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By: Rebekah Thomson, Pediatric Sleep Coach
Planning a family trip over the holidays or for the upcoming school vacations? Wondering how to prepare for airplane travel? Not sure what to pack? Hopefully these suggestions will alleviate some of your pre-travel stress. Carry-On Packing List
Checked Luggage Packing List
Products I Like
On-Flight Tips
Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season! Rebekah www.countingsheepmv.com
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In honor or our Annual Festivus Holiday Giveaways, Cape Cod Moms will be featuring all the participating businesses in a dedicated blog post to help our community get to know the owners, their passions and their favorite holiday events! Be sure to purchase a calendar beginning 11/23/15 for your chance to win any or even all of the 32 prizes donated by local Cape Cod Small Businesses! Remember by supporting local small businesses, you keep the money here, which in turns allows the business to support all local communities and fundraisers #ShopLocal #SaveLocal #SupportLocal Meet Shane Skinner, owner of the local Cape Cod web design business: Devadigm! Shane is also a local Cape Cod Dad who when he isn't busy helping people optimize their websites, can be found spending quality time with his family. He is running a current special deal: 20% off the first 3 months of our Platinum WordPress monthly maintenance package. Details Here. Also stay tuned to his website for some upcoming fun events in 2016! Read more for details. How do you and/or your business get into the spirit of giving? The spirit of giving is inside us year round, but the holiday season definitely fuels the motivation to make more of an effort. Personally, thinking about what’s important to me (family, friends, love, warm meals together, and good memories) inspires me to help others enjoy those experiences as well. What is your favorite part about this time of year? The increased focus on family time and making lasting memories together, especially with my children. What is your local family “must attend” holiday event? Since this is my first holiday season living on the Cape, I’m still looking at all the options. Would you share with us a family tradition? Every Christmas Eve both of my daughters open one gift which is a box that includes a new pair of pajamas, a new ornament for the tree, hot chocolate, a snack, and a new DVD to watch. We all get comfortable and watch a family movie together while enjoying hot chocolate (and coffee for me) and snacks. If you could have one wish this holiday season, what would it be? That we can help make a real impact on improving other peoples’ lives. Even something as simple as a warm cup of coffee or new pair of socks can help someone in need. What are your festive words of advice for our families during this special time? Remember the intention of the season. Regardless of what holiday you celebrate, if any, we can all share in happy and joyous sentiments and feelings. A little kindness can go a long ways. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Snickerdoodle cookies!!   By: Liz Libby, CLC, CCCE, HBCE The whole “it takes a village” saying is a nice idea. I thought I knew what it meant…… until I had premature twins and a partner that worked all the time. And then I realized that I wasn’t going to survive this parenting gig without some backup from other exhausted moms. I literally went to a different moms’ group every weekday when my guys were babies, and that was my lifeline. Eight years later, I’m still friends with some of the ladies I met in those groups. If you haven’t yet found yourself a moms’ group, here are some reasons you need to:
Outer Cape Moms’ Group Thursdays from 10am to noon 220 Samoset Rd in Eastham, right next to where they are building the new library BirthingYearCapeCod@gmail.com or 774-207-7124 for more info Or visit our Facebook Page! Liz is a Certified Lactation Consultant, a CAPPA certified childbirth educator, and a HypnoBirthing childbirth educator at The Birthing Year. In between running after her three wild and crazy children, she is currently preparing to sit for the IBLCE exam in October of 2016 to become an IBCLC and offers a variety of prenatal classes, birth preparation and support, and postpartum and lactation support. She facilitates the Outer Cape Moms’ Group, which meets weekly and offers evidence-based breastfeeding information as well as support and solidarity for all moms.
