Monday's Product Review

As we removed the plastic from our playroom, we found that the majority of it was located in the play kitchen area. I was relieved to find the #2 plastic symbol on our great EBay find, the beloved play kitchen which meant it was safe. Unfortunately, the play food was a different story; all the plastic, some hard and some soft, had to go. Our options were wooden playfood and soft felt playfood. We started out with a mix but opted for the felt food since our daughter has a 'pitcher's arm' and wooden food became a weapon of mass destruction. There is a plethora of play food out there, and you can find great items for any price range. I have found that size does matter when it comes to felt food. When a felt cookie is made bigger than an average play plate, it does not have the same play quality as something made to proportionate the plates.

For really great playfood check out http://www.mandolyn.etsy.com/ . Not only is the felt food proportionate to the size of the play pots/pans, but the quality is great. She has a wonderful variety of fun and healthy foods. She is also very open to custom orders. You can see mine here: http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=16854639

My son Markus, just loves making soup and pretending to cut up the items needed for it.

Her playfood also comes in great recycled packaging.

We give her a [5 STARS]on our HAPPYMOMMY/HAPPYKID meter.

*All reviews are done on items I purchase. This seller has not asked or solicited this review in any way. This is our unbiased review.

Twitter - Don't Go it Alone

Using Twitter as a promoting tool is like having to toot your own horn; many people are not comfortable doing this. I had to learn a lot about self promoting back when I was a Nanny, it was not just about how much you liked kids or your training, but about how you sold yourself as a professional. Learning this was worth it since the difference in salary could be as much as $700 per week in pay, and that was back in the 90's. I use to teach seminars for different Nanny Support Groups and was a board member of NAN (National Association of Nannies). Now I "nanny" for free, well, for hugs and kisses, lol!

Many people feel that Twitter is like entering a whole new world, and the first step for them is to go get friends to follow you. They sit and stare at the screen and try to read what goes by. This is good if you are going to use this as a social network, but if you have a business, you are missing out on a golden oppertunity.

Here are a few basics about twitter:

Only those who follow you will see what you type.

You only see what is typed by the people you follow.

If you want to use twitter a promotional tool check out these links for ideas of how to get started:

Check out this Fourm:

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6127828

From 1000 Markets:

http://www.1000markets.com/blog_posts/8440

My twitter tip:

Think of it like a field trip into cyberspace!! Buddy Up!

Clarifying what a tweet buddy is:

On twitter you will get more views from a post about you that you did not post yourself, because some people don't like to see others engaged in self promotion. So with a tweet buddy, you provide each other things to tweet, and you commit to tweet so many times a day or week for each other.

Here are some examples of tweets that I have made for others:

Check out the blog entry by Mamaroots

http://natural-kids.blogspot.com/2009/05/fun-for-mama-good-for-mama.html

Check out this Dreamy Treasury by oritdotandolls

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=66373

Check out this Treasury of toys by huesofnature

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=65995

You would send an email list of items to your buddy weekly and then all they have to do is copy and paste them into the tweet window whenever they want. If you find a few buddies (5-6) that you share info with, you will see an increase in traffic to your shops and blogs!

With a tweet buddy you promote me, and I promote you! And these are not the “hi, I had blueberry pancakes for breakfast" kind of posts. These are promotional tweets you want done for your shop! It does not matter how many tweet buddies you have, since you just copy and paste from the list they send you for the agreed number of times for that week!

I tweet a lot and have a auto tweeter for my sleeping hours (when I remember to set it up, which I am getting better at). I make a tweets email to myself each week and then add and take away from it to change it up! Your commitment to your tweet buddy should be a certain number of tweets per day, or per week. Then you would send each other your list of potential tweets which could include; reviews done about you, your blog entries, and the title and link to your shop!

Tweetlater.com will help you post tweets when you are not at home and will help get your followers up by following anyone that follows you and send out a auto message to new followers.

