The Shi Shu Baby blanket is by far the best baby blanket I have ever used. I got the Lemon color one. It is a beautiful color. The blanket is a very nice size, it is 30" by 40. It is handwoven. The trim on the blanket is 100% bamboo sateen. It is the softest material just perfect for a little baby to snuggle up to and have a perfect rest. My two year old loves the blanket, She has claimed the blanket as her own. She grabbed it back from my 5 year old when it was nap time and the older one was trying to cuddle with it. I was able to wrap the two year old up like a burrito in the blanket. I wrapped my two week old nephew in it when he was over the other day and it was perfect for his 7 pound body. You can purchase this beautiful blanket that is made only of natural fibers at www.shishustyle.com

 

I opened up the Shi Shu blanket and gave it to my two-year-old daughter and she lifted it up to her face, snuggled it and fell asleep within two minutes. Promise! This blanket is soft and fairly thick. I think it is absolutely the perfect weight. Not to thick and not too thin. The weight should definitely hold up to numerous washings. I ordered the pink and it is a wonderful textured look and feel. It is the perfect size too for babies through toddlers. Great product.

  I'm one of those people who would  rather go out of my way to use a favorite item, then use one that is already clean and sitting in front of me.  The Shi Shu blanket will definitely be one of those items.  I was very excited to receive this blanket in pink.  It was folded in a nice neat square, with a simple piece of ribbon (not sure if that's the correct name), and folded inside the blanket was signature tissue paper.  If I had purchased this blanket as a gift, it would be very easy to slip this into a gift bag for the recipient.  The  blanket speaks for itself and no extra work on presentation would be necessary.  The blanket washed very nice and kept its shape.  Its sizing is perfect for my little ones to cuddle up with on the couch or to use as a blanket in the crib or on the toddler bed.  This blanket is reserved for my youngest daughter.  In the next couple of months we'll transition to sleeping with a blanket and this defintely will be the one I reach for.  Check out the site and see the other sizes and colors available.  I would love to put the Classic Weave Throw on my list.  If its any thing like the blanket, I would be in for a real treat!

A new twist on some old stories.

Mrs. Grizzle babysits the Bear children - Brother, Sister and Honey.  Honey is the baby and always asleep by bedtime, but Brother and Sister are anxious to here a good story.  Mrs. Grizzle is the best storyteller!  The cubs know the classics - The 3 Little Pigs, Goldilocks and The Little Red Hen, among others.  Mrs. Grizzle puts a twist on each classic she tells, and the cubs can't wait to hear what it is.  The "re-titles" include; The Three Little Cubs and the Big Bad Pig, Goldibear and the Three People; The Gingerbread Bear; The Three Billy Goats Gruff Meet the Bogg Brothers; The Little Red Hen; Little Red Grizzly Hood.  There is a weeks' worth of entertainment and treasure at bedtime.

I like this book.  My girls enjoy the Berenstain Bears' books and have enjoyed hearing the twists Mrs. Grizzle presents.  I gave this book to my three year old - she will grow into it - because the older two got book at their birthday party.  She has poured over every page, looking at the illustrations and telling the stories to her dolls and stuffies.  This book is definitely a hit in this home.

What a lot of big and useful words in this very educational book by Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell.  My girls are 6 and 7 and are interested in learning what a lot of words mean.  The words in this book are ones they need to know.  I'm sure to hear them in the near future, as they gain a better understanding of the vocabulary given in this brightly illustrated book.  They love to use big words!

Although I liked the words that were explained in the book, I found that the rhythm was really hard to read.  The rhyming was there, but I couldn't "get in the groove" of the wording.  Maybe it was just me.

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!  This is only my second encounter with Fancy Nancy and I love her!  My kids love her!

An alphabet book for a princess; I can imagine my girls saying to me or to some stranger: "My mom's clothes are so understated."  Or instead of asking if we are going somewhere, they'll say, "Are we going on an excursion today, Mom?"  Or me saying, "K, you have a knack for getting your sisters to help you get the job done fast!"

The book cover is glittery and the illustrations are so busy!  So fun.  This is the book for a girly-girl, a smart word loving girly-girl!

I had been waiting for this bag to arrive!  I love cloth bags and use them for many things - library books, taking books or clothes on trips, sending a gift to a friend down the street.  With 5 children, sometimes it feels like I can never have enough bags around.  I was very curious to see what this bag would look like and what the quality would be.  Let's just say I was not disappointed!

Some bags have weak seams or inferior stitching.  Not so with this one.

The handles!  They are just the right length.  You can hold them in your hand and the bag does not drag on the ground (at least if you are as tall as me) and yet they are big enough that you could put the straps over your shoulder too!  I love that.

I wanted to test the bag's strength to see how much I could put in it weight wise.  And then I wanted to see what types and sizes of products would fit nicely.  Look what we did.  (Not included in the pictures are two gallons of milk that fit nicely side by side in the bag!)

I am very very impressed with the bag from EcoBags.

My 6 week old baby fit nicely, not too snug.

My 30 pound 2 year old did not cause any creaking or groaning of the seams either.

And two bags of 72 count Pampers diapers fit perfectly.

Yep, a great product.  Check out more such bags and other products at Ecobags.com.

by Rob Scotton - author and illustrator What a special story!  My children are homeschooled, so going to school at this point is not something they have experience with, but the principles can be applied to other areas of life.  Splat goes to school for the first time and learns a lot that first day - not necessarily academics, but Splat learns about himself and about his classmates; he learns social skills.  Tome, that is real education, that can happen anywhere. The illustrations are detailed and yet so simple.  I found myself spending time looking at and for little details - things like hinge screws and book titles, cracks in the walls and doors on mouse holes!  Rob Scotton's attention to detail is incredible. Other books by Rob Scotton can be found here.

  Three Steps to Clever Cleaning is part of 1-2-3..Get Organized Mini-Book Series.  When I received these I was expecting a mini book, but was really surprised how mini they were.  These books are super easy reads.  Rather then taking you room by room, it gives you suggestions for what you need to do most of your cleaning as well as some different methods of cleaning.   While reading through this book, I thought this would be the perfect gift for a bride or a newly SAHM.  When my husband and I got married we both moved out of our parents home into an apartment.  I would love to have had this kind of book as we started our new home together.  With the holiday's approaching, this book (as well as the other ones available) would be a perfect stocking stuffer.  Of the whole book, my favorite section is the chapter on periodic cleaning.  Each month has a task that needs to be done once or twice a year.  Some of these jobs are easy to overlook, but with this schedule its easy to keep up with them and makes it less likely that you would forget or overlook them.  Check this book out if you need a place to start your cleaning or just want some tips to help maximize the cleaning time you have available.

A book about the seasons.  Old Bear goes to hibernate late in the winter season; it's already snowing.  He dreams of being young again and of experiencing the changing seasons for the first time as an imaginative little cub.

Water color paint and ink.  The use of color in the book is beautiful!  Kevin Henkes uses his mediums very effectively.  I especially like the autumn page bat that could be because I consider that particular season to be my favorite.

The story is extremely simple, but imaginative.  Child-like, without being childish.  On the back jacket cover, some of Kevin Henkes' other works are mentioned.  After reading and enjoying Old Bear I am interested in checking out these other titles from our local library!