When it comes to chowing down on donuts, Ringerz in Spring is a full experience! You can order your donut, then sit at the counter and watch as it’s custom-created with your personal choice of icing, toppings, and drizzle. It might not sound like a big deal, but kids enjoy make-your-own creations, so why not?

The Woodlands Resort is excited to invite you for Goat Yoga this Spring Break! Meet sweet pygmy “kids” while they roam your yoga class and even join you for a pose or two! Inhale in to relax and BREATHE in the beautiful Texas air, then exhale out the laughter that is sure to follow with this activity. Each class is an hour long, 45 minutes of an ashtanga yoga practice for beginners followed by 15 minutes of goat time. Partner poses, goat cuddles, or pictures with friends! Kids 9 and up are old enough to participate too! You might be surprised how stress-relieving and fun goat yoga can be!

Upcoming Goat Yoga dates:

March 12, 13: Saturday & Sunday at 9:30am & 11am
Special Class for Spring Break: March 16 (Wednesday) at 11am.
CLICK HERE to register online.

Do you know what a Wonderbook is? Last month, I was pleasantly surprised to find a selection of these wonderful books on the shelves in the Children's Department at the Tomball Library.

Wonderbooks are read-along books that combine the text of the book with a read-along recording all in one bound book. In short, it's a printed book with a ready-to-play audiobook device inside. Kids press PLAY to read along with the book, and they can also switch to Learning Mode for some additional literacy learining and fun!

Wonderbooks are similar to the older style books on tape (where you have a separate cassette / CD that you have to play on your own device). But again, Wonderbooks have the player with speaker combined with the hardbound book, usually right inside the front cover. The controls are easy for kids to use and include a play button, reverse/fast forward, a reset button, and a headphone jack. 

All four of my kids are highly proficient readers, but I still read aloud to all four of them ALL the time. Face it, you're never to old to hear a readaloud, especially at bedtime. (Sometimes I even read aloud to my husband, and he often reads aloud to me.) My whole family cherishes books and great stories! That's why I was so happy to stumble upon these Wonderbook treasures. When I want my children to just sit and follow along in the book while its being read alound (but when I don't want to do the reading aloud myself because of... well, chores), Wonderbooks to the rescue! 

The Tomball Library didn't have a huge collection of Wonderbooks, but we checked out 3 and left about 20 more on the shelves. The books we saw were popular, modern titles that we were already familiar with, and they all looked brand new. 

The caveat? These bad boys are a pretty penny to replace, so make sure you're keeping them in a safe spot at home so you can return to them to the library when they're due!

Meet Patricia N., our Spotlight Mom for February 2022!

If you're a mom interested in being in our Mom Spotlight in 2022, please CLICK HERE. 

Please tell us a little about your family:

I’m a single Mom to three beautiful girls. I am a local preschool teacher and have been doing that for 13 years. We love our community here in The Woodlands and have made many lifelong friends. My middle daughter has severe food allergies and I have eczema and allergies as well, so we are huge advocates for other allergy families. I also do free trainings on food allergies for other local teachers.

Do you have a business you'd like to share with our readers:

I just want to talk about the support group that I started on Facebook for local allergy families. Lots of great resources and support within the group. It’s called Allergy and Asthma Parents of The Woodlands/Conroe and I’m really proud of it. I have around 300 members. I’m always looking for ways to give back.

Favorite place to go in The Woodlands area:

We love to picnic at the local parks and go to Farmers markets. We also love the beach at Pundt Park and hiking trails.

Favorite blogs I read:

Woodlandsmommy.com is the only one I currently read, but I constantly follow support groups on Facebook. 

First job:

Pappys Restaurant in Houston. Hostess.

Favorite childhood book or story:

Berenstain Bears. I loved when my Mom would read to my sisters and me.

Favorite meal to prepare together:

We always eat at home most of the time due to my daughter's severe food allergies. We love anything plant-based and enjoy trying new foods that are safe for us as well. We have fun making homemade pizzas!

3 Things on my Long-Term To-Do List:

1. Go back to school for my teaching degree.
2. Pay for another child to have oral immuno therapy for food allergies.
3. Purchase our first house for me and my girls.

How I spend my Friday evenings:

Hanging out with my daughters, movie night! Popcorn and snuggles.

Favorite non-homemade dessert (and where can we find it):

Creamistry in The Woodlands Mall has really good vegan and non vegan ice cream options.

Best way to spend $50:

On a date with my girls. Picking up lunch and taking them to picnic and walk the Waterway.

Something in your purse that has an interesting story behind it:

Our Epi Pens. I’ve had to use them several times on my daughter and myself.

My life:

My life consists of doing the very best that I can everyday for my girls. I work with kids and come home to kids and I wouldn’t have it any other way. My middle daughter has been doing Oral Immuno Therapy to decrease her severe food allergies for the past year now and it has been life-changing for us. We are now able to eat out at restaurants more safely than ever before. My daughters play softball as well, and we love to be outdoors.

How can our readers find you?

Allergy and Asthma Parents of The Woodlands/Conroe and Oral Immuno Therapy through Woodlands Allergy Clinic.

Have you tried The Volleyball School that opened in our area last year? We suspect your little ones will love it! The school, originally established and thriving in Katy, has a new location at 22309 Gosling Rd, just south of The Woodlands near the Grand Parkway.

I recently tried the school with my 7 and 13 year old daughters, and they both enjoyed the program. When I tell you that SPORTS is not my family’s thing, hear me well. Sports is NOT my family’s thing. Even still, the coach made it easy for them to join the class and immediately start learning the game of volleyball!

Our trial class at The Volleyball School was our first experience with playing volleyball in any capacity (if you don’t count that sad game of beach volleyball we played on our family vacation). The coach on staff was friendly and personable, and what especially stood out to me is that she really made it her job to learn all the athletes’ names. The class began with warm-ups and quickly moved to volleyball fundamentals and drills. On the day we tried it, they were working on proper foot positioning, learning to serve, and hitting.

Throughout the drills, Coach was watchful and made rounds, taking the time to address each athlete individually to assist with anything needing improvement. And, as you might expect of a good coach, she dished out many high fives, encouraging the athletes along the way! The session ended with a fun serving game called Spider.

The Volleyball School offers coed classes for beginners and intermediate athletes ages 7 to 14 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays in our area. They can also provide training for your advanced player! To learn more, CLICK HERE.

Are your closets full of toys that are no longer played with? Do you have piles of kids' clothes that don't fit anyone? Or maybe a garage full of bikes, kids' sports equipment, and old furniture that are just collecting dust!

Why not turn all those items into cash at The Second Blessings Children's Consignment Sale at StoneBridge Church?  When you sign up to be a seller, you'll make 70% back on everything you sell.  Items available for consignment include kids' clothing, toys, furniture, baby accessories, home decor, children's books, and more. We visit this sale year after year, and it's always a goldmine!

Selling is easy.  Just tag your items, drop them off at the church (One StoneBridge Church Dr., The Woodlands, Tx 77382), and start making money.  The sale takes place on February 24 and 25 and is open to the community.  Visit the website to learn more and to get signed up!