One More Wish

Last week a friend that we had met in Mozambique (but who lives just a couple towns away here in Oregon) gave us a photo he had taken of Esmé last year while we were over there of this incident:

It brought back memories! I smile as I remember how these two little ones "practiced their sharing skills" with Esmé's $0.97 Wal-Mart doll, attracting the photographers' attention while the official church dedication was going on.

And I remember wishing I had packed a suitcase-load of those $0.97 dolls over there with me to hand out.

As I watch my little one tenderly rock her dolly to sleep, I have one wish to add to Amy Grant's "Grown Up Christmas List: that every little girl would have a doll...

Amy Grant's Grown Up Christmas List

No more lives torn apart,
That wars would never start,
And time would heal all hearts.
And everyone would have a friend,
And right would always win,
And love would never end.
This is my grown-up Christmas list.

Review/Giveaway: Ultimate Cloth

We recently received a complimentary Ultimate Cloth to review here for a Mama Buzz tour. Here's Esmé's honest assessment:

It works GREAT for cleaning raspberry popsicle stains off the window. No streaks!

It does NOT take gouges out of the linoleum. Only God can do that.

Here's the media blurb: "The Ultimate Cloth is an eco-friendly solution for homes as well as a money and time saver. The Ultimate Cloth is a brand new technology – in fact, it is the only cloth to receive a new patent in the last 25 years. The Ultimate Cloth is a simple, green and effective one-step cleaning process. The Ultimate Cloth cleans any hard surface – glass, wood, granite, stainless steel and many more – with just water! No longer do you have to use harsh chemicals in your home, nor do you need spend hundreds of dollars per year buying them. The Ultimate Cloth has been lab tested to remove 96% of bacteria, without the use of chemicals. And it can cut 50% off your cleaning time. The Ultimate Cloth is truly the ultimate in green cleaning."

What do I think? Well, it did a great job on the windows. And the floors. And on the wood furniture that needed dusting. But it got really dirty in our house, really fast!

It IS washable - apparently 100s of times - and you can bleach it, too, but I think I need more than one if I want to get the whole house clean, or I'll constantly be doing laundry...

It's safe for Esmé to use! I love that. It doesn't have strong chemical smells and isn't harsh on the hands.

I'm not entirely sure how it removes 96% of bacteria. A quick Google didn't give me any info, and I'm quite curious about this... You CAN use bleach for additional disinfectant properties, of course.

(Hint: If you like that "clean" chemical smell, invest in a holiday scent of Febreeze. We are partial to Apple Cinnamon at our house...)

There you have it, folks! You can buy this amazing Ultimate Cloth for $6, or less if you buy a larger quantity.

Giveaway

EACH of you can get one of these cloths FREE, too! I can't give you the details here, but this is how you can get the details:

• Follow UltimateClothAmerica on twitter, OR
• Become a Facebook fan of Ultimate Cloth America

Happy cleaning!

Commercial Break

Esmé's Mommy here with a newsflash...

We are going to take a commercial break for the weekend!

It'll be fun, promise! Kinda like the Superbowl commercials. And we'll throw in a few goodies while we're at it.

So hang around; we'll be right back with our regularly scheduled programming after these messages...

Let's start with a few links:

1. Totally Tots - a totally terrific site for moms of tots with all kinds of resources. We are totally going to be snagging some of their tot Christmas activities - they've got one for every day in December through Christmas! And guess who's featured there today? Seriously?
2. Remember the cool giraffe we made during "G" school? You can find it here at One Million Giraffes. There are some really creative giraffes on that site - join in the fun and submit your own! By the way, Esmé is totally in love with giraffes after that week. Whenever she sees one, it gets picked up and carried around for a long time - toy ones, that is. It's no wonder the giraffes are the most bedraggled in our Noah's Ark sets.
3. I'm guessing most of you already use a form filler tool for online forms, but what about all those giveaways you may be entering where all the data has to go in the comment section? I discovered PhraseExpress recently, and it's terrific! You can set up "shortcut" keys to enter text you use all the time. For instance, all I do to enter my email address in the comment section is type two keys, and it fills my email in for me. And it automatically recognizes text strings you type in all the time, so it'll prompt you to tab and fill in the rest of the string after you've started typing it. It's FREE to download. (and I am getting nothing for this promotion - I just love it and wanted to share! Public Service Announcement and all that.)
4. Did you know that yesterday was National World Toilet Day?! How on earth did I miss this? It would have been perfect for potty practice...
   

