Mama Loves: Construction

Welcome to another week of Mama Loves! I'm so thrilled that you stopped by!

Not sure what Mama Loves is? Check out the Mama Loves page for the scoop on what Mama Loves is all about.

Also---to see all the amazing ideas that have been shared here, check out the Mama Loves Pinterest page. So many crazy-good ideas there!


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The winner of the Nellie's All-Natural Giveaway last week is Emily from hsquaredblog. Congrats, Emily! If you have a second, go say hi to Emily, give her some twin mama encouragement, and see some super cute pictures of her daughters Haley and Hazel.

A few great mama-ideas from last week:

• No-Spill Bubbles. You can probably already guess why these are a good idea. Katie will tell you all about them, and show you how they work too.

• Cat is a seasoned mama! She regulates sweets with her kids with a party bucket. This teaches her kiddos about economics and generosity. Check out this brilliant idea!

 
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Every time my girls passed by a construction site, we call all the equipment "tractors"---mostly because I don't know the technical names for most of them.  

So, my friend Ellyn suggested the book, Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site.




The book has rhythm and rhyme and talks about several different kinds of construction equipment. The girls love to read it, and now when we drive past construction sites, they can point out the bulldozers and excavators (and so can Mama!).

Can't wait to see what you're loving!

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Mama Loves: Words

Welcome to another week of Mama Loves! I'm so thrilled that you stopped by!

Not sure what Mama Loves is? Check out the Mama Loves page for the scoop on what Mama Loves is all about.

Also---to see all the amazing ideas that have been shared here, check out the Mama Loves Pinterest page. So many crazy-good ideas there!
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Hi friends. In response to last week's list, Laura shared a great list of Alternative Princess Stories you should check out!


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I love words. I love writing. I love reading beautiful words that someone else has put together. I love it when other people put words together that make me laugh.

So, without further ado, here you go.

On courage:



On expectations:




On being:



On faith:



On parenting:





And lastly, On Good TV:





Name this show! 

All of the above came from here. 

Can't wait to see what you're loving this week!

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Mama Loves: Great Books!

Welcome to another week of Mama Loves! I'm so thrilled that you stopped by!

Not sure what Mama Loves is? Check out the Mama Loves page for the scoop on what Mama Loves is all about.

Also---to see all the amazing ideas that have been shared here, check out the Mama Loves Pinterest page. So many crazy-good ideas there!
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Please check out these great ideas from other mamas!

• Clotheslines make clothes smell oh-so wonderful! (on a personal note, they come in really handy if you use cloth diapers!) 

 

• Puddle Jumpers are an awesome way for your toddlers to swim in the water! Definitely a favorite with many mamas! Check out Katie's great review of them, and some definite proof that they're a hit! 

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Katie always has fabulous posts about books her littles are loving! I pay close attention to these posts for two reasons:

1. Her twins are less than a month behind Brynne and Hadley
2. Katie is a Kindergarten teacher with both excellent taste in books and great experience with what kids love.

So, when Katie talks about books. I listen.

I am not a Kindergarten teacher, but we do read a whole lotta books around here. I thought I'd give you a list of a few that the girls loving the most lately. Maybe one of them will tickle your fancy. 

• Madeline. 

 


Oh, how the girls love Madeline! What I love about her character, is that she's not girly-girl; she's fearless and daring and proud of scar she gets in the book. The words are rhythmic and entertaining for both adults and children.

*A bonus is that there are lots of drawings of Paris in the book. My girls can identify the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and the Palace of Versailles.

• The Paper Bag Princess. 

I'm not much of princess person---I think the "princess culture" is unhealthy in many ways. So, what on earth am I talking about princess book? You might ask. This, my friends, is no ordinary princess.

She's smart. She out-wits the dragon, who is holding her fiance captive. Yes, she rescues the prince, only to discover that the prince is vain and arrogant, so she decides she doesn't want to marry him after all.

A princess who is clever and wise. Great story! 

• Little Blue Truck. 

 And its sequel:

• Little Blue Truck Leads the Way

 


 I think I originally heard of the Little Blue Truck from Katie. See? You should listen to her! The books she recommends are winners!

The Little Blue Truck books are fun and rhythmic. The girls know just when to interject the appropriate "beeps" and "honks" and have learned how to identify taxis----random, I know.  
Both these books present the lesson in the importance of being kind, which any mama loves.

Can't wait to see what you're loving!

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Mama Loves: Art

Welcome to another week of Mama Loves! I'm so thrilled that you stopped by!

Not sure what Mama Loves is? Check out the Mama Loves page for the scoop on what Mama Loves is all about.

