We picked up these gingerbread house kits at Ikea the last time we were there.
The kids had a lot of fun making their own home with candies like they like.
Tag: Kids
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BabbaBox from BabbaCo: Activity Box for Kids {2012 Holiday Gift Guide}
I love gifts that engage parents and kids to enhance a childs learning. As a mom I know the importance of being the first teacher to my kids. My very first blog was actually centered around this idea (3 Princesses and a Prince Academy). I’ve tried a lot of different approaches to teaching my kids, but I tend to skip around a bunch, always coming up with new ideas, and never fully accomplishing what I wanted to. It’s not really a bad thing, but sometimes it meant I was unprepared for a day, and so I’d skip getting down with them and learning. We’d go through funks.
I recently saw an ad for a BabbaBox on another blog. It looked like a lot of fun, so I decided I had to look into them a bit more.
I tell you what, this is one gift I would love to get my kids! BabbaCo is a monthly subscription for an activity box, geared towards kids ages 3-6. Each BabbaBox has a new theme to the box, and is full of everything you need to craft, teach and play with your kids.
Every Babbabox contains 4 components:
Create – 2-3 projects that include every material needed to create.
Explore – a theme based product to engage your child with the world and nature
Storytell – books to stimulate your childs imagination
Connect – interactive prepaid downloads approved by the Babbaco experts
This holiday season give the gift of imagination and exploration. Kids will love getting a new box every month.Check out my Holiday Gift Guide for more great gift ideas and then enter the 2012 Holiday Gift Giveaway.
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Chase Danger Super Spy: Author Interview {2012 Holiday Gift Guide}
Chase Danger Super SpyMystery of the Special Sauce32 pages of story and illustrations tell the tale of a 6-year-old-super-spy fighting villains to rid the world of their diabolical plans. Included is a 20 minute read along theater CD which brings all the action to life with a narrator, full cast of voices, sound effects and original music. Totally action-packed and written to thrill young audiences with every page turn.I wanted to get to know Lisa and her family a little bit better, so I asked if they wouldn’t mind answering a few questions. Read on, because this is one fun family!What is your favorite Book?J.K Rowling is up there right now, as she probably is with a lot of people. Who didn’t love the Harry Potter series? The suspense leading into the 7th book was pretty intense. Chad has been reading the swashbuckler of Rafael Sabatini which are filled with adventure, “Scaramouche” and “Captain Blood” are a lot of fun. We both have enjoyed reading Ian Fleming recently, searching for inspiration for the Chase Danger books. Lloyd Alexander (The Black Cauldron) was a huge favorite as a kid, all his books are whimsical, magical and delightful. We all lean toward adventure and mystery
If you’re book were turned into a movie, who would you cast?Since we’re dreaming, can we have anyone, dead or alive? Vincent Price would make a great Igor Fimple, and Marlon Brando could play anything he wanted. We’d need Tom Cruise or Johnny Depp, of course! Is Dakota Fanning too old to play Princess Ali Bali? Does she have a younger sibling in the right age range? The kids parts would have to be fresh faces. If Antonio Banderas isn’t available to play Zalezgon, we’d settle for Desi Arnaz or even Joe Pesci would be brilliant. Robert Deniro would be a great Captain Looney, but he’d need a wig.What are your favorite Holiday Tradition?We love to create special holiday meals. Heart shaped pizzas on Valentine’s, green ravioli’s on St. Patrick’s, etc.Our Favorite, though, is what we call the “Christmas Eve Suite”. This meal includes wrapped “presents” (grilled veggies wrapped in fillo crust), a “wreath” made of spaghetti squash and sliced persimmons, “yule logs”, (manicotti filled with ricotta cheese, spinach and sliced grilled chicken) and topped with cherries, cranberries and assorted gum drop candies. If it sounds weird to you, well, we’d probably agree… but it’s wonderful in person. And it’s only once a year.Chase has already begun asking for it, but it’s no mystery that he’s only thinking of the gum dropsHere in Los Angeles with no snow, we have outdoor malls where they shower fake “snow” from the rooftops. It’s become a recent tradition to visit the snow for an evening and do our shopping all at once.to get the most recent updates on Book 3!The Chase Danger Super Spy books would make a great gift for any young child this holiday season. With the Read Along Theater, your kids can take reading to another level! Although I think boys will really get into this new comic style series, my girls enjoy them just as much.Where to BuyYou can purchase Printed Books with the CD at chasedanger.comor download the books instantly from iBookstoreWin It!Enter my 2012 Holiday Giveaway to win Book 1, Chase Danger Super Spy: Mystery of the Special Sauce -
A 2 year old, a Hammer, and a Single Pane Window
What do you get when you mix a 2 year old, a Hammer, and a Single Pane Window?
