If you are going to be in Topeka this weekend I have a great event for you and the kids.   The Topeka Zoo is holding a very interesting crafts fair on Sunday.  In order to raise a little money this year the Topeka Zoo is going to be selling decorated piles of elephant poo. Yes, you read that right.  They are selling poo.  For  about $10 you can buy your very own pile of poo that has been painstakingly decorated by loyal zoo volunteers.  I am not sure if decorated poo is on your child's wish list this year, but it sounds pretty neato to me.

Zoo Keeper Kim Doman says, "But they have looked at us a little funny when we've been up there picking up and scavenging. They're not really sure what we're up to."

Little do they know they're deposit is about to turn a profit. Zoo volunteers are decorating the elephant waste and plan to sell it. Volunteer Karen Taylor says, "After it's dried. Because when it's fresh, it has a terrible odor as you can imagine."

Sadly, I don't live anywhere near this zoo. If I did I would happily pack up the kids and take them to see the Topeka Zoo's craft fair this Sunday.  I have seen lots of elephants and been to lots of zoos, but I have never seen hand-decorated elephant poo.

Lauren Seabrook has more: Link

Britax has recalled about 23,000 Chaperone infant car seats.  According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission's website the harness clip can break and pose a laceration hazard. The small pieces can also pose a choking hazard.

This recall involves Chaperone infant car seats with model numbers E9L95P2 (Red Mill), E9L95P3, E9L95P5 (Cowmooflage), E9L69N9 (Moonstone) manufactured between April 2009 and May 2010. The white serial label with the seat’s serial number, model number, and manufacture date can be found on the underside of the car seat.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml11/11031.html

Photo: Consumer Product Safety Commission

Are you looking for an interesting way to announce a pregnancy or just the sex of your baby? Check out these  gloves.  They are made by Etsy seller sickos.

These are gloves any OBGYN would love, it keeps them in business. I designed these after I found a friend was expecting after many years of trying. These are great conversation starters. Great for the expectant parent, those trying for luck or someone who likes to be different with a sense of humor.

The artists on Etsy really do come up with the most wonderfully crazy ideas.

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A 9-year-old boy from California is in Florida this week hoping to hear and feel Discovery's final launch.  Robert Smith may have lost his vision to a tumor, but that hasn't diminished his love for space or NASA.  He hopes to experience this historic event with his other senses.

Due to the delays -- the launch was originally scheduled for Monday -- Robert has spent the week at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, where he has had a chance to experience NASA robots and other KSC attractions along with other blind people.

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/25633429/detail.html

Photo: NASA via Wikipedia

San Francisco has passed an ordinance that bans toys in fast food meals. San Francisco is the second county in Northern California to pass such a law.  Santa Clara was the first.

San Francisco Supervisor Eric Mar introduced an ordinance banning these toys in meals that exceed 600 calories and for him this is a health issue. "One in five people in the United States of America are obese and in the U.S about half of the population is now overweight and some studies say it's over two-thirds of the population of the U.S.," he said. The ordinance would also require more fruit and vegetables and once that happens, the toys could be reintroduced.

Do you think banning toys is going to encourage parents to buy healthier meals for their kids?

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Happy Halloween. We hope you have a spooktacular night.

A little girl and boy were racing their bikes on a Manhattan sidewalk. The 4-year-old children struck an elderly woman.  The 87-year-old suffered a hip fracture.  The woman later died of unrelated causes. The elderly woman's estate sued the children and their mothers for negligence.

Mr. Tyrie “correctly notes that infants under the age of 4 are conclusively presumed incapable of negligence,” Justice Wooten wrote in his decision, referring to the 1928 case. “Juliet Breitman, however, was over the age of 4 at the time of the subject incident. For infants above the age of 4, there is no bright-line rule.”

Justice Wooten has ruled not that the children were negligent, but that 4-year-old children are legally capable of negligence.  Moreover, being under the watchful eye of an adult does not diminish their accountability.

Alan Feuer of The New York Times has more: Link

A hospital in Maryland is giving harmonicas and song books to kids with breathing problems.  Sinai Hospital has found that playing the harmonica helps the kids breathe better.  The treatment is being used on kids with asthma, pneumonia, and children in need of post-operative therapy.

It was an idea sparked by musician Buddy Wakefield, who said he'd used the harp with his brother who had Parkinson's disease. Wakefield said he discovered that the harmonica helped with pursing lips and diaphragmatic breathing.

The best part about the program is that the kids really seem to enjoy the treatment.

http://www.wbaltv.com/r/25517601/detail.html

YouTube Link

This song was written by Daddy who was sad that his little girl wanted long, blond, and straight hair instead of her own beautiful hair.

Joey Mazzarino, the head writer of Sesame Street, is also a Muppeteer who wrote the song for his daughter. Mazzarino is Italian. He and his wife adopted their 5-year-old daughter, Segi, from Ethiopia when she was a year old.

What really tickles me about this story is that my own daughter is in love with Tiana and wants to look just like her. My daughter has told me several times that she wished she had curly hair instead of stick straight hair.  When she watches this video she is going to want curly hair even more.

All little girls are perfect just the way they are.  If you don't believe me just ask their mommy and daddy.

NPR has more: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130653300

A grandmother in Indiana was arrested for marijuana possession and neglect after her one-year-old  granddaughter called the cops.  Apparently the baby was playing with the phone and accidentally dialed 911.  Police responded to the scene of the hang-up call and found the grandmother in possession of marijuana and rolling papers.

When police arrived at the apartment, a 42-year-old woman answered the door, saying her one-year-old granddaughter had called 911 by mistake. Officers said they smelled burnt marijuana inside and asked to search the apartment. The woman, identified as Jaci L. Miller, agreed.

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A Kansas high school student couldn't go through with the slaughter of the chicken she raised for science class.  Whitney Hillman hatched a plan to rescue Chicklett.  On the day her fowl friend was set to be slaughtered she showed up to school with an over sized purse and a mission.

Whitney smuggled the chicken off campus.  The school found out and was not happy.  Chicklett was pardoned, but Whitney was given a in-school suspension for leaving school property without permission.

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A Ringling Brothers Circus in Ohio gave a very special tour to visually impaired children.  The tour was to help explain all the sounds, smells, and even vibrations that they would experience at the circus. The kids of course loved the hands-on tour.

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YouTube Link

Grover channels the Old Spice guy to teach kids about the word "ON".   My kids didn't get the joke, but they loved it anyway.  They made me watch it about 6 times.

You know you have an awesome ad campaign when Sesame Street is spoofing you.

A  teacher's aide in Texas has been fired for writing on a special needs child.  The aide wanted to communicate with the child's parents and decided it was easier to write the note on the child's arm than send the child home with a piece of paper in her designated notebook.

The message was a reminder for Baldwin to call the Special Olympics coach. The problem is, "Jayne" doesn't exist. The aide got the coach's name wrong and also misspelled "tonight."

"She said, 'I'm sorry for not putting the number on there,'" Baldwin said. "She never understood that it was wrong to do it."

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Are you tired of all those boring counting posters for kids?  Does your little genius need more than a mere five yellow bees buzzing?  Etsy seller electricboogaloo has a great poster for you.  His Nerdy Baby Numbers Poster teaches 0-10 in a very unique and pretty geeky way.

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