A big thank you to Zach Galifianakis for telling The Academy that he was wearing Garanimals at the Oscars. We always hear requests for adult Garanimals, perhaps we should consider it.

Blue Tongue Skink

Of all the pets in my husband’s store, reptiles seem the most alien and mysterious. It turns out, though, that there are lots of reptile lovers in the world (Americans own more than 23 million of them) and they can make excellent pets, especially for families with allergies. Before you run screaming into the night, take a minute with me and learn a little more about reptiles. They’re pretty interesting.

Many reptiles today are very similar to their ancient cousins who roamed the earth even before dinosaurs, hundreds of millions of years ago. If you have a dinosaur-obsessed child at home, learning about reptiles can be a great way to feed their curiosity and make history come alive.

What is a reptile?

Reptiles are cold-blooded vertebrates with scaly skin, and are usually divided into four main groups:

• lizards and snakes
• turtles and tortoises
• crocodiles and alligators
• the tuatara

For the record, frogs, toads, newts, and salamanders are not reptiles — they are amphibians.

Lizards and Snakes

Lizards and snakes are the reptiles most often kept as pets. Some of the most common reptile pets include:

• chameleons
• iguanas
• bearded dragons
• geckos
• anoles
• skinks

Panther Chameleon

My personal favorites are the chameleons, with their long, sticky tongues, gripping toes, and colorful camouflage.

Herpetology (reptile) hobbyists also keep a wide variety of snakes as pets, such as:

• ball, blood, burmese, green tree and jungle pythons
• boa constrictors and sand boas
• corn, garter, green, king and milk snakes

Red Tailed Boa

Many snakes are prized by herpetology hobbyists for their coloring and markings. And just so you know, snakes are not at all slimy. A snake flicks the air with its tongue to gather scent particles into its mouth, so the tongue works to help identify prey.

Turtles and Tortoises

Turtles and tortoises can also make interesting pets. In the US, we generally think of turtles as water dwelling, and tortoises as land dwelling.

Crocodiles and Alligators

As a rule, crocodiles and alligators should not be kept as pets. The primary difference between them is that crocodiles can be found in saltwater environments and alligators are only found in fresh water. A crocodile’s jaw is V-shaped, while an alligator’s jaw is more U-shaped.

The Tuatara

Never heard of a tuatara? Neither had I. The two existing species are found only in New Zealand. They are reptiles, but not lizards.

Reptiles as Pets

Cold blooded means that a reptile’s body temperature is controlled by the external environment. For pet owners, this means you need to learn about proper heating and lighting to keep your reptile safe and healthy. Each species of reptile has specific dietary requirements, as well, and they can be picky eaters, so ask lots of questions about how to feed your pet.

When reptiles hatch, they are completely independent from their parents. But though they may leave the pet store at just a few inches long, many reptiles can grow to be very large. Boa constrictors and pythons, for example, can reach 30 feet in length and a sulcata tortoise can grow to more than 100 pounds and live more than 100 years.

The point is, do your homework before you make the commitment to bring a reptile into your home. And always check local and state ordinances about exotic pet ownership regulations in your area.

Related Picture Books

I Wonder Why Snakes Shed Their Skin: and Other Questions About Reptiles
by Amanda O’Neill
I Wanna Iguana by Karen Kaufman Orloff

Susan Bearman also writes at Two Kinds of People, Mike&Ollie: 24-weekers Who Beat the Odds and The Animal Store Blog, as well as being a regular contributor to The Chicago Moms and Technorati.

A few weeks ago my fellow Garanimals blogger, Kim Ross, posted a great piece on having a garage sale.  If you missed it you can check it out here. Very good tips indeed.

While I have had my share of sales, I must admit that I would much rather be a yard sale buyer than a seller. As a matter of fact, yard sales are a bit of an obsession in my house. It’s a regular family weekend activity.

You just never know what you’re going to find. I’ve got a long list of fabulous finds, such as a KitchenAid mixer (extremely rare), a Yamaha digital keyboard with all of the extras, my son’s BMX bike, furniture, art, clothes, as well as countless (really) toys and kids item that fill my home and saved us a small fortune over the years.

Lucky for me, my husband is as much of a collector as I am. His quest for good musical instruments to add to our family room collection starts with Friday’s classifieds with circles and arrows around all the best looking sales.

As the designated navigator on these trips, it’s my job to find the unfamiliar addresses on my phone GPS. And to help make sure I find ALL the possible sales, I use a phone app that has been incredibly helpful. It’s called Garage Sale Rover and there’s a free and Pro version for the iPhone and Android. There’s also a similar app called iGarageSale which provides the same options (Lite and Pro versions available).

