"It Will Always Be About More Than Basketball" - Happy Birthday Coach Wooden!

"Success comes from knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

Today, the legendary UCLA Men's Basketball Coach John Wooden celebrates his 99th Birthday. A truly great sportsman who carried his team to a record-setting 10 championships in 12 years, Wooden may be best remembered for the Wooden-isms (like the quote above) that stand the test of time -- to learn more about the "Wizard of Westwood", check out 99 Things about John Wooden. Nothing could honor the man, the myth, and the legend more than a new documentary More Than A Game that covers the remarkable young career of LeBron James.

Our whole family was amped to watch "the LeBron documentary", to learn more about the NBA sensation who broke all kinds of records as the youngest ever player to score 1000 points in the NBA and as the #1 pick in the 2004 NBA Draft straight out of high school. Directed by fellow Ohioan Kristofer Belman (who was just 21 years-old when he decided to film LeBron and the Akron St. Vincent-St Mary High School junior and senior year seasons) the documentary possesses the classic sports metaphors that melt our hearts, and infuses it with the darker side of athletic celebrity: the temptation and corruption of stealing the spotlight so early. (In theaters now, rated PG - we think it's best for kids over ten).

Right from the whistle we root for LeBron's success, pulling for the youngster who never knew his father and was born to a 16-year old unwed mother. While the film inevitably zones in on LeBron, it is also a movie about loyalty, teamwork, and sportsmanship, and the group effort that makes high-school athletics such an integral part of the American coming-of-age experience. It's clear that LeBron's success was a team effort - starting with his mom and continuing throughout his career with his teammates. No sports film is complete without a Wooden-worthy coach, and the St. Vincent Coach, Dru Joyce II, jump starts the film by paternally reminding his kids, "Basketball is a vehicle, not a be-all and end-all. Use basketball, don't let it use you."

Our kids love playing recreation league basketball; they started before the age of five and played all the way into middle school. Like AYSO, everybody gets their chance to play, parents get to root from the sidelines and the lessons learned on the court (and from a good coach) are life-long. Only a tiny fraction of the most talented athletes wind up playing sports professionally, something we always remind the kids we have coached (when they are down on themselves). As John Wooden and LeBron have taught us, it's how you play the game that really counts.

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Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs + Apple Picking = Kids Off The Couch

When we watch Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, our kids caution "Don't eat the apple" but alas, Snow White bites it every time. Our Popcorn Adventure this week combines two classics - Walt Disney's first full-length animated film, which earned him an Honorary Academy Award (featuring one big statue and seven smaller ones) and the timeless family adventure of picking apples.

Walt's gamble - that families would sit in the theaters and watch a 90-minute animated film - changed family movie going. The simple fairy tale storyline was familiar, but the memorable, chipper music and adorable dwarfs with their quirky characteristics defined a genre that has become a part of our lives. Walt's princess-and-her-coterie brainchildren were an immediate sensation in 1937 and continue to "whistle while they work" for the studio; Disney's marketing dwarfs devised a schedule to re-release the masterpieces over time (they're not all available in stores), and this week marks Snow White's turn. We say, grab it now for holiday giving, or to inspire this week's adventure. (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Rated G, 83 minutes; re-release October 6, 2009).

The evil Queen is one smart lady, picking a fruit known to be irresistible since the beginning of time. How could Snow White resist? A luscious, shiny apple is nectar for the soul. As the air cools and the days grow shorter, we crave apple cider, baked apples, and apple pie - in other words, anything warm with an aroma that screams "cuddle-up-in-front-of-the fire!". Before we hunker down for winter, we head to the outskirts of town to stock up by picking apples in local orchards. An ancient sense of celebration pervades these farms, as families come from everywhere to harvest the knobby, crooked trees. Our kids race from tree to tree, competing to see who fills their bucket first. The youngest ones truly look for the low-hanging fruit and search among the grounded apples for the perfect fallen treasure. It's a mark of maturity when each child grows tall enough to maneuver the 'picker' and reach the Snow White-worthy apples at the tip top of the tree. Everyone lugs back buckets overflowing with so many apples that we scatter a trail of them behind us.

Usually, the closest we come to real farmers is the weekly produce market - so our favorite u-pick orchards are local, family-run operations where we can spend the day picking and chatting about the weather like old hands. U-Pick fruit farms abound, all over the country, so click on this nationwide Pick-Your-Own-Fruit website (or Google U-pick and your town), and pack a lunch for the car ride. We've experienced the vagaries of farming - some years the apples are gone in just a matter of days, but the next year farmers stand on the country road waving the public to come and help with a bumper crop. We always leave with a stash of delicious snacks, meals and desserts -- all of which taste better because we picked 'em!