BirthingYearCapeCod@gmail.com 774-207-7124 By: Rebekah Thomson, Pediatric Sleep Coach
For those of you who are planning to travel over the holidays, here are suggestions to make your family adventure as smooth as possible, sleep-wise. Prepare a sleep-friendly environment. Whether you’re staying in a hotel, rental house, or with family, try to create a sleep-friendly environment for your little ones. Bring along unwashed crib sheets (the familiar scent will be soothing), favorite loveys and blankets, white noise machine, and night light. If you’re not sure the window shades will be dark enough, pack black trash bags and masking tape or thumbtacks for makeshift blackout shades. The Phil & Teds “Traveller” cot is a great alternative to traditional pack n plays; it is small and light enough to fit inside your suitcase, has no uncomfortable crossbars, and has the added advantage of an optional top in case you’ve got a climber on your hands. Respect your child’s need to sleep – even on vacation. Yes, your child may miss a few naps due to travel and bedtime may be a little later due to older cousins. But try to not abandon your child’s schedule altogether, particularly if you are away for more than a few days. If normal crib naps are not possible, plan to drive during nap times, squeeze in catnaps to take the edge off, and opt out of a late dinner if your little one is showing signs of fatigue. You’ll be glad you made the sacrifice – over-tired children usually don’t make the best travel companions anyhow. Maintain the rituals. Try to maintain your family’s pre-sleep routine, or at least an abridged version of it. The familiar books, songs, and other positive sleep associations will be especially comforting to them as they adjust to their new environment. Talk to your children. Even one year olds often understand a lot more than we think. Let your little ones know that you are doing things differently than usual because you are traveling. “Today we are going to take our naps in the car because we have a long drive to grandma’s house. You can rest in your car seat, and we will wake you up as soon as we get there!” Avoid using the same crutch you just broke. Sure, some sleep regressions may happen during travel. However, if you have recently worked hard to stop nursing your baby to sleep, try rocking her or patting her down instead. It’s less confusing and less intermittent reinforcement, which means ultimately it will be easier to undo. Nip bad habits in the bud. Let your little ones know that once you are back home, it’s back to business as usual. So if you had a co-sleeping nurse-athon in order to keep her quiet at your in-law’s house, the “open bar” officially closes when she kisses grandma goodbye. It’s much easier (i.e. less crying) to tackle new sleep issues before they are fully engrained. Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season! Rebekah www.countingsheepmv.com  By: Amy We were recently given the opportunity as a US Family Guide Blogger, to visit the Gift of Lights at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in exchange for giving an honest review. Normally we would balk at a 2+ hour drive from Cape Cod to check out Christmas lights, but we happened to already be attending an event in the area so this was the perfect way to end our fun weekend. Upon arrival there seemed to be a lot of confusion over our tickets and sadly they could not be found leading to some antsy, anxious kids who were very eager to see the lights. Fortunately for us, the nice young man trusted our word and allowed us to proceed through. What is pretty neat about this light display is you drive the whole way around. They had various displays from pictures of the 12 Days of Christmas to our personal favorite: The Tunnel of Lights.  The Tunnel of Lights is about 250 feet long and I have to say the kids were most excited by this tunnel, which you get to go through twice, delighting the kids some more! They found it to be a magical tunnel filled with Christmas magic they said and we probably could have gone through it about a hundred more times!
The light displays were pretty impressive albeit a bit far apart between each one. It would have been nice to see something maybe small in between each display that helped keep the flow of the theme moving. A few other suggestions for the future that we would love to see them add would be more animated light displays if possible as well as themed music to possibly go along with it as you rode through. They could even intersperse it with a little information about how they raise funds for local charities. Overall we enjoyed the light display and we truly appreciate that it is done to benefit others in a time of need. That is what Christmas is truly all about. If we happen to be in the area next year we might have to check it out again! The Gift of Lights opened for the season in mid-November and runs most nights from 4:30 to 9 p.m. through Jan. 2. For $15 per carload Monday through Thursday, and $20 Friday through Sunday and on holidays, visitors make their way along a three-mile stretch of colorful displays, passing through two stunning 130-foot lighted tunnels. We have a special $2 off Coupon for you to enjoy the Gift of Lights at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. For dates and details visit giftoflightsnhms.com benefiting Speedway Children's Charities. Where is your favorite light display?
