Construction Birthday Party

Isaac turned two in March!  I think I've had this cake in my Pinterest ever since he was born, just waiting for the right time.  :)  It was so easy to do and turned out wonderfully.

The cake was gluten and dairy free - I used this mix: Pamela's Products Luscious Chocolate Cake Mix and the frosting recipe from The Healthy Gluten-Free Life: 200 Delicious Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free and Egg-Free Recipes!.  The chocolate chip "rocks" are Enjoy Life brand.  I used these Toystate Caterpillar Construction Mini Machine 5-Pack as the cake topper.  They also served as table decorations and party favors too.  The napkins and plates we found at Hobby Lobby.  Some yellow streamers along with these fun 7" Traffic Signs made easy decor.

We served lemonade, cake, veggies and dip, and fruit salad for a simple afternoon party.

Some of his favorite gifts were these:

Toystate Caterpillar Construction Take-A-Part Trucks: Wheel Loader

Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site

UNITED PARCEL SERVICE UPS 4" P-600 Package Car Delivery Truck

Learning Curve 4" Garbage Truck

Postal Service Kid's Toy Truck

In fact, this is how we had to do diaper changes for a while, drill in hand!  :)

PVC Pipe Ball Drop

I recently saw this idea on Pinterest and went a little crazy with it.

The idea is simple.  Pick out some PVC pipe pieces, drill holes in them and insert suction cups.  These can be used on a window or glass door to make a fantastic ball drop, or in the bath tub to pour water through.

Lucy and I had fun picking out lots of different shaped pipes.  They ranged in price from 63 cents to several dollars for the bigger pieces.

We found suction cups and bouncy balls at Hobby Lobby.  Just be sure the suction cups have an indented part, you will need that to keep them wedged into the pipes.  The bouncy balls were by the party supplies.

Ross used a clamp to hold the pieces in place while drilling through them.  We popped the suction cups in, and have been enjoying our new toy ever since!  It really is great for all ages; the big kids make the configurations and the little ones have a blast dropping the balls through.

More on Keeping the Toddler Busy...

Isaac still likes the other homemade toy I posted about recently.  I'm always on the lookout for things that might keep him busy for a few minutes while I work on a school lesson with the girls.  This one is another hit!  Big sister even enjoys playing with it.

I took a peanut can from Costco and covered it with construction paper.  We bought some brightly colored pom poms, and cut holes in the lid to fit.

Isaac had fun pushing the pom poms through the hole, dumping them all out, and then clapping for himself.

Such a cutie!

Homemade Toddler Toy

This has been keeping Isaac (13 months) occupied lately:

a Huggies wipes box and several frozen juice container lids

put them in the slot

 open the lid to get them back out again

I clapped and made a big deal when Isaac got one in the slot, so he's really proud of himself.  He really has to think hard and push to get the lid turned the right way, making this the perfect toy.  Esther likes playing with it too, just for fun.  :)

Princess Legos!

Two of the favorite things around here are Disney princesses and Lego Duplos.  I literally gasped out loud when I saw this in the store!  Lego has a new line of Disney princess Duplos!  We actually got  a chance to review one of the small sets.

Sleeping Beauty's Room comes with the princess, her skirt, bed, blanket, chair, fairy block, and some castle pieces.

Sleeping Beauty is very cute.  She has a crown on, and can play with or without her skirt.  The girls enjoyed putting her to bed and covering her up with the blanket.

I'm fairly certain we will need to own all three of the other sets - Snow White's Cottage, Cinderella's Carriage, and Cinderella's Castle.  Unlike so many other things, Legos are quality toys that are safely made and will last a long time.  I love that Legos encourage creative play - I can just see my girls acting out endless princess stories with these.

I can hardly wait for an excuse to purchase this castle!  Maybe I can talk someone into a princess birthday party this summer.  :)



We received this Lego Duplo set for review.  All opinions are my own.

Rainy Day Fun - Hello Hanna Paper Dolls

With a new baby in the house, I've been doing my best to think of things that will keep my girls occupied and happy.  Thankfully the weather has been nice, so they've been playing outside quite a bit.  On a recent rainy day they really enjoyed playing with Hello Hanna Paper Dolls.  We received some of these to review, and had a friend over for a paper doll playdate!

Hello Hanna paper dolls are great in that they include a thick cardboard doll, a dog and doghouse, two sheets of clothing, a sheet of stickers, and a stencil so that you can make more clothing!  (We saved the cardboard left over from punching out the doll and dog so we could use that as a stencil too.)

After dressing their dolls in the clothes provided, they spent the afternoon cutting out more and playing with the dolls.  Lucy used some patterned scrapbook paper to make clothes and added some of the stickers for embellishments.  Julia's doll moved into the Playmobil house and lived there.  Esther enjoyed playing with her doll a bit too, even though she was too young for most of it.  Our little friend went home and cut out a bed and pillow for her doll.

I love that the dolls encourage creativity.  Having some clothes already made, along with the stencil and stickers is a great combo.  They got to play and dress the dolls right away, and then the stencil and stickers provided another whole level of play and thought.

