Have you been seeing this completely quirky hoodie all over Pinterest lately??
Nui Organics make the very yummiest wool and cotton clothing for kids, and I was totally over the moon to see they are being featured at ridiculously reduced rates over at The Mini Social today!! Check it out - I promise whatever you get will turn out to be your kids most-worn pieces. They're simply deliciously made, and cute as cake to boot! Happy saving (i.e. splurging!). :)
I recently spent $5 on one of the most useful toys ever! I was in Lakeshore, and happened upon this mini bead maze at the checkout counters (you know, when they drop a bunch of random little tchotchkes that are just cheap enough to remain under-the-radar and just cute enough that you need to swag one?). The only reason I even thought to buy one is because I remembered my sister Shterni had an adorable little classic bead maze with a suction cup underneath it that she used at her kids high chair years ago - she said it kept his fingers occupied for a few precious little minutes before the snack actually landed on his tray.
I bought one on a whim thinking I'd somehow figure out how to attach a suction cup to it, at some point... But, of course, I failed to remember all about my crafty husband and his ingenius ideas; he whipped out a roll of heavy-duty velcro from his (impossibly random!) tool bag and snipped a little strip off to secured the toy directly to Hudi's high chair tray. Of course that's not as clean as a suction cup, but I figure it will stay fixated there for a while now, and when I really want to rid of it - a little GooGone and a warm sponge should ease off the adhesive easily.
Hudi has been loving it! It gives her something to fiddle with while she waits for me to settle her sister (who seems to need her toast cut into very precise pieces lately), fry up an egg, get her afternoon snack together, or finish the dishes (she's happy to play around with that and munch on some cheerios while I speedily wash some breakfast plates).
Anyways! I tried to find this one online, but strangely had no such luck. So I browsed around a bit to find you something similar. Here's: one with a suction, a cuter one with a suction, and an ever cuter Eric Carle version a lot like mine.
I had been coveting this image of a chic black, white, and natural nursery since I pinned it about a year ago! And (thanks to SwissMiss!) I've finally discovered where one can get their hands on this actual bedding! Hit up this Danish shop to check out some seriously rad bedding for kids and home goods for adults. Seriously, is this not the most awesome boys bedding ever??
Early mornings come a dime a dozen in this household. There's this thing I have about sleep-training babies; when they wake up anytime after 5am, I go and get them and start the day. Trying to put them back to bed at 5:30 always seems to backfire (either they continue to cry until 6 - which usually means they were ready to rise, or they fall back to sleep for a few hours - shifting their naptime further into the day, defeating the entire sleep-training purpose of a scheduled routine!), and so when my little loves wake at 5:45 I'm at their bedside with a bright (fake!) smile and good morning hugs and kisses.
The months leading up to the hour "fall back" were dark, dreary, and dreadful; I despised having to wake up and play with Hudi when the black of night was creeping in from the window! It didn't matter how warm and rich my coffee was, or how many hours of good sleep I got, it was miserable to be up in such a state. It was at least an hour of pitch-blackness before I could even open the blinds and let in the first little rays of sunlight...
So while everyone was busy complaining about how early their kids would be waking up, I was so excited about the light the morning hours would be graced with that I just didn't care about the fact that 6 was really 5 - I just wanted to open those blinds and wake to the daylight! To me, there's nothing yummier than warm golden sunshine streaming through the slightly-frosted windows, illuminating the little tuft of bedhead on the back of my babies sweet little head as she crawls around the playroom searching for the mornings most exciting toy, while I sip a freshly-brewed cappuccino and listen to the mellow stream of my kids Pandora playlist, waiting for Freida's bright morning face to appear in the doorway. Priceless.
One of the reasons I completely adore hanging out with kids is that they are constantly reminding me to appreciate the littlest joys in life. Like, shredded paper, for example.
I had originally bought few packs of crinkle-cut packaging paper for my Babyccino "postman" class. And the kids had a really great time messing around with it there - literally, it ended up in every corner of the room! I had stuffed some of it back into a ziploc bag and whipped it out yesterday to entertain Hudi for a bit on a whim...
I had no idea it would be this much fun! Watching her play with the stuff was totally the highlight of my day, maybe even my week! She was so involved and excited and stimulated! Plus, she didn't even try to eat it!
Seriously, this smile is totally worth the few bucks it costs to buy some sensory stimulants! I'm definitely going to be looking into some more common-use materials for her to play with... But for now, here's a link for crinkle cut paper!
