Tried and True Favorites

Here are a few of our favorite new toys after Christmas.  These are tried and true as they've been consistently loved and played with over the last two weeks!  Great toys worth sharing!

This is a new favorite for our preschooler.

Geo Shape Tack Zap by HABA

This is a great one-on-one activity.  For us, while the little boy sleeps, we can make new geometric shapes and pictures.  I help position the small tac and hold it while my 3 year old hammers away.  I love the quality and durability of the cork, shapes, and tacks.  Developmentally, this is a perfect toy for us right now!

Fun for the whole family:

UNO Moo Farm Animal Matching Game

Our whole family is loving this new game and we played it the whole of New Year's Weekend!  We can't get enough!  This is our favorite game for preschoolers so far.  Our 3 year old can understand and follow this simple game with ease.  Simply match either the color or animal to the one in the barn door.  Great for learning colors, animals, sounds - and that makes our 18 month old love this game too!  We received two of these games at Christmas and I can see why!  Its a hit!

Music Makers!

B. Parum Pum Pum Drum

There isn't really anything at this house that we love more than music.  Our kiddos love to dance, sing, shout, and create music all day long.  That is why I knew we should ask for a drum for Christmas (maybe a little bit of a crazy request now that I realize just how hard a 3 year old can hit a plastic drum!). We also receive two of these and I haven't decided yet if we will keep both or stock just one of these cute ensembles at our house.  This amazing, adorable brand of B. toys is available at Target and I'm so glad I've been introduced!  I will certainly be buying/requesting more of these toys in the future!  This totally awesome drum set comes with 8 instruments, an adorable patterned strap, and is great quality.  I'm in love with B. toys.  The drum's tag says, "B. joyful B. fun B. shaky B. musical B. heard B. you".  Words to live by?  I think so.

What are your new favorites?

New from Amy Lou

My sister's etsy store is full of afforable, luxurious, trendy jewelry for every girl (or mama)!  Her latest addition is a favorite of mine, so I had to share.  For only $20 and heaping with style, this would be great in any color (she will custom make for you, if you want!).  I don't know if I can resist...

The Belle Necklace

Belle Necklace is made of clear, silver lined seed beads, and knotted aqua blue silk. There are 19 beaded strands. Necklace is 25" long when tied. A beautiful, comfortable sophisticated piece

Admission

Sometimes we wear underwear.  On our heads.  Whatever.  You can admit that you do crazy things at your house, too, right?  Its totally part of being a mom.  There.  I admitted it.  

The best part about this photo is that you can see in the little boy's eyes how much he admires the big boy - even with a pair of undies on his head.

Ah...the bliss of being a child.
Of being loved.
Of loving another.

That is pure joy and it surrounds us everyday.  We are blessed.

New Year's Eve (for kids)!

If you're reading this and thinking that you haven't done anything for your little family to celebrate New Year's Eve...its not too late!  I made up a couple quick things for us to enjoy with our kids tonight before midnight, of course.  

I whipped up some cupcakes (total time: 30 minutes - 10 prep, 20 to bake), let them cool, frosted, and garnished with sprinkles (my kids' favorite!).

Find these quick to print cupcake toppers here!

I just taped a itty bitty fork from my cupboard onto the backs of these toppers.  The kids will help stick the rest of the toppers in the cupcakes when they wake up from their naps.

I made these celebration hats (total time: 10 minutes) for the kids to wear while we eat and party!  This idea is from Mommyapolis and the quick tutorial can be found here.  She made her hats for 4th of July last year, but I thought they were perfect for any celebration!  The kids decorated with stickers (well, mostly I did the stickers because they lost interest).

There you have it.  A super quick, thrown together little New Year's Eve for kids.  You can do it, too!  We'll add a little take-and-bake pizza and a dance party and the night will be loads of fun!

Happy New Year, Mamas!

(Un)Crafty - Wire Frame

This is really an (un)crafty project!  I took a frame, removed the glass and backing, stapled some wire to the back and voila!

This frame is 24 inches x 36 inches.

Now I can change photos, artwork, and season decor with ease in our family room!

Easy project (can you even call that a "project"?!).

Holiday Traditions

The beauty of the holidays are traditions.  Traditions make that magical feeling we all love so much about that wonderful time of year.  We have a few holiday traditions in the works.  We do not have family in town so sometimes we travel on holidays which doesn't always lend itself to creating many traditions at home.  Now that the boys are getting older and more into tradition, Hubby and I are too...

This year, we started a new tradition: "The Elf on the Shelf".  We love this adorable story that has created a great new tradition for us.  The book is wonderful and at the end there is a page to mark the date of the start of the tradition for your family and the name of your elf.

Image from potterybarn kids

The Elf on the Shelf

Each night your elf magically travels back to the North Pole to report back to Santa.  Then, the elf is in a few spot in the morning than the day before.  The boys love getting up and looking for...

Zippy.

That is what we named our elf.

This is our other tradition.  I'm still working out some kinks.  Last year, I made this felt advent calendar but the boys weren't really into it.  This year, I made a little Christmas tree out of tag board and got some felt stickers.  Each day, we take out the stickers and decorate the tree a little more.

I admit that I would like this tradition to be more centered around the real reason for Christmas.  Next year I hope to be a little more prepared with some nativity pieces, bible verses, and stories from the birth of Jesus.

What are your favorite holiday traditions, mamas?

Baby Gift

I am so excited because I just ordered this adorable gift from The Baby Bunch for my good friend who just welcomed her first baby girl.  Have you ever seen anything cuter?!

Pink Birdhouse Pajamas