The dolls include several outfits, one of which is a karate outfit, which kind of made me laugh.  My girls have no idea what karate is and ended up using that for a bathrobe.  Lucy was happy to see that the dolls all had glasses stickers to wear just like her.  Julia's only issue with the dolls?  She thought they should have a nose and asked Lucy to draw one on for her.  :)

We thoroughly enjoyed our Hello Hanna paper dolls and recommend them for any little girl.  Thanks, Hello Hanna, for keeping my girls entertained on a rainy day!

The After Christmas Toy Awards

After all of my obsessing and shopping for the perfect Christmas gifts, its always interesting to see what ends up getting the most use.  Here are a few of our most loved:

Lucy's Favorite: Twilight Ladybug - Julia already had the Twilight Turtle, and Lucy was thrilled to get the ladybug for Christmas.  With the girls sleeping in bunk beds now, having two twilight animals works well.  They are in use every single night without fail, definitely worth getting.

Julia's Favorite: Both girls really like their cameras.  This is the 2010 model that was on sale for $20 at Toys R Us on Black friday.  Julia isn't quite as adept at using the controls and finding the features on it, but Lucy has it figured out and shows Julia what to do.  They have both taken some adorable photos.

(As a side note, there are two simple video games on the camera, totally unrelated to picture taking.  We don't have video game systems for the girls and I was surprised that the games were on this camera.  I suppose its fairly harmless, but seems unnecessary.  Otherwise we do really enjoy the cameras.)

Esther's Favorite: She is in love with this little ladybug beanie that Lucy got her!

Mommy's Favorite: Playmobil 123 House - Esther has played for hours with this set already.  I like that the furniture kind of snaps onto the grid and doesn't slide around too much.  Its very toddler friendly and perfect for Esther, although all three girls enjoy playing with it.  Another nice feature is that the sides fold up and the furniture stores inside.

Mommy's Not So Favorite: Playmobil Animal Feeding Station  - I got this on sale for $10, but there are way too many tiny pieces in this set.  I'm not sure what I was thinking.

Best Inexpensive Gift: Melissa and Doug Sticker Books - All three girls got one of these sticker sets.  There are a ton of stickers in each pad and some very fun designs.

Best Book: Esther just got this one for her birthday.  It has a ton of animal names that the girls think are fun to read, "bush baby", etc.

What were your favorite kid Christmas gifts this year?

Fun Felt! (and a Giveaway)

We recently discovered a great new toy that any little girl would love - felt dress-up dolls!  My girls were thrilled to receive a package of dolls, clothes, and a camping background set to review from Story Time Felts.

I am extremely impressed with the color and quality of these.  All of the designs are bright and clear, and they are soft.  They don't feel painted or like the printing will rub off at all.

The dolls are thick and sturdy enough that the girls can hold them and play with them.  You can kind of see in this picture how thick they are:

Each of the sets comes with a number of outfits and accessories, enough to entertain my girls for quite some time.  I love all of the detail on each piece!

The camping background set is very durable and stands up on its own:

Again, I love all of the attention to detail!  A fire, a marshmallow roasting stick, and even smores to feed the dolls.  The set definitely has all of the pieces we need to make up stories and pretend play.

We haven't tried it yet, but the dolls and clothes are washable.  Story Time Felts offers plenty of other sets - math, science, activity books, story based sets, and more.  Its great to see the girls fine motor skills at work as they enjoy these sets.  I love how open it leaves everything to their imaginations.  Of course, I checked, and these are made with non-toxic dyes right here in the US.

Would you like to win a set?  One person will receive a boy and girl doll set and a set of clothes, winner's choice!  To enter the giveaway you may do any of the following:  (Please leave a separate comment for each entry.  Also, leave an email address so that I can contact you.)
- like Fun Felt on Facebook
- browse the website and tell me your favorite item
- follow my blog or email subscribe
- share about this giveaway on Facebook or your blog
You may do any or all of these, for a possible 4 entries.  The giveaway will close on January 28th at midnight.  Good luck!

*Now closed.  Congrats Susan - fjvsusan...!*

A Toy Garden (Review and Giveaway!)

I always enjoy browsing A Toy Garden for unique natural toys that my girls will love.  They have a huge selection of interesting items that I end up looking at for hours.  Seriously... stocking stuffers, dolls and gnomes, travel toys, and more.

We recently got to review some absolutely gorgeous toys - the small tractor and trailer and the farm animals boxed set.  Esther especially enjoys these and has played with them quite a bit.  Both sets are made of hardwood and beautifully finished.

I love that the animals are made of different colored wood; it adds character and fun to the set.  If you've ever priced wooden animals, $24.95 is a really good deal for eight pieces.  These are perfectly sized for little hands to play with.  Esther likes to fit them all into the trailer.  (Sometimes the cow drives, watch out then!)  The animals do have some thin parts to them (legs, etc), but they are very sturdy.

