There are some great ways to spend time with the family this weekend. There’s more Maple Sugaring fun  this weekend, Valentine’s Day activities will be happening and Black History Month celebrations start too.

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Here are this weekend’s highlights:

Meet the author of the Olympians series, George O’Connor, at Watchung Booksellers in Montclair after school today! (Friday, February 3)

Take the kids to The Strollers funny play Al E. Baba and the 40 Varmints: A Texas Tale tonight at the Burgdorff in Maplewood. (Friday, February 3)

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Bashiri Johnson, percussionist for Michael Jackson’s live tours, visited School of Rock Montclair to jam with students in the School’s “Tribute To Michael Jackson” concerts, which were performed last weekend at James Caldwell High School in West Caldwell. The concerts were fundraisers for the Music & More Booster Club, which provides scholarships for graduating seniors.  Johnson has also worked in the studio and performed live with Hall & Oates, Madonna, Joan Jett, Tom Tom Club, Steve Winwood, Miles Davis, Steely Dan, Tom Jones, and many more.

I was in Little Daisy Bake Shop yesterday for my fix of their delicious cookies (the Snickerdoodles are addicting) and I saw some really cute Valentine heart designs submitted form local kids. The kids are hoping to win the grand prize — their design printed out in edible ink and put on their very own cake!

The bakers at Little Daisy are getting serious about the contest. They’ve brought in Nanci Iovino, an art instructor at the Montclair Art Museum to be the judge.

Read the rules and details here and good luck!

Romare Bearden: "Mother and Child"

There are some wonderful ways to celebrate Black History Month with your family in February. Maplewood Memorial Library has events and activities throughout the month to celebrate. There will be a LEGO event honoring the NYC architect J. Max Bond, designer of the Schomburg Center, movies, quilt crafts, trivia nights, concerts and more. Check the calendar to see all the details.

Here are some other ways to celebrate Black History Month with your family:

Tapping the Source
Who: All ages.
What: NJTAP Ensemble returns to Westminster to kick off Bloomfield College’s Black History month celebration. The entire family will enjoy an evening of tap dancing that shines the spotlight on today’s young tap artists emerging from the shadows of yesterday’s tap legends. Consider the source. You will be delighted!
Where: Westminster Arts Center, Bloomfield College, 449 Franklin Street, Bloomfield, NJ.
When: Friday, February 3 at at 8 pm.
Cost: $35 general admission, $15 seniors (65+) and children (12 and under) Tickets must be purchased at the box office (cash or check only)

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Not only did Essex Ed make me happy by predicting that spring was on its way, but he makes a delicious salad. Enjoy!

(photo and recipe courtesy of Turtle Back Zoo)

Who needs Punxsutawney Phil, when we have Essex Ed? Jersey’s groundhog, who lives at Turtle Back Zoo, came out at noon today and stayed out, according to the zoo’s website. He didn’t see his shadow, so spring is just around the corner! And we’ve just learned that in addition to his weather prediction, Essex Ed weighed in on this weekend’s Super Bowl, and picked the New York Giants to defeat the New England Patriots.

Essex Ed has been very accurate in his weather predictions and has given the correct forecast in nine of the last ten years.

We’ll be seeing these in no time…

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Keeping track of all the going-ons of your child’s school is tough, especially when you are a working parent and not involved in the PTA. Montclair’s PTA Council has decided to send out a monthly bulletin to keep all families informed of the goings-on in each school and promote the idea of “One District, One Community.”

Below is February’s bulletin:

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I want to do crafts. I mean to do crafts. But my head pops off at the thought of felt or feathers or glue guns. I love to read about Ask Holly’s easy and awesome projects–and even pin them on Pinterest–but I cannot do many of them. I have no gift for cutting, threading, painting or even duct taping.

But here’s a craft for dummies that will actually make your kids smarter. In honor of National Children’s Dental Health Month, you can teach your kids how to brush and floss their teeth. All you need is an empty egg carton (the teeth), a big toothbrush toy from the Dollar Store (or any toothbrush will do) and a piece of yarn about as long as your forearm. Kids can practice brushing their “teeth” for the recommended amount of time which is about as long as it takes to sing Happy Birthday. You can teach them all about flossing, which kids and adults should do everyday. (You do, right?)

I didn’t think of this on my own. Many thanks to my daughter’s kindergarten teacher, Dana Cornwell from Northeast. She did this project with 24 kids all at once, so there’s hope that I can manage it at home.

Essex Ed

This morning, Turtle Back Zoo will bring out Essex Ed to celebrate Groundhog’s Day. Will he see his shadow? Punxsutawney Phil did this morning, but with a winter like the one we’ve been having, I’m okay with that.

You can head over there to see and join the festivities:

Groundhog Day and “Essex Ed”
Who: All ages.
What: Turtle Back Zoo’s Essex Ed will let us know if winter will last for 6 more weeks. A fun morning with kid’s activities and more.
Where: Turtle Back Zoo, 560 Northfield Avenue, West Orange, NJ.
When:  Thursday, February 2 at 12 pm
Cost: Free with zoo admission: $6 children / $8 adults / Children under 2 free / $6 seniors

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