The Toadstool

The Toadstool table and chair set screams creativity. How cute is that? It's like an image you might find in a Disney Pixar fairytale movie. Can you picture your little girl sitting around having a tea party with the other neighbor girls. (And the boys in forrest steadily creaping up behind them ready to scare the daylights out of the little princesses!) But first your little enchanted princess needs to be sporting her Enchanted Forest Fairy Outfit. She will be the envy of all her little lady friends.

Another great find from Chasing Fireflies.

Bayfield, WI

Family reunions... you gotta love 'em. I just returned back from mine this weekend. Family from all over the U.S. came - from Washington state, Texas, Tennessee, California, Florida, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. We met at a resort in Bayfield, WI called Port Superior Rentals.

Bayfield is a quaint little town located in Northern Wisconsin on Lake Superior (one of the Great Lakes for those not from around here). If you like to sail, Bayfield is known around the world for it's pituresque waters and the Apostle Islands, located just off-shore from Bayfield.

If you live around the Twin Cities or in Wisconsin, I know you've heard of the town and maybe you have even been there. But, if not, I highly recommend it!

fabMap (TM)

I'm driving to Northern Wisconsin this weekend for a family reunion. I think I'll be bringing along my trusy new Rand McNally fabMap™. Oh, wait that's the Manhattan map. Whoops, that won't do me a lot of good. Hmmm... maybe I'll skip the family reunion and go to Manhattan instead. Right... better not. Ok, back to earth.

I thought fabMap stood for fabulous map, but it doesn't. The map is quite impressive actually. Get this, "It’s tear-proof, wrinkle-proof, waterproof, and requires no folding." Now try and get your brain around that for a moment. You can't can you. You are thinking to yourself, how do they make a map that doesn't have to be folded? And the image stuck in your head right now is you trying to figure out how to fold a map. No, the crease goes this way. No, the crease goes that way. Crease-no-more. The fab in fabMap stands for fabric. (Ahhh, ancient Chinese secret, eh.) Genious. A map made of fabric. You can just crumple it up or you can fold it however you want to fold it. (Not how the manufacturer thinks it should be folded.) Fabric and waterproof. Does it get any better than that? For maps, I mean.

And the 2008 Best In Show Award goes to fabMap™.

Oh and the family reunion is a whole other story. Which reminds me. I'm off for the remainder of this week. Tune in next week for more fabFinds. (And I don't mean fabric finds.)

Ickle, Pickle, and Tickle

Me: Ickle me, Pickle me, and Tickle me were sitting on a fence. Ickle me and Pickle me fell off. Who was left?
You: Tickle me (now picture my arms coming out of your screen to reach out and tickle you).

It's one of my favorite kid jokes. Yes, the ones they say over and over and over again.

The picture above reminds me of this joke. Ickle me because my first reaction is just plain ick. Pickle me because it's green like a pickle. And Tickle me because when you sit in it, I can only imagine the hairs would constantly be tickling you. Plus, I must admit, it reminds me of Mr. Snuffleupagus. Aside from all that, I will say it is funky and a bit fun.

You can find the Baby Hairy Bertoia chair at Genius Jones. And if you have $850 burning a whole in your pocket, it can be yours. I can't imagine there are many people in your circle that have this chair, therefore it would truly be a unique find for you.

Ahead of Their Time

The Social Security Administration revealed their annual Popular Baby Names list recently.
Guess which female name is number one?
Hey... you can't look! You already clicked the link, didn't you?
If not, here's a clue. Moi.
Yes, it is Emily again. Emily has been number one since 1996. I guess my parents were ahead of their time. And let me tell you how many times, as an adult, I have been at a store and heard, "Emily, Emily come here." I used to fall for it and turn my head wondering who knew little 'ole me. Now I'm clued in and know it's a parent's voice calling their daughter.

But enough about me :)

The number one boys name? Jacob. Followed by Michael, Ethan, Joshua, Daniel.

And the following spots for the female names goes to Isabella, Emma, Ava, and Madison. I'm just going to take a wild guess here and say that Friends pushed the name Emma into the top 5!

On the other spectrum, Allyn didn't even make the list in the last 18 years! I guess Emily and Allyn is popular and unique.

I think Emily Allyn should start a Popular Baby Nicknames list. What do you think?
Well, that's easy and here it is!
1. Peanut
2. Sweet Pea

3. Monkey

4. Baby Cakes

5. Silly Goose

6. Pumpkin
7. Crabby Cakes

8. Wiggle Worm

9. Little Love

10. Girly Girl

Another Funny

For the weekend, I leave you with this...
You will laugh out loud at least 15 times, guaranteed.
I found this article on Cracked.com, 20 Baby Products Great For Traumatizing Infants. (Right click link and choose open in new window to read the article and my comments below side-by-side.)

