When I visit my parents in Texas, I am obsessive about garage sale-ing. Where they live – unlike Miami – garage sales are very popular and it’s easy to get around so you can cover several neighborhoods in an hour or two. Plus, churches and other organizations there host large annual sales which have all kinds of things I’m interested in: vintage knick-knackery, craft supplies, games/toys, education/teaching resources, kids’ clothes, and BOOKS!

I found this 100 piece children’s puzzle of the United States from the 1950s:

I liked the look of the illustrations so I bought it for 25 cents, knowing there would probably be a few pieces missing. I put it together the other day, though, and all 100 pieces have survived the past five decades intact!

These two little Easter decorations were too cute to pass up – I had to temporarily suspend my rule of No Decorative Objects:

They have a vintage, handmade feel about them... right down to the "Made In Taiwan" stickers on the bottom.

These miniature metal cooking toys for children were an unbelievable find:

I bought a large set including pots, colanders, saucepans, cookie sheets, cookie molds, bundt pan, and more. They boys have created all sorts of delicacies with their new kitchen tools! (um, well, mostly coffee, strawberries, and pizza)

I’ve no idea when these two cards were produced – probably the 60s/70s. They were stuck in with a bunch of craft supplies I bought at an estate sale.

I like their design, though. The yellow/red card was for “Starsnap” dress fasteners and the baby card held “Lady Washington Baby Pearls.”

And this owl illustration I found at the same sale… it was drawn by a family friend for one of their children 30 or so years ago. I plan to change the matting and frame, but the illustration is adorable!

...all for $7.50, which happens to be exactly half of The $15 Rule!

[Entered into the Parent Bloggers and Couponer's Blog Blast -

everybody loves a bargain, right?]

Yes, at age 2 1/2, the boys are physically capable of sitting still for up to half an hour (especially if in a high chair and provided with either crayons and paper [Jonah] or stimulating one-on-one conversation [Benjamin]). And they are generally well-behaved. But it consumes 90% of my attention and therefore is not terribly enjoyable because I would like to be able to converse with other people at the table and/or concentrate on my own meal. In just a few years they will entertain themselves much better and I won’t have to gulp down my food.

In the meantime, the general rule is that if my meal will cost more than about $15, my boys are not invited to the party. I eat out with them at casual cafes/restaurants a couple of times a week – it’s good for all of us to get out of the house and learn how to behave in public eating establishments. Plus they generally eat more when we’re out. (Not that we’re still obsessed with fattening them up, ahem.) And I think there’s also that fear of a Massive Reflux Episode still lurking in my subconscious… been there, done that at places like Fuddruckers and the food bar at Target.

So we’ll have a few years of eating out with some degree of sanity, but then – for financial reasons - we’ll have to go back to eating at home more once they reach middle school – have you seen how much teenage boys eat??!!

[This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by Burger King Corp.]

Just in time for the preschool summer camp that I'm directing, Parent Bloggers asked me to review the new My Fruit Roll-Ups...  a lunchbox favorite of my childhood is now available with custom designs!    (See details below on how you can get a free case!)

The ordering process is straight-forward - you go to the site and choose the graphics and/or text you'd like on the roll-up.  (There's a demo you can watch to discover all the options you have.)   And voila!  A couple weeks later you have custom made roll-ups at your door!  The site offers a wide variety of graphics to choose from (sports/animals/celebrations/etc.) and you can have up to images on each roll.  For the kids at camp I chose a fish and ladybug design:

They also offer Design Suggestions -- such as Hockey, Halloween, and Soccer -- where the images are already chosen and laid out.  For example, the Birthday design has party hats, cupcakes, and a place to add your own message (choice of four fonts, three font sizes, and three colors).

Note:  while you're at the site, little Fruit Roll-Up mascots are making little happy meep-meep noises - which I found amusing, but if you're at work you may want to turn off the sound.

And now for the GiveAway!  For a chance to win a free case of 30 My Fruit Roll-Ups, check out the designs at the My Fruit Roll-Ups site and leave a comment below with your favorites!  I will randomly choose a winner on June 20th - be sure to leave an email address so I can contact you!  You may enter as many times as you like, but only U.S. residents for this one.

UPDATED:  Congratulations to Jo, the winner of the Fruit Roll-Ups!  I'll be contacting you shortly!

Have you tried Edy's new line of Yogurt Blends?  Ours were buy one get one free recently so I bought Cappuccino Chip flavor of the Yogurt Blends and another Slow Churned flavor.  The Cappuccino Chip was reeeeally good!  They can't actually call it ice cream because it has less than 10% butterfat so they call it "frozen dairy dessert," and I guess the chips aren't really chocolate because they're called "chocolatey pieces," but whatever, it's very tasty.

And they have live and active yogurt cultures in them, too!  (Or, at least they were live and active before being over-processed and stuck in a freezer for a couple of weeks.....) 

(My reviews - including this one - are unsolicited and uncompensated unless otherwise stated.)

We received the "Your Baby Can Read: Early Language Development System" from Parent Bloggers to test with our boys. It included 5 DVDs and a set of several unique flash cards with basic words and phrases. After using them for a couple of months, here’s our feedback:

1. The quality of the DVDs is great - engaging and geared toward young children. No overly complicated sequences or gratuitous graphics, though I thought the pace was sometimes a bit too fast for toddlers and infants. The length is perfect and my boys were speaking back to the cute little girl who hosts the show!

2. The flashcards were a big hit! They slide open to reveal the written word so children associate one with the other. The blank card was a good idea, too. I wrote each boy’s name on one side and they liked flipping it back and forth --- though Jonah was miffed that his name didn’t have a “B.”

3. The way the system is marketed would not appeal to me in a retail environment. The box recommends that children watch the videos twice each day to help them develop reading skills, which seems to contradict most studies about the effects of television-watching on young children. I’m not convinced that teaching my boys to read as toddlers will help them academically/socially/emotionally. I would put more emphasis on the effective educational and brain-stimulating aspects of the video series. They’re certainly much better than most videos for young children.

4.  My boys sit still and watch the entire video when I play it.  Do you need more of a recommendation than that?!

Amazon carries the Baby Can Read DVD series - the $79.95 price for the five videos is a good value -- and the flashcards are an added bonus!

Check out Parent Bloggers to find out what other families think about the Your Baby Can Read DVD series!