Thursday, December 5, 2013

Christmas Traditions

Tis the season to be jolly. As we transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas it is time to think about all of the family traditions that we do each year. Since the arrival of our new baby 4 months ago, we have been trying to involve our 6 year old more to engage him with the baby. Here are a couple traditions that we will continue and have our oldest son share with his baby brother.

  • Each family member picks out an ornament each year. When the kids grow up, we'll give them their ornaments for their own trees.
  • Christmas Tree Train - For the past couple years, we have ridden the Christmas Tree Train in Fillmore, CA and cut down our own Christmas Tree. Last year, we rode a camel while we were there!
  • Gingerbread house, Reindeer food, letter to Santa, etc - Can't forget these timeless basics.
  • Photo with Santa - We have started an album that has our Christmas card and photos with Santa each year.
There are many other things that we do, but to get in the spirit of the season I wanted to share a few. Happy Holidays!!!

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Summer kid movies

Well, the news should actually be that we have a newborn in the house that is only 2 weeks old. Yes, that is true, but it has allowed my older son and me the chance to see some of the latest movies for kids that are out there.

The first one we saw this summer was Turbo. Good story about a snail that wants to go fast and ends up at the Indy 500. Dreamworks did a good job with this one and we all enjoyed it.

We saw Disney's Planes over the weekend and it was eerily similar to Turbo. Underdog makes good and beats the villan who cheats. Solid movie though.

Monsters University was the only other movie we saw this summer and it too was an enjoyable flic. Although I can't tell if our son liked the movies or eating popcorn with butter more.

We're looking forward to the next movie that comes out.  And, oh ya, I can't wait for our new baby boy to sleep through the night and I can't wait to take him to his first movie.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

A Brother P-Touch Update!

We have a 6 year old son who has been raised on technology. He knows how to use my iPhone, iPad, my wife’s blackberry, tivo, etc. You name it, he knows how to work it – and actively seeks it out. When you combine his love of technology with his desire to help out around the house, well the PTouch label maker is the perfect device. Not only is it entertaining enough for our son to use, but it’s also incredible practical and helpful.
The other day, we began our garage clean out. Instead of moving boxes and stopping to complete a label, I told my son the labels to make as I was moving everything around. This not only saved time, but was a nice bonding moment for me and my son. Not only did it give us and activity to do together, but he saw that I was using the labels he made himself.

As I continue to execute my new year’s resolution to get organized this year, one room at a time, I imagine my son will help every step of the way!

I have the benefit of being a P-Touch ambassador. I will be using the P-Touch Label Maker all year long as I organize my house and life! Stay tuned!

"I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Brother P-Touch and received a product sample to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation."

Monday, February 18, 2013

P Touch Label Maker Makes Life Easy and Organized

There is nothing as exciting as Christmas Day.  Happy kids, time with family and lots of food.   However at some point the clean up happens and it was at that point I realized how disorganized I was - piles of unopened mail sitting in the kitchen, old kids clothes to be saved for younger siblings in piles in the closet, and boxes of holiday decorations in unlabeled boxes.  Yes, my New Year's resolution is to get organized.  Enter the Brother P-Touch Label Maker.  Yes, they actually heard my plea and made me an ambassador, but more importantly, they are here to help get me organized!
I started with the Christmas Decorations.  We immediately labeled each of our holiday decorations boxes with the exact content contained within each - ornaments here, wreaths there, etc.  It was easy to decipher our Christmas boxes from other holiday items. 
But why stop there?  The next project involved my kids.  In addition to boxing and labeling their hand-me-down clothes, I noticed the pen markings on their school supplies were wearing off. I set the label with my son's name and within seconds, printed out 5 labels - one for his folder, one small enough to fit a glue stick, one for an eraser, one for his markers and one for his crayons.  Now there wont be even the slightest chance that his supplies will get mixed up with someone else's.
If you are trying to get organized for whatever reason, the Brother P-Touch Label Maker is for you.  Tune in over the next month or so as I put the product to work to help reach organize my family! If you,too, want to get organized or find fun projects for your family, log on to their Facebook page for ideas.

"I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Brother P-Touch and received a product sample to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation."