Cabins and Beaches

Here in Minnesota the weather isn't so great. It's the end of April and quite frankly, I'm sick of it. But I told myself I am going to start thinking summer anyway. Mentally, I'll be going up to our cabins and there are a few things I found in Pottery Barn Kids that would be perfect!

Adirondack Chairs - how dang cute are these with all those bright colors? Not only are they fun, they are "green". Made out of sustainable eucalyptus. Hmmm, interesting. Plus you can get a name printed on the chair. Perfect and only $69.

My kids are a little older (not toddlers anymore), so they can start hauling their own stuff around in these kids sized beach totes printed in whales or sharks. $34 (free shipping until May 22).

If your child is a sand-nut, she will absolutely love this oversized sandbox with it's own canopy for protection.

To spice up the mood and make sure everyone is having a blast, check out these games - the Beach Toss and SkeeBall (and really, who doesn't think SkeeBall is a hoot?)! $39 and $49 respectively.

Think summer. It is coming, I promise.

Anamalz Saving Animals

Even though Earth Day was two days ago, it's not too late to post about these cute little environmentally friendly guys called Anamalz. (Yes, that is how it is spelled.)

These wild anamalz, farm anamalz, and australian anamalz are one of the best toys I've seen in a long time. I love the fact they are "green" - made from renewable resources (like organic maple wood), non toxic glues and paints. Each piece is unique with it's own wood grain and markings. Not to mention they are all made by hand. Right, no machines involved, just people who give a damn about kids and the environment. Can you believe it? As their website says, "Give them the environment and the anamalz will roam." So true.

Anamalz Saving Animals is their giving back program: "anamalz has established its own trust fund committed to contributing funds to various wildlife organizations around the world." Tony.

I would be remiss not to point out that they spark the imagination of children of all sizes. Even adults find them fun to play with. Their legs are bendable, you can make most of them stand on one leg (see above pics), give them their own noises and voices, accidentally drop them from the counter (hey, they are wood), and now you can buy a CD to go along with them. The Anamalz music CD will get your kids grooving and moving. So, turn off SpongeBob (your kids have seen every episode 5 times anyway) and get your kids' imagination rolling with these "wild things"!

No batteries needed (even more environmentally friendly) and the price is right. For all this, each of these little anamalz costs only about $6 to $7 on Amazon. It just keeps getting better.

I think I could go on and on and on about this product. It is truly amazing and yet, so simple. After all you know the expression, Keep It Simple Stupid.

Anamalz. Go ahead, buy them all.

Laugh Much?

One of my favorite things in life is laughing... laughing so hard you almost pee your pants.

Christie Mellor does it to me every time. She is the author of The Three Martini Playdate and The Three Martini Family Vacation. If you enjoyed her books as much as I did, you will enjoy reading more of her on Mommy Track'd section The Three Martini Complaint Department where she writes about more hilarious situations. She is truly gifted, and last time I read the Three Martini Playdate, I swear a little pee came out!

Mommy Track'd has a few informative sections. In the upper left corner, click Features or Survival Guide. You will find tons of fun and practical information.

Want more Christie Mellor? She has a new book that just came out (literally, it was released April 8, 2008), Were You Raised By Wolves?: Clues To the Mysteries of Adulthood. Only $13.57 at Amazon. I'm looking forward to it, and I'm sure I'll love it enough to post about it.

Designer Diner

Admit it. There are only a few places you like taking your kids out for dinner. And you've been to those places so often, your kids could do their coloring placemats with their eyes closed. I mean, come on, spend the extra few dollars to mix up the maze once in awhile and make new copies. And who knows where those crayons have been if they aren't in a brand new box.

If this sounds like your story, you need the Designer Diner at Bella Tunno. It's a nice size portable placemat (18" x 11"). On one side you can wipe-clean the placement and on the other side there is a reusable chalk mat. "It’s a portable imagination station for little artists and a traveling table for little eaters! Includes a 12 piece box of non-toxic colored chalk and a detachable chalk pouch."

Have A Seat

If your child loves art projects or loves to build things (ok, that pretty much describes all children), check out the Elia Mini Chair at CreativeKidStuff. Your child will have a blast "building" and decorating their very own chair. Maybe just maybe they will actually sit during dinner if you let them use their new chair! What a novel idea.

