Good Deal and Good Fun

My girls needed a pair of new toothbrushes, and as I was scanning the dental care aisle at Target, I spied this little number:

The Firefly Toothbrush that blinks for one minute at a time. Of course, in typical American consumer culture, there were Barbie and Hot Wheels varieties available, too. But I thought the light up factor was special enough to please my kids. And for $1.02 each, it's even a great price for a toothbrush, period!

Now the girls brush their teeth for one minute in the dark, then mom or dad check their teeth for another minute. It's kind of freaky seeing their cheeks and nostrils illuminated in red, but if it keeps them brushing, I have no problem with it.

A little added bonus: the dentist has recommended that my oldest use a fluoride rinse every evening, and according to the directions on the bottle, the child should swish for an entire minute. So now my daughter doesn't have to trek back and forth to my nightstand to observe my alarm clock, she can just reset the Firefly and after one minute, she's done.

Going on a Nature Hunt

Recently our family took a picnic lunch to a park that has a 1 mile walking trail around a lake. After playing at the playground for an hour, followed by feeding the ducks lakeside, my oldest did not want to embark on a 1 mile hike. My youngest followed suit, feigning that she, too, was uninterested.

Well, I didn't want to walk the trail alone, and I wanted to see my kids getting some exercise. Somehow, I turned up the charm only the way a mommy can, and I offered a "magic" bag to contain a nature collection for our walk. (Yup, that's an empty tortilla bag. Didn't you know that ducks like tortillas?)

So, off we went, just my youngest and I, trying to find leaves from as many different trees and plants as we could find. Turns out there were a lot of varieties.

My reason for this post, (aside from the obvious one of me schooling you on our local ducks' diet)?
Well, I hope that what my daughter did following our Nature Hunt is a good indication of a happy childhood.

Now get out there and find some HAPPY leaves and sticks of your own!

What are you going to do with all those shells?

Design custom mermaids of course! Add a few gems, pearls, pipe cleaners (?) and paint strokes and you'll have a few fine maids of the sea.

M wanted to draw her own mermaid. Then she was so pleased with her first design, she replicated a second one to bring in for her art teacher. Check out the mini corkscrew shell earrings!

B let me design and cut out her first one (the largest version at top), then she took a stab at her own, more diminutive mermaid.

When the creating is complete, your little mermaids or mermen may enjoy a reading of Mermaids on Parade by Melanie Hope Greenberg. It's a story about a young girl in Brooklyn who joins the annual Coney Island parade to mark the beginning of summer. I'm still holding on to the last rays of summer sun before fall takes a stronghold.