After some pretty bad years for skiing, they say it's going to snow a lot this year. If it's true I'll feel pretty lucky to get a good ski year when my daughter is in fourth grade. Why? Because fourth graders get to ski for free. New York, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Vermont all have free ski programs for fourth, and sometimes fifth, graders and you can apply to all of them.

Click on the links below for applications and more information, but the basic deal is that you apply for a ski free passport and you will receive a booklet of 3 passes per participating ski resort that allow your child to ski free when accompanied by a paying adult. The applications cost between $10 and $19, or in the case of New Hampshire, they require a little school project about NH skiing history. The passbooks also usually include one free lesson also.

Has the recession come up in conversation with your kids yet or are you too busy talking politics with them these days?  Links this week include tips on how to broach the subject without freaking them out, good news about more gifted & talented public schools to open in the boroughs (cause not all smart kids live in Manhattan) and lots on baby naming including the city's report on the top baby names for 2007.  Plus, the crusader of crazy baby names, Sarah Palin, has one more wacky one up here sleeve...

It sure is a world wide web out there. So much good stuff. We've rounded up our best finds for fun and helpful tips for parents from all over the internets. Below find, decorating and costume ideas, how to make your halloween greener, your jack o'lantern spookier, and tons of other tips.

I know that the Washington Market Park Halloween Parade and Party has been postponed from Saturday and will now be on Sunday, October 26 from 3-5pm. Also The Fort Greene Park Halloween Festival and the Halloween Festival at Fort Trotten Park (both of which sound like lots of fun) will both be postponed to Sunday. Please try to call ahead to any events you might be going to on Saturday and make sure it wasn't canceled or postponed.

But don't let the rain dampen your Halloween Weekend spirit. Here are our picks for indoor activities for Saturday, October 25th, 2008. Click on the links below for more information about each event.

There may be less and less ice at the North Pole for polar bears to skate on, but Manhattan's getting a new ice skating rink this winter. This year, for the first time in 140 years, The American Museum of Natural History will be opening its skating rink. Opening on Saturday, November 22nd, 2008, here's what the press release says:

I admit it, I got to a point where I actually felt like I needed an iphone. The rationale went like this: with an iphone I could stay in e-mail touch even when I was at the playground or waiting at school or during those times when my daughter falls asleep in the stroller. It would make me more productive and also a better mom cause if I could work at those times then maybe I wouldn't have to work when we were home and instead just focus on playing. So when our cell phone contracts were up we rushed over to the Mac store. Of course, my husband had also worked out a completely different but just as "valid" rationale as to why he needed one as well.

But while we were at the store, I realized I had a problem. My previous cell phone was such a piece of junk that I had gotten into the habit of letting my 2 year old play with it but I knew there was no way I was going to let her touch my new iphone. I needed one for her.

This city loves Halloween and there are an endless number of events. There is a lot of cool-sounding stuff to do for Halloween with kids in every corner of the city from now until the 31st. Little neighborhood events can be the best ones, so definitely keep an eye out for what's going on in your hood (and let us know).

Here are a few, just five events that each take a different spin on celebrating the holiday and hopefully bring that Halloween magic that will give you and your family great Halloween memories.

Ghouls and Ghords - Brooklyn Botanical Gardens
At Ghouls and Gourds kids learn about plants as they engage in freakishly fun activities. 

In my last MP² post, I wrote about why every parent should have an iPhone. I talked about a lot of great features, but I didn't even really scratch the surface of all the apps that are available for the phone. Of course, there are more than 10 great apps for parents, but this round-up will get you started with some fun, useful and just silly iPhone apps, particularly for parents. (By the way, most of these work with the iPod Touch also)

Scribble (FREE) —Lets kids (or parents) draw with their finger right on the screen and then shake to erase, like an etch-a-sketch. Great for little kids.