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Non-Cheesy V-Day Gifts for Him

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image via Nancy Nikko Design   This February 14th will be the 12th Valentine's Day my husband and I spend together (that's right, we're already up to a dozen!).  Maybe it's just me, but I'm finding it tougher and tougher to come up with novel, non-cheesy gifts that he'll actually like.  No, it's not just me, I'm sure of it - shopping for love tokens for the menfolk is just plain hard!   Just in case you're struggling with the same dilemma, I've curated a short list of guy gifts … [Read more...]

Snow CAT + a Few Fresh Finds

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Happy Friday!  Not sure if you've all heard, but we're having quite the "snowpocalypse" here in Seattle and we're making the most of it.  C's two super-cool aunts got him this excavator for Christmas.  Along with a working shovel, it has wheels to move around - isn't it amazing?  It was intended for our sandbox but has also turned out to be quite a hit in the snow.   The weather has a lot of the city on lock-down - including preschool, toddler group, and the like.  We're enjoying it but … [Read more...]

We Tried It! – Routine Charts

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We've been struggling a bit with typical 3 year old power struggles around here lately.  I've been wracking my brain (and my parenting library) for possible solutions. And then it hit me.  Close examination of the problem revealed that these blow ups aren't coming out of nowhere as they initially appeared.  They are, in fact, almost always centered on one thing - transitions.   My boy HATES transitions - most specifically leaving the house and going to bed.  No matter how smoothly we seem … [Read more...]

Homemade Toys Part III

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This time of year can be so tough if you have little ones in the house.  Snowy weather combined with cold and flu season often means lots of days stuck inside.  Around our house that's a recipe for something I like to call restless kid syndrome - which often results in general crankiness and an increase in meltdowns.  So what's the antidote to this ailment?  Getting creative of course.   To help you out, I've finally gotten my act together and updated the make and play vault.  I've … [Read more...]

Stuff I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You About

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Hi friends, are you all enjoying a day off today?  We got a good dump of snow this weekend - our first of the season and a lovely surprise.  So we'll probably try to get in a little more sledding before the day is through.  Before I head off though, there are a few things I've been meaning to tell you about.   With it's wild popularity, you've probably already seen the amazing post, Don't Carpe Diem.  But I had to post about it just in case - it's one of my favorite reads in a long, … [Read more...]

The Top 20 Posts of 2011 from Around the Web

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As I did here, many of my favorite bloggers posted a collection of their most popular posts of 2011.  Today, I'm presenting you with a roundup of the best of their bests (you still with me?).  I've picked my favorite post from each of 20 different year-end round ups.  Hopefully you'll find lots of inspiration, and maybe even a new blog or two to follow in 2012.  Most of the links here go to the round up posts so this is actually a collection of around 200 stellar ideas from 2011.  Enjoy! DIY zig … [Read more...]

MPMK Reading Lists: The Early Reader World of Cynthia Rylant

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I'm so pleased to be back today with another installment of "MPMK's Learning to Love Reading Book Lists" series.  This time our talented guest poster Lisa has decided to focus on a specific author instead of age group.  I love that she's picked a great one who writes for kids of all ages so you get them hooked early and then keep feeding the obsession as they grow.  Also, many of these books are super inexpensive - around $3.99 each.  Here's Lisa with the goods:   Cynthia Rylant is a … [Read more...]

Free Printable: DIY Animal Herd Valentines

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Despite February 14th still being over a month away, re-posting last year's shaving cream valentine has opened the Valentine DIY flood gates in my brain.  Of course, I could have done this project and held off on posting about it.  But I'm the girl who once unwrapped all of my presents Christmas morning before bothering to wake my parents - patience isn't really my thing.   Have you noticed the preponderance of plastic animal crafts popping up lately?  Crafty bloggers everywhere have … [Read more...]

Re-Post: DIY Shaving Cream Valentines

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 Does it seem a little obnoxious that I'm already putting up a Valentine's Day post?  We did JUST wrap up Christmas didn't we?  Here's my defense - this project from last Valentin's Day has been getting quite a bit of circulation on pinterest lately (I'm amazed people actually dug it up) so I figured those of you who haven't seen it might appreciate a re-post.  Back with something fresh tomorrow!It's almost February and that's got me thinking about, what else, Valentine's Day.  I love that C is … [Read more...]

Guest Posts (Here & There)

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To wrap up birthday week, I wanted to highlight some of my favorite guest posts.  As my very first piece for momtastic, this DIY St. Patty's Day Limerick Hunt technically was a guest post.  At the time, I hadn't yet been hired as a regular contributing editor...  St. Patrick's day is only a few months away - I thought you might want to bookmark (or better yet, pin) it.My "green" Sticky Note To-Do Chart was something I'd been wanting to do for a long time.  So when Kari over at Ucreate invited me … [Read more...]

Check those Christmas Thank You Notes Off Your To-Do List

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Taking a break from the blog's birthday celebration today to share these simple DIY photo thank you notes.  I've seen fill-in-the-blank cards like these all over the web.  While they certainly looked like they'd cut our note writing time in half, they also seemed a bit impersonal.    Not that I think any of our friends and family are expecting a full length letter from my tots - maybe just more than three or four words.  My solution was to add a photo of the kids playing with each … [Read more...]