In honor or our Annual Festivus Holiday Giveaways, Cape Cod Moms will be featuring all the participating businesses in a dedicated blog post to help our community get to know the owners, their passions and their favorite holiday events! Be sure to purchase a calendar beginning 11/23/15 for your chance to win any or even all of the 32 prizes donated by local Cape Cod Small Businesses! Remember by supporting local small businesses, you keep the money here, which in turns allows the business to support all local communities and fundraisers #ShopLocal #SaveLocal #SupportLocal Meet Adrienne Baumann, director of Marketing & Community Relations at the Cape Cod Children's Museum in Mashpee! Adrienne is a very busy mom of 1 awesome little boy who also happens to be one of our favorite techy moms! Their Noon Year’s Eve Party is not to be missed! What could be better than ringing in the new year at Noon with the whole family? They’ve got a fun, festive party planned featuring classic games with a ‘Sweet‘ twist and of course the countdown and ball drop at Noon, plus a few surprises! Tickets are available at www.CapeCodChildrensMuseum.org They also have a current deal going on that gives 25% off your entire gift shop purchase every day through December – by the way, the gift shop is open to the public with no admission required to shop! Read more for details. Festivus Prize: 4 Tickets to the New Year's Eve Noon Bash at the Museum Value: $40 Awarded on: Dec 13th, 2015  Get in the Cape Cod Festivus Spirit with Cape Cod Children's Museum Follow them on: Interview Questions Answered by Adrienne Baumann, Director of Marketing & Community Relations How do you and/or your business get into the spirit of giving? The Cape Cod Children’s Museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so we are always in the spirit of giving back and paying forward the support we receive from our sponsors, donors and volunteers! What is your favorite part about this time of year? We’re so lucky to celebrate playful learning all year long, but it’s extra special during the Holidays to see how excited our young museum-goers get when creating Holiday-themed projects at the craft table and during art programs; participating in special events such as Nonni’s Workshop and decorating a gingerbread house, and seeing themselves on the TV screen with some of their favorite characters in our TV Studio exhibit! What is your local family “must attend” holiday event? The Falmouth Christmas Parade is a must! Would you share with us a family tradition? We like to emphasize more of the giving than the getting associated with the Holidays, so each year we choose two or three causes or ‘drives’ to support, one always being Toys for Tots! If you could have one wish this holiday season, what would it be? If I could have only one wish, that would be for unlimited wishes! What are your festive words of advice for our families during this special time? Do as much or as little as makes you comfortable and just enjoy the season with your family in your own special ways. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Anything with chocolate is a winner!   Cave Tools Looking Great on my father in law's grille Cave Tools BBQ Set Is On Daddy's Christmas Wish List
By: Brian Okay, so I'll be honest. I wasn't much of a griller until recently, more specifically the summer of 2014. I had been a vegetarian for several years and then gradually went back to eating meat (sort of) though it didn't exactly remain a staple of my diet. Anyhow, I had been asked to review this set of BBQ Grill Tools Set - 3 Piece Utensils kit of grilling tools from Cave Tools in exchange for my honest opinion, so I figured it was as good an excuse as any to fire up the old, clunky (and perfectly functional) two-burner propane dinosaur that occupies a third of my deck throughout all four seasons of the New England year. I'll be honest again. I was using this set of three tools (a spatula, grilling tongs, and a two-pronged grilling fork) to cook burgers, so I didn't really need the grilling fork for anything. It did, however, have a nice, streamlined design and fit ergonomically into my hand. The sharp, precise design of the fork carried over to the other two tools as well, as they are sturdy, weight-balanced, and clearly well-made from quality materials. The tongs were easily the best of the bunch. The two ends have half-moon shaped grippers for whatever you're picking up with them, and the grippers are serrated so you can easily cut into whatever it is you're grilling. The shape and balance of them was perfect, and they have already replaced my other pair since they're easy to close when you're picking something up with them. My previous pair was too wide when the tongs were open and didn't fit in my hand too well, frequently causing me to drop them during use. The spatula was, well, a spatula. Worked just as well as any spatula I've ever used, and looked really nice to boot. All in all, this set of three Cave Tools grilling utensils appears to be a well-made and quality purchase and would be useful for anyone who's serious about grilling, whether they're a novice or a pro. These would make any guy happy to receive for a gift especially Christmas! You can purchase them from Cave Tools here and SAVE on the Grill Set with 15% Off using code FWOBWJHP  Cape Cod Moms teamed up this year with the Cape Cod Children's Museum to