#20 - Creepy
#19 - Gross to even think about having to do something like that, don't like the visual
#18 - Still doesn't look safe to me
#15 - As cracked.com puts it, "This is a great way to teach your children "I trust you exactly none."
#9 - OK, I understand they do this in other countries, fine, that is their culture and what they know. But that is in other countries people.
#8 - Think JonBenet.
#7 - I might just have to get me one of these.
#5 - Just plain wrong. Enough said.
#3 - So mean... yet so funny.
#1 - Well, Emily Allyn posted on this a loooong time ago! That's right, I guess we are just ahead of the game. Stick with us, we'll take you places.

Giveaways

Starting today, Emily Allyn is featured on Bloggy Giveaways. We will be giving away clothes, clothes, and more clothes!
Each day one new company posts a featured giveaway (Mon-Fri). The post lasts a few days and then a winner is chosen (or winners, in our case). They have great items too, not crap - or yours truly wouldn't have even thought about being affiliated with the site :)

And if you are one of those negative-Nelly's that says, "Oh, I never win anything," just try. If you can enter each day, you will have approximately 250 chances to win throughout the year!

We've Got Spirit Yes We Do. We've Got Spirit How 'Bout You?

What did I do on vacation, you ask? A number of relaxing and fun things, but one of them included reading a book I've been meaning to read for a while now.

Raising Your Spirited Child: A Guide for Parents Whose Child Is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, Energetic by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka.

Mary Sheedy Kurcinka describes a spirited child as a normal child who is more - more intense, more persistent, more sensitive, and more perceptive. "All children possess these characteristics, " she writes, "but spirited kids possess them with depth and range not available to other children. "

Does this sound like it might be one of your children? If not, scroll down and linger through my other posts. If so, I highly suggest you read Raising Your Spirited Child. If you are not quite sure yet, here are some characteristics Mary gives to each spirited child. She warns that not all spirited kids will bear each characteristic, but the characteristics they do display, they display with rigor.

1. Intensity: Loud, dramatic, shrieking, noisy when they laugh, play, and even walk. Or they can be intensely observant.
2. Persistence: The child "locks in" to an activity or idea.
3. Sensitivity: Responds to the slightest noises, lights, smells, textures or changes in mood.
4. Perceptiveness: They notice everything.
5. Adaptability: Uncomfortable with change, do not like surprises (and we don't mean surprise birthday parties!).

Do you find your days are like roller coasters? Do you use words to describe your "spirited" child like demanding, aggressive, stubborn, loud, manipulative, wild, whiny (well, ok who doesn't call their child whiny!), and argumentative?

See if you can relate to this story.
One minute I am snuggling with my son. We are reading together, giggling, and enjoying each other's company. He then gives me a big kiss, a bear hug, tells me I'm the "bestest" mommy ever, and runs off to the other room to find his older sibling. I am in hog-heaven.
Then out of nowhere you hear shrieks so deafening you think surely only dogs can hear them, but no you hear them quite clearly. You run to the other room to find your oh-so-lovable-one-minute-ago-son screaming, and I mean screaming, and hitting his brother. (The brother has his hands over his ears and is kind of retracting inward because of the noise. The hitting doesn't help either.) You need to know what happened and you start quizzing the older brother who says, "I don't know." You find yourself asking your son to calm down so you can get to the bottom of this, "William, can you please stop crying so we can talk?" He can't even hear me, you think to yourself. You raise your voice, "William, please stop crying. I want to talk to you." Still nothing but incredibly loud crying that is out of control and very annoying. You feel agitated and yell, "WILLIAM, STOP IT NOW. 1, 2, 3..." Now, either the crying escalates back to the shrieks or he stops crying only because he doesn't want to go to his room but he is still breathing like crazy and very angry.

This is just one example; an example that resonates with me, in fact - the shrieks, the uncontrollable crying, the hitting, the "not listening to me", not to mention my atrocious parenting style. After a few minutes of talking, I found out they were wrestling and the older brother hurt William.

This brings me to one of the most enlightening parts for me in Raising Your Spirited Child. Mary addresses this type of behavior. She explains, "Spirited children experience every emotion and sensation deeply and powerfully. Their hearts pound, the adrenaline flows through their bodies. There is actually a physical reaction that occurs more strongly in their bodies than in less intense individuals. They are not loud because they know it irritates people; they are loud because they really feel that much excitement, pain, or whatever the emotion or sensation might be. Their intensity is real. It is their first and most natural reaction. When you know your child is intense, you can expect a strong reaction and develop a plan to help your child express his reaction appropriately or diffuse it."

I can honestly say this was an epiphany for me. I now know this is his temperament. He's not trying to annoy me. He's not shrieking because he is over-the-top dramatic. Intensity is simply a characteristic which he has "more" of than other children. And it is real.

I realize this isn't meant to be an excuse. It is however an explanation, and in other chapters Mary speaks about how to handle the different temperaments. Though this is just one example for one characteristic, the whole book is devoted to sharing many, many examples and discussing ways to handle the temperaments.

