Frozen Dinosaur Eggs

Saw these instructions for Frozen Dinosaur Eggs on Pinterest and my son had a blast making the eggs and then cracking them with his hammer.

Dinosaur Egg Gift Bags

I came up with this easy dinosaur egg gift bag idea for my son’s birthday party.  Many months ago I saw this dinosaur egg idea, but the week of his birthday I realized that I didn’t have time to pull off a paper mache project and this quick alternative came to me.

I drew a U on a piece of paper and ran it through my sewing machine.

After sewing I cut the eggs out and made a jagged top.  The last step was to decorate and fill with simple prizes.  An easy project that took about an hour to pull off. 

Joovy Twin Roo

Last winter we needed a twin frame stroller to use with our Chicco Keyfit 30 carseats.  We first tried a used double Baby Trend Universal Snap-N-Go stroller, but didn’t like that the car seats don’t snap in tightly.  We quickly decided that using straps to attach the car seats every time would be a nuisance, especially when dealing with 2 babies.  After searching around quite a bit, we settled on the Joovy Twin Roo, and it has served us very well.  The Chicco car seats snap into this frame and don’t need to be attached with straps.  The frame is wider than the Snap-N-Go, but much sturdier and fits through most doorways fine.  The Twin Roo also feels a lot less clumsy because it isn’t as long. The twins face in opposite directions when walking, but when stopped you can flip a seat around temporarily if needed.  When you do this, the seat doesn’t snap in tightly so you need to remember to swap it back before you are on the move again.  This isn’t a great stroller for off road use, but can be used on non bumpy trails and on grass for short stretches.  For winter babies, this is a great choice since you can’t really go on trails if you are in snowy/icy areas and it is easier to transport the babies in their car seats when they are under 6 months.  The stroller folds nicely, isn’t too heavy and takes up average stroller real estate in the trunk.

We also invested in the Joovy Bumprider for our 3 year old and it has been great as well.  It was especially useful when taking solo outings with all 3 kids.  The Bumprider is universal and will work with many strollers.  On the Twin Roo, it needs to be taken off before folding the stroller.  When walking, my feet do hit the bumprider sometimes, but this was something that I could live with in exchange for the ability to leave the house.    If you aren’t using the bumprider, you can opt not to attach it for the outing or there is a strap that allows you clip it out of the way.

Elsa the Elephant

I finally got around to making this flannel elephant from the Elsa the Elephant toy sewing pattern. I purchased the pattern many years ago, and was motivated to make it when friends named their daughter Elsa.

Jet Age Glamour

Photo via Auto Universum

Auto Universum, a blog about jet age motoring, has a post about Jet Age Design in the kitchen that features our favorite Frigidaire Flair.  During the jet age of design designers rethought the basic design of many appliances, adding chrome, steel details and color to everyday kitchen appliances.  Through the push of a button, the menial task of work disappeared as the attractive glass doors shut and the burners were pushed away out of sight on the Frigidaire Flair.  The miracle of modern jet age engineering!

Diaper Cake

A quick, easy and fun project for a new baby.  The diaper cake!

Family Photos

I hung pictures in our hallway at toddler level so my son can recognize family that we don’t see very often.  He really enjoys pointing and naming all of our friends and relatives hanging in our hallway.  So simple, with a big payoff.

Blue Doors in Paris

When we were in Paris a few years ago, a highlight for me was admiring all the beautiful blue doors. Here is a collage of some of my pics:

Recently I bought a painting to remind me of these doors from this Paris Collection by Paul Ferney. It hangs along with a print I got of Geneva and both are great reminders of our summer abroad.

Preschool and Elementary iPad apps

Here are some iPad apps that I pinned on Pinterest, that I have used successfully in a school setting with Elementary school students. I also have found the Kraken AMS case (pictured right) for the iPad 2 to be awesome.  It is a shock protection case, with a built in screen protector.  Very user friendly for small hands and I have seen a few dropped iPads survive the crash.  At the moment they cost $69.95, but if you are planning to use this in a school environment it is worth the investment.  Another thing to note is that this case fits well into an iPad cart, while many of the kid options are too wide to fit.  I also have a basic edtech category on Pinterest that can be found here for more general stuff like this cool free Bloom’s Taxonomy download:

(Image via Education Technology and Mobile Learning)

Morning Fog

A few photos that I took early this morning of the Arlington Reservoir.