Madison my youngest child who just turned 4 very rarely smiles. It's not as if she doesn't have a beautiful smile when she does, it's just her nature. My mom used to call her an "old soul", she was a young child in an old person's body who has seen all that life has to offer and just isn't impressed. However when she does show that rarely seen smile you can see her pearly whites which her dentist has assured me is very healthy. So far we have managed to go cavity free and it's not by trying. While we tend to eat rather healthy, by limiting our snack and sweet intake we also make sure that we pay our dentist his twice yearly visit. This month is Child Dental Health Awareness Month and MetLife would like to remind their military community about the important dental benefits available to dependent children and spouses of Active Duty service members and Reservists. As a mother of 4 children I couldn't be happier with the benefits of having the MetLife TRICARE Dental as my plan.

When I decided to something every week here in my adopted state of Colorado and preferably right here in the city of Colorado Springs, I didn't think that I would be able to do it. After all I was coming from a big city, Brooklyn NY to be exact and have always thought that there wasn't much to do here. When people think of Colorado and hear that I'm now living here, the first thing they ask is, "do you get a lot of snow and do you go skiing?". I'll be the first to say that although Colorado is known as "Ski Country", Colorado Springs isn't. We actually get less snow than New York City and so there is no chance in me going skiing unless I go further north or to Aspen. I'll make it one day but for now, as Madison would say "I'm good!". I really can't envision myself on skis, I however can envision myself doing other things, such as going to museums. When we lived in New York City, we visited the museums constantly so I made it my business to find a few that I can take the kids to. One that really intrigued me was the Peterson Air and Space Museum located on the Peterson Air Force Base here in Colorado Springs.


On one particularly cool day last week, I took all three kids to the Peterson Air and Space Museum. Admission to the museum is totally FREE but donations are welcomed. With it also being on a military installation, you also need to have either a military ID or call for a pass before you're able to enter. Luckily for us, we all have military ID's so we were able to just jump into our car and go ahead with our visit. When we arrived we were greeted by a museum volunteer and taken into a screening room where we were shown a short video of the history of the museum, then to top it all off we were offered a guided tour.

P-40E WARHAWK

THE WARNING STAR

The Peterson Air and Space Museum is Colorado's oldest aviation museum was named after 1st Lieutenant  Edward J. Peterson, a World War II Army Air Forces pilot and also a native of Colorado. The museum is also housed on the site of Colorado Spring's first municipal airfield. There is such a rich aviation history here and we were able to visit and tour inside of the Warning Star, an airborne early warning and control aircraft from the 1950's through the 1970's.







After visiting the Warning Star we got to tour the Old City Hangar which was built in 1928 and is the oldest structure in the museum complex. We got to see early generation satellites, a Peacekeeper Missile, the F-47N Thunderbolt transitional fighter-interceptor aircraft  and even a launch simulator used to train missile combat crews. This hangar is where you want to go if you want to see how the US is going to defend itself against a nuclear attack or launch one of it's own. Madison and the boys even got to sit in a flight ejector seat and enjoyed their experience.

The ICBM Launch Control Center, America's nuclear defense for more than 60 years

We all had an amazing time at the Peterson Air and Space Museum. If you're an aviation or space enthusiast or have one on your hands, then the Peterson Air and Space Museum is the place you want to be. It's a showcase of rich civil aviation history, significant highlights from Air Force Space Command, North American Aerospace Defense Command and our military heritage. It's one of Colorado Springs must see!

The HAWK (Homing All The Way Killer) Missile

Now before you leave the museum, be sure to stop in at the gift shop and pick up a replica of one of the aircrafts that you may just have been looking at or even a tee or coffee mug. It's a great way to commemorate your visit, and all proceeds go towards the daily operation of the museum.





Here is the location and the days of operation and admission rates:

Location: 150 E. Ent Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80914

Days/Hours of Operation:
Tuesday - Saturday 9am - 4pm

Closed:
Sunday, Monday and Federal Holidays

Admission: 
Free but requires a Military ID or Base Pass

It's been a while since I've shared a Toddler Book Talk Tuesday with you. I love reading and mommy makes sure that my mind stay stimulated by not only educational apps but books as well. I have an extensive library of books and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I have to say that reading not only educates but there are lots of benefits of reading to and with your child. It my case it helped with my language, most of you may not know but I had a slight speech delay when I was younger and was enrolled in speech therapy.  Not only did reading books together with mommy helped with my speech and language but I now also have an extensive vocabulary. Today however I want to share with you two delightful books I recently received in the mail. Hello, World: Weather and Solar System by Jill McDonald. The Hello, World series a a great way to introduce babies and toddlers to the world in a non-fiction but fun way.

"Jill McDonald is a Missouri-based illustrator and designer whose cheery and colorful art can be found on clothing, fabric, bedding, stationery, puzzles, games, and in a variety of books for babies and toddlers."

I'm not sure about most kids but my kids are in love with technology. I have never been that mom who said "my kids will only watch half an hour of TV a day", however I don't let the TV babysit my kids. While the older kids love their video games, my youngest Madison NEVER goes anywhere without her iPad. You may not remember this, but I did a post almost 3 years ago about our favorite toddler iPad apps and I posted a picture of Madison at age 5 1/2 months already using my iPad at the time. Since then I've had to get one for her very own. It was the only way I was able to use my iPad. However if you're familiar with the app store, most of the apps almost always have in app purchases. That means that sometimes you have to spend more money. One of her favorite at the moment is YouTube Kids (more on that in another post) and while I don't mind her watching, it can get out of control really quick when the educational videos turn into something else. I'm talking about videos of unboxing toys, grownups playing with toys and even more toys. No learning there at all. Well there is a solution out there for all you mommies and daddies who feel my pain. Introducing the Little Scholar Tablet by School Zone Publishing, designed for children in preschool, kindergarten and first grade (ages 3 to 7).

The weather has been warming up here a LOT lately. Can you believe that just 2 days ago we had a 70° temperature right here in Colorado Springs? Gone are the winter jackets and in turn the spring jean jackets, and even those brave enough to wear tanks tops, can be seen. When Spring comes around most people think of spring cleaning and sprucing up their wardrobes. As a growing pre-schooler what that means for me is brand new clothing and shoes. Did someone say shoes?! A few moths ago mommy and I went to a store closing and the first thing mommy did was go to the shoe department. When she picked up a shoe for me, I said "I have shoes already" and she told me " A woman can never have too many shoes, remember that". I guess it must be true because as long as I can remember, in my 4 long years of living, I have always have lots and lots of shoes. However, one of the brands that I remember having was See Kai Run. You may not remember this but I reviewed a pair of See Kai Run shoes almost 2 years ago. I wore them all summer until I outgrew them and then I passed them along to someone else. That's how amazing they are.

One of the goals for this year has been to try to eat healthier. I do eat healthy in terms of the fact that I don't eat a lot of "fast food" but I can most certainly say that I AM NOT eating healthier. I have actually gained 17lbs since the year started and so now I need to hit the gym. While you won't find me at Burger King and you most definitely won't find me at Mc. Donalds, even with their "healthier" foods such as their "salads", I do however need to make a stand and start working on my goal that I set for myself. I love salads and I like making my own salads. I know what's in them and I control my portion size but when salads are delicious like my Cucumber & Onion Salad with Sour Cream Sauce, you can see why it's not hard to see why I enjoy eating them. This salad is super easy to make but I suggest making more than you need because you're not going to want to share.