When I was in college I applied to several colleges. I even applied early decision to Johns Hopkins University with a goal of going in to genetics. I took the ACTs. I wrote my college essays. I got accepted [not to Johns Hopkins]. And I went off to college.

But that was a long time ago.

Both my husband and I are currently students. He’s at a local community college. And I’m at the nearby state university. This time around we didn’t apply to colleges all over the country. We didn’t have any essays to write. And we didn’t have to take the SATs. This time we just chose colleges nearby so we didn’t have to uproot our family or switch jobs. This time it was easy.

With our oldest being a sophomore in high school we’ve started to think about what needs to be done to prepare for college. We are a little rusty on all of the details. And I’m not naive enough to think his college aspirations will be as easy as our choices were in our adulthood.

That’s where College Admissions Together - It Takes a Family by Steven Roy Goodman, MS, JD and Andrea Leiman, PhD comes in. This book reminds us that getting ready for college is a family effort. They take us through the entire process from freshman year in high school to freshman year in college.

There are several chapters on understanding your teenager; understanding how their crazy brain works. I found this chapters very helpful, not just during this college application process, but in parenting my teenager in general. It’s been several years since I was a teenager and I’ve completely forgotten how temperamental teenagers are and how indecisive and lazy they can be. The authors provide several tips on how to navigate through the teen years and how to motivate them in to action.

College Admissions Together reminds you to assess schools based on what is a good fit for your child. Don’t get too hung up on getting your teen in to your old alma mater or an Ivy League school unless it’s truly somewhere your child will excel. The authors remind you to look at your child’s personality to determine the size, the atmosphere, the location and much, much more about the school. They also discuss your constraints as a parent, such as cost.

There is a whole chapter on responsibilities. Who is responsible for what task in the college search? There are some things you need to leave to your kids (such as the essays) and some things the parents need to step up and control (like keeping track of the timeline). This chapter is very helpful in making sure you and your child stay organized during this time.

I highly recommend this book to any parent of teenagers. I thought I was prepared for this stage in our lives, but this book brought up things I completely forgot to consider. This is such a huge help in our college adventure. Senior year isn’t the only time to be thinking about college. Even with our sophomore we need to start having those discussions, begin to research schools and possibly go on some campus visits. This is a big, life changing time and this book will help get you prepared.

Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium puts Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Jason Bateman and youngster Zach Mills together for a great movie about imagination and magic and believing in yourself.

Dustin Hoffman is Mr. Magorium, a 243 year old toy store owner. But it’s not just any toy store. This toy store is magical with a life of it’s own. Mr. Magorium decides it’s his time to depart and he wants to leave his toy store to his unconfident manager, Molly Mahoney (played by Portman). Mahoney was an extraordinary pianist in her youth, but now finds herself struggling to find the right notes to create her own masterpiece. She feels stuck.

To prepare to give his store to Mahoney, Mr. Magorium hires an accountant (which he assumes means “a counting mutant”). The “mutant” they hire is Henry (played by Bateman). Henry has forgotten how to let loose and use his imagination. Instead he’s a just a stuffy accountant who cares only about numbers and paperwork.

With Mr. Magorium’s departure the store begins to have a temper tantrum with the walls bubbling up, the toys misbehaving and then everything turning gray. Nine-year-old Eric tries to get Mahoney and Henry to believe in the magic of the toy store; and more important get Mahoney to believe in herself.

I really enjoyed this movie. And with all kids movies, my test is “do my kids sit still through the whole movie?” For this movie they did. It’s a great family flick. All of the actors did a fantastic job in their roles, but I loved Dustin Hoffman’s quirkiness the best. The plot kept us interested. And the animation was awesome. I highly recommend this movie.

We’ll give it 4 1/2 beans out of 5.

Hasbro sent me their new online gaming system; Net Jet. We also got three games; Bubble Bonanza (which comes with the system), Kool Kart Racers and Peak Performance Snowboarding.

Basically Net Jet is a standard handheld controller like you would have with other standalone gaming systems (like a PS2), but this doesn’t connect to a console. Instead this plugs right in to the USB drive on your computer. The game cartridges plug in to the controller.

At first I thought, why would I buy this instead of one of those console games (like the PS2 or the Xbox)? Or why would not just play online games for free? But after playing with this I’ve found some real advantages with the Net Jet.

• It’s very inexpensive. You can get the Net Jet for under $20 and each of the games are only $9.99. That definitely beats those $300 price tags for those more expensive consoles.
• It’s easy to use. Even my five year old quickly figured out the buttons. They are each numbered with different colors and the games walk you right through what buttons to push to do what.
• With each game you get to try another three games online. So it’s almost like getting four games for the price of one.
• Setting it up is a breeze. There’s not complicated install. You literally just plug it in and the system and your computer do the rest.
• The games are a lot of fun. I love that Bubble Bonanza game. In fact I was late for class the first day I tried the Net Jet because I was quickly addicted to those bubbles.