The creator of the Elia Mini Chair had this to say about his product, "The fact that cardboard is ubiquitous in consumer culture and is the most recycled of all consumer products makes it a great vehicle for helping kids understand issues about sustainability and the environment. I think corrugated cardboard is a really brilliant invention. It was developed as a less expensive and lighter alternative to wood and plywood as a packaging material at the end of the 19th century. It has enormous structural strength given its light weight and this, of course, is a result of the way it is made - layers of fluted liner (paper) sandwiched between flat liner. The flutes are like roman arches in that that they resist compression and transfer load efficiently. Cardboard also behaves like a structural column when it is edge-loaded. So the Elia Mini Chair is also a great way to teach young kids about basic engineering and geometric principles like the arch, the triangle, compression, tension, beams and columns. And hopefully children will come away with an understanding that good design is a marriage of art and engineering."
(From CreativeKidStuff.)

Ya, right... or maybe kids will just have fun building it and decorating it. I'd like to meet this guys' kids.

Bronze

I saw this in a Posh Cravings newsletter and wanted to pass it on.

American Bronzing is offering up to 50% off in order to bronze your child's first shoes - for a limited time. Parents used to do this all the time and then the trend kind of faded. But now it's back! And to bronze your child's first pair of shoes for only $39.95 - how great is that? You can also choose to have them mounted for a little extra cash. Those cute, oh-so-tiny shoes will be remembered for a lifetime. And how many times will you say, "I can't believe you used to fit into those shoes at one time"? Uh oh, here come the crocodile tears, open the flood gates.

Everyone Loves a Contest!

We have some copies of The Baby Gizmo Buying Guide (see yesterday's post) to give away!

The lucky winner(s) will also have their choice of an Emily Allyn:
onesie and burp cloth or
toddler shirt.

Click here for contest details.

Pregnancy Through Preschool

You are pregnant and so incredibly excited to meet this little one growing inside you. In fact, you are positively glowing. You have waited to start creating that baby registry for a long time, so you bounce on down to the nearest baby gear store. You walk into the store and stop dead in your tracks. Feeling a little overwhelmed you automatically start practicing your Lamaze breathing.

"Oh my God" you think to yourself, "Where the hell do I start?" Crib, bassinet, moses basket, co-sleeper ("what's that?" you wonder), portable crib, crib mattress, bumper pad and sheets, glider/rocker, dresser, changing table... and those are just the items on your left in the front half of the store.

You start to walk around in a daze when you spot the stroller section: jogging, double, single, pram, light-weight, umbrella, all-terrain, luxury. "This is ridiculous," you think, "I just want a stroller. I can’t even think about jogging right now."

Wait there’s more. You round the back of the store to find car seats (infant, convertible, booster), seats that vibrate, bouncers, swings, safety gates, play yards, baby carriers, high chairs, booster high chairs, potties ("I think I'm going to hyperventilate. There are ten different potties. Who needs that kind of selection for a gross potty?"), baby monitors, bathtubs, and ("oh geez, there it is, the dreaded milking machine") the breast pumps. "I'm outta here," you say to yourself.

However, in order to get out of the store you must work your way back to the front, walking past all the toys, DVDs, clothing, and diaper bags. As you are now in a full out sprint for the front door, you catch a glimpse of a bright-colored book. You halt in your tracks to look at it. You are out of breath. Let's face it, these days you can't run more than 15 steps without getting winded. So, you pick up the book, The Baby Gizmo Buying Guide. You open to the table of contents and see a list of absolutely everything you just passed in the store.

You skim a few pages in the book. This book is amazing. It discusses all these gizmos in detail, what you should look for, why you need it, why the authors like or dislike it, things to consider, safety issues, and more. You close the book and proclaim out loud "There is a God!" Just then another pregnant woman opens the front door, walks in, and freezes. You see the look of horror on her face and shove a copy of the book in to her hands, "Here, you just won the lottery. Look at this book and then go shopping."

Epilogue: You read and re-read The Baby Gizmo Buying Guide in three days. You took grueling notes, flagged pages, and felt prepared to hit the store again. You knew exactly what you wanted and why. You felt confident in your choices and didn't pick one out of the twelve high-chairs because it was pretty. For the car seat, not only did you understand all the lingo, you knew which one fit your needs best. You also knew the main features you wanted in a stroller, so when you reached the store you narrowed your selection down to four and "test drove" those four to find your fit. You had your baby. You had all the gizmos you needed. And your baby grew up to be the well-adjusted, self-confident, driven daughter you are incredibly proud of... all because you bought The Baby Gizmo Buying Guide. Amazing how that works!

