Excerpt from a note to some special girls

It should never go unacknowledged when those you love, those who love you, go above and beyond. Just because the "thanks" is understood, does not mean it is not nice to hear as well. So, where to begin? Thanks. Thanks for dinner, for help packing and for help unpacking. Thanks for dropping everything when I was breaking down and crying. Thanks for the moral support and the physical support. Thanks for the laughs, tears and jokes at my expense. Thanks for being the family I chose for myself. I chose so very well. I love you all immeasurably, intensely and always!

back to school cool

As promised, one more guide with such cute things. More to come - promise!

http://mamanista.com/back-to-school-guide

Still in summer mode...

but there are so many back to school guides already out there and I hate not to pass them along. I I must admit I am not in the fall mode yet. Either way, click on the cool mom picks link to the left for their early pics and then check back soon for more.

And another brilliant idea...

that is both eco and kid friendly - a patch to keep away the bugs. What kid does not LOVE an excuse to put on anything that resembles a band-aid.

http://www.dontbitemepatch.com/

follow up is follow through

Another great idea on the plastic cup issue from blog I love -

http://www.coolmompicks.com/2008/06/colored_klean_kanteens.php

Cliff's Notes

I am like the rest of moms out there. I HATE the idea of anything happening to my kids. Ever. So it makes me insane when on a daily basis I find out that there is just one more thing to add to the list of things they are exposed to in the most innocuous ways. First it was lead and then the toxins in most bottles and cups made specifically for kids. Grrrrrrr. I try to be diligent about these things but I also have a real life with limited time and a list as long as my arm that never quite gets completed. This is why I am really a big fan of shortcuts. "Cliff's Notes" for life. These are the types of things that take all of the thinking and draying out of my children's potential health hazards. So I will share two finds passed along my two lovies.

Nicole was kind enough to let me know that she "just can not get enough" of these lead testing swabs at Lowe's
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=41581-000001168-5250&lpage=none

Emily is always passing this blog along for looking up which bottle, sippy cups and sports cups are OK. This is actually a great blog overall -

http://zrecs.blogspot.com/2008/02/z-report-on-bpa-in-infant-care-products.html

Now if they only had the Cliff's Notes to my life...

Give me a High Five!

Reading is big in my house. It is our end of day downtime and my girls hate to go to bed without it. They are both still at the age where we do most of the reading but my 4 1/2 year old is starting to read. One of her other favorite things is getting mail - her own mail. My parents and family know this and accommodate her often with postcards from their travels. Still nothing compares to when she gets her own magazine in the mail - "just like Mommy" she says. Highlights for kids is great, really great. But now they even have a magazine for the pre-readers called High Five and we love it. She is getting a little old for it but has now decided it it her favorite "read it myself" tool. So now I think we will have to get a subscription to both - one for her to read to us and one for us to read to her.

Order Highlights - http://www.highlights.com/jump.jsp?itemType=CATEGORY&itemID=260
Order High Five - http://www.highlights.com/shopping/product/detail2main.jsp?itemType=PRODUCT&itemID=2116&iProductID=2116