playing house

Funny story here about this doll house that Grandma & Grandpa bought Zuzu for her birthday.

this addiction is educational, right?

It requires concentration, following directions and intricate fine motor skills. Think I'm working too hard to justify a toy that provides hours of blissful independent play? I suppose...but if legos can save me from another unfairly balanced power ranger battle then I have no regrets!

confessions of a pushover & targetoholic

Based on the success of the Indiana Jones version noted here, this came home from Target today. Gage hasn't seen it yet but I imagine when he does we will be resigned to the dining room table for a few hours.

Somehow Zuzu talked me into a princess suitcase because she is such a world traveller and the Dora suitcase alone was simply not sufficient. Here she is just up from her nap taking a tour of the house.

Couldn't resist a close-up of the disheveled sleepy head.

he's still at it

ages 7-14

I bought this at Toys R Us today for Gage. I chose this for two reasons.

1. He already owns the Lego Mars Mission: MX-41 Switch Fighter that Grammy and Poppy bought him...and although Poppy put it together for him initally, Gage can spend hour blocks of time working with the since disassembled (sorry Poppy) pieces.

2. He has a recent obsession with "Indie". Apparently marketing works.


This is Gage around 5:15pm, just home from Karate, posing with the structure that we started just before we left. We both assumed, presumably due to the 7-14 age range on the box, that we would be completing this together.


This is one of the few reasons that I became distracted from helping Gage and he was forced to press on alone.


This is Gage around 6:30pm, ignoring the dinner in front of him (not good), working independently (goooood).


Yet another distraction.


This is 4 1/2 year old Gage around 7:45pm with the new toy that kept him independently captivated for nearly three hours and which he ironically plans to demolish and re-design tomorrow morning.
Best $20.99 I've spent in a while!

animal crackers in my soup...

Lunch boxes, popsicle molds and now circus cookie cutters? Someone feeling domestic? Question is, would I actually use this stuff or would it just look amusing in our kitchen?
Darling cookie cutters are from Williams Sonoma.

"ice, ice baby"

Thought those Bento Boxes were cool?
Checkout these rocket & star popsicle molds from Land of Nod...

the evolution of lunch boxes

How cool is this Bento Box lunch box from Plastica?

a-maze-ing

Meet the Q-BA-MAZE that came home with us today.
I chose this one over the large wooden structure because the interlocking polycarbonate pieces stack up into a very small box when not in use. The tall towers are not quite as sturdy as I would like, and you have to put something under it to really contain the marbles but otherwise the kids are loving it. All that's missing is Poppy to put it together...repeatedly (as noted by Gage).

lost & found

I'm definitely not one of those neurotic, I'm going to lose my kids moms, and I am horrified when I see parents with small children on a leash but...I thought this was a clever idea for the occasional airport or amusement park...especially when you go it alone as frequently as I do! They are from a company called Safety Tat. You get 30 tattoos for $19.95 and they imprint your cell phone number on them.

baby earth

If I were having another baby (no, I'm most definitely not expecting) I'd shop here. Baby-Wise has just changed their name to Baby Earth and they're going green.

I'm also partial to these folks because their customer service rocks. I tried to return a night light that I wasn't satisfied with about six months ago. They immediately refunded my money but didn't even want the night light back. How often does that happen to you?

pretty dresses

Tutti Bella has an overwhelmingly large selection of ridiculously priced boutique clothes. I am quite certain, however, that these lovelies would all pass the Zuzu "pretty" test if I gave into temptation.

party in a box

Darling little company I found on Cool Mom Picks today. It's called Just Add Cake and they have a very classy selection of theme based parties in a box. Loving the fairy princess package for Zuzu's #2.

social butterflies

That's the title of the new CB2 catalog that came in the mail today. I have to say, it's a good thing their corporate office is not here with the rest of the retail giants because this catalog almost inspires me to want to get back in the biz. Nicely done Crate.

Here are some of my fav's from the latest book:

blabla

I bought Gage one of these cuddly cat dolls about four years ago when he latched on to it at Mill Valley Baby & Kids. I didn't know anything about it but he loved it and that's just the way it works. He loves. I buy.



Lately I've been seeing more and more of them around town. Tonight, I noticed them in an article on cool mom picks, one of the inspirational blogs on my sidebar. Apparently, these darling dolls are made in Peru by a company called blabla kids. The collection is irresistible. They even have a giant size doll that's 3 feet tall. Dolls are not cheap but did I mention irresistible? I bought three for Zuzu:





Don't you just want to take one to bed yourself? I just might!

speaking of shoes

I got these pretty little flats at anthropologie yesterday. They bring out the ballerina in me.

bargain hunter

I suppose there are some perks to a failing economy.



Use the coupon code FRIEND2008 at checkout when you shop on line at babystyle. Valid this Thursday through Sunday only. Plus, they are now offering free shipping on $125 or more.

I got these adorable morgan and milo shoes there for Zuzu a few months ago. She wore them today and got sooooo... many compliments. I love them so much I might buy the next size up so they can live on all summer.

better late than never?

I read this in an article on yahoo tonight. "Wal-Mart, the nation's largest seller of firearms, announced Monday it will toughen rules for gun sales, from storing video of purchases to creating an internal log of which guns they sell that are later used in crimes."

My initial reaction was pure shock that this concept somehow appears to be an epiphany. Then I read on and learned that this might actually upset some folks but that Wal-Mart is taking a stance and doing it anyway. Heroes that they are.

This moved me quickly from shock to bitter disgust. I get it, people like guns. I don't, but people do. But, if you're not a criminal buying a gun why in the world should you care?

Help me out people. What am I missing?

got dirty kids?

Found this product in Dwell magazine today. It's available on the CleanWell website, at a variety of local pharmacies and kid's stores and apparently at my favorite weekly haunt... Target.

It was developed by a husband and wife to allow their son with an immune disorder to function in every day activities. Packaged in a cool, counter friendly bottle, their product cleans and sanitizes without the common (and toxic) ingredient triclosan.

Dwell recommends the Lavender Absolute flavor.

some things just never change

I don't know if all parents feel this way but I get this awesome sense of accomplishment when one of our childhood favorites becomes a hit with the next generation. Like this one. It doesn't play obnoxious tv show tunes, it doesn't shoot, it doesn't laugh and roll over, it doesn't need batteries and (with the exception of a few cheesy licensing deals) the guys at wham-o haven't really changed it in nearly 50 years (yup, 50).

The slip n' slide. Every kid should have at least one.