Secret Keeper Girls

I was an awkward preteen. No doubt about it. I had big glasses. Uncontrollable frizzy, curly hair. And a serious self-esteem issue.

I knew who I wanted to be friends with. But I was never quite cool enough to be part of their group.

There were times I was the mean girl. There were times I was on the receiving end of it.

I would not want to have to go through that age again. Ever.

It scares me to think of what the pre-teens are going through today. It has to be much harder than it was 'back in the day'.

Dannah Gresh author of Secret Keeper Girl is trying to make it a little easier- for everyone.

The first time I read this book, I read it through the eyes of a mom. And loved it. It is chock full of values that are so important in this world.

The second time I read it, I tried to go back and read it through the eyes of a 10 year old. II found it to be easy reading, funny, and totally relatable to today's youth.

I only read the first of the four books. Each book follows the lives of the four main characters in the books. The basic premise is four girls met in detention, become friends, and form a club. They each face problems and work through them.

Girls can go online to interact more deeply with the characters in the books. There are also mother/daughter assignments in the appendix, engineered to encourage talking to one another about something you both enjoy.

I highly recommend this series- particularly if you have a daughter between the ages of 8-12. And for the low price of $7.99, it would make a great Christmas present.

Bella's Baby

I've mentioned before how much Maddie loves horses. She looks for them in every field we drive by. She has come up with names for all of the horses that she hopes to have. One day, when she has a field of her own.

The obsession will not gone away.

The only thing that she might love more than horses is baby horses. Which makes the timing of the Bella Sara foals arriving even better.

We've gotten Maddie the Bella Sara cards before. Basically, they are trading cards designed with the horse lover in mind. Each card features a magical horse along with an inspirational message.

When Team Mom sent the Baby Bella cards, Maddie promptly took them out of their packages and pretended to cook them. It wasn't exactly what I thought she would do, but it occupied her for a while.

The next day, I decided to actually go on the website and set up an account. It was extremely easy and within minutes, I had all of her horses registered.

She loved it. She fed her horses, she brushed her horses, she gave them all new names. And I felt completely comfortable with her being on this website without me right over her shoulder the whole time.

Starting on November 6th, there will be a 10 day celebration on the website, where kids can win prizes, read stories, and get special codes for their horses.

If your little girl loves horses, I highly recommend checking out Bella Sara.

It's all the horse without the manure.

K'Nex Cookie

"Sunny days, sweeping the clouds away. . . " You know the song. You know the show. You know you are wondering what the gang on Sesame Street has been up to.

Maddie loved Sesame Street when she was younger. For almost the entire hour, she would sing, say her letters and numbers, laugh with Elmo and Cookie and basically give me time to get stuff done. Or take a nap.

I thought she had outgrown the show. Until I got one of these in the mail. A Sesame Street K'NEX- Cookie Monster.

We opened the package and Maddie played with it for about an hour. Making Cookie have short legs, long arms, big belly, small belly, with a head, without a head. She made up stories about what Cookie was about to do and where he wanted to go next.

It was fun listening to and watching her. I loved the fact that it was an educational toy and inspired her imagination. I really, really loved that it comes in a package that keeps all of the pieces stored away.

So, remember that the holidays are coming quicker than we realise. And they come in other characters, not just Cookie. So, check it out.

Got Pictures? Have Some Fun!

Wanna have some fun with your pictures? Then, send your new creations to your friends and family and have them think you did it all yourself? Of course, you do.

Check this out with your volume on.





The kind folks at Greetingflix made this possible and it was incredibly easy. Even for me. There are lots of different templates to choose from, and more to come. And, if you go "pro", there are even more templates to choose from. It's only $9.95. For ever. Pretty cool, huh?

So, check it out and have fun!

Funny Baby Clothes

I pretty much gave up on having cool clothes, once Maddie came along. After all, no one really notices the mom- only how cute the kid is. And, more importantly, how cute the kid is dressed. Maddie has way cooler clothes than I do. I love the quirky, trendy clothes for babies and toddlers, that are out now.

Enter Trendy Tadpole. These shirts are awesome. My favorites are the "Oh, snap" with the frog, and the octopus squirting ink, "Oopsy." You just can't get much cuter than that.

But, the best part is she's HAVING A SALE!!! 50% off- until the 22nd.

So, go. Go, now. And have your kid be the best dressed on the playground. Well . . . besides mine, that is.