I intend to support this little girl.  You can read her story at http://www.telegram.com/article/20080928/NEWS/809280389 and also visit her site at http://www.jasminariel.com/.  Please take the time to check out her story and possibly support her cause.  There should be more people like her in this world.

raelynn

http://www.kidzcomfort.com

First comes Halloween for those of us that celebrate it.  I’m fearful that the costumes will be all gone soon…at least I’ve seen them flying off the shelves already.  UGH

I started thinking about great gift ideas and thought I would throw some out there for others:

Blue Hasti has great gifts that can be personalized.  And not only does she have what is shown on her site, but she can create whatever you want.  She had made me two absolutely beautiful bowls for my two boys.  One has a soccer theme with my son’s name and one has a football theme with my other son’s name.  They absolutely love them.  I would highly recommend her for any personalized items…painted glasses, painted Christmas ornaments, etc.

rglispin.ordermygift.com is great if you don’t know what to get for some one and you want them to choose from a variety of items in a gift album.  I often buy these for my Brother-in-laws because they are so hard to shop for.  There are all sorts of themes to choose from:  from baby themed, wedding, guy gear, meats, chocolates, pampering themes, etc.

Express Yourself Gifts & Baskets is great for personalized baskets.  I send my parents (living in FL) gift baskets filled with all of their favorite things from this wonderful shop.  And she can create anything that you need…I recently sent my Dad a basket filled with ice cream sundae supplies.  He loved it!

Tubby Bundle has some really cute products for babies and kids.  I recently purchased a ‘Tubby Bundle’ towel for a friend who just had a baby, and I even had it personalized with his name.  It was so cute and my friend LOVED it!

And, of course, there are my own gift items for kids.  Whenever I need a quick gift for a child, I just go shopping from my own store, Kidz Comfort .  We sell great bedtime story books; Kids love being read to and it is so important to their development.  We sell some lullaby CDs for kids who may need to relax before they can drift off to sleep.  We sell full bedding sets , Bed Bumpers for Big kids and toddler pillows.  I just sent my son off to Kindergarten with a new toddler size pillow and camo pillow case…he loves it and the other kids are jealous!  Finally, we have our Kidz heat and cool packs which are flying off the shelves.

Anyway, happy shopping and if I think of anymore, I’ll post again soon.  If you have some great resources for gifts that you have confidence in, please feel free to post for others to see.

thanks!  raelynn

www.kidzcomfort.com

Friday we drove 4+ hours (thanks to a rather obscure path compliments of Mapquest).  Thank goodness for DVD players, but they can only keep my two boys from smacking each other in the head for so long.  We decided to catch a few hours before closing at Santa’s Village.  I’m certain, being boys, that their minds could have exploded at that point.  So much to look at and ride, so little time.

This was followed up by dinner at the Inn.  Minor note–my two boys (3 1/2 and 5 years old) do not ever ever EVER slow down.  The flood of excitement from the park spilled into the restaurant…and not quietly.  We inhaled our food, chewing every other bite and then got them to the room.  One more trip out to the indoor pool for a quick refreshing swim.  Not so refreshing…one boy was given a time out and banned from the pool for the evening.  I don’t know what the word is, but I think I need to make a new one up for that point in time when my boys are very tired, but very hyper at the same time.  Right now I just call it annoying.

We finally calmed down enough where they fell asleep around 11pm.  We are also unconscious.

The next day seems mostly normal.  We spend the whole day at Santa’s Village.  My feet are aching and I’ve given up on my “lifestyle change”…I like to call my diets that so I don’t feel so bad.  I have fried dough, snow cones, ice cream, hot dogs, french fries…the list goes on.  I actually gained 5 pounds from Friday morning to Monday morning.  Is that normal?  Should I be talking to my physician?  Anyway, I digress.

Dinner is torturous.  We travel to a Pub 99 that we think is only a few minutes away.  40 minutes later, we arrive to a 35 minute wait for our table.  Preschool boys are not patient people.  We get to the table and for some reason our food arrives around 30 minutes later.  UGH

I hope that some day my boys look back and remember all the fun that they truly had, because if not I’m going to crack!