These apps show you all the Craiglist-advertised garage/rummage/yard/tag sales in your area on an easy to view map. Click on any sale and get the original ad with all of the specifics. There’s a search tool for finding specific items and an option that lets you save your favorite sales.

If you upgrade to the Pro versions you can get additional features like turn-by-turn directions and route optimization so that you can be sure not to waste any time driving around in circles.

If you love a good tag sale hunt, either one of these apps are a great help. Just don’t get there before me.

You can also find Paula on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter @techsmart319. Feel free to reach out if you have questions.

It was Earth Day just a few short weeks ago and I helped organize a project at school to plant a flower garden. It was amazing to watch the kids help to dig up the earth, plant the flowers and add mulch. As I watched I realized the things that the children were learning in addition to the actual process of planting a garden. They were learning how to care for something – the water, the mulch, the fresh soil. They were so excited to watch it grow and flower.

We have had a flower garden at our home since the boys were little. It is filled with things I have gotten from people, purchased and have been given as gifts. Every Mother’s Day I get a special thing for our garden. One year I received a statue of two frogs playing leap frog and another I received a magnolia bush that blooms around this time every year. This year I received a beautiful bird bath to attract birds and butterflies. They picked it out in honor of a family’s favorite song on Kids Place Live – Butterfly Driving a Truck! So cute…….

The boys love to help me  in the garden, whether it be weeding, spreading mulch, or transplanting flowers. The garden is a great place for them to learn about bugs, flowers, birds, and plants. We love to see the butterflies dance around and the worms in the soil. One year I purchased kid size gardening gloves and kneelers for them to use when helping me, which they loved. They look forward to the times I ask them to water and are slowly learning when to expect certain plants to flower; the tulips in the spring, the mums in the fall.

There isn’t a great place for us to plant a vegetable garden in our yard, so this year we are attempting to plant a tomato plant in a container. It has been fun to watch the plant grow from seed. I think the boys will have a great time “harvesting” and maybe will even eat some of our bounty.

There are so many lessons to be learned from gardening.

What are your favorite things to grow with your kids?

Kim Ross also writes at  A Little Bit of This and That ~ The Adventures of a Stay at Home Mom.

Hair for the summer is not always easy to perfect. With the humidity, sometimes your hair just has a complete thought/brain/heart of its own. It can actually be VERY difficult to tame.

Ever since I was a little girl, my summer hair has been wild and free. I have very thick hair, so it becomes a lion’s mane in the summer (no joke). I literally need to wear it up every single day because it will just look ridiculous if I don’t! I’m always envious of women who have very short, cropped hair in the summer because their “do” is so easy to do!

But… with all this being said, there are some very easy ways to achieve perfect hair in the summer. I’ve sort of become an obsessed-queen at finding the ways to make this happen. This week I wanted to share with you 5 different ways to create perfect do’s for the summer months ahead. These styles are trending, but they’re also very easy to create (all on your own!).

(And if you really want to have some hair fun, check out Pinterest every once in awhile for some great ideas!)

Have some HAIR fun this summer… !

1) Low Messy Bun –

This one should be easy for any mom to create! I love that messy is in because usually my buns are messy, so the only difference is now they’re IN! I love it! I’m a HUGE lover of a bun, and this summer… the lower, the better. By the pool, at the beach, where ever!

2) Slicked Back Hair –

OK, let me just tell you how excited I am about this style, too! With the summer months and by the pool and at the beach, my hair will now officially be “trendy” if it’s wet and slicked back. And to be honest, the wetter it looks, the better!
*Photo from RealBeauty.com

3) Hair Bands –

I love that hair bands are in because this is such an EASY hair fix for any woman. There are mornings I wake up and my layers in front are sticking up all over the place, and it’s just not that flattering! I love that with a hair band, I can easily wrap and go. Not to mention, they come in so many beautiful prints and colors!

4) Braids –

Braids aren’t just for little girls, they’re also for the big ones, too! A loose braid down the back is perfect and looks so delicate, yet it’s so much fun! I love to be able to just toss a braid in my front layers or just the longer pieces in the back. Either way, a braid is very trendy right now (and also easy to do!).

5) Center Parts –

OK, so this goes for anything. If you’re wearing your hair down in the summer and don’t know how to style it, just part it right down the middle. If you’re wearing it back, part it smack down the middle, too! Easy does it, right? (*And slick it back!)