Are we remodeling? you ask. No, No we’re not. This happened shortly after Princess R, the mentioned 2 year old, locked herself (for the 3rd time) in one of the bedrooms. I attempted using the hammer to pry the door open, but the walls are a good 2-3 feet thick, and my hammer is not that long.
I guess I left the hammer on the floor….though I may have also put it on Mark’s dresser. But that doesn’t matter, because Princess R climbs his dresser all the time in search of treats. I guess this time she thought the Hammer would be a fun toy.
There I am, pot of water boiling for our Oh so Healthy Macaroni and Cheese lunch, mixing up a bottle for Prince L, when I hear it. The sound of glass shattering.
What in the world? I say to myself. So I hand Prince L his bottle, and go investigate.
I yell up the stairs “Girls, did something break?”
“MOM! R has the Hammer and she hit the window!”
SHOOT! Off I go, running up the stairs, just as I hear it again ~Shatter~
Once I got the kids out of this room (which we don’t use for anything anyways), and the glass picked up, I made the dreaded call – our Landlord. How was I supposed to explain my 2 year old having a hammer, because I left out, because the doors have privacy locks that she can lock, but can’t figure out how to unlock, so I needed the hammer to pry her out without breaking the door, which resulted in her getting the hammer and breaking the window?
Thankfully, it boiled down simply to “The kids were playing upstairs and a window got broken. What do you want me to do?”
Well, hopefully he’s on his way over today to fix it. In the meantime, I probably should go cover it with some cardboard and tape to keep some semblance of heat inside the house.
Of course after this little incident, we then had Princess C turn off the lights, and lock Princess R in another room. Sigh. I’m going to need some of these door muffs to keep the locks from being turned!
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Reading with Scholastic
I just realized I missed the school book fair! I always loved the book fairs in elementary school. We’d go with my mom, and she usually let us pick out a book or two. Of course once we had our own money, we’d buy our own books.
I went through a Roald Dahl phase and would buy any of his books! I just loved his sense of humor.Not that I need any more books, but they are one of my favorite educational tools. Holding a book between your hands, reading, getting lost in the story. That means learning to read as well. It’s something I want my kids to enjoy, without feeling like it’s a task.
I’m really excited about Scholastics new Ipad App – Storia. You can download books from scholastic, and they sit on your “shelf” on the app. The kids can pick their book, and it will even read the story to them. Which at my kids age is perfect. There have been a lot of books Mark has downloaded onto the Ipad, and reads to the kids at bedtime. Some of them read for you, but here’s the difference I’ve seen.
On Storia, the words being read are highlighted, so your child can actually follow along, and learn the words as well as enjoy the story. Of course you can also turn off the automated reading, and read it yourself – another great option.
Our favorite book so far has been Clifford. It’s a character the kids are familiar with, so it holds their attention. Another great aspect of Storia are the activities. On some of the pages a little lightening bold will appear. You touch the lightening bolt, and activities will pop up. It’s not just fun and games though, it’s things like “put the story events in order from first, next, last” and “match the characters with their names”. So it promotes paying attention to the story and what is happening. They’ve got something for every level of reader too.
The App is FREE to download (even better, right?) and comes with 5 Free Books! You can download more books from scholastics website. Here is the big kicker though, right now when you buy certain Kellogs boxes of cereal, you can get codes for $5 giftcards to Scholastic! We haven’t redeemed any yet, but I’ve got quite a few (Fruit Loops and Krave were on sale…we stocked up). Mark and I have been reading The Hunger Games together, and we need the last book. Guess what? Yep, Storia has it for download! I might just use our coupons for that.
I’m not a big electronic fan (hahaha, says the blogger), but I do love this app. I find myself wishing Mark could leave the Ipad home somedays so we can read the books on Storia.
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Chase Danger Super Spy: Pirates of Pineapple Island {Book Review}
Chase Danger Super SpyPirates of Pineapple IslandBy Chad and Lisa OliveraAbout the Book: Join 7-year-old super-spies Chase Danger and Princess Ali Bali in their 2nd
adventure. This time, the two heroes have to rescue magical pineapples and Ali’s
brother, Aiden, from the dreaded pirate Captain Looney. 2nd in a series of Chase
Danger, Super Spy books. Full color illustrations by Adam Goodman. 