Have a nice vacation.

raelynn, www.kidzcomfort.com

Tips for Keeping Kids Interested in a Variety of Foods

1. Let them help…Even simple things like a Parent cutting up some veggies and letting your kids put them into a big bowl to help make salad.  They can even mix it all together afterwards.  My kids often do a lot of taste-testing…how can I complain about my kids munching on veggies?!
2. To encourage my kids to eat more healthful, rather then strictly telling them they should, I often just ask them to come help me prepare some foods so that they are more interested in tasting their creations.  Kids can always help with the mixing process, or with the adding of ingredients…So when you are preparing anything that requires several ingredients, there is nothing wrong with letting kids do the adding and mixing (as long as it is not over a hot stove) 
3. Smoothies are another great thing to make with the kids.  You can pre-cut some fruit so that your kids can add it to an unplugged blender.  They can then add the yogurt, milk or juice as well.  I usually plug it in when it is ready to blend and let the boys push the correct button.  They take turns blending…therefore, no fights!
4. Make your own pizza night is great!  Buy some readi-made pizza crust, preferably the mini ones.  Put small bowls of each topping in front of each child…pizza sauce, shredded cheese, pepperoni, etc.  The fact that they are preparing their own pizza makes them so excited about actually eating it.
5. Play restaurant…We often put out all of the TV trays in a row in our family room, sort of like a counter at a restaurant.  Then we fill about eight little bowls with what we call “snack foods”.  We use baby carrots, cucumbers, strawberries, celery sticks, cheese sticks, wheat crackers, apple slices, goldfish crackers, etc.  The kids have a great time playing restaurant while also eating a healthy snack.
6. We find that letting our kids “serve” themselves from the dinner table works so much better than preparing their plates for them.  It seems to change their mindset from us telling them what they are going to eat, to them making the decision on their own as to what they will eat.  Dinnertime becomes more successful that way.
7. Making their food into shapes is a huge success in our house as well.  We make grilled cheese shaped like robots.  We make sandwiches shaped like circles, squares, triangles, etc.  If your kids like raisins, you can use them as eyes, nose and mouth.  Be creative.
8. If you are not a very good “home-made baker” (like me), you can add mashed fruit into almost anything that you are making from a package…muffin mix, bread mix, cake mix, cookie mix.  It makes me feel a little better about giving them something not so healthy.

The key is to be creative and keep your kids interested.  Participation is the key.

Good luck!

raelynn

http://www.kidzcomfort.com

The new law was signed with the belief that seat belts were not designed for children and that many injuries will be avoided with the use of booster seats for this age and sized child.  Motor vehicle crashes are the number one killer of children between the ages of 4 and 8.  The use of booster seats is believed to reduce these rates of injury by as much as 58% when compared to this same age bracket using seat belts.

How do you feel about this new law?

raelynn, http://www.kidzcomfort.com

I am anxious to read more about e-marketing through a free source:  http://www.moms-business-coach.com.  I cannot wait to master, or at least have a clue about e-marketing. 

I’ll write more later.  Having trouble focusing. g’night.

raelynn, http://www.kidzcomfort.com

If you are a Mom (or non-Mom, or even a man) I would highly recommend locating similar centers in your own state by googling something like “centers for women entrepreneurs in <your state>”.  If you are from Massachusetts or Rhode Island, I would highly recommend visiting the CWE at www.cweonline.org.

Good luck!

raelynn, www.kidzcomfort.com

In the past two weeks, I’ve had two ear infections (that seem to be lingering), a sinus infection, a root canal, started a new part-time job with the Center for Women and Enterprise (who I owe a great deal for helping me start-up my own business), had a Home & Garden Party Dem, gone to a Tupperware Dem and built a new rubbermaid shed for the boys’ toys…among many other smaller and less interesting adventures.

I am now going to seek out some form of oganizational information for parents!  I feel that things have been hectic and I’ve gotten out of the habit of keeping my days organized. 

The highlight of my day so far today…we had a pouring rain thunderstorm.  After the heavey rain stopped, my boys wanted to go see if our vegetable garden grew.  As we approached the garden, we saw a snake!  We came right in the house to google “identifying a snake”, at their request.  We found that we have a new friend…a common garter snake.  How exciting!  A new lesson for the boys…NEVER touch a snake!

Have a great day.

Raelynn

www.kidzcomfort.com

I do intend to give this my best shot, to keep you interested and wanting to hear more.  The days to come will hold you captive to my every word…or at least possibly make you somewhat curious.  I encourage your votes of confidence in me.  Remember what Mom always said…”if you have nothing good to say, then reword it and be politically correct”.

Have a nice day today, and remember, a laugh may be just a blog away.