DebraLynn's Profile

The planet box is a bit heavy, but when my skinny girl started using it in kindergarten she had no problems and she had the thermos with it as well. Plus boots and snow pants in her backpack on some days. I love that I don't have to worry about lost tops of any containers plus on the few times that she has forgotten it at school, it doesn't retain all the icky smell like plastic would.

We fill up our sand table with dried split peas in the winter. We chose them since they were the cheapest of all the dried beans! We just keep them in a bucket during the summer when the table is outside with sand in it. The kids love it.

My children are 20 months apart and we transitioned our daughter out of her crib at about 16 months. She wasn't escaping but we got her new room ready complete with a full size bed and she was so excited about it she went in it and STAYED there. We had a rail from One Step Ahead on the bed and when she woke up she'd say, "I'm up" and we'd come in and she stayed in at night as well. I agree with the comments about not getting a toddler bed, they are uncomfortable, the mattresses are hard. Our daughter was so much happier in the bed and it's easier to read books as well. We have a padded headrest which is SO nice for that. She just slept on the sheet and cuddled with her blankie like always and we kept the quilt at the bottom of the bed which would keep her from scrunching down and falling off at the bottom. It just depends on your child and how much they listen and are comforted by their room. Ours felt safer in her room than wandering out and the rest of the house was child proof anyway, and our room was right next door. Another option would be to get an inexpensive bassinet to keep the baby in for the first 4 months or so till the second is ready to move. Good luck!

That is very cool!

I loved that you framed the book covers, especially Skippyjon Jones! I believe that since your child is 2 and you took that glass out she can learn to leave the frames alone. Beautiful room.

You could also use the squash in soups or mix it with some cherve and mozzarella cheese and put into some pot sticker wrappers and boil it to make some of your own delicious ravioli. Then put it with some sage and brown butter sauce or go all out and puree some roasted bell peppers along with some chicken or vegetable stock and use that for some sauce, top with some freshly grated parmesean or toasted pine nuts and you have a quick first course or serve with some bread and asparagus or salad for a light dinner!

We love the Planetbox too! My daughter gets lots of complements at school, even though she is one of 3 in her whole kindergarten class that brings their own lunch. It's easy to pack and the bag you can get with it is great too. Even though I debated spending the money it was totally worth it. I've heard good things about Happy Tiffin as well.

I completely agree. While it is difficult for me to bring my kids to afternoon playgroups due to naps, I almost wouldn't want to anyway since there are always unhealthy snacks. I don't consider 4 pm as snack time anyway since it is too close to dinner. It would be ok if it were some baby carrots or some cut up apples. Also, I don't want to feel pressure to provide a snack at that time of day if we host a playgroup. At preschool my son had rice crispy bars as the snack the other day. That is considered a healthy snack? Yikes.

My friend had a kid who did the same thing. She had to put them on backwards and pin the zipper eventually or the child would still take them off. good luck.

That is exactly where we put them too. Who knew I was so smart?