LaLaGirl - Twinfinite Chaos! Parenting Multiples and Dealing with Autism
LaLaGirl - Parenting 2 Sets of Twins and a Child with Autism
I just got back from a fun little weekend getaway with a few of my girlfriends. We spent the night at my friend’s cabin up in picturesque Grand Lake, Colorado, but we really didn’t do any sight-seeing or shopping. We didn’t even get out in nature! Sometimes, it’s nice to just spend a little time drinking wine, catching up, and laughing. We did a LOT of laughing. [Read more...]
Well. I’m not going to MAKE it for you, but I will give you the chance to win some free shit. Yeah! Check it out right here.
As you know, our family moved across town just after Christmas of last year, and my kids had to switch schools halfway through kindergarten. The transition went well, thank goodness, and we could not be happier with the new school – my kids have had great teachers and they’ve made lots of friends. Huge thumbs up all around.
Those early days were stressful and scary, though – and I remember how nervous Mallory was on that first day. It warmed my heart tremendously to see two special little girls, who have since become Mallory’s very dear friends, approach her from each side and take her by the hand to show her around the classroom. Here’s a picture from that day…you can see how apprehensive Mallory was, poor bug.
I was thinking of my kids and that whole experience as I read Elena’s Big Move
After reading this story, I thought to myself, this is genius. I really wish I would have come up with this idea when we were getting ready to move. Although it would have been tedious trying to carve out some time to run around taking pictures of “our” McDonald’s and Starbucks and park playground and school classroom, I would have done it. It might have really helped all of the kids adjust to life in our new ‘hood, if we’d had a few memories of our old one.
This book would be a great addition to your school’s library or to your own library at home – it deals with a common life changing situation in a neat way – plus, it’s full of fun Spanish words. Check it out!
This book was provided to my family by the publisher for review purposes. We are donating it to our school’s library so other kids can benefit from it, too!
You all know I have a 14-year-old who is a little bit Twilight obsessed. So when I found out about a vocabulary workbook designed to be used side-by-side with the Twilight books, I was all over it. I just received a review copy of Defining Twilight from the book’s author, Brian Leaf.
I think the whole notion of jumping on the Twilight bandwagon and using the book’s popularity to sell your own books educate apathetic teens is GENIUS. The book is full of references with exact page numbers so you can flip back and forth and figure out the meanings of words. I’m not so sure my child would find it to be a fun filled activity that she would do all by herself, but if I were MAKING her do it, she’d probably enjoy it more than she would enjoy a regular old English lesson from her teacher. And I’ll bet there are some kids who would really enjoy this. I noticed there’s another workbook out that goes along with New Moon. Pretty cool.
Defining Twilight: Vocabulary Workbook for Unlocking the SAT, ACT, GED, and SSAT…Can you resist the allure of Edward’s myriad charms—his ochre eyes and tousled hair, the cadence of his speech, his chiseled alabaster skin, and his gratuitous charm? Will you hunt surreptitiously and tolerate the ceaseless deluge in Forks to evade the sun and uphold the facade? Join Edward and Bella as you learn more than 600 vocabulary words to improve your score on the *SAT, ACT®, GED®, and SSAT® exams!
Kind of a fun book, especially if you have a kid who’s preparing for the ACT or SAT test. Check it out!
We recently sampled some goodies from a brand new line of kid-friendly healthier foods, thanks to Safeway and Team Mom. Warner Bros. Consumer Products teamed up with Safeway to create the new healthier food and beverage line, which features Looney Tunes characters. The Eating Right Kids line is available exclusively from Safeway, and features items such as bread, cereal, chewy snack bars, frozen entrees, waffles, fruit cups, fruits and vegetables, juice, pudding, and Vitamin Water.
Interestingly enough, Warner Bros. has stated that they will no longer use any of the Looney Tunes characters on any less-than-healthy food packaging, with the exception of special occasion foods, such as certain ice cream treats and birthday cakes.
“We’ve cleared the market of anything that might be considered unhealthy,” said Brad Globe, prexy of Warner Bros. Worldwide Consumer Products. “Our Looney Tunes characters are our crown jewels. We said, ‘Hey, we need to figure out how we can be part of some kind of solution and use our characters in a positive way that will improve the issues related to childhood obesity.’”
That’s awesome! And the foods are great. As much as I’d love my children to eat a plateful of whatever healthy dinner I lovingly prepare, the reality is that sometimes we need to rely on convenience foods. It’s nice to be able to reach for a healthier option when I’m out shopping!
P.S. The chewy bars are the bomb-diggity. I didn’t even share them with my kids. Mean mommy!
Edit: We used these lunchboxes for about 3 months, until an aide gently took me aside and told me that EVERY DAY, my kids required assistance both opening and closing their lunchboxes. Remember me mentioning a learning curve? Well, if my grownup self had trouble getting it closed, imagine how well my 1st graders did. We ended up switching back to our old, zippered, insulated lunch bags. Sorry, Goodbyn – LOVE the idea, love the look, love the stickers, love everything behind the company – but I’m going to have to amend my review and say that these are best for kids above probably 4th grade or so. Also, the bottles leak pretty regularly, and the fact that these are not insulated means your kids will be drinking warm juice and eating warm applesauce by lunch time. My thoughts? Great for grownups who take their lunch to work and put it in the office refrigerator.
I first heard about these fantastic lunchboxes from Kids Haus, one of my favorite blogs. As soon as I saw them, I was intrigued – having school-aged twins means I pack a LOT of little lunches, and we go through a LOT of sandwich baggies, Capri Suns, and individually packaged things like yogurt, applesauce, and string cheese. I was all over the idea of leaving behind all that packaging, so I decided to pick up a pair of these darling lunchboxes for Pablo and Mallory. The concept is almost like bento, except without all the foods touching each other. (A travesty in the mind of my child!)
My Goodbyn lunchboxes (purchased from reusablebags.com) arrived a couple of days after I placed my order – super fast! I was worried at first, because they seem so popular – I figured I’d have to wait awhile, but I didn’t. I ordered pink for Mallory and green for Pablo, and each one arrived with its own matching water bottle. Mallory’s bottle has sort of a wonky lid, but so far it’s working fine, so I’m not concerned. And each lunchbox contained a huge roll of stickers! Pablo and Mallory had SO much fun personalizing their individual lunchboxes – we sat at the kitchen table for close to an hour, applying funky little eyeballs and fried eggs and rocketships. So cute.
There’s been a bit of a learning curve with the kids getting the boxes open and closed, but I think they’ll figure it out in time. Since each compartment is separate, it’s important to take the time to seal up each area – it’s like putting on a Tupperware lid, except you have to press down in like 20 places. No biggie.
And the first day they took them to school, all the other kids flipped out over them. Pablo’s aide even mentioned to me how much the other kids liked his “lunchbox with ears.” I’ve been packing sandwiches, fruit, and cheese so far. I haven’t tried spooning applesauce or yogurt into the sectioned areas yet. I think we’ll try to master getting the thing opened and closed before we venture into messy foods!
But so far, no complaints. At around $30 each, they may seem a bit pricy – but the price includes the water bottle and the 250+ stickers for personalization. I’m sure we’ll make up that cost right away not buying individually portioned snacks and drinks. And best of all, they are BPA and phthalate-free. I am SO pleased with these lunchboxes, and my kids love them, too!
update…here are our Goodbyns!