Thanks: Days 19-20

Let's see - we've been putting our Thanksgiving numbering cards in order...
...and we've been painting and coloring bookmarks for all the books we're gonna give away to our many family members for Christmas...
...see? You can find lots of Christmassy printable bookmarks at Activity Village.
And we've been giving lots of love to the moose we picked out for our Operation Christmas Child shoebox. Hope the little girl likes it as much as I do!
Here's what I'm thankful for right now:

• Going to bed
  
• Watching George (that would be Curious George)
  
• Taking a bath
  
• Train tracks
  
• Warm water in the bathtub
  

Mommy's Note: If you're interested in playing along with 30 Days of Thanks, link up at From the Heart of My "Haus"

Fashion Friday

Welcome to the latest and greatest in kid fashion! If you've got some great fashion going on in your house, go post your fashion photos of the week, come back and link up, and then grab your sparking grape juice on ice, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!

Here at our house, we feature 2-year-old fashion, of course. Since we missed last week's show due to burping up, we've got a couple of extra shots for you. We're feeling pretty random today, so no theme (unless you count parentheses as a theme) - let's just get the show on the road and bring on the fashion!

First off, we'll show you what NOT to wear. Overalls are the WORST fashion faux paux you can make - so do whatever it takes to get them off when your mom manages to sneak them on you. (Or cover your head with a paper bag so no one knows it's you).
Now, on to the dos. You know that layering thing we love? Well, mom's nightgowns add a great top layer to just about anything! Here's one of the many I've been wearing lately. (The bandaid on the chin is actually functional this time, not just a fashion statement.)
Fancy dresses are another fashion do - and you can NEVER be overdressed! Demand to wear those pretty princess party dresses ALL the TIME! (The only excuse that works for me is if they are dirty and need to be washed, and even that's pushing it.) (And that bandaid by my eye? Pure fashion statement!)
You know how I like to incorporate paint and markers into my fashion style, right? (I'm a crafty sort, remember?) Here's a fun bindi mark... though Mommy wasn't too impressed. We're studying I for India, right?
So let's move on to Mom-approved fashion (unless you try doing this while washing dishes at the kitchen sink - then she DOESN'T approve). Bubbles make the greatest hair accessories and beards!
And we'll leave you with a final (and seasonal) fashion tip: Red ALWAYS goes with red, no matter what type of prints or what shade of red. Have you ever seen a classier outfit than this one?
OK, folks, here's where you get to share the catwalk! Link up your favorite fashion shot(s) of the week...

Joy in the Journey

Esmé's Mommy here.

I'm supposed to be getting ready for work right now, but I'm a procrastinator. I'm just not that into facing the cold wet 50-minute drive to daycare and then to work.

Some people find travel relaxing. I find it a time to think about new things to add to my to-do list.

So let's work on finding the positives, shall we?

The commute isn't bad - a nice long stretch of road where the only thing I have to watch out for is avoiding the deer.

We have a bare bones 1998 Ford Escort, no AC and only a radio for entertainment. It gets good mileage and hasn't required any significant repairs. At 205,000 miles, it's quite the reliable car.

And I get to see this cute face in the rear view mirror!

Singing away to KLOVE, nice and loud.

Now, if that doesn't bring a smile to the journey, I don't know what will.

(And no, I don't make a habit of taking photos while driving. But I checked to make sure there were no deer in the vicinity first.)

Happy traveling, folks!

(Esme's first solo post)

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