sleep. May is National Fitness Month and you don't have to join a gym or hire a personal trainer to maintain your personal fitness or show your children how important fitness is. There are many web sites that encourage family fitness (www.fitness.gov, http://kidshealth.org and www.mayoclinic.com) but all it really takes is some creativity....