BlogHer NYC Holiday Party: Haiku Review

BlogHer holiday
NY party -- with Jory! --
was a nice event.

A mix of bloggers
and sponsors, it seemed to me,
and int'rested folks ...

Washington Square Park,
Great Neck's Motherhood Later,
Gympressions and Curves ...

Snacks rocked @ Pranna,
chutney, sliders, shrimp, and naan ...
fusion like the crowd!

Proud I went alone,
wish I'd remembered my cards,
but still glad I went.

Would you like to haiku today? To participate in Haiku Friday, just follow these steps:

1. Write your own haiku on your blog. You can do one or many, all following a theme or just random. It or they can be part or all of your post, but your post must include a haiku. What's a haiku, you ask? Hint: 3 lines, and count syllables, 5-7-5. The best haiku evoke a feeling of place or emotion. (Unlike mine which are often factual.) More info: Click here. Or here.

2. Sign the Mister Linky below with your name and the link to your haiku post (the specific post URL, not your main blog URL). Don't sign unless you have a haiku this week. If you need help with this, please let me know.

3. Please leave a comment after linking, thanks! (Eventually the Mr Linky links go away, I think, so they only way we'll find you in the future is via your comment.)

4. if you'd like, pick up a Haiku Friday button to display on the post or in your sidebar by clicking the button at the top of this post.

REMEMBER: Do not post your link unless you have a haiku this week.

Groundhog Day Party

Last year, I hosted a Groundhog Day party for a couple of reasons. First, it was an excuse to have a party during the mid-winter blahs.

Second, it was DB's first year of elementary school and because of his early-September birthday we weren't able to invite the class to a party to get to know everyone.

Like I really needed an excuse! Anyway, as usual with my ideas I did not find one good source for the information I was looking for. I see a little more this year, but not much.

I also got a lot of good feedback about my creative ideas, which makes me think perhaps someone else will benefit from them.

So, I put together a 26-page ebook with ideas for food, activities, and games. It's available HERE.

It includes PDF's of my Groundhog Day poster -- all you need to do is print each page on regular, 8-1/2x11 sheets of paper and tape them side-by-side on the wall!


Here are two of the best URLs I found for this holiday. Honestly, many links at the bottom of the sites I visited last year were broken, so I'm trying to save you following dead trails in a fruitless search for stuff:

Punxsutawney, Pa's main Groundhog Day information site has activities, printables and facts. Go to the Teacher's Corner, then click "Activities for Kids."

If you print "Phil's Puzzle," here is a hint: The outside is not entirely square! In other words, put together the puzzle and draw an outline of the outside edges with a marker before you give it to little kids. You may be better off cutting up your own puzzle using a coloring page.

The "Lessons Plans" area has lots of games and even words to "Groundhog Carols" set to the tune of popular holiday songs.

Punxsutawney Phil's main site has some fun, brief interactive items which are really handy if you're trying to entertain your kids on this subject at the last minute.

This year I see a couple of Groundhog Day crafts to buy at the Oriental Trading website; I didn't see anything like that in 2008. That makes me think it's a growing trend, yah?

Finally, I even put together my very own Groundhog Day book list link.

I should have even more stuff to put in the 2010 edition, since I'm having a Groundhog Day party in DB's class this Friday!