In a world where we center ourselves around phones and screens, a change of pace is always a good thing. Whether you love game night because it sparks great childhood memories, or you're just a downright competitive beast who welcomes any opportunity to win (no shame) the holidays are the perfect time to bring out some fun...AND a little (or a...
When the boys were really small, I had Christmas down. We did holiday-themed art projects, advent calendars, Christmas stories, and went to see Santa right after Thanksgiving. Their stockings were filled with carefully curated items, and Christmas cookies were baked.
I'm slipping.
For the last few years, Christmas seems to take us by surprise. Now it's as much of a Christmas...
Lucky me... I got to round up adorable baby gifts! It can sometimes be tricky shopping for the itty bitty ones at the holidays though. You want to get something fun for them, but depending on how tiny they are, they may not be super into toys yet. Sometimes for the littles you're essentially gifting to the parents, so...
Preschoolers are such a cool age - big enough to graduate from baby toys, not quite ready for the tiny pieces of big kid toys - but bursting with creativity, exploring pretend play and interested in figuring out how everything works. So creating a gift guide for them was incredibly fun! These toys are pure joy - think brightly colored, open-ended and safe...
Gender-Neutral Dollhouses That Inspire Imagination
When I was three, I got a dollhouse for Christmas, built by my talented Papa (he went on to make grandfather clocks and I'm honored to have one in my dining room.) I was so excited; it was a memory I'll never forget. As I got older, I remember decorating the walls inside with wrapping paper...
So I was flipping through channels and came upon a charming show called "Don't be Tardy" starring an ex-'Real Housewife', but which could in fact be the theme song for my life recently. (Facebook told me it's my 8th wedding anniversary today, which totally didn't register until my hubs rolled over bright & early and confirmed - um, whoops? I have...
I may have stumbled upon the coolest new kid's toy for 2016: Sago Mini Jinja's House.
There's this tiny toy craze (borderline obsession) that seems to have taken over the minds of kids everywhere. You know what I'm talking about, right? Shopkins, Kinder Surprise eggs, yada yada yada. I don't understand it (at. all.), but my kids are ALL ABOUT IT. ...
Did you know Memorial Day is less than 3 weeks away?! What? We've had a few false starts to spring here, but today was finally warm enough to imagine that summer's on its way. Maybe. Since we'll have access to a pool this summer I've been browsing water toys for the kids but ended up finding all these amazing pool floats I want! There...
Arts & Crafts Gifts for Kids of All Ages
When I was a kid, my favorite gifts were arts- and crafts-related; they were the first ones I ripped from the packaging and dove into headfirst, then continued using long after the novelty of other toys wore off. Kids today have so many opportunities to create with technology, but often at the expense...
Mike and I were both math majors in college - that's actually how we first met. I spent my pre-baby career as an engineer working on missile warning systems (Mike worked on similar programs - include the Hubble Space Telescope which was so freaking cool), and I bring this up to make this one very important point:
Science + Math = really...