Saving Money for College -- Upromise

The best way I have found to save money for college is Upromise. Upromise gives you a percentage of your online shopping at their advertiser sites to put away for college. I refinanced my mortgages through Upromise and got a great 30-year fixed rate when everyone else was taking down the economy with their sub-prime 120% loan to value loans.

Over the past six or seven years, I have earned over $8000 towards my daughters' future college expenses with Upromise. Other than the large amounts I earned by refinancing two mortgages, it come a few dollars at a time through online shopping or a few pennies at a time based on everyday grocery store purchases.

Best of Chester, NJ

My "best of" directory for the Mendham-Bernardsville-Chester-Far Hills- Peapack-Gladstone-Morris County area: http://roxiticusdh.blogspot.com/2008/01/best-of-roxiticus-valley-mendham.html


Meat Market:
Go see Louie for an awesome steak or rack of lamb at the Chester Meat Market: 27 W Main Street, Chester, NJ. Phone: (908) 879-7523. Here's a link to my Chester Meat Market pictorial: http://roxiticusdh.blogspot.com/2008/03/chester-meat-market.html and another link to all Chester Meat Market reviews on Roxy's Best Of... Chester, NJ.



For the Kids:
Pumpkin picking at Alstede Farm in Chester, NJ: http://www.alstedefarms.com/

Chester Schools Science Fair: http://www.chestersciencefair.org/.
Chester hosts one of the largest annual Science Fairs in the state with over 500 students presenting more than 400 projects. It is open to students in grades K-8 living in Chester Boro or Chester Township, NJ. This year's science fair was held on Saturday, March 1st. Can't wait to hear about all the fun from our friends in Chester.

I just signed up both of my girls for another 8-week session at Pavan's Munchkin Tennis Academy at the Fox Chase Tennis Club. Phone: (908) 879-5231. Pavan Patel is great with the kids and just introduced a new, European approach for developing high level junior tennis players (aged 10 and under) involving red, orange, and green balls that are different sizes and "speeds." Pavan is also running a tennis camp this summer at Fox Chase Tennis for 9 weeks starting June 23rd. It looks like kids can sign up for as many weeks as they want...we have signed up for one week of Munchkins half-day tennis camp in August. I just received an e-mail from Pavan Patel, who just launched a brand new Pavan's Tennis Academy Web Site.
Be sure to check out my New Post on Summer Camp 2008

Chester Township, NJ web site with links to local organizations and businesses, etc.: http://www.chestertownship.org/

Monday, March 3rd is "Read Across America Day" (and "Screen-Free Family Night")

In honor of Dr. Seuss, who inspired readers young and old, March 2nd (or in this case, March 3rd) is set aside each year as the day that reading is celebrated nationwide. My kids brought home a flyer from school letting me know that in lieu of homework, their teachers are encouraging children and their parents to engage in activities that do not utilize screens of any kind....no TV, no video games, no computer games, no Internet surfing....I guess that means I'll be logging off my computer as soon as I finish this post to start a night of READING, board games, word puzzles, cooking, jigsaw puzzles. Sure is lucky that Championship Week doesn't start until tomorrow night. Roxiticus Desperate Housewives UNPLUGGED!!

Outside the Roxiticus Valley: Best of Bay Head, NJ

Bay Head seems so far away with snow on the ground and two months to go before we open our beach house, but over the next 6-8 weeks, I will post all of the good stuff the Roxiticus Desperate Housewives do for fun in Bay Head, NJ.

And maybe some photos, too. A long, long time ago (15 years maybe?) I saw this movie....I think it was called Smoke....and every day this guy comes out of his shop and takes a picture of the same scene. Of course, every day the photo is just a little bit different. Ever since then, I've wanted to do that, take the "same" picture every day. I started to do it one summer, but of course, unlike the guy in the movie, I'm never really in the same place 365 days in a row.

Best Places to Eat:
Dennis Foy's Bay Point Prime:


Kid Stuff:

Sarah's Kiddles in Pt. Pleasant Beach is one of our favorite kids' clothing stores.

Summer Camp: The Borough of Bay Head has a half-day (9-noon) summer camp for residents age 5 and up. Information is usually available from the Borough municipal office in mid-May. The web site doesn't look like it gets updated very often, so you're probably better off checking in by phone: 732 892-0636.

Books We Love (Kids Reading List)

I'm going to have my kids put together a book list of excellent reading for kids on this page.

Kid Stuff (Morris County, NJ and Somerset County, NJ)

4th of July 2009 Fireworks: Listing for Hunterdon, Morris and Somerset Counties HERE

Be sure to check out my New Post on Summer Camp 2008



Kid Birthday Parties:

Last Sunday, we had a birthday party at Mennen Sports Arena (http://morrisparks.net/aspparks/mennenmain.asp) in Morristown. A perfect ice skating venue for a party of 30 kids and about 10 skating adults.

Other good times we've had include Randolph Rock Climbing (http://www.randolphclimbingcenter.com/) and Randolph Gymnastics (http://www.randolphgym.com/).

Mr. Ray (http://www.mrray.com/) sings great kid music (roughly age 2 through 5) that adults can listen to without pain. He does a lot of live shows in the area, is available for private parties, and you can buy his CDs online.


Fun Stuff for Kids to Do:
Little Musicmakers (http://www.littlemusicmakers.org/overview.html), from babies to about age 4.

West Morris YMCA (http://www.wmaymca.com/) -- all ages. We've used it for toddler
gymnastics, toddler swim lessons, and several summers with the Backyard Pool Program (private lessons in your own pool)

Annie's Playhouse (http://www.anniesplayhouse.com/) -- acting, singing, musical theatre stuff, including summer camp. Starts around age 5, on up to teenagers. Summer camp for all ages.

Garden State Ballet (http://www.gardenstateballet.org/) -- with a branch in Randolph, NJ, GSB starts ballet classes around age 4 and continues through high school.

Randolph Gymnastics (http://www.randolphgym.com/) -- in addition to birthday parties, Randolphy Gymnastics is the best place for weekly gymnastics classes from about age 4 up through high school.

Pumpkin picking at Alstede Farm in Chester, NJ: http://www.alstedefarms.com/

Best toy store: Toys With Love, in Chester, NJ: http://www.toyswithlove.com/