Since this one post has become quite lengthy, I will end it here and post again in the near future with part deux. There is so much to say!

If you are chomping at the bit to know more, visit Mary Sheedy Kurcinka's website. She is a wealth of knowledge. Plus, she has written other fascinating books such as Kids, Parents, and Power Struggles (my next read), and Sleepless in America.

Amazing stuff.

The First Adventure

Books in general are great, but personalized books for children are amazing.

Custom Made For Kids is an online store where you can personalize stories for your little one. The First Adventures of Incredible You is remarkably colorful, cheerful, interesting, and fun to read to your new baby over and over again. If you would like to see for yourself, visit Custom Made For Kids and click Virtual Book Tour on the left. You will fill out your child's name, birthday, favorite zoo, and friend (or relative). Then you get to see a few pages of what your book would really look like. Smart!

A storybook made specifically for your little princess or prince. Your child(ren) will grow up and treasure this keepsake for sure. Oh, and did I mention it has won awards?

Currently, receive 15% off when you use the code Custom15 at checkout.

My Glass Is 1/2 Full

Summer is not half over. It's not. No way. No-how.
We still have half the summer left to enjoy!

While you think about that, here are some fabulous summer finds from one of my favorite sites, Spoon Sisters.

Everybody loves a tire swing. Well, how about a leaf swing or the ladybug rope swing? It holds up to 150 pounds, assuming the tree limb you attach it to can also handle 150 pounds!

For the ultimate sports enthusiast, there is the Why a Curveball Curves - The Incredible Science of Sports book.

It's summer. Get the kids away from Hannah Montana and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody for goodness sakes. Instead invest a cheap $17 into this book: Unplugged Play – No Batteries. No Plugs. Pure Fun. And you'll never hear, "I'm bored" anymore.

Or teach those kiddos a little bit about nature (hey, even if you're not chomping at the bit to discover nature, kids should be). Check out the Camp Out! - The Ultimate Kids Guide for the Backyard to the Backwoods book.

If you are a person who loves sunshine and blue skies (a few clouds are fine too), you will love this umbrella. Forget the rain, it's blue skies baby.

Take the kids to your favorite outdoor restaurant. While you wait your budding artist can practice her drawing with the Doodles at Dinner - Tear-Off Placemats.

Ok, so this next one really has nothing to do with summer. I just think it's clever. The Foot in the Door Door Stop is a new take on the whatever-you-can-find-at-that-moment to hold the door open. Heck, paint the bottom of the shoe red and pretend it's a Christian Louboutin.

Vaca

I'm writing to you from beautiful Northern Wisconsin. My family is taking in a little R&R at the cabin in Hayward. So far we have been golfing (twice). Let's just say the Par 3 course and I are much better aquainted than a "regular" course. Yesterday we went canoeing down the Namekagan (I have to look up the spelling on that one) River. With all the tubers, we felt like we were going down an obstacle course. Crazy. Much more to come this week!

In other words more Amazing Finds for Moms and Tots will be delivered to you next week. See you then...

Pathological Charmers

No, no, no I'm not referring to the Mr. Wrong we all seemed to find during our dating years (for some, over and over again).
In fact, this Charmer is the perfect follow up to the post from yesterday regarding the Lubber Totes...

These little charms, from Shoe Charmers, can decorate your Lubber Tote or any number of those rubber shoes you have strewn about the house. The pictures above highlight only a few of the many whimsical and adorable charms.

The upper left image is a glow in the dark skull. I can just see my boys spending hours in a dark room checking out each other's skulls. (For those of you who already think my boys are in the dark - well, take off, eh.)

Or you could buy all beach related charms and go with a beach theme, the sunglasses, beachball, sailboat, palm tree, seashell, flip flops. Heck they even have a coconut drink and suntan lotion bottle!

The boys can opt for a sports theme. They can fill their holes with basketball, soccer, football, baseball and tennis charms.

A little shameless self-promotion (hey, it's my blog): see the crab pictured above? It would match nicely with the Emily Allyn Crabby Cakes apparel. Picture the Crabby Cakes shirt and the adorable little crab shoe charmers; both on that "little character" of yours.

But alas my work is done. As if those aren't enough choices, you can visit Shoe Charmers to witness the mass of options.

Landlubber Minus the Land

For those of you in love with Crocs (or any rubber shoe), and I believe that covers about 1/2 the world, you will love the Lubber Tote. It's a tote that will carry almost anything with the look and feel of those special rubber shoes. Even the "footprint" of the tote is similar to the shoe!

"The clog tote can be taken to the beach, rinsed, and dried just as you do your clog shoes." Now that is convenient. Think how often the bag you take to the beach gets sandy and dirty. The lubber tote makes it easy - simply hose it off!

The Lubber Tote comes in an array of colors - perfect to match those clogs of yours. Just in case you need more ideas for things to do with your fun bright tote, the website lists several. All this and only $16.99.

Don't forget to decorate your new tote with the ever-popular charms.