Weekend Round-up!

What are you up to this weekend? My mom is coming to visit tomorrow morning, and I'm very much looking forward to sharing a few solid summer days with her and watching my girls interact with their Bubby (mostly I'm just excited to show off Hudi's fat baby legs, though! :) My younger sister (we'll miss you Rivkee!) will also be staying with us until Thursday when she'll be jetting out to NYC for the summer. Plus, my brother is driving in from San Diego tomorrow with his two daughters to hang out with us for the day. We've got a full-house, folks! So we'll be keeping the plans simple and efficient: swimming out back, a walk to the ice cream shop, the afternoon in a well-shaded park, and a pizza + salad dinner picnic. #Foolproof. :)

Anyways, while I make sure I have enough clean bedding for everyone, here are some things I've stumbled upon this week that I though you might enjoy:

- Talk about pizza + salad!

- Freida's favorite, most-worn dress is now on sale - check it out!

- Creative cardboard madness!!

- Currently coveting these flats for fall!

- Fun Mad Men facts that you totally didn't know.

- How precious is the watermelon rattle Hudi is holding??

- Lego Anatomy totally made me laugh out loud!

- These blocks would make for such a fun arts and crafts project!

- For some reason these fashion-shoot photos really inspired me... (?)

- Clash it or match it??

- These are perfect for picnicking!

Hope you have a wonderfully summery weekend!! Lap up the sunshine!

Happy Father Day + Weekend Round-up!!

Hello friends! "Mommy Camp" had commenced on Friday, and with a sweet, bright and sunshine-filled start (frozen yogurt and hours at Coldwater Canyon Park), I'm very much looking forward to Summer filled with heaps of fresh air, frequent trips, and lots of hands-on learning! So happy to be able to spend the next few months watching my little girls laugh,eat, play, and grow - together.

Anyways, while I re-arrange and pencil in some more of our June lessons plans, and decide just how decadently we'll be treating Mr. Dad tomorrow morning, here's a list of things I've been checking out this week:

- A hilarious song (that Freida and I have been singing non-stop!) to kickstart your weekend!

- Can't wait to make these oats + caramel bars this week to keep in stock for impromptu summer picnics.

- Wondering if I can pull-off neon eyeliner...?

- The absolute cutest little pair of baby girl shoes!!

- Water blob's look freaking awesome!! Will definitely be trying this out over the summer!

- More elephant awesomeness!

- Coveting this grey bathing beauty.

- This new iPad app looks like heaps of artistic fun!

- Ha! Love this!!

Have a lovely weekend! And special thanks to all the Daddies out there - you make it all worthwhile!!!

Modern Crafts

Yesterday was Freida's last little day at Gan Chai :(

She been telling everyone "my Morah Esther is crying right now because she is going to miss us so much." (HUGEST thank you to the best Auntie Morah ever!!). She's also been telling everyone (mailman, neighbors, stray cat) "My Gan is over and it's the Summer and I'm starting MOMMYCAMP!". Nothing like a little pressure, eh?

Anyways, to jumpstart your children-home-from-school days I thought I'd let you in on some fabulous crafting supplies and kits that are just around your corner. Apparently, Kid Made Modern has collaborated with Target! I was so excited when I was browsing the aisles and happened upon a heap of Kid Made Modern supplies! Who knew?? You gotta love the minimalistic and cheerful packaging, plus the little details - like the names of the colored pencil shades. :)

If you have a little window with your kids home between school and camp, or just want to arm yourself with some spur-of-the-moment entertainment for the evenings, head over and snag yourself some of the modern jewelry kits, a hip duct-tape crafting set, make-your-own board book kit, giant gem crayons, acrylic paints, and heaps more goodies!!

Cheers to Todd Oldham! And cheers to Summer break (hope you're not driven to drinking already)!

Meltdown Meltaways

Being on the go with a baby-in-tow was always something I was able to handle easily, thankfully. (I mean all this gossip about baby Aleph crying in a restaurant? He's a baby; you're a Mama. It happens!) With a newborn - you simply put them to the breast. With a baby - you break out a little squeaky toy, or a cookie and all tears have left the building. But a 3 and half year old? This takes some more-than-simple tactics, skillfully executed to specifically meet the needs of the child-in-tantrum.

For now, and I'm certain this will constantly need to be on rotation, we've found Tegu blocks - and they work their magic! We use them in doctor office waiting rooms, restaurants, Shul, dining at friends homes, long car rides, even! Her pout melts away and she happily sits and plays, building everything from dinosaurs to rainbows, and proudly showing her creations to anyone who will look her way. :)

I think the trick to toys-on-the-go that actually succeed in taking your child from meltdown to manageable is to never, ever let them play with these toys any other time, and especially not at home!

When I was growing up, my parents had some built-in storage installed in our basement playroom and had majority of our toys stashed inside them. We only got to play with toys on rotation - us kids would pick out new toys each month and the previous ones would go back into storage. It was like having a toy store in my basement!! I always felt like I was getting new toys, and it kept us busy since we never got tired out and "bored" of the same toys.

(Freida built a "bed". Not bad, little lady. Not bad at all. :)

I also discovered that bringing along tiny little versions of her favorite books seemed to be helpful as well. Firstly, she thought they were super cute little "baby books", and just loved looking through the itty-bitty familiar illustrations. But mostly, since I picked books she has heard thousands of times, she is able to "read" them aloud to her little sister - freeing up even more time for me to enjoy my fish & chips in peace! :)

What about you? What kind of tricks and tips do you have up your sleeve when it comes to dealing with preschoolers in public? Please share, as I'm sure mine will get old soon!!

Garden of Your Mind

My brother posted this video of a Mister Rogers remix done by Symphony of Science's John Boswell for PBS Digital Studios) on my wall, and I'm totally digging it! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFzXaFbxDcM]

Freida has never seen Mr. Rogers, and as a kid I remember groaning in annoyance when the Mr. Rogers theme song started up on PBS (11am was not a good time for me while playing hooky!), but I assume I was older than the target age for this specific broadcast. I'm curious to see how Freida would respond to the slow and gentle vibe of the Fred Rogers show since she is already a seasoned generation X child - accustomed to fast-paced kid shows like Yo Gabba Gabba, Team Umizoomi,  and Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!... I'm going to go on a library quest and try to find some high-definition Mr. Rogers DVDs to try out on her once school is out (this Thursday!) and we jump-start "Mommy Camp". :)