Don't let all your hard work go to waste! Martha Stewart, our trusty kitchen guru, has an arsenal of sweet and savory recipes to ensure our golden apples wind up inside a mouth-watering concoction--try your hand at her cinnamon scented apple crisp for the perfect holiday treat, or whip up the curried apple soup for a belly-warming, seasonal delight.

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Drumline + Homecoming Weekend Football Game = Kids Off The Couch

It's easy to think of high school as being all about the Varsity athletes, but after watching Drumline, starring Nick Cannon as a hot shot band All Star, we couldn't help but wonder if maybe we should have handed our kids a tuba instead of a football or a tennis racket. Drumline offers an all-access pass into the cut-throat world of collegiate marching bands and challenges any notion of "band-geek" that might linger from your catty high school days. Cannon charms as Devon, a newbie recruit whose rebellious style doesn't mesh with the band's rigid routine, and who struggles to overcome his show-stealing tendencies in order to make it as a respected team player. With Homecoming on everyone's calendars this month, a live marching band is a good excuse to take the kids out under the Friday Night Lights. Everyone will have as much fun tuning into the antics on the sidelines as they will following the action on the gridiron. Turns out, there is as much teamwork involved with playing a rousing Sousa march as there is when the team tries to convert on third down.

Click here to find a listing of marching bands around the country, as well as a link to the Post Office's new Marching Band stamp.

Rent "Big" + Visit a County Fair = Kids Off The Couch

It's a fact of life that when kids are young, they yearn to be big... but that adults would gladly trade their responsibilities for the idyll of childhood. The sweet comedy at the heart of Big gets right to the core of this truism, and Tom Hanks captures this capricious mood perfectly as 13 year-old Josh, who wakes up one morning in the body of a 35 year-old toy company executive. Elizabeth Perkins plays a co-worker that falls in love with his youthful energy (who can forget the scene at the cocktail party when he eats the tiny cob of corn, typewriter-style) and Robert Loggia his boss who delights in the fact that Josh actually wants to play with the toys they are producing (the two dance on the floor size piano keyboard that is still the main attraction of every FAO Schwartz location). Josh makes his wish to be "big" to a scary Fortune Teller at an amusement park, so we invite you to indulge your own inner child by paying a visit to a County Fair. Watching the kids climb aboard an ancient carousel's beautifully painted animals is much more fun - in our minds - than standing in line forever at a theme park and we all love the take-away of connecting to a farmer while petting his goat, or meetingsomeone who has grown an unusually large pumpkin. Good old-fashioned fun keeps us all young at heart. (Click here for more details on the film and adventure.)

Fall Reading Curriculum from Kids Off The Couch

What is better than discussing books you love with your loved ones?

We love this time of year -- engrossed in English classes, the kids are reading classics like Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird and F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and that means lots of rich dinner table chatter about some of our favorite literature. It's a great parenting perk to revisit these titles by keeping up with the syllabus (we are getting to read The Scarlet Letter again). Here are a few more ways to keep you and your readers on the same page -- literally!

BANNED BOOK WEEK:
Something you might not know but should: The vast majority of books that your kids are reading in school have been, or could be, at risk for extinction! Imagine if your youngsters were denied access to classics like J.D. Salinger's The Catcher In The Rye and Maya Angelou's I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. Do your kids know that their beloved Harry Potter came under attack in the late 90's, and J.K. Rowling's series is considered to be one of the most strongly challenged books of the 21st century? Some other shocking titles that almost didn't make it to your shelves: The Great Gatsby, Winnie-the-Pooh, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and The Lord of The Rings. See the ALA site for a complete list of books banned after 1990. Support FREADOM of expression and your child's access to important literature by celebrating Banned Book Week at your local library or bookstore. Click here to learn more about the week-long celebration (Sept. 26-Oct. 3) and to keep up with the fight for educational freedom on Twitter.

START A BOOK CLUB:
Beginning in the fourth grade, we organized Parent-Child Book Clubs by choosing four or five friends and meeting four times over the course of the school year. It almost didn't matter which books we chose (although we had fun with everything from Avi to Jane Austen); it was the conversation that came up in the group that we remember. Now that our kids are older, they read a lot of the same types of books we do - our teens loved The Da Vinci Code, so we're all racing each other through Dan Brown's latest thriller The Lost Symbol, which was a blockbuster even before it hit the shelves, yesterday!

