Things I Love Thursday- Crayola

Time for another round of Things that I Love Thursday hosted by The Diaper Diaries!


The thing I love this Thursday is (insert triumphant horn sound) CRAYOLA!!!

I love Crayola. They are by far the best, most kid friendly, high quality, mom loved coloring utensil suppliers. As a former teacher, a lover of coloring (its so relaxing!), and now a mom, I can vouch for the tremendous quality of the Crayola products. (And no, they are not paying me to say this- I don't even know them- but yes, I would be interested!).

There is nothing like coloring with a crayola crayon. They have the perfect consistency where there is no waxy residue or flakes all over the picture you painstakingly worked on. They do not break nearly as easy as most other crayons. I enjoy their colored pencils too- but its harder to notice a quality difference there in my opinion.

Now, crayola markers are the only markers allowed in our house (well, minus my permanant friend, the sharpie!). They are phenomenal. Smooth coloring. Great colors, very washable.


Well, I was very excited when Tar*et had a great little deal on Crayola makers. It was a 50 pip-squeeks in a handy pastic tower that was collapsible when not in use!

All for only $10!!!

I was thrilled- because as great as Crayola is, it can be a bit pricey!

Well, much to my dissapointment, when my 2.5 year old and I brought our new treasure home for an afternoon of coloring delight, I imediately became frustrated. The tower kept collapsing. The 'lid' kept closing in on our hands. These marker lids were the hardest buggers to get off and on- so most of my time was spent helping Izzy change from color to color rather than actually enjoying the activity myself. Then, I had about 5 colors that were almost completely dry- at opening! Well, I trudged on, hoping I could just figure this out. Well, within 1 week of slight use, I had another 5 markers dry up and nearly bite the dust. I couldn't believe the low quality, the complete dysfunctionality of the contraption, and just was so frustrated. This was not my crayola!

Well, the main reason I love my Crayola, is for their customer service. I gave the hotline a call. Was on hold for less than 3 minutes (amazing feat!). After a little serial number digging, the helpful woman found that my markers were made in 2007 and were nearing their shelf life. Hence, the dry colors. She happily sent me a consumer check for $15 off my next crayola purchase (with the intent of replacing my apprently defective product). I love you Crayola! Thank you for standing by your product enough to let me try again! So, as Izzy and I use up the remaning remnants of the Pip-squeek tower, we are plotting our next Crayola purchase.

Check out The Diaper Diaries for more things we love!

If I were in charge of the national budget...

I would invest in photo shop and save the taxpayers nearly $328,000, stress, and panic.

Glad to see common sense still reigns - ha!

But seriously- a photo of air force one over the statue of liberty-what were they thinking? Guess photo editing is just too easy.

Who's child is this?

Ok, I'll keep her. And claim her too.

I won!!!

Oh my gosh I am so excited I nearly peed my pants! I actually won something! I never win anything!

I stumbled across a great website:

www.kidbuyproducts.com

They have great reviews and resources for moms and kids. They are super down to earth and know how moms think.

Well, they had a great giveaway called Considering Cloth a couple weeks ago. Cloth diapering is something I would love to try with the next little one (whenever they decide to make an appearance). I was too overwhelmed with the thought of it when Izzy was born- but am excited as I research it more. Well, I now have a great push start to my cloth diapering endeavors! I won the giveaway.

I won like 7 cloth diapers from fuzzibunz, bumGenuis, and Bummis. Plus a few extra items like baby legs and a onesie. I am on cloud nine.

Thank you so much to the great gals at kidbuyproducts and to one of their giveaway sponsors The Little Seedling. I'm so excited to try cloth.

A super plus? The diapers I'm getting are one size fits all so I can even try using these cloth diapers on Izzy during nap/bed time! Whohoo!!!

Can you tell I'm geeked?

Things I Love Thursday- Dora Bingo

I join the carnival on The Diaper Diaries to exclaim yet another thing that I love. This Thursday, I Love our new Dora Bingo game.

I was given this as a gift for Isabelle over a year ago. It sat in the closet waiting for her birthday, but I forgot. It continued collecting dust over Christmas when I thought yet another new toy was not needed at the moment. Dora Bingo finally made its way into our play area from its perch on the shelf a couple of weeks ago. Boy do I wish I had gotten this thing down earlier!

Things I Love about it:

• Easy to use- my 2.5 year old can play it by herself



• Easy to store- all of the bingo chips fit in a compartment that fits under the base of the game- plus they are large enough to not really be huge choking hazards



• Spanish/English- everything is stated in Spanish and English- and Izzy learns from both



• Two Ways- do bingo by filling the star side or the animal side



• Teaches about animals



• Quick game- with only 6 spaces on the card- one game only lasts a few minutes, so there is a short term commitment to it- and its good for short attention spans

Things I Wish Would Change:

• It said on the box for ages 3+. I think my daughter would have started loving this game much closer to 2. The animal card side would be great for teaching her different animals. Now, she focuses more on learning to identify her colors on the star side.



• Small window of learning- There isn't a whole lot of room to grow up with this game, no way to "adjust" the rule of play to grow with it. I wish you could turn the English off to make it only Spanish or something like that to make it more challenging later on.

