chodge's Profile

How timely! My son is getting ready to start losing his baby teeth and to prepare, I've started working on my fairy duties. I purchased a fairy door that we are going to place right outside of his room and we will place his teeth in a little box on her doorstep. I always put my teeth in a little pillow under my big pillow and I don't know how my parents' swapped out the teeth for money while I slept, so I thought I'd make it easier on myself. : )

Cheese filled hot dogs wrapped in frozen crescent roll dough (cooked, of course). My parents' go-to meal for us kids when they went out on date nights.

We have an only shower house, too, and our son has been taking showers since he was about one year old (three now). We have one of these shower head holders that can be placed at a lower level so that the water stays on little bodies without having to get on their heads. We placed a little shaving mirror down low and with bath crayons/markers and other toys that stick on the wall, we can bathe our son while he stands up and plays.

Shower head holder:

http://www.buybuybaby.com/product.asp?SKU=16392677&

I have a default collection of shopping bags. For some unknown reason, I find it hard to throw them away. Some of them get reused, but most of them get tucked away for...the future? I have been a collector/saver/hoarder for about 20+ years now.

I keep a large, handled serving tray in a wardrobe with paper, foam crafts, stickers, beads and stamps on one side of the tray and eight pencil cups filled with crayons, markers, glue, scissors, etc. on the other side. I can pull out a crayon cup for a quick drawing project or pull out the whole tray for larger projects.

I think a hobby box, like these are also great:

http://www.containerstore.com/shop/collections/hobby/toolBoxes

Maybe as an activity/party favor you could have the kids fill old plastic water bottles with sand art and label them for weights.

I'd buy a whole bunch of hula hoops, too - they can be used for all sorts of activities besides hula hooping - giant ring toss, two-person races, ring races, and in lieu of tires for the obstacle course.

Sounds like it will be a fun and energetic party - I hope we get to see pictures!

Maybe after digitally "archiving" the artwork, you could send some to grandparents or use them as wrapping paper if it is flexible enough. Even though you aren't holding on to them, this might be an easier way of downsizing.

Another reason to love Ikea are their complimentary kid supplies. They supply bibs and smaller utensils in the dining area and diapers in the restrooms. I don't make a habit of using their diapers, but found myself (or rather my son) in a compromising situation once where I had to make use of them and it was very much appreciated.

I (indoor) line dry my everyday cloth napkins, shaking them out as soon as I take them out of the washer. Line drying them seems to make them a tad stiffer, almost like starch, and helps cut down on wrinkles. It also eliminates some of the bulk in the dryer so that our other clothes dry faster. I do; however, press my nicer cloth napkins.

It is a good thing that my husband is an architect, otherwise I would be stumbling my way through "what part of the building is that?" questions!

In addition to those already listed, we also really like:

http://www.amazon.com/Popville-Anouck-Boisrobert/dp/1596435933

Books by David MacCaulay: http://www.amazon.com/Castle-David-Macaulay/dp/0395329205/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304704931&sr=1-2

The Lego Architecture series is great, too. We also let our kiddo flip through our architecture tomes and magazines, but what he loves best is stopping by jobsites when we are out on walks.