The tractor and trailer is expertly made and will definitely be an heirloom toy!  The trailer attaches easily to the tractor, and can pull quite a load of animals at once.  ;)  The peg person comes out of the tractor for play.  Both of these sets would make wonderful Christmas gifts for any little person.  I love toys like this and feel so much better about spending money on them rather than plastic junk that will not last.

I'm so excited to announce that A Toy Garden is giving away a Small Tractor and Trailer set to one of you!  To win, do any of the following and leave a separate comment for each entry (for a total of four possible entries).  Be sure to include your email address so that I have a way to contact you.

- follow or email subscribe to One Little Word She Knew
- share about this giveaway on your blog/ Facebook/ or some other way
- like A Toy Garden on Facebook
- subscribe to A Toy Garden's email list (at the top of their home page)

If you're interested in purchasing the small tractor and trailer set, go ahead and do that now.  If you are the lucky winner, A Toy Garden will gladly refund your purchase price.  The giveaway will close on December 21 at midnight.  Many thanks to A Toy Garden for this fun holiday giveaway!

*Now Closed.  Congrats to Domestic Diva!*

Christmas Shopping?

Is anyone else Christmas shopping yet?  I'm actually almost done buying for my girls.  I love finding deals and planning out their lists.  Although they may come up with a few things that they want, for the most part I do the list making.  Thankfully we do not watch television, so they are oblivious as to what the hot toy of the season is.  With one, almost two little readers in the house, I am going to have to post this via a secret link.  I'll add more to that list if I think of anything else, but that's about it.  I'd love to hear what's on your children's Christmas list too!

Toxic Toys: Fisher-Price Little People

Fisher Price Little People scare me.  We used to have a ton of them and they are adorable.  However, they are made with a soft plastic (PVC?) which could contain phthalates, or other nasty chemicals.  Mattel, the parent company to Fisher Price does not have a great track record as far as safety goes.  They've had numerous recalls for lead paint and more.

I called Fisher-Price and asked them about what Little People are made of.  They were very vague and could not tell me anything other than the fact that Little People could contain PVC.  I asked several questions and could not get any more information than that.  If you look at the Healthy Toys test results, all Little People soft plastic parts test high for Chlorine, indicating PVC.  PVC is one of the worst types of plastic out there.  After rereading this article, I became convinced that Little People had to go.

Now, this was extremely hard to do.  When I was pregnant with Lucy, we bought the entire set of Little People castle and add on figures just because we thought it was so cute and wanted her to have it.  I had collected Little People from garage sales and had asked for them for Christmas.  We had Noah's ark, the barn, castle, birthday set, van, playground, and more.  Lucy and Julia spent hours playing with their Little People.  I felt bad getting rid of them, and I didn't do it right away.  It took me quite a while to come to this decision.

I started by trying to keep them away from Esther and out of her mouth.  When that didn't work, I told the girls that we had to put them in the basement because they weren't safe for Esther to play with.  I searched high and low for a replacement that I thought would be safe and just as fun for them.  We had some wooden toy dolls and animals, but the girls weren't as impressed with those.  After researching their safety, I was debating between adding some Lego Duplo sets to our collection, or getting some Playmobil 123.  We ended up buying Esther a big Duplo zoo set for her birthday last year, and right after that found a Playmobil 123 set at a garage sale.

Both Duplo and Playmobil are made of sturdy ABS plastic.  I still do not let them go in a baby's mouth, but I feel much better about my children handling and playing with these.  Both the Duplos and the Playmobil 123 have had many hours of use.  After a while, the girls agreed to let me sell the Little People on Craigslist so that they could buy more Playmobil and Duplo sets.  Esther has a big tub of Playmobil 123 that she calls "pay-mo" and gets out at least once a day.  She is getting a couple more sets for Christmas and her birthday.

Our toys are not all completely toxin free, but this was one that had bothered me for quite some time and I just had to do something about.  Especially because Little People so often find their way into a child's mouth, and because they are so toxic, and because they are meant for younger children to play with, they had to go.  We do have other toys that I am not thrilled about, and honestly, we do still have the Little People Thanksgiving and Christmas sets.  I bring those out seasonally and keep them up high on a table where Esther cannot reach them.  I would love to replace those too if I found something suitable.

With the holiday season coming up, are you keeping toy safety in mind?  I have a couple of reviews and giveaways from some great toy companies coming up, so stay tuned!

Backpacks!

We are in love with these backpacks and lunchboxes from Crocodile Creek!  (and in love with the store Julabug that sent them to us.)  Seriously!  I am so impressed with the quality and cuteness of these.

Julabug sent Lucy and Julia each a backpack and lunchbox to review.  Although my girls don't go anywhere for school, they love packing a backpack to take along to LLL meetings, church, Grandma's house, etc.  We were thrilled to get these and like I said, I'm super impressed with the quality.

The straps and nicely padded and thick.  They look like they would be very comfortable, even loaded up with books (or in our case wooden play food for a pretend picnic).  The zippers are chunky and very easy for the girls to use