I will be contributing to the AnnArbor.com on events and activities of interest to families with preschoolers. I moved to Ann Arbor in 2003 when my husband started working at University of Michigan. When our daughter was born in 2006, we soon learned what a family friendly town that Ann Arbor is. I have been a stay at home mother since a few months before my daughter was born. I have been running a playgroup at our church since 2007. This year, my daughter started at a cooperative preschool and I am on the school's board.

In the winter of 2008, I started maintaining a list of local events of interest to the families in my playgroup who had young children. This summer, I began publishing my calendar on a website. I supplemented the calendar with my reviews on places we have gone. I have also created a blog with more experiences and occasional summaries of events. You can also connect to our content through Facebook and Twitter. I love to get feedback of events that you know about or on your experiences at a local activity or event.

There are a few upcoming and ongoing activities in the next few weeks that I would like to highlight in this first post. The Ann Arbor District Library story times for preschoolers resume next week starting on Tuesday. The Ann Arbor Hands On Museum has their Bob the Builder exhibit through February 28. The Showcase Cinemas on Carpenter Road is offering a KidToons movie this weekend at noon on both Saturday and Sunday.

February is an important month for parents of preschoolers and toddlers. Area preschools typically have open houses in February with admissions beginning about that time. Preschool classes can fill-up so in order to get your first choice of school and class, you may need to be prepared to act. I will be contriubting an article on preschool open houses to AnnArbor.com in a few weeks. In the meantime, I am building a list on my website. So, if you are at a preschool you love, and know of their open house date, please e-mail me the details or contact information.

Anna Mae Trievel is a stay-at-home mother to a 4 year old. She publishes information on events and activities for preschoolers through a website, blog, Facebook page, and Twitter account.