About the Authors: Lisa and Chad Olivera are an Author and
publishing team from California. Published works include the Chase Danger, Super
Spy Series: Book #1 Mystery of the special Sauce and book #2 Pirates of
Pineapple Island. Lisa works with young children as a Special Circumstance Aide and
Chad is a musician, composer and children’s theater director. They live and work
in Santa Clarita California. As a family they enjoy writing books, going to the
beach, watching movies and going on Geocaching adventures. Please visit them at
http://www.chasedanger.com/ and “LIKE”
them on facebook for exciting updates.My thoughts: Or more accurately, my kids thoughts. They loved this even more than the first book. Now when I ask them if they want to read Chase Danger, it has to be the Pirate Princess one! I’m sure it has something to do with having 3 Princesses in the house. As much as we loved The Mystery of the Special Sauce, adding in a Princess, Pirates and Pineapples, took my kids to another level of joy in reading. Again, I just love the reading theater that comes along with the book. The voice of the characters, and sound effects brings the adventure to life.
As a parent, I like the family aspect this book teaches. Our families are important, and even if we don’t always get along, we still love them. -
House of Minerva {Review}
At the beginning of this month, I stumbled across The House Of Minerva. Owner Kate Elfatah and I connected on twitter, and I decided to check out her website.
I just loved how stylish everything on there was, and decided I needed to get something! As the mom of 3 girls, I was immediately drawn to the Girl Dresses. They were all so cute.
It’s hard to hide anything from the kids, so Princess C saw me looking at these little dresses and came over to look with me. Her heart was pulled towards the Crow Dress.
I kind of cringed at first, because, really crows? It definitely looked cute online and all, but I was looking more at the Apple Grove dress.
I mean come on? Isn’t that just adorable? I was planning an Apple Picking family outing at the time, and thought this would just be perfect.
Princess C wasn’t sold though. So after much thought, and lots of time browsing the House of Minerva website, I finally caved, and we got her the Crows Dress.
Which turned out to be a perfect fit – for her personality, and her choice of a Witch for Halloween.
What I love about the House of Minerva
- The dresses are long! No bum length dresses here. They are generous in size, so my 4year old Princess could actually wear a 4T size. Which was great since this was the last crow dress available and it only came in a size 4T.
- They are quality made! Princess C has been wearing this as much as possible. Which means it’s been through the wash a few times since owning it.
- Just contact them! The owner is kind, helpful, and will work with you to get you exactly what you want. Since I was concerned about sizing, she was willing to send me a prepaid envelope just in case it didn’t fit. That, people, is Customer Service at it’s finest
- They sell more than just dresses! In fact it started out as makeup bags, and has grown! From clutches and tablet sleeves, to dresses and aprons.
Connect with the House of Minerva on
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest*I was compensated with product to write this review. All opinions are 100% my own and honest thoughts.
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Create a Time Out Corner with Penalty Pal #mompactLNO
The more I grow as a mom the more I find how I could do things differently. With each child I seem to change my ways, and do things a bit differently.
Princess V as a toddler. I promise this isn’t really how I gave Time Outs. I call it experimenting until I find the right way. Disciplining children is never fun, for the parents or the kids. Sometimes I think it hurts me more than them. So I get laid back, I don’t follow through.Have you ever done that? Not followed through? It really backfires on us. The kids think they can get away with something if we don’t follow through, and the next time they’ll push it even further.
I guess where my problem comes, is when they tell me I don’t love them because I did follow through. It emotionally effects me, because I do love them! I have to remind myself though, I discipline because I love them!
When Princess V was a toddler, and we started Time Outs, I would have to sit there with her. Otherwise, she wouldn’t stay put. It sort of defeated the purpose of Time Out. When Princess C was a toddler, we tried it again, and she would stay. So we began giving Time Outs again. At one point, I decided Time Outs just weren’t effective for every situation. Sometimes, the Princesses just needed time apart. Sometimes they needed a nap. And sometimes, mommy needed a Time Out. So for awhile I would send them to their rooms for “Quiet Time”. Time they could play alone, read a book, or take a nap. Usually this fixed the problem.
Now we have another problem. All 3 Princesses share a room again, so sending one to their room, usually results in the others following, and more problems or fighting or whatever was going on. We’ve tried sending them to our master room, but that has created other problems – like kids getting into things they shouldn’t – ahem my chocolate stash…..Well, mompact send me a package of goodies, including the Penalty Pal. It inspired me to try a Time Out corner again. Somewhere I can keep my eye on them. The great thing about the Penalty Pal though, is it allows them something to look at. Something that is fun, yet serious. It helps distract them from what may have been causing problems (ya know, like their sisters!).