This game has been so fantastic for us. Isabelle plays it by herself, we play a couple games together or even as a family. I even played with two two year olds and it worked great. Unfortunately, it appears to be hard to track down. Ama*zon is sold out and doesn't know if anymore will be in stock. I found a different dora bingo game when I searched for it. I did manage to find a couple on e*bay. Just be sure to search "Dora Electronic Bingo"

Well, thats what I love this Thursday. To find out more things people love, check out the carnival going on at the Diaper Diaries.

A lesson in forgiveness and love...

My daughter is superb. She is a great little girl. We rarely have problems with her- discipline wise. She is polite and quiet and well mannered. We can't complain!

However, she does test my patience and try me many times a day.

Yesterday, was no exception. She just simply wasn't going down for her nap. She was fighting it to no end. After an hour, she started crying. I went upstairs yet again to calm her down to find her stripped of all her clothing, including diaper.

And poop.

She pooped the bed! Oh my goodness I was so mad! I quickly cleaned up the mess, put her diaper back on and ordered her to go to bed in a not so loving nor so patient way.

I was fried.

I was frustrated.

Then I heard the sweet little voice over the monitor,

"Jesus woves me dis I know...da bibol tells me so..."

Ah, the little lesson in forgivness and love from my two and a half year old. Certainly Jesus loves her and me, why not love each other- no matter what poop may come!

A Dream Come True...

Thanks to the bravery of my sister and brother in law who have welcomed "Simon" and "Peter" into their family, our little Izzy's dreams of real duckies came true.

Funny Girl

We have a comedien in training amongtst us. Our little Izzy girl has found herself to be quite funny- or wanting to be!

Some examples:

• When daddy is leaving she shouts "goodbye mommy!" and then gets this goofy grin on her face.


• She all of the sudden said "knock, knock" from her carseat one day. I responded, "Who's there?" She just laughed and laughed and thought that was so funny. So now she says "knock knock", and I say "who's there?" and she says, "Its me, Isabelle!"


• She has named her stuffed dolphin 'whale'


• On Palm Sunday- "God came into the city riding a camel!"

Then there was this conversation this morning:

"I want to wear a dinosaur shirt mommy"

"I don't think we have a dinosaur shirt, I think they onloy make dinosaur shirts for boys"

"Well, sometimes when I'm a boy, I will wear a dinosaur shirt"

Things I Love Thursday- KDL

Time again for another round of Things I Love (well, things we love if you visit the totally awesome blog of http://thediaperdiaries.net )

Check out the site to find a great list of products, places, and creative ideas that we totally love!

The thing I love this Thursday is the KDL- the Kent District Library system. Many of my readers live in the vicinity of the KDL- for those that don't- I hope your local library system is as totally awesome as ours!

The KDL is more than just an organized group of local libraries- it is like free shopping mall for any movie, cd, or book you could want! It unites all resources to be available to all.

You see, the KDL is made up of a ton of different libraries- I don't even know the number- 40 maybe? They have a common website: www.kdl.org

I have my local library that I go to and browse for new ideas and products. But, there website is where I find my true joy. You see, all I have to do is type in what I'm looking for. Maybe its a Dora DVD, a Veggie tales CD, or the novel that everyone says I just have to read. Up pop the results. It lists all the available options for you. I had no idea there were Strawberry shortcake soundtracks!!! I found the DVD series of my favorite show growing up- Dr. Quinn. It lists all of the results and what library they are at, what their 'status' is (checked out, when its due, on shelf, etc.). But here is the best part- I don't have to drive there! I click hold. I pick which library I will pick it up at. Then, I get an email when my item is ready to be picked up! Its held in a separate section for holds- so I don't have to go traipsing around the library looking for the Curious George book that should be there, but isn't. I check it out. I enjoy. I return to ANY KDL branch library. Brilliant!

I'm telling you it is an awesome thing. Its not realistic for one local library to resource all of our desires and needs. To combine resources and make it so user friendly is why the KDL is one of the things I love!!!

Remember to check out The Diaper Diaries for more Things We Love!

I am smarter than a 2 year old...

So apparently, New Duckie's tuft of hair was a dead give away as to his true identity. But, I am smarter than my 2 year old (most of the time)! A little snip snip and Izzy has proudly declared she has two Old Duckies. Ah, peace in the ducky world at last.

What works for you???

Attention all moms, babysitters, etc. I need some advice. I have two issues with Iz that I can't seem to get a hold of.

1). Bathtime drama. I have finally gotten to the point where Izzy can take a bath without throwing a huge fit. But, as soon as I even talk about washing her hair- its all out screams. I cannot wash her hair without a huge crying fit. I have tried using smaller cups, doing it faster, doing it slower, having her hold a washcloth- and yet the tears reign. I cannot handle this drama- its crazy! Any washing of the hair tips?

2.) Poopy diapers. Izzy has an amazing internal clock. She always poops during her naptime. She sleeps with diapers on since she is not night trained yet (she's not even three). I would really love for her to start doing her #2 business on the potty instead of in diapers. I have tried letting her take naps without diapers- but she has wet the bed- and well, thats just a mess. I have tried moving her lunch time earlier and naptime later to try to get her to poop before naptime. She has a standing offer to get to pick out anything from the dollar store when she poops on the potty. So far, no such luck. Any tips for getting poop where it belongs?

Edit to add a #3)
How do you teach a kid to spit? I'm trying to transition Izzy to real kiddie toothpaste with the flouride- but she won't spit. She has been using a toddler training paste that does not have flouride so she can swallow it. I've tried teaching her to spit with it and trying to get her spit with water, but no such luck! I can't get this girl to spit. Any ideas?