enter parade floats in both the Falmouth & Mashpee Christmas Parades. We are thrilled to have been honored this year as Runner Up for Best Children’s Float in the Falmouth Christmas Parade. We hope to see more of you this Saturday evening at the Mashpee parade as we light up the float to make it shine! We want to thank our amazing crew who helped plan, build, and decorate the float. We also want to thank all the local people and businesses who helped us make our float a reality. As you know, one of our mottos is “it takes a village”, and it truly does. Be sure to check out all the pictures and video below! Please join us in thanking the following local businesses for their help and we hope you can find a way to support these amazing local Cape Cod businesses as they have supported us! ServPro for sponsoring our float and driving us down the lovely parade route. Grafton Briggs Landscaping (508) 548-3440 for lending us their trailer and hitch. Falmouth Rotary Club for donating the cost of our 5 Christmas trees and their stands. Lawrence Lynch Corporation for allowing us to use their bay for the weekend to build and stage the float. Mahoney’s Garden Center for allowing us to purchase all the Christmas trees for a discounted rate. Vidal Construction 508-548-6757 for helping us construct the whales. Pride Construction (617) 852-5907 for helping us with framing and the final building of float. Local Children for decorating the beautiful ornaments that adorn all 5 Christmas trees. Two of the five Christmas trees were dropped off post parade with the Falmouth Service Center and the Cape Cod Center for Women. The remaining three trees will be donated post Mashpee parade to: Heroes in Transition, Elder Services in Mashpee, and a student at a local elementary school. Thanks again to everyone in our community for your support! You are the reason we love to do what we do! In honor or our Annual Festivus Holiday Giveaways, Cape Cod Moms will be featuring all the participating businesses in a dedicated blog post to help our community get to know the owners, their passions and their favorite holiday events! Be sure to purchase a calendar beginning 11/23/15 for your chance to win any or even all of the 32 prizes donated by local Cape Cod Small Businesses! Remember by supporting local small businesses, you keep the money here, which in turns allows the business to support all local communities and fundraisers #ShopLocal #SaveLocal #SupportLocal Festivus Grand Prize: NIVRE Hawaiian Beach Bike with basket Value: $600 Awarded Christmas Day!   Meet Gary DellaPosta, owner of Gary DellaPosta CPA & Business Advisers. Gary is a local Cape Cod Dad & Grandparent, who between preparing taxes for local families and businesses as well as giving financial advice, can be found spending quality time with his family and getting involved with the community within various organizations including Cape Cod Moms. Beginning in 2016, Gary and his office will be awarding a scholarship to a local Falmouth resident that is a college junior, majoring in business. By offering this scholarship, Gary and his team hope to financially help this student as well as continue to support and foster a love for our community and supporting small business. There will be more information on their website starting in January so make sure that if you have a child who is interested to come on back to his website and apply! Read more below for how Gary gets into the holiday season! Get in the Cape Cod Festivus Spirit with Gary from Gary DellaPosta, CPA & Business Advisers Follow him on: or by signing up for our monthly financial newsletter! How do you and/or your business get into the spirit of giving? We hang Christmas and holiday cards up in our office. We have joined with Cape Cod Moms the past few years to offer a prize for their annual Festivus Giveaway including this year offering the grand prize. To get in the festive spirit, we have also decided to offer a college scholarship for 2016 to a local student. There will be more information on our website in the new year! What is your favorite part about this time of year? The festive spirit of the season which includes family, community and everyone coming together. What is your local family “must attend” holiday event? We love attending the Christmas POPS in Boston every year. Locally we love watching the Falmouth Christmas parade as well! Would you share with us a family tradition? My children are all grown now, but each year our family gets together the weekend before Christmas with all of our grandchildren to celebrate. We do this the weekend prior to the holiday because we believe strongly that children should be home on Christmas Day. When my children were young they would each get a giant stocking. Now we have continued that tradition to the grandchildren and their presents always include matching Christmas pajamas. If you could have one wish this holiday season, what would it be? Peace & Harmony What are your festive words of advice for our families during this special time? Spend time just being with your children with no time limit. The moments you spend now will create memories and a foundation of family and support for your children. Enjoy the magic of the season and teach them the spirit of giving. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Homemade Christmas Fudge  |
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