Holiday Party Planning ???

Who, me? I don't think so. Twelve beady eyes are glaring down at me. They belong to six tired, hungry women, all posing like Angry Mom statues. Except they're not posing. Arms crossed, head tilted down, tightened mouths and those glaring eyes. They're not taking “no” for an answer. They're not taking any answer, I have no choice. I'm hosting our children's Holiday Party this November. I've managed to avoid it the last six years and I thought by pretending to be asleep through the Pre-K parents meeting I could slip out, dodging any kind of real responsibility except for making my famous ice cream punch (famous for its “punch”), which I make every year with or without a party. The parents love it – except for one POS, Poor Old Sap elected to make sure no child or adult drowns in glitter or cake. They all knock the happy juice back, wolfing down reindeer cake and making fun of their cherished spawn who are ten feet away creating beautiful works of holiday-inspired art that could rival any Jackson Pollock painting. I shouldn't complain too much. The kids love it – they get to play with shiny stuff and impress us with decorative creations so we can ooh and ahh in amazement. And the parents get to drink and eat cake and we all listen to a mixed CD of holiday songs from every culture so nobody feels excluded. Sounds like fun right? The problem is the host provides everything except the food. Ok, so I don't have to slave over an oven or a mixing bowl or some godforsaken piping instrument. But what do I distract our little critters from running around my house, leaving dinner splattered on my walls and inevitably upchucking on my carpets? Ah, if only Jim Henson's beloved muppets were still around...

Flower Press Kit

With the cold weather creeping in so quickly it is sometimes sad to see the flowers go away. But it is also perfect time for the kids to enjoy fall and learn about the lifecycle of the trees and plants. We visited my brother in california and it is still warm at this time and they have more flowers than us so I decided to teach kids the art of pressing flowers and make cards for the holidays. We collected a ton of flowers in various colors and let both of them pick their favorite. My sister in law had a Flower Press Kit by Alex in house.

So we used that and pressed a lot of flowers. The kit came with directions so it was so easy to follow for the kids. And finally we brought back our pressed flowers to New Jersey and maybe after the flowers are fully dried we will do some card making activity. I think the kids enjoyed the process and I liked them watching pick out their flowers. That was our weekend in CA....love the weather in California!!

Making Kids Responsible

If your house is anything like mine in the morning before going to school you would know what I am talking about. I am yelling in the morning to my little one to find his homework he did yesterday and put it in the bag. My older one needs to be reminded to fix his bed before he leaves. And a lot of time I give in and end up doing everything for them. I know this does not help them to be responsible so I asked few other parents and most of them suggested to have chore chart by day and make sure they follow. In my search for a good chore chart I came across a really good one called Do-N-SlideT Chore Chart.

This product is designed for children ages 4 and up and will help to teach daily routines, reinforce participation in household routines, and reduce the need for repetitive reminders! Will start using this as soon as I get my order!!!

Kids School Conferences

My kids school have conferences. My boys are pretty good students but they need help in some areas. My little one who is in first grade they practice writting and simple spelling. I saw another child praticing writting on a little electronic pencil box.I saw the child sit quitely and trace the letters without any adult help also how the toy was easy to follow for the child. I think i will invest in this toy for my child. The conferences are not till the end of the week but I will get back to what the teachers suggest doing. But looks like the Learn-to-write-pencil-box is helpful!!! If your child has any special need do post or anything that has helped your child in other areas. Thank you for reading this post.

As a mom, I am always in discussion with so many other school moms asking what will be top toys of this year which are safe, non violent, educational and reasonably price. I thought I would write my thoughts what I beleive top educational toys for this year. I have read so many magazines and talk to different people regarding to what will be hot toys for this holiday season. I will keep adding to this list as I come across more:

Lego Dino Valley

Welcome to Dino Valley, where dinosaurs and cavemen live together in peace. But watch out for the T-Rex – it’s coming to steal all the food! This would be great toy for any boy to play with.

I Play Build a Road: I beleive Build a Rolad will be one of the best selling toys in educational category which fits into your budget and kids will have lots of endless fun constructing and deconstructing this toys


Round The Farm :This is parents magazine featured toys which has great potential and you cannot go wrong with this toys if you have a kids with age of 1 to 3 year.


Yookidoo: Discovery Playhouse Dome:Yookidoo is another parents magazine featured toy for 1 to 4 year old kids which gives your kids unlimited fun and likely to be big hit.