Audrey McClelland can also be found at MomGenerations.com, Lifetime Beauty/Style, Momversation.com, GettingGorgeousEvents.com and GiftGuideGirls.com She is also the co-author of The Digital Mom Handbook.

Mother’s Day is right around the corner… In fact, if you’re Mexican, Salvadoran or Guatemalan, you’re actually celebrating Mother’s Day today! Yes, in case you didn’t know it, not every country in the world celebrated Mother’s Day the second Sunday in May. In Latin America, for example, this day is celebrated at the end of May, in September and even December!

Either way, I love reading books to my children that can help them better understand a celebration like this one or, better yet, the reason why we actually celebrate moms once a year. Here are some suggestions:

I’m Just Like My Mom; I’m Just Like my Dad by Jorge Ramos — Written by the well-known Univision journalist Jorge Ramos, this books is a true favorite at home. Although it’s not necessarily about Mother’s Day, it does tell a story of why children look and act like their parents.

Love to Mama: A Tribute to Mothers by Pat Mora — At home, we love prolific children’s author Pat Mora and this book is no exception! In it, you’ll find 13 poets writing about the awesome relationship between moms, grandmas and children. I love that the poets come from different Latin American countries! Yay for diversity!

Antonio’s Card/La Tarjeta de Antonio by Rigoberto Gonzalez — A bilingual book that explores the issue of non-traditional families. It tells the story of Antonio, a boy who loves words, but who’s having a hard time figuring out how to write a Mother’s Day card for his mom and her partner.

Before You Were Here, Mi Amor by Samantha R. Vamos — Another favorite in my house because it beautifully tells the story that most children like to hear when they’re little. How was your life before they were born and you were preparing for their birth? An absolute must!

What are your suggestions?

Roxana A. Soto is the co-founder of SpanglishBaby, the go-to site for parents raising bilingual and bicultural children. She’s currently working on her first book, based on her blog, to be published in September. Roxana is also a staff writer for MamásLatinas.

El Día de la Madre ya casi llega… De hecho, si eres mexicana, salvadoreña o guatemalteca, lo estás celebrando hoy mismo. Sí, por si no lo sabías, no todos los países del mundo celebran el Día de la Madre el segundo domingo de mayo. En Latinoamérica, por ejemplo, este día se celebra a finales de mayo, en septiembre y hasta en diciembre, dependiendo de las costumbres del país.

A mi me encanta leerle libros a mis hijos que los puedan ayudar a entender el porqué de celebraciones como esta o, mejor aún, que les enseñe la razón por la cual celebramos a las mamis una vez al año. He aquí algunas sugerencias:

Me parezco tanto a mi mamá/Me parezco tanto a mi papá por  Jorge Ramos — Escrito por el reconocido periodista de Univision Jorge Ramos, este libro es uno de los favoritos en casa. Aunque no es necesariamente acerca del Día de la Madre, sí cuenta la historia de porque los niños se parecen y actúan tan igual a sus padres.

Love to Mama: A Tribute to Mothers por Pat Mora — Esta es otra de nuestras autoras favoritas. En este libro, encontrarás 13 poetas que escriben acerca de la hermosa relación que existe entre mamás, abuelas e hijos. Me encanta que los poetas son todos de países latinoamericanos diferentes.

La Tarjeta de Antonio por Rigoberto Gonzalez — Un libro bilingüe que explora el tema de las familias no tradicionales. El autor cuenta el cuento de Antonio, un niño que ama las palabras pero a quien se le está haciendo difícil escribir una tarjeta del Día de la Madre para su mamá y su pareja.

Before You Were Here, Mi Amor por Samantha R. Vamos — Otro libro favorito en mi casa porque cuenta la historia que a todos los niños chiquitos les gusta escuchar. ¿Cómo era tu vida antes de que tus hijos nacieran? ¿Cómo se preparó la familia para la llegada del nuevo bebé?

¿Cuáles son tus sugerencias?

Roxana A. Soto es cofundadora de SpanglishBaby, el sitio en línea para padres que están criando niños bilingües y biculturales. Actualmente está escribiendo su primer libro, basado en su blog, que será publicado en septiembre. Roxana también es redactora de MamásLatinas.

One of my favorite things about being a writer it that I get to name people (well, characters, anyway) without having to birth them or put them through college. If you don’t happen to be a writer, you can still exercise your love of names by naming pets.

