From all of us to all of you

Some last minute ideas from Hallmark

Looking for that last minute Christmas gift then head over to Hallmark and check out their Christmas selection. We've got a few items ourselves that we are going to give as gifts this year that are sure to be a big hit!

Hallmark's Recordable Storybooks now come in an assortment Christmas stories to choose from just for the holidays. My sister is in town and she doesn't get to see the kids very often so she is going to record them Santa Claus Is Coming To Town so they can enjoy hearing her tell them a story whenever they miss her. It took us a while to figure out the recording but after a few minutes we got it all worked out and it sounds great!! Well aside from her lack of enthusiasm monotone teenage voice reading the story haha!! They also carry an assortment of non-holiday related options as well.

All Holiday recordable retail for $29.95 and can be purchased at your local Hallmark store.





K is a huge dog lover so Jingles The Husky Pup Interactive Storybook and Story Buddy is going under the tree for him! Complete with a hardcover story book of Jingle and a stuffed dog that barks when you read his story. This is definitely super cute. I am not one for noise making toys and books but this one I will make an exception for. They have a few different options to choose from for the Interactive Storybook and Story Buddy's if Jingles isn't what you're after.

Edited to add * Now that Christmas is over this dog and story is a little frustrating as Jingle does not always respond to his story book cues and you must repeat the sentence numerous times some times.*

All Interactive Storybook and Story Buddy's retail for $29.95 and can be purchased at your local Hallmark store.

I think you're beautiful

Check out this cute little Ju-Ju-Be "commercial" Ah I love it!! And there is a sneak peak at one of Spring's new print re-color! Do you see it?

Hello Ju-ju-Be! from JuJuBeTV on Vimeo.

Wanna go for a swim?

Because we cloth diaper it only seems natural that we would choose a reusable swim diaper in stead of disposable ones. We originally had a Bummis Swimmi which we actually weren't big fans of, the thick velcro waist band was just not for us. This summer we had the opportunity to try out the AppleCheeks Swim Diaper and size one Storage Sac. I chose the swim diaper in Siesta Key a gorgeous baby blue and the Storage Sac in Chocolate a deep dark brown. I was pleasantly surprised when they arrived.

The swim diaper was very "loose" material, not structured at all. I was a bit confused by it but really a swim diaper is only meant to hold in poop not pee, I mean common who are we kidding everyone is peeing in the water. I love the fact that the swim diaper has snaps, I am a snaps girl for sure, I loathe velcro for diapers. Because of the snaps I was able to get a wonderful fit on Toddler K. The diaper was not bulky at all nor was it bunched up around the waist. Also because the material is so light and airy it didn't seem like he was in so many layers when I put his swimsuit over top. On nice hot days when dried outside the diaper dried very quickly. I originally thought I would need more that one swim diaper because we spent the whole summer camping but with the quick drying time one was perfect. Though I still want more, haha!! The swim diaper comes in two sizes. Size 1 fits approximately 7lbs - 20lbs and size 2 fits approximately 18lbs to 40lbs. It also comes in 3 colors; the Siesta Key (baby blue), Mojito (light green) and Samoan Sunset (pink).



The Storage Sac was just as nice. Originally I was apprehensive as I am not a huge fan of drawstring wet bags, some don't work very well and the fabric often gets sucked into the little drawstring "toggle" making it nearly impossible to close all the way. I had no such problems with this one, it closed very smoothly and tightly. I've only ever used it for wet swim suits or soiled clothes but it has never leaked on me yet. The Storage Sac comes in 2 different sizes. Size 1 is 15.5" high/ 11" wide/ 3" deep. Size 2 is 25" high/ 20.5" wide/ 4.5" deep. It also comes in 2 different colors Chocolate (brown) and St Lucia (blue).



Washing for both the swim diaper and wetbag is simple and easy, I just pop them in the wash with the rest of my kids clothes and hang them to dry. Another thing I love about AppleCheeks is that the owners and designers, Ilana Grostern and Amy Appleton, are both Canadian women . Their products are also manufactured in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Overall I love both the AppleCheeks Swim Diaper and Storage Sac and there is not one thing I dislike about either one.

AppleCheeks Swim Diaper retails for $19CAD and the size one Storage Sac retails for $13CAD. They can both be purchased at AppleCheeks online Canadian shop or see here for a list of Canadian retailers. See here for a list of retailers in the US.

Glow Crazy Distance Doodler

We recently tested out the Glow Crazy Distance Doodler. Glow Crazy markets glow in the dark drawing products for kids, the Distance Doodler came with a Dual Beam Glow Hand, 2 large sheets of glow paper which stick to walls or surfaces in your home, 4 stencils, and a fun tip booklet. How the Distance Doodler works; you put the reusable (I use this term loosely) glow paper on a wall, door or other flat surface, turn out the light and use your Dual Glow Beam to "draw" on the paper to your hearts content. The drawing glows when you aim the "flashlight" and after a bit disappears so you can draw again. I would say this review was a little hit and miss for us. L really enjoyed the Glow Crazy and stayed in his room for quite a bit so that part was a big hit for us. What I didn't like? The glow paper didn't stick very well at all and I tried it in a few places. It wouldn't stick to any of the doors or walls I tried it on and I ended up having to tape it up to make it stay. When it fell down the sticky side adhered to the "glow stuff" on the front of the paper and it came off when I pulled the paper straight and re-stuck it back up. So only parts of the paper worked after that. We are also not a huge fan of the fact that you will need to buy another kit after your paper gets ruined. Glow Crazy does have a few other products though such as the Glow To Go and Doodle Dome that we think would be a better purchase. Although we have not tested them personally they eliminate the pesky paper that was the only thing we did not like about the product. The Glow To Go has a reusable "laptop" type product with "boards" inside that you can write on with the glow pen. The Doodle Dome is a large tent that your child can go inside of and write.



Glow Crazy products can be purchased in Canada at Walmart, Zellers, Toys R Us and Canadian Tire. They retail from $20-$30. In the US they can be purchased from their US based website.