OK, so I haven’t posted in forever. I sort of ran out of steam and then I had a baby, and now I’m super busy with three kiddos under the age of 4. I’m not saying I’m coming back full steam ahead here. I just really wanted to share some great things I’ve seen around lately. So, in no particular order, here are some things I love right now, that might just be a great gift idea for you.

The Vintage Pearl is a wonderful little shop with handmade personalized handstamped silver jewelry.   As they say, “we create unique handstamped jewelry that is simple, sentimental, and meaningful.  And may I add, beautiful?  Check out their stuff. I think you’ll be glad you did.

The Fine Art of Family….oh how I am in LOVE with these lockets!  I mean some serious LOVE!  They are so beautiful and heirloom quality.  I would love to have one to wear and pass on to my daughter one day.

Bean Canteens are another one of my current faves, but I do have to say that I’m not in love with them!  I love a good, safe water bottle that is BPA free! I was so excited to learn that it was a Klean Kanteen because they are one of the best!

If you’re looking for a cute and warm hat for this winter, then head over to The Portland Beanie Company.  I picked up on of these in tan, with a pink flower for my newborn and it was just darling!  Here is her sweet picture.

And finally, if you’re trying to buy one of the seasons really hot items like a Zhu Zhu Pet or a Mindflex Game, I’ve found an awesome tool to help you get just want you want if you’re having trouble finding it in stock.  The AZ Grabber is just great.  It only works for Amazon, but it alerts you to when that hard-to-get-your-hands-on item is back in stock.  It checks the stock every 5 seconds and lets you know when you better get back on the computer and buy it quick!  There is a great tutorial on the site that will tell you exactly how it works.  Try it out and let me know what you think!

That’s all for now.  Hope I helped you in some way with you holiday gift buying, or at least told you something you didn’t already know.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving next week!

Last week I posted the first of the ZRecommends Sippy Cup Showdown.  Here are the next last two from this week:

2009 BPA-Free Sippy Cup Showdown:  Baby and Toddler Division, Middle Tier

2009 BPA-Free Sippy Cup Showdown:  Baby and Toddler Division, Top Pier

If you like Red Velvet Cake, but hate the thought of eating all that food coloring, here is a great alternative!
Red Velevet Cake Without the FD&C Red Dye #40

Looking for safe sand for your child’s sand box?  I am!
FAQ:  What’s the Deal with Play Sand?

2009 BPA-Free Sippy Cup Showdown: Baby and Toddler Division, Bottom Tier
The first in a series of Z Recommends newest sippy cup reviews. You don’t want to miss these!

Can Wearing Your Bra Cause Cancer
Hmm, not sure I’m ready to forego my bra yet, but definetly some interesting things to learn about and things I can make sure to change.   Very interesting article, for sure.

Five Ways to Protect Your Kids This Summer
Lots of helpful tips for this summer.

And, a couple more about chlorine.  I’ve posted articles before about how chlorine in tap water can be harmful to you, but these articles are about the chlorine in swimming pools.  Did you know that you can absorb more chlorine through your skin after one hour in a pool than you can from a week of drinking tap water?  Read on…

Chlorine in Swimming Pools Poses Risk of Spontaneous Abortion

Swimming Pool Chlorine Causes Asthma

Here are a couple of different posts from SafeMama.  The first is a review of a product I really like, and the second is concerning harmful ingredients in our beauty products that we may not know about.

Review:  Honeybee Gardens Nail Polish

Guest Post!  Stephanie of Bubble & Bee Talks About Vegetable Emulsifying Wax

And here is a great video about ingredients to avoid in your beauty products.  I love my Bubble & Bee products!

40 Ways to Go Greener at Home (Besides Just Recyling)

Low Cost Green Household Tips From the Cupboard
Find some interesting ideas here.

Reusable Bags for Produce and Bulk Foods
These look really cool!

Birth Control Pills Linked to Lupus Risk
A new study that had some interesting findings.

The 2009 Mother’s Day Gift Guide
This gift guide from Cool Mom Picks has some wonderfully unique gift ideas for all the moms in your life.

SafeMama’s 2009 Safer Sunscreen Cheat Sheet
Just in time for warm weather!  A very helpful suggestion list of safe sunscreens. We like the California Baby brand!

The Importance of Family Rituals
I love this post about family traditions.  Here are some great ideas to get some started in your family. 

SafeMama Play Dough Showdown
Some great options for organic play dough or making your own. 

Baby Deal-a-Day Sites
These are great sites to find amazing deals.  I found a diaper bag this week that was over $100 every where else for $29.99!  These are worth checking out!  (This list comes from Baby Cheapskate)

Tottlers: 20-40% off
Recent item: Munchkin snack cups, Baby Einstein DVDs
Shipping: $2.95 flat-rate. USPS shipping. Items ship within three days.
Returns: within 30 days on items in their original packaging.