Also---to see all the amazing ideas that have been shared here, check out the Mama Loves Pinterest page. So many crazy-good ideas there!
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 Before I get started, a few fabulous ideas from the past week:

• Farmer's Markets are a great way to purchase healthy food for less. 
• Swimway Infant Floats are the perfect device to keep your baby safely floating in the pool.
• Flying with your babies? Check this out! A travel must-have for this mama!
• A great selection of books that toddlers are sure to love!

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We've been hearing the name, Claude Monet, around our house a lot lately. Thanks to the book, The Magical Garden of Claude Monet. 

 

Awhile back, I stumbled over a series of books by Laurence Anholt called the Anholt's Artists. He takes an artist, and writes a children's book about the artist, which always includes a child as one of the main characters. All the books have fantastic illustrations that are complete with the artist's noteworthy pieces.

I was hooked! I loved the idea of giving the girls an introduction to, and appreciation of art at an early age. 

The books are geared towards children that are a little bit older, but I decided to give them a try. The girls often surprise me, showing interest in books with a detailed plot, big words, and 25+ pages!

Turns, out, our girls love Claude Monet, and were fascinated with the Japanese bridge that is in so many of his famous works.



What excited me more was to have the opportunity to link the book, and Monet's art to something local, and tangible for the girls to experience firsthand.

We have beautiful gardens here, located at the local university. The girls and I went for a picnic lunch one morning at the gardens, and enjoyed walking across "Monet's Bridge", even if Mama's death grip on their hands did cause slight discomfort.

 
The girls were really excited to get to walk over the bridge. And, while we don't have lilies in the water at our bridge, we do have some turtles, which they are still talking about.

Can't wait to see what you're loving this week!

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Mama Loves: Dryer Balls

Welcome to another week of Mama Loves! I'm so thrilled that you stopped by!

Not sure what Mama Loves is? Check out the Mama Loves page for the scoop on what Mama Loves is all about.

Also---to see all the amazing ideas that have been shared here, check out the Mama Loves Pinterest page. So many crazy-good ideas there!
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Loves to check out:

• Give your little ones (and Mama) confidence in the water with these.  
• Songs that kids and parents can love to sing along to!

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A few months ago, I found Nellie's Dryer Balls.

  

The cloth inserts we use in cloth diapering were taking at least two hours to get all the way dry in the dryer.

The dryer balls promised to:

• Dry clothes in less time
• Soften clothes naturally
• Reduce lint and wrinkles in clothing 
• Replace the need for fabric softeners or dryer sheets (which you can't use on cloth diapers anyway)

I figured since they're supposed to last up to two years, they would be well worth it, from a financial perspective. 

So far, I have to say that I'm pretty darn happy with them!

We just keep them in our dryer for every load. Clothes come out feeling soft. And the number of times I've had to add more time to the dryer has decreased significantly.

I really like the company's mission to provide:

...non-toxic, hypoallergenic, and environmentally friendly cleaning products that reduce consumption and allow you to use only what's needed.

Happy Saturday! Can't wait to see what you're loving, but before I go-----you all know this mama loves books! Please check out my friend Mandy's giveaway from Usborne books! We love our Usborne books around here!

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Mama Loves: Monsters

Welcome to another week of Mama Loves! I'm so thrilled that you stopped by!

Not sure what Mama Loves is? Check out the Mama Loves page for the scoop on what Mama Loves is all about.

Also---to see all the amazing ideas that have been shared here, check out the Mama Loves Pinterest page. So many crazy-good ideas there!
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 A few ideas from last week to check out:

• Fun with foam stickers!
• Portable high chair worth check out. 

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I'm very careful about the kind of books we have around here. I'm amazed at how many children's books can tackle very scary subject matter i.e. monsters, witches, wolves, etc.

One of our daughters is incredibly sensitive. If the illustrations are dark and "scary" looking, she will often turn around and hide her eyes in my shoulder. Seeing things like that is distressing to her, so I'm often reassuring her, making light of what she sees, ("Oh, that's just a lady and a dog," rather than a witch and a wolf), or just removing books like that from our shelves. 

So. Monsters.

There is a book that my girls just love called If You're A Monster And You Know It. You sing it to the tune of, If You're Happy and You Know It. If you don't want to buy the book---you can listen to the song here.

The illustrations of the monsters are child-like and done in vivid colors; they aren't scary at all, at least not to Brynne, but she's too busy dancing to spend much time looking at the pictures.

 

My sensitive little one is also a huge music fan. She brings me this book all the time and enjoys dancing along, proving that she's a monster and she knows it by doing her very best:

• snort and growl
• smack your claws (clap hands)
• stomp your paws (stomp feet)
• twitch your tail (shake hips)
• wiggle your warts (wiggle fingers)
• give a ROAR!

Her favorite is to give a ROAR, which she does with great enthusiasm!

  Can't wait to see what you're loving this week!

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