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?]

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.]

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!

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.)

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!

They didn’t wear the belts much during the flight – they’re toddlers after all. But we did fasten them in again udring some turbulence.  As the boys get older and more willing to sit still, they can wear them for most of the flight.

Both CARES belts fit into the small outer pocket of one of backpacks, which was nice because when traveling with small children, space is at a premium (diapers! snacks! wipes! books! toys! more snacks! sippy cups! extra outfit! crayons! and even more snacks!). We slipped each belt over the back of the seat, then connected it to the airplane seat belt. Then the belts were just as easy to remove.

One flight attendant did ask us if the belts were FAA approved, which they are – and they’re made by the same company as most standard airplane seat belts.

Jonah wasn’t taking any chances, though. He still studied the emergency exits closely before takeoff:

We’ll be using the CARES belts several more times this year – I’ll keep you posted as to how they work, especially on overnight flights!

If you fly with young children, these are well-worth the investment. For more information, visit the Kids Fly Safe web site.

* * *

I recently ordered CARES safety devices for when we fly with the boys.  Since they turned two we have to purchase a seat for each of them (ugh), but with these devices we don't have to lug two car seats aboard (excellent).  I was amazed at how small and lightweight they are - not much bulkier than a belt for your pants - so they'll be easy to tuck into our carry-ons.

Since Jonah is only 22 pounds and children have to wear this device until they are 44 pounds and 40" tall, we're thinking he might be flying off to college in one at this rate! 

I'll let you know how the test-run goes!

• Secret Inks
• Juggling
• The Ten Commandments
• The Five Knots Every Boy Should Know
• Coin Tricks
• Seven Wonders of the Modern World
• Books Every Boy Should Read (an annotated list)

…and many more. The authors are not trying to be cool or build self-esteem -- nor do they talk down to their audience. The Igguldens just state the facts as they are. In fact, their writing reminds me a bit of C.S. Lewis in his Narnia tales.

The section "Girls" is my favorite example: “We thought long and hard about what advice could possibly be suitable...the subject should be mentioned here – as delicately as possible.” And later:  “Be careful with humor...One joke, perhaps, and then a long silence while she talks about herself.” And later: “Play a sport of some kind. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it replaces the corpse-like pallor of the computer programmer with a ruddy glow. Honestly, this is more important than you know.”

Thanks to HarperCollins to providing the book. Being toddlers, Benjamin and Jonah are not ready for this book yet, but I know we will have fun going through it in a few years. It’s a perfect addition to our future homeschool curriculum!

The boys are both speaking too much quite a lot these days and are beginning to distinguish between English and Spanish. For example, if they say something in English about a picture in a book and I ask a follow-up question in Spanish, they’ll answer me in Spanish. And especially with Benjamin, you can see him thinking about this – sometimes he’ll nod and answer “Ye – [pause] - Si!”

As planned, I started a Spanish-language playgroup that – along with regular visits from Abuela – has been the best way to keep the boys regularly hearing, thinking, and speaking Spanish.

And for the last month they’ve been watching two fantastic videos from Whistlefritz: “Los Animales / The Animals” and “Vamos a Jugar / Let’s Play.” Maria, the friendly and engaging host is a native speaker (THANK YOU!) and sings and talks with children and puppets exclusively in Spanish (THANK YOU!) throughout the video.

The boys were already familiar with some of the music - including folksongs “Los Pollitos” and “Vengan a Ver Mi Granja” - from their Jose-Luis Orozco CD. And though it would be better to show live farm animals and real backgrounds instead of puppets and computer-generated graphics, I understand that those sorts of features raise production costs. And besides, toddlers aren’t terribly discerning about these types of aesthetics, are they? I mean, they’ll snuggle every night with a stuffed dog whose nose is split open and has stuffing falling out.

Regardless, these two Spanish-language videos are the best I've seen for toddlers and preschoolers. And now when I sing “Buenos dias, amiguitos! Como estan?” like Maria, there’s a chorus of “MUY BIEN!” and Jonah pretends to shake maracas.

Check out the Whistlefritz site for more detailed info on the DVDs – or just to see their adorable logo. When the colorful logo with whistling mouse appears at the beginning of the videos I am as excited as my boys! You can also read what other parents have to say about the Whistlefritz DVDs at Parent Bloggers Network.

I have added “Los Animales” to my list of resources for introducing children to Spanish and I hope Whistlefritz continues to publish many more videos! We’ll be customers, both for our own use and for gifts!

While not groundbreaking per se, Your Child’s Strengths is a well-organized resource worth delving into if you are involved with children in any way.  For, as Fox herself points out, “Everyone who has a role in raising children has an important part to play…”

Defining strengths as “the things that we do that make us feel energized and alive when we do them,” Fox suggests choosing to see the strengths in each child instead of the weaknesses.  Like Mel Levine’s A Mind At A Time (that I read a couple of years ago) this book’s underlying premise is that we should bolster each child’s self-esteem through “positive psychology.”

In the first half of Your Child’s Strengths, Fox explores and explains the negatives of the current educational system.  But her discussion is not limited to a critique; she then goes on to provide tangible and realistic recommendations to transform the methods of modern schooling.

The latter half of the book is full of real-life examples and detailed practical application, which I always appreciate.  Mere abstract philosophy is sometimes difficult to translate into daily curriculum, especially when one doesn’t have much time for pensive reflection (as is the case with most parents and teachers). 

In the section on assessing children’s strengths, Fox provides several examples for those working with children too young to accurately self-assess.  For instance, older children can write about which activity is most appealing, but for younger children:  “Find three pictures of characters engaged in a variety of different activites…. ask her several times if she would like to do the activity the characters are doing.”

Fox also includes an enlightening section entitled “13 Moments in History:  A Brief History of Educational Theory,” a survey of educational philosophies from different eras and cultures.  Likewise, Appendix C – a list of web sites, schools, and companies – is another valuable resource for philosophy and curriculum development.

While I don’t completely agree with the premise and goals of Positive Psychology, there are several useful and thought-provoking concepts that make Your Child’s Strengths worthwhile reading for any educator.  Personally, I connect more with the Charlotte Mason approach to education – which is not mentioned in this book – but I plan to research and incorporate several ideas/approaches mentioned here as well.

Thanks to Parent Bloggers for providing the book for this review.