Baby Steals: 50-80% off
Recent item: Clene Change Mat, maternity tees
Returns: No returns unless the product is defective.

Shnoop.com: 50% to 80% off
Recent items: Valco Universal Footmuff, Baby Plane Solo Sport Stroller, Valco diaper bag
One deal a day. Not just baby stuff. Allows you to get one last chance at yesterday’s bargain, too. Allows you to compare prices on-site.
Returns: All sales generally final, even on defective products (their site says they’ll help you contact the manufacturer about the warranty.

Mamabargains: 50% to 85% off
Recent items: Fleurville diaper bags, fancy baby jumpers, baby shoes
Items can sell out quickly, but meter on page shows you how many are left. New deals launch when one sells out.
Returns: All sales final.

GreenBabyBargains: 50% off and more on “green” baby products. Recent offerings include a diaper bag made from recycled plastic bottles and glass baby bottles. All sales final.

Mockstar Baby: “From sweet threads to sick kicks to an occasional infant rocket launcher (supplies will be VERY limited on the launcher) we’ll have deals on all of it. What is a deal you ask? Thanks for doing it…a deal may be a discount, or that size you’ve been driving all over town to find or a color exclusive to our site.” Lots of Hurley stuff. Refunds accepted.

OK, I realize this is a little late in the week, but I thought I’d share with you what we’ve been doing to share the true meaning of Easter with Gabriel.  

First, we’ve been reading the Easter story all week.  By that, I mean  reading the stories from the week of Jesus’ death as chronologically as possible.  This is how we did it:

Sunday:  Palm Sunday
Monday:  Cleansing the Temple
Tuesday:  Greatest Commandment 
Wednesday:  Mary Annoints Jesus
Thursday:  Lord’s Supper, Washing Feet, Praying in the Garden
Friday:  Jesus Delivered to Pilate, Crucified
Saturday:  Waiting
Sunday:  Resurrection!

We have read most of these stories from his children’s Bibles’ which are much easier for him to understand and  have pictures.   We also made an Easter mountain.  I got the idea from Treasuring God in Our Traditions – a great book.  She has lots of other great ideas for this special week, but this is the main one we’re using.  Here is how ours turned out.  (I should have put a soup can inside.)

I’m also going to try out a new  recipe that I found.  I’ve been looking for the perfect special breakfast that will be our family’s tradition.  We will eat it for any holiday or birthday, or special day.  The first, and only I guess, criteria  I wanted it to meet was that it had to be totally yummy.  I’m not concerned with health here because we won’t eat this very often at all.  I hesitate to share the recipe because I don’t want you to thing I’m horrible for eating this, but here we go…..Gorilla Bread.  Hey, any recipe by Paula Deen has to be good, right?  I can’t wait to try it!!  Happy Resurrection Day!

UPDATE:  I think the Gorilla Bread was a bit much for our family.  It was really rich.  Very yummy, though.  I think I’m going to try my friend Mendy’s breakfast casserole the next time we need to have a special breakfast.  It’s very yummy and I think fits our family’s taste better.

Make and Takes
This is a great blog that has some simple, fun, and easy craft ideas to do at home with your kiddos.  There are some cute Easter ideas at the top.  Be sure and scroll down!

A Monthly Menu Plan for the Spring
I love this menu from Simple Mom.  Check it out! 

April Showers Bring PVC Free Rain Gear
If you’re looking for some non-smelly rain gear for your kiddos, here are some great ideas!

Cancer-Causing Chemicals Now Found in Baby Shampoo
Umm, might want to make sure you’re using safe products on your baby!

Have you tried the Kumon books yet?  I have seen these books recommended on different blogs, so I decided to try some. They’re in the 4 for 3 promotion at Amazon,  and I chose 4 that I thought Gabriel, who is 3 1/2 would enjoy.

The workbooks arrived today and he excitedly looked through each one. They have great color illustrations and look exciting and fun to me. I can remember worksheets from childhood, and I think these would have had me excited too! I then described to him what each book was. Here are the ones we purchased. My First Book of Cutting, Let’s Fold!, My First Book of Tracing, and Let’s Sticker and Paste!

He chose to work in My First Book of Cutting and Let’s Fold! I let him do 3 different worksheets. He would have eagerly done more, but the workbooks suggest stopping while they are still enjoying it and would like to do more. I think setting that limit beforehand helps them to understand and not be as upset when it’s time to stop. He was happy to go play when we were done with our 3 sheets.

I love how these books start out very simply and work their way up to harder skills. They were perfect for Gabriel. And, I think they will be perfect for Nathaniel to work on when I start homeschooling Gabriel. They would help keep him occupied and feel like he was getting to do schoolwork too.

These books all have great reviews at Amazon and you can look through them a little there too. I have only used these books one time, but so far I think they are going to be great! There are many more to choose from, so when we finish these we can move on to learning some new things, or move on to the book 2 versions when applicable.

You may be hearing more from me on the Kumon Workbooks as we use them more and more!