Also enjoy Valentine’s crafts at 1:30 on Tuesday, cost is $2 per child.

As most parents can attest, toddlers are full of boundless energy. To fuel all of their running, laughing and learning toddlers actually need more nutrients per pound of their body weight than they will when they’re older. There’s not a lot of room in their small tummies, though. So that means all the foods they eat need to be packed with good nutrition.

Good Nutrition for Toddlers Aged 1 to 3

Find out about healthy food ideas at our Happy Family Cooking Class on Friday Feb. 10th at 10:30am in Bonita. Cost: $2 for materials plus admission to My Kids Clubhouse Bonita.

1. Men take the lead at this party so stick to their tastes. It’s become a tradition to serve chicken wings, chips and salsa, cheese balls, plain pizza (no goat cheese) etc.

2. Nobody wants to sit down to eat so plan a buffet where people can just pick at the food.

3. The tv is the focal point so don’t waste your time or money on anything else like games or visuals.

4. A friendly wager on different parts of the game add to the excitement so you might try the traditional score at the end of each quarter or something different like who the MVP player of the game thanks first.

5. Don’t forget festive Super Bowl paper goods. Right now celebrateexpress.com is offerings 20% off all football paper goods and free shipping. You may even be able to combine it with their 15% offer as well.

The last tip is to have fun, enjoy the game and of course, the commercials! Go Team!

Author’s Bio: Melissa is a guest post blogger on the subjects of children’s events like Super Mario birthday party themes, baby showers and end of school parties. ]]> http://www.mykidsclubhouse.com/2012/01/birthday-party-planning-tips/feed/ 0 http://www.mykidsclubhouse.com/2012/01/personalized-invitations-and-more/ http://www.mykidsclubhouse.com/2012/01/personalized-invitations-and-more/#comments Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:58:07 +0000 stephadmin http://www.mykidsclubhouse.com/?p=412 Have you seen the new personalized themes, invitations, goody boxes and more from partner Birthday Express. They are too cute! You can put your child’s photo on the plates, centerpiece and invitations. Whoever thought of this is a genius! Plus you can still incorporate your theme like Yo Gabba Gabba or Dr. Seuss.

Too Cute!

Just remember to put a reminder on your invitations that your guests wear socks to the clubhouse!

*new reservations only, 1 winner per clubhouse, winner will be notified on Jan. 20th

There is a boy who has been coming to the clubhouse quite often lately. Turns out, the family is in San Diego just for a few months to attend to some business. They found the clubhouse and have been coming to visit most days to give their boy a chance to play. One day, they mentioned that the boy’s birthday was coming up and they wanted to have a party for him, but they didnt know anyone. So they asked us if we could help find children to help celebrate.

We put an email out to a few of the playgroups who come to the clubhouse and the Chula Vista moms group stepped up to the plate.

14 kids attended the party and even brought gifts for the birthday boy!

That’s what it is all about. Thank you Chula Vista moms!

The bill also would allow tomato paste on pizzas to be counted as a vegetable, as it is now. USDA had wanted to prevent that.

Food companies that produce frozen pizzas for schools, the salt industry and potato growers requested the changes, and some conservatives in Congress say the federal government shouldn’t be telling children what to eat.

Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee said the changes would “prevent overly burdensome and costly regulations and to provide greater flexibility for local school districts to improve the nutritional quality of meals.”

School districts had said some of the USDA requirements went too far and cost too much when budgets are extremely tight. Schools have long taken broad instructions from the government on what they can serve in federally subsidized meals that are served free or at reduced price to low-income children. But some schools have balked at government attempts to tell them exactly what foods they can’t serve.

Reacting to that criticism, House Republicans had urged USDA to completely rewrite the standards in their version of the bill passed in June. The Senate last month voted to block the potato limits in their version. Neither version included the language on tomato paste, sodium or whole grains, which was added by House-Senate negotiators on the bill.

Nutrition advocate Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest

said Congress’s proposed changes will keep schools from serving a wider array of vegetables. Children already get enough pizza and potatoes, she says. It would also slow efforts to make pizzas — a longtime standby on school lunch lines — healthier, with whole grain crusts and lower levels of sodium.

“They are making sure that two of the biggest problems in the school lunch program, pizza and french fries, are untouched,” she said.

A group of retired generals advocating for healthier school lunches also criticized the spending bill. The group, called Mission: Readiness has called poor nutrition in school lunches a national security issue because obesity is the leading medical disqualifier for military service.

“We are outraged that Congress is seriously considering language that would effectively categorize pizza as a vegetable in the school lunch program,” Amy Dawson Taggart, the director of the group, said in a letter to members of Congress before the final plan was released. “It doesn’t take an advanced degree in nutrition to call this a national disgrace.”

Specifically, the provisions would:

• Block the Agriculture Department from limiting starchy vegetables, including corn and peas, to two servings a week. The rule was intended to cut down on french fries, which some schools serve daily.
• Allow USDA to count two tablespoons of tomato paste as a vegetable, as it does now. The department had attempted to require that only a half-cup of tomato paste could be considered a vegetable — too much to put

on a pizza. Federally subsidized lunches must have a certain number of vegetables to be served.

Food companies who have fought the USDA standards say they were too strict and neglected the nutrients that potatoes, other starchy vegetables and tomato paste do offer.

“This agreement ensures that nutrient-rich vegetables such as potatoes, corn and peas will remain part of a balanced, healthy diet in federally funded school meals and recognizes the significant amounts of potassium, fiber and vitamins A and C provided by tomato paste, ensuring that students may continue to enjoy healthy meals such as pizza and pasta,” said Kraig Naasz, president of the American Frozen Food Institute.

The school lunch provisions are part of a final House-Senate compromise on a $182 billion measure would fund the day-to-day operations of the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. Both the House and the Senate are expected to vote on the bill this week and send it to President Barack Obama.