I’ve already tried this new corner out with Princess R, and it really helped! Instead of her trying to sneak out of a Time Out she stayed there. It distracted her enough to calm down. Once she was calm, I was able to talk to her about her behavior.
“Pushing both hands on baby brothers face is not ok. Laying across sisters head is not ok. Don’t touch faces please!”Come Join the Mompact Twitter Party TONIGHT! 9-10pm ET #mompact*I received complimentary product to facilitate this review. All opinions are 100% honest and my own -
Facebooking Diagnosies – Think About It
Hosted atHome Maid SimpleandMumfectionThis week’s topicWhat is on your mind? Tell us about it, and then link up at the bottom of this post!Yestrday Prince L woke up with a puffy eye. I assumed he was just really tired, as he hadn’t been sleeping as well lately. Then he started acting just odd. He didn’t really want to open his eyes, almost as if the lights hurt. He became extremely cuddly, and just wanted me to hold him all day long, wrapped in a blanket. Unless he’s sleeping, he never closes his eyes, or lets me hold him for long. He would rather be looking at everything and moving around as best he can. So I started thinking maybe these symptoms were in relation to his puffy eye. Since Mark and I had both been suffering allergies on and off, I chalked it up to that.To be safe though, I posted about it on facebook, and even added a cute picture.
Not looking for a diagnosis exactly, I just wanted to share my cute cuddly guy with his puffy eye. Well, a number of my friends immediately got on and said it looked like pink eye! I was feeling so lucky that after 4 kids we had never experienced this awful sounding virus. So pink eye hadn’t even crossed my mind before it was mentioned on facebook. I started looking up the signs and symptoms of Pink Eye on google, and told Mark our weekend plans might be canceled because of it.Mark called his brother, who happens to work in the medical field. He said looking at the picture it didn’t look like Pink Eye. He’s almost always been right when we call him. So I pushed my worries aside, and decided to wait it out. Then I decided maybe I should play it safe. We haven’t been to a doctor since moving, and Prince L needed his 6 month check anyways. So off I went to find a doctor.
We have 1 doctor in our small town, and he was gone for the weekend (It’s fall break here). On to the next town over. I found one that could see us before we left for our vacation, and got in to see him this morning as we headed out of town. I am so glad I didn’t wait!
Although it is NOT pink eye, it is a bacterial infection, and needs some eye drops. Although it’s not going to be fun putting these eye drops into a 6 month old, it will be much better than watching his puffy red eye, an worrying that it hurts him.So thanks Facebook Friends for sending me in a mild panic, but also for putting the worry there, because something was wrong.Have you ever Facebook Diagnosed yourself or kids? Were they right? Did you send yourself into a panic with all the possibilities of what could be wrong? I’d love to hear about it!Don’t forget, you can link up any random post! We love meeting other bloggers, and reading what you’re thinking about. All we ask is that you grab our button and place it on your blog, so we can get more people involved!document.write(‘
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Zucchini Bread {Foodie Friday}
Hosted atandDo you have an over abundance of zucchini? It seems like the one plant everyone seems to grow too much of. Before we moved our neighbors offered us a couple of zucchinis, which I declined. I didn’t have the time to do anything with them. Now my mom is trying to give me her overgrow, and I’ve gladly accepted. These are large zucchini’s and can really be spread out over many meals.However, I have a special zucchini treat for you today! My mom’s recipe for Zucchini Bread. It is very similar to Banana Bread, but with Zucchini instead. My kids love these breads, and I love that they are eating some green veggies!Zucchini Bread
For some reason, this week when I made it, it fell. So it’s not the prettiest, but it sure did taste good! Both loaves were gone in 2 days!Ingredients3 eggs3 tsp Vanilla extract2 1/4 cups sugar1 cup vegetable oil (can also be exchanged with pureed zucchini)3 cups flours1 tsp salt1 tsp baking soda1 tsp baknig powder3 tsp cinnamon2 cups grated zucchiniDirectionsPreheat oven to 325 FBeat the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar.Sift flour before measuring! (I think this is where I went wrong, I didn’t sift it)In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients.Add the dry ingredients to the wet. Mix well.Add the zucchini, and mix well.Grease two loaf pans. Separate the mixture between the two pans, and bake for 40-60 minutes until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.Cool and enjoy!~This Weeks Features~
I can’t wait to try this home made Pita Bread
Looking for a warm, filling comfort food this winter, try these BBQ Chicken Loaded Potatoesfrom Feeding My Temple
Tis the season for Pumpkins! and Pumpkin Smash Smoothiesfrom Skinny Kitchendocument.write(‘
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