But beware: naming a pet may not be as simple as naming a child. Generally speaking, just the two parents are involved in baby naming, but the whole dang family wants to have a say in naming the pets, and naming by committee is never easy.

Our current dog, Hazel, went nameless for six weeks as we haggled. In the end, it was a matter of elimination rather than choice.

I wanted something clever and literary, like “Comma” or “Ellipses” or “Thurber”. I was vetoed. My middle son wanted to name her “Athena”, which was much too regal for our little fur ball.

Another complication with naming pets: you aren’t strictly limited to real names. Unlike naming a baby, when you have to think ahead to their future as President of the United States or America’s Most Wanted, almost anything goes for a pet. My aunt had a dog named “Martini”. We called our pair of hermit crabs “Maize” and “Blue” in honor of our favorite college team, the Michigan Wolverines. And we once had a neighbor who named his pooch “Dammitdog”.

Still, some people take pet naming very seriously. In an article in Psychology Today, “The Art and Science of Naming a Dog,” author Stanley Coran, PhD, claims: “The most important word dogs ever learn is their name … the dog’s name becomes the key to his understanding.”

But fear not. Unlike in the olden days, when you actually had to think up a name for your pet, today we have the World Wide Web, where with a simple search of “pet names” you can retrieve more than 91 million related websites in less than a quarter of a second (depending on the speed of your Internet connection). Like this one. And this one. And my personal favorite, the Pet Name Generator.

A word of warning when naming your pet. If you plan to have children, don’t give your pet your favorite people name. My friend, who went on to have two daughters, regretted naming her dog “Gwen” before they were born because it was her favorite girl name.

When in doubt, go for the pun. My dad gave a great suggestion for our puppy: “For Sale”. Get it? We own a pet store and our dog is “For Sale”. Yeah, my kids didn’t think it was funny either.

Photo credit: Brass Bones Tags, Red Dingo ID Tags 

Susan Bearman also writes at Two Kinds of People, Mike&Ollie: 24-weekers Who Beat the Odds and The Animal Store Blog, as well as being a regular contributor to The Chicago Moms and Technorati.

Summer’s coming and for many of us, that means lots of time in the car and on the go. Here are 4 free and really useful apps that will help make your adventures a little less well, adventurous.

Have2P – When you’re on the road and you, or your kids, gotta go, you just gotta go! This app give you a list of all the bathrooms nearest to your location. Results include restaurants, stores and gas stations and the listings include whether they are available to patrons only, are clean, and whether they have changing tables (how helpful is that?). Keep in mind though that user input is needed to populate this info, so if you know of or visit any of the locations, please be sure to give the feedback. (iPhone, Android)

Good Food Near You – Don’t you just love it when you stumble on a restaurant that turns out to be so much better than expected? When you’re on the road, we end up at the old standbys when we might not know what other choices might be right around the corner. This app gives you a list of the nearby restaurants, with links to their menus. Better yet, it gives you calorie, fat, carb and protein info for each menu item. Now you really have no excuse for settling for an unhealthy choice. (iPhone, Android, Blackberry)

Find My Car – Admit it dude, you HAVE lost your car on occasion. Don’t you just hate walking around like a dope looking for your car or pressing the lock button on your key fob hoping to hear the beep of your horn nearby. Now, all you have to do is run this app, tap the icon to remember your current location and later, when it’s time to go home, just use the location tools to navigate back to your vehicle and voila! So next time you’re at the mall, a stadium, or any large parking lot, save yourself some time and frustration with this amazingly helpful app. (iPhone, Android)

AroundMe – Ever find yourself in an unfamiliar place and need a gas station? A dentist? A dry cleaners? AroundMe will give you the 411 on whatever type of service or vendor you might need. Just enter the type of business you’re looking for and it will give you the nearby options. This isn’t a comprehensive rating or link-based app, it just gives you directions and a phone number. Often, that’s all you need. (iPhone, Android)

These apps are incredibly helpful and practical. It’s like having a concierge ride along with you on your trip. Don’t leave home without them.

You can also find Paula on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter @techsmart319. Feel free to reach out if you have questions.

Remember back to when you didn’t have kids……. (I know, for some it is a faint memory)

Remember being at the grocery store, in an airplane or at the movies and a child starts throwing a tantrum, talking so loud, or crying. Do you remember thinking-

MY child will NEVER do that

or

I would NEVER bring a child here

or

They need to TAKE CONTROL of that child.

Flashforward to the present time. Boy – karma really bites you in the butt!  We’ve all had our share of embarrassment from our children. Maybe that’s why we embarrass them when they are older  - paybacks!