Emily's Note: This book is well worth the $11.55 at Amazon.com. You will finish it feeling like a confident, well-informed consumer. For those of you who like to read editorial comments and reviews on specific brands and products, have no fear. Although they are not found in the book (the book would be outdated before it was published), they are found on the BabyGizmo website. For example, if you want find out their Editor's Pick for Top 5 Strollers, click gear, click strollers, click the type of stroller you are interested in, and the Top 5 are on the right.

The best part: I have 4 copies to give away of this fabulous book! Check back later today or tomorrow for details. I'll give 2 away in April and 2 in May.

Food Fight

"That boy is a P-I-G, pig." Can you guess what movie that quote is from?
Answer, Animal House. Babs, the sorority girl, said this when John Belushi sat down at her cafeteria table and proceeded to inhale (that's a nice way of saying it) is food.

Maybe Babs would have been more impressed if John Belushi would have been using some fun construction utensils. Pictured above is the "Fork Lift" Fork, the "Front Loader" Spoon, and the "Bulldozer" Pusher found on Amazon. Belushi could have bulldozed his mashed potatoes around the plate before shoving them into his mouth and pretending to be a zit. I realize, if you've never seen the movie you are probably completely grossed out by now. So... go watch Animal House. You'll thank me for it.

Who's There?

Are you in need of a hilarious gift? If not, think of your best friend and just buy something from Knock Knock. It is a riot! No pun intended... then again who ever heard of a knock knock joke that was actually funny.

You might find these Psycho notepads more funny than your recipient; unless your recipient has a great sense of humor, that is.

Sex Flashcards. These will catch someone's attention. Site claims you can "move from 'vanilla' to 'tantric' in mere days!"

For the hypochondriac in your life there is the Things That Might Kill You book.

You might enjoy these files for your file drawer:
Do/Ponder File

Useless/Nothing Nosy File

Total Crap File
Daily Mood Tracker

Then there is the almighty My Top Secret Passwords pad. Feel free to leave this lying around right next to your computer so the kids can hack into your all your sites.

For the friend in corporate America who will receive this and think, "Why didn't I think of this? I could have done this!" The Corporate Flashcards, an explanation to those mind-boggling corporate jargon words.
I wonder if these are in there:
Seagull Manager - Definition: A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.
Blamestorming - Definition: Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.
Salmon Day - Definition: The experience of spending an entire day swimming up stream only to get screwed and die in the end.
Assmosis - Definition: The process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard.
Percussive maintenance - Definition: The art of smashing, whacking, kicking or punching a machine to get it to work.
-- these funny definitions are taken from this site.

My favorite buzz-word comes from my days at American Express Financial Advisors (now Ameriprise). Prairie-dogging. Any guesses? Definition: A phenomenon that occurs in cubicle-filled office buildings. [Workers] pop up to look over the walls to see what's happening. Co-worker conversations and team meetings may also take place via prairie dogging as an alternative to the water cooler or conference room. What makes this funny is it was actually listed in one of our handbooks, "there will be no prairie-dogging". The jokes were flying.

There, you can't say you didn't laugh at least once while reading this blog! Happy Hump Day.

Note to anyone who cares: I will be off until Monday.

Super-saurus!

What kid doesn't like dinosaurs? And what kid doesn't need the book How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? Chasing Fireflies sells a dinosaur book and PJ set. Slip on the PJs, snuggle in tight, and read the book to your child. The same dinos from the book are printed on the colorful pajamas. (The PJs are for the kids, of course. Not you, silly.)

If your child is so into dinosaurs, all his gifts include T-Rex this and Stegosaurus that, try one of these other fun gifts from Chasing Fireflies.
There is the dino clock with a friendly (yes, friendly) roar for a wakeup call.
Another good buy is the terrysaurus towel.
Puddles are a given this time of year and these crazy dinosaur boots will keep those little toes dry.
Lastly, my favorite are these fossil flip-flops (shown above). Check out the bottom of the soles. Your child will leave dino footprints where ever she goes - awesome! Just don't call her bigfoot, she might get offended.