Happy tweeting!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday : Happy Birthday Max

Tuesday GREEN Tip

Many people think that going GREEN means the lose of convenience. I hope to show you that GREEN living is a more convenient and cost effective way of life with an added bonus of protecting our Earth. Many of us use or have used these new wonderful cleaning products like the swiffer and other brands of fast and disposable cleaning products. These products make cleaning a speedy process, but the problem has always been the costly and wasteful replacement parts.When I started on my GREEN quest I wanted to challenge myself to prove that going green didn't mean the loss of convenience for myself and others. I found this great seller on ETSY that makes great replacements that are eco-friendly and reusable.

Check out her shop! http://www.thegreenmarket.etsy.com/

Father's Day the Adventure

We are big on celebrations in our house. Every Father's Day I try to plan a day to celebrate and honor my husband. I like to make sure that we take this day to make him feel as wonderful as we think he is.

This year we planned a scavenger hunt to all my husband's favorite places. He rarely takes time to buy himself anything, and I wanted a day were he felt spoiled.

We planned the day and then decided to make the final project into a board game of our day. Every child made a clue to one of our destinations.
1. Book Store - He bought 2 books
a. One to read our oldest.
b. One to help us understand Google Analytics
(See, even then, he thought of us, or maybe it was the fact that we followed him around and stared at him while he picked out his books)
2. Comic Book Store
He bought a few series in one type books
3. Cold Stone Creamery
Ice-Cream for everyone
Best Ice Cream of the day: Cake Batter, coconut, gram cracker crumbs
4. Grocery Store
Pick up Items to make his Favorite Dinner:
Fried Chicken and Mashed Potatoes
5. Home again, Home again
Video Games with the boys (mommy cooked!)

And Then the Board Game...

Parent Tip, Follow a NO with a YES!

Do your kids drive you crazy?

Are they constantly finding new ways to do the same thing you just said NO to?

Try this, Follow a NO with a YES!

This is one of the parenting rules I live by. I strive to model the behavior I want in my children. We often tell our kids to, " not be the problem but be the solution". So with the, follow a NO with a YES, we try to look at the situation and find a way for the kids to get what they need but in a way that is safe. Like with the sweets, we don't want the kids to have a lot of artificial colors and other things, that become free radicals, in their body and so we found the Yummy Earth Lollipops!

This past month our youngest child and only daughter Eowyn, has developed this need to get higher. First she found the joy of stools, she was getting into everything and getting dangerous! We took the stools away, but she began looking for anything to give her what she needed. Cups, drums, recycling, boxes anything could be turned upside down and become a stool. She would listen for someone to open the bathroom door and as quick as lightning she would have the bathroom stool and be running for what ever she wanted that was out of reach.

Our house was starting to become this crazy free form art sculpture with tables and furniture being piled high with objects she turned into stools. We needed to find a YES something she could climb on but still be safe. I remembered the joy she had with the chair tunnel her brothers made for her and how that day I said less “NO’s!”

I then had an idea!My Solution.....drum roll please.....

An outdoor toddler climbing cube.

We had one packed away after the boys grew out of it a few years ago and had upgraded to bigger ones for them. We worked together doing Family Work and cleaned it up and got it ready for her. Now it sits in the middle of the family room and she can climb until her heart’s content! Happy girl, happy mommy, and happy house!

Wordless Wednesday:Giant Baby Attack at The Fairy Ring

Tuesday Green Tip

This week you get a 2 for 1 with this post. I love sponges for cleaning, They do a great job and fit nice in the hand. Here is a great tip for keeping it fresh, clean, and sanitized. While doing this you can also do a safe clean of the microwave. This will make even the hardest baked on goop come of easy.

Dirty sponge and microwave.

What you will need:
1 Dirty Sponge
1 Dirt Microwave
1 (microwave safe) Dish
Water (fill bowl 1/2 full
A few squirts of lemon

Clean sponge and microwave!

Put the sponge in the bowl fill 1/2 full of water and add the lemon juice right on the sponge. Place in microwave and cook for 3-6 minutes depending on you microwave. It is going to get very hot and steamy. Let it sit and door stay closed for 15 -20 minutes. Once things have cooled down to where you can touch the sponge, wipe down the inside of the microwave. Everything will come off easy from the steam bath, and smell fresh from the lemon!