Reader, Kate, emailed me recently asking about ideas for school fundraisers. I was more than happy to oblige since this is right up my alley. I served on our school PTA Executive Board for four years and our school was so successful at raising money that I had suggested looking for ways we could share that success with other schools. I guess this is my opportunity to do so.

Top 10 Tips for School Fundraising:

This week I'm introducing a new feature on Mommy Poppins: MP², or Mommy Poppins Squared. Yes, I can no longer contain my inner geekiness, (as if writing this blog isn't bad enough) I must now parade my extreme interest in all things geek for you all to see. I'm kicking off MP² with a series of posts about the iPhone as a parenting tool. Next month look for Science Week (which I've been geeking out on this month in preparation. Whoohoo!).

Why every parent needs an iPhone

There are whole books dedicated to which gadget parents need or don't need. For my money, the number one gadget on every parents' list should now be an iPhone. Yes, it's expensive, but the iPhone is like the Swiss Army knife, it has so many features bundled into one little slick package that you should save your money on everything else and just get this (okay you'll need a couple of other things too).

(at right) Hand knit iPhone from Daddy Types

Here are the 10 essential tools your iPhone will replace, making it the ultimate parenting tool:

The fabulous bloggers over at Cool Mom Picks have been working their magic on Halloween, finding the best goodies and coolest finds. Like these all natural plant based body and face face paints used to adorn this cutie pie above and perfect for a homemade Halloween costume.

We're getting some awesome pictures entered in to our Halloween Photo Contest already. If you went out to some of the Halloween events this weekend and snapped pictures of your cuties in their costumes, make sure to submit them to our contest. It's so easy and we have great prizes. Look at some of the great entries we've gotten so far:

Did you catch Sarah Palin on SNL?  Must admit she was pretty funny.  But, what was absolutely hysterical was the super pregnant Amy Pohler rapping, it's almost as if pregnancy has made her even more funny.  Hmm, I think it had the opposite effect on me.  In other news, there is a great article in the Times this week on anti-schoolers, Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman explains the economy using the example of babysitting co-ops, reports advise more vitamin D for kids, Brangelina champions public breast feeding (sort of) and more.

Due to my need to organize, I usually have three or four things lined up for us to do as a family between Friday and Sunday. I’m not going to lie - these are three or four really amazingly fun things. Still, my husband will sometimes lose interest in what we’re doing which makes me more than a little crazy. Then our son will detect the tension, and before even one passive-aggressive word is muttered between the adults, he will declare “you guys are gonna fight!” Of course this means defeat for me and I then turn into that lady who walks around with her family in a really amazingly fun place, not having fun at all. So after we have essentially washed, rinsed and repeated this cycle over and over, I believe I’ve come up with the solution.

I have named my husband The Chancellor of Saturdays. He is the new organizer; I am along for the ride. He decides when and where to eat, when or if we’re going to leave the house, and when and if our son needs to do anything besides play Super Mario Sunshine all day. This is tricky because I have some very definite ideas about these “when” and “if” moments. But it has ended up being wildly entertaining as well. Our son has been more than a little puzzled when I defer to his father about everything. And my husband has looked more than a little frightened about possibly doling out the wrong answers when deferred to.

Starting this weekend, most events taking place for kids in NYC invite you to come in costume. So, get your Princesses and Spidermen ready and check out these fall festivals:

NYC Apple Day 2008 - the LES turns the "Big Apple" green with NYC Apple Day and  Go Green Lower East Side. Be transported back in time with the old-fashioned apple cider press, a live honey beehive plus some modern faves like

Have you noticed the new Events Calendar on Mommy Poppins lately? After a full four months of development, during which it was admittedly pretty pathetic, the calendar is now full of great activities, including over 55 Halloween activities, most of them free.

Judy Sklover, our new Events Editor, will be hand-picking the best events and activities all over NYC for kids. Expect to see only the best free activities, educational programs, and unique events for NYC kids you won't find listed anywhere else. Unlike other NYC resources, we don't just post every press release that comes across our desk. We actively seek out cool stuff and only post events we would go to ourselves.

FIND IT:
The events calendar is in our left sidebar. To see events, click on the date you're looking for to see that day's events or click on the month to see the whole month. You can also view our calendar in week or list view. I prefer list view myself because I can see upcoming events with a summary of what and where they are.

USE IT:
Another feature you'll notice is our Upcoming Events widget. Right there in the sidebar you can see the next five events at a glance. It's a great way to check what's happening that day if you need some inspiration, but be aware some days we have more than 5 events listed and you'll want to go to the main calendar view to get the complete list.

I want to thank Judy, the newest addition to the Mommy Poppins team and mommy dynamo. She was her school's PTA president for more years than anyone should sanely serve and has been a terrific community member. I'm thrilled to have her on board and I also want to thank the Wildlife Conservation Society and all our other advertisers for recognizing what a great little site this is and supporting us with their advertising dollars, making it possible to add features like this new event calendar .

Getting this calendar working was a big step for me, but it's only the first one. I want to make it even better and am going to be continuing to work on it. So email me with what you think could make it better and I'll see if I can make it happen in the next round of improvements.