Teenagers probably wouldn’t be too impressed with the Net Jet. They will still want the expensive console gaming systems with hundreds of games to choose from. But younger kids will enjoy it. My five year old and my eight year olds love the Net Jet. They can set it up themselves. They can play for hours. They can switch out the games on their own. It’s perfect for them.

I was very young when I got pregnant for the first time. I was in the prime of my partying years; staying out until the wee hours of the morning drinking with friends, going to after hour parties and visiting the local 24 hour diner for a very early breakfast full of greasy bacon and scrambled eggs. And then the plus sign on my pregnancy test stick put an end to all of that.

Forty weeks can be a long time to go without any alcohol, but when you’re growing a baby in your tummy you need to suck it up and do it. The Newly Non-Drinking Girl’s Guide to Pregnancy can help you cope during those long nine months when you have to stay out of the liquor cabinet.

With this book the authors, Jackie Rose and Caroline Angel RN, PhD, give us a humorous ride through an alcohol-free pregnancy. And they’ve covered everything from the day you find out you’re pregnant to breastfeeding. The book is filled with tons of helpful advice. And 50 mocktail recipes so you can enjoy your favorite drinks, sans alcohol. Heck, these recipes look so yummy I’m going to try some of them out even though I can drink the real thing.

In the book, Rose and Angel explain why it’s important to stay sober during pregnancy. And they aren’t afraid to give you all the facts; including the sometimes terrifying effects alcohol can have on your baby. If you were unsure as to how that beer binge will effect your baby, chapter two will clear it all up for you.

If you aren’t ready to tell your co-workers or friends about your new bundle of joy, Rose and Angel help you out with that too. They include several tips on how to keep your pregnancy a secret even when you used to be the office lush and now drink only water. These include things like pretending you have an illness or make sure you bring your car everywhere so you can pull the designated driver card.

They offer ideas on how to handle events where you would normally drink, such as office parties, client lunches, barbecues and birthday parties. It can be hard going to your old watering hole, watching everybody else drink while you sip away at your juice. But with these tips you can feel more comfortable.

There is a chapter on homemade Happy Hours and catching a buzz the non-alcoholic way. They suggest things like a relaxing bubble bath and shopping. Or getting high on exercise, chocolate or spa treatments.

If you just can’t stop drinking on your own and need some professional help, you will find a list of excellent organizations to help you stay sober. There’s no shame in seeking help. You have a baby to take care of and getting help just proves you are already a good mom trying to do everything you can for your baby.

This is a great book for a newly pregnant woman. Even if you aren’t a heavy drinker, this is a very entertaining read with tons of ideas to really enjoy social events and activities alcohol free. And the 50 mocktail recipes alone are worth the $12.95 for the book.

P2 claims to be a thriller, but I beg to differ. In this movie, Rachel Nichols plays an overworked woman who gets trapped in a parking garage. A parking attendant (played by Wes Bentley) tries to help her, but it turns out he’s really a psycho.

As the movie started I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the suspense, prepared to jump at any moment. After the first half hour I sat back as I realized their definition of thriller and my definition of thriller varied greatly. The only thrill I got was when the credits finally rolled and I knew the movie was over.

The entire hour and 38 minutes is spent with the male psycho chasing the helpless girl all over the parking garage while professing his love for her. It was so lame. There was absolutely no suspense. Even the gore was pathetic. It was a waste of time and money.

I give this zero beans out of 100.

In the Bee Movie, Jerry Seinfeld is the voice of Barry B. Benson, a bee who just graduated from college and is feeling a little trapped by his only career options; making honey in the hive. While trying to make a decision on exactly what job he wants, Barry makes a trip outside the hive where he meets Vanessa Bloome [Renee Zellweger], a human florist who saves his life. Barry’s so grateful he breaks a cardinal bee rule and talks to Vanessa and they become friends. As they are hanging out, Barry discovers human eat honey and keep bees in cages to make honey so he decides to sue.

I was a little disappointed in this movie. I think we’ve been spoiled by movies like Toy Story and Shrek. Now we have such high expectations for these animated kid’s movies.

That being said, Bee Movie is cute. There were some pretty funny jokes for kids and some good ones for adults. There was even a lesson. Kids learn why bees are important in or ecosystem. So I give it an A for effort.

But there were some parts where I felt like it was lagging. My kids said they liked it, but I think there were definitely points where they were a little bored.

So I give Bee Movie three out of five beans.