News and Announcements

Got a question about children's health? Ask the pediatrician in our new feature here on Marin Mommies! Submit your medical questions to us via email and we'll choose some every month to be answered by our frequent guest contributors, pediatricians Dr. Steven Martel and Dr. Oded Herbsman.

Drs. Martel and Herbsman are the founders of Child’s Light Pediatrics, Inc., an innovative, house-call based pediatric practice that serves Marin County and San Francisco. For more information, please visit them at www.childslightpediatrics.com.

It's that time of year again—time to sign the kids up for summer camp! Sign-ups are starting now, and we felt it was a great time to launch the new Marin Summer Camp Guide. Browse camps by location, age level, and camp activities. You can also rate your favorite camps and share your experiences with other Marin parents.

We're continually adding more camps, so check back often. If you don't see your favorite camp (or your camp, if you run one), make sure you let us know and we'll add it to the list. We're also offering some great specials on advertising in this section, so if you want to get your summer camp noticed by thousands of Marin families, consider placing an ad with us.

Update: We've just been given another 10 family packs (4 tickets each) for this screening! The last 10 went really fast, so if you want them, make sure you redeem the RSVP code below as soon as possible.

We're giving away more movie stuff! Ten lucky winners will win a family four pack of passes to attend an advance screening of the family action movie The Spy Next Door in San Francisco on Tuesday, December 29 at 7 pm. Simply visit www.gofobo.com and enter the RSVP code 4HF0N6 to win. The first ten people to enter the code will get a set of passes. Easy, right? If you win, please note that the screening is overbooked to ensure full attendance, so please arrive early.

Disney's newest animated feature, The Princess and the Frog, opened this past Friday to rave reviews. Featuring elegant old-school hand-drawn animation and Disney's first-ever African American princess herione, this take on the classic fairy tale is set in Jazz-age New Orleans, and was created by the team responsible for The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. The Princess and the Frog also boasts music by award-winning composer Randy Newman.

We're giving away a cool The Princess and the Frog prize pack filled with goodies related to the movie as well as a pass for two to see it. (The pass is good in San Francisco only, so unless you live there you'll have to make a trip into the city to see it, but that's part of the fun, isn't it?) To enter, send an email to contests@marinmommies.com with "Princess and the Frog" in the subject line. Enter by 11:59 pm (PST) on Friday, December 18. We'll choose a random winner on Saturday, December 19. Good luck!

This holiday season, Marin Mommies has taken the trouble out of finding local Christmas tree farms and lots with our new interactive Christmas tree map!

Click on a Christmas tree marker on our customized Google map to open a popup window for that location—clicking on a link in the window will take you to a listing with location details, hours, and contact information for that tree farm or lot, as well as information about tree types and special features like gift shops, petting zoos, complimentary refreshments, and more.

The Marin and southern Sonoma County Christmas tree farms and lots currently listed on the map some of our and our readers' favorites. If we've missed one that you think should be included, please let us know and we'll consider adding it to the map.

Go to the Marin Mommies Christmas Tree Map »

Are you a Marin mom making and selling something extraordinary on Etsy? If so, tell us about it! We're looking for some local moms who sell their handcrafted products on Etsy for an upcoming feature on Marin Mommies. If you fit that description, please contact us and tell us about what you're doing.

We're specifically looking for Marin or Sonoma county residents who are creating items of interest to families, such as baby and children's clothing, toys, art, etc. Please tell us a bit about yourself, your work, and of course include a link to your home page on Etsy.

Congratulations to Jessica M., winner of our fantastic Fantastic Mr. Fox contest! Jessica won a family pack of four tickets to see the new animated film of Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox, directed by Wes Anderson, as well as movie posters and furry fox tail ties to wear. Thanks to Fox Searchlight for generously sponsoring this contest.

Check back on Marin Mommies soon, as we have other great giveaways lined up!

When I was in grade school, my favorite book was Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox. I checked it out from the school library and read in numerous times, and I even committed to memory the little limerick about the story's antagonists, farmers Boggis, Bunce, and Bean.

Boggis, Bunce, and Bean
One fat, one short, one lean
Those horrible crooks
So different in looks
Were nonetheless equally mean

So I was really excited to learn about the upcoming animated movie version of the Fantastic Mr. Fox, which opens everywhere on November 25, 2009. You can also imagine how excited I was when Fox Searchlight generously agreed to sponsor a Fantastic Mr. Fox contest on Marin Mommies! We're offering one lucky winner a family pack of four tickets to see this fantastic new movie, which Salon.com audaciously declares to be "Better than Pixar." But wait, that's not all! The winner will also receive four movie posters and four furry fox tail ties to wear.

All you have to do is send an email to contests@marinmommies.com with "Fantastic Mr. Fox" in the subject line. You'll have until 11:59 pm on Wednesday, November 25, to submit your entry, and we'll select a winner at random and announce the results on Friday, November 27. (As always, we promise not to use your email in any way other than to notify you if you've won.)