Here are a few websites to help you organize your own book clubs - click here for great book choices from Planet Esme, and click here for advice about running the group. We love Mother Daughter Book Club.com for it's excellent suggestion list.

Happy Reading --
Kids Off the Couch

Kids Off The Couch

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The Princess Diaries + High Tea and Etiquette Training = Kids Off The Couch

A return to school means a return to polite society -- which has us worried because we are pretty sure our kids left their manners at the beach! Kids who watch Princess Diaries will delight in the funny misadventures of Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway) as she is transformed from a gawky teenager -- "I can't be a princess! I'm still waiting for the normal body parts to arrive!" -- into the poised and self-possessed princess of Genovia. Parents will want to pluck the Queen (played by Julie Andrews) from the film to infuse a little royal etiquette in their own children; that's because this G-rated comedy reminds us all that good things happen when people's manners improve. We were pleased to discover that our local Etiquette School offers a well-rounded range of instruction - from proper grooming and posture to polite telephone etiquette and the art of introduction - and concludes with a five-course dining tutorial that will prepare any child for attendance at a royal state dinner. We experienced a few comedic fits and starts as a group of 6 to 12 year-olds struggled to get the hang of being graceful and refined, but our 9 year-old now even folds her dirty napkin over her chair whenever she temporarily excuses herself from the dinner table. As the Queen exclaims to her assistant once Mia masters her lessons, "Aah, Charlotte, I think it's time for tea."

Click through to City Savvy for the best spots to take your girls for High Tea in your city

Boredom Busters + The Last Lazy Days of Summer = Kids Off The Couch

In the spirit of seizing the lazy days that remain, our family compiled a collaborative wish list and hit the town for a whirlwind bender of indoor ice-skating (one of the more labor intensive activities) and spicy Indian dining (obviously, as per mom's request), for an unforgettable breakup with summer. Here are a few tips requiring a little less parental sacrifice for your Labor Day weekend.

1. When Life Gives You Lemons: The Lemonade War, a book by Jacqueline Davies, is a tale of the sugary competition between two siblings over who sells the most lemonade; it mixes a romping story with basic business concepts and inspired our kids to unfreeze some lemonade mix and set up camp by the curb! In the book, Jessie and Evan duke it out for top dog, and in real life, our kids who are no strangers to sibling rivalry, went toe to toe for who could raise more money for a back-to-school splurge.

2. Twinkle, Twinkle "I Can See a Star!" This week, the moon will be growing (in astrology-speak the moon is in its waxing gibbous phase) and Jupiter will be the second brightest object in the sky. Check in to see what your local observatory has planned, or spend a night on your back gazing up at the stars and tracing the glow of the big dipper. Or click here for a weekly star report.

3. Game On: Hearts, gin rummy, poker, spoons and the latest craze, golf, are games that our card sharks master in large or small groups of friends. Send your dealers to Card Games, a website full of instructions that will keep them from squabbling over the rules. We shook up new interest in old board games by creating a challenge course, setting up games in rooms throughout the house, mapped the order to play them, and then started the clock. The kids played checkers for 15 minutes, Yahtzee for longer, and a revved up Monopoly for 30 minutes.

4. Get Caught Reading: Are your kids out of shape for their upcoming English classes? To spur them back to the page, try plot-driven books -- mysteries have worked best for us this summer. Our girls like their stories in a pop froth--they adore anything by Meg Cabot and went crazy for Avalon High. Click here for a list of mysteries that were particularly intriguing for our boys, who hadn't done any reading for pleasure since Harry Potter's last tale hit the shelves.

5. Outdoor Movie Night Everyone's celebrating the long warm nights -- google your city plus outdoor cinema to see what film's your local outdoor venue is screening in the waning days of summer.

6. Just Park It: Taking a page from The Double Daring Books for Girls, our kids set up a water balloon relay race. The goal? Which team can pop the most balloons with their butts the fastest! This next tip is one we bet you've never tried before--it's called ice blocking! Pack a blanket, pick up some uncut blocks of ice at the wholesale ice store, and zoom down the park slopes using your blanket wrapped ice slab as warm-weather sled -- ice on the grass, blanket to protect your bodies! What could be cooler? We plop down a picnic lunch (mix it up with hummus, veggies, and grape leaves) after a few hours of running a muck, then end our day with an All-American treat from the ice cream truck.

See you after Labor Day!