If you read my personal blog, you’ve probably read about my proud mom moment last year at church. My youngest, Connor, seems to have some personal mission to utterly embarrass me! There was the time he stood in the hallway at school while I was helping serve lunch. He had his pants and undies around his ankles as the lunch line went by and yelled, “Mommy I went POOPY! Come help me wipe!” He is the king of throwing monster fake crying fits and let everyone know that there is a problem, too.  Plus, when he was younger people thought I taught him bad language. When he pronounced the word CHOCOLATE it sounded like the F***ing. He would sit in the cart at the grocery store by the milk aisle and say loudly, “I want F***ing Milk!” Over and over again……lets just say he probably drank more Chocolate Milk than he should have when he was younger.

My oldest had his moments too. I remember leaving a store once and there was a man outside the door with a prosthetic leg. Ian looked right at him and said to me, “Cool Mom, a Pirate!!” Then Ian said to him, “AARGHH.” Thankfully the man said, “AARGHH” back, but I quickly apologized and swept him away.

There are so many moments that don’t appear in parenting handbooks. I know when many of these moments happen I feel immediate pressure to take action. I feel the condescending glares of others and try to figure out what to do.

My youngest son, though, has really made me an expert at these moments. I have truly learned that two children raised in the same environment can be TOTALLY different and need different parenting methods. Connor is a very spirited child who speaks his mind and has very strong feelings. He is also extremely social. When he throws one of his fits – not a threat in the world will work, they just make things worse. So, I have to get to the root of what is really upsetting him or just let him get it out of his system.

It’s about forgetting how “normal” or a “good child” is defined by others and letting your child be his “normal.” Correcting him in the way that works for him (once you figure that out) and remembering that even children sometimes just have bad days. They don’t have the social cues we have – there are definitely days I just want to scream, “LEAVE ME ALONE.” at people, but I know better.

As a parent, you don’t have to feel embarrassed of your child and should realize that all kids are different and bring something very special and unique to this world.  The key is finding those qualities.

I keep telling myself that Connor is going to be the type of person that will always strive to get what he wants. He won’t give up which will lead to amazing things. Someday his determination won’t embarrass me anymore, but make me so proud!

Kim Ross also writes at  A Little Bit of This and That ~ The Adventures of a Stay at Home Mom.

It’s that time of year… are you ready!?

The white jeans need to be out mamas! It doesn’t matter that it’s not exactly Memorial Day yet, it’s just time to grab them and toss them on! Personally, I couldn’t be more excited. I love, love, love white jeans in the spring and summer. Every season I splurge and buy myself a brand new pair of white jeans.

I love when they’re completely new and crisp and classic and ready to be worn!

The beauty of white jeans is that they’re “so” summer, and can be worn in many different ways and styles. They’re the perfect go-to item for the summer when you’re ready to head out.

I want to show you 5 different ways to wear white jeans (all different styles!):

1) Monochromatic… Summer Whites

There’s nothing as easy and as stylish as wearing summer whites from head to toe. I love wearing basic white pieces and adding pops of color through accessories. The addition of gold jewelry is gorgeous!

2) Red, White and Blue…

July 4th is one of the most festive and fun holidays for families! I wanted to show how you can take your finest white jeans and dress them up with some gorgeous red, whites and blues! Have some fun and go overboard with the festiveness!

3) Casually Chic…

I love being able to relax and kick back with my white jeans. Baseball hat, shoes and a relaxed tee – perfect outfit to watch a Little League game or soccer game. Even a beautiful bike ride through the park. Such a nice way to dress white jeans down.

4) Trendy-as-can-be!…

Come on… you can’t get any cooler than wearing a tank with boots in the summer! LOL… I love doing this when the weather is in the 70′s. Toss on a Fedora with it and KABOOM – you’ve got a stylin’ outfit! I have to say, my sons always say when I wear this, “Mom – aren’t you hot?” But it’s worth the sweat for fashion!

5) Tangerine…

You know I needed to get some Tangerine in, right? I love wearing tunics with white jeans. I suggest grabbing some skinny jeans or at least jeans that are tapered at the bottom. I love the look of a tunic with thongs, it’s such a elegant and sophisticated outfit to pull together.

Audrey McClelland can also be found at MomGenerations.com, Lifetime Beauty/Style, Momversation.com, GettingGorgeousEvents.com and GiftGuideGirls.com She is also the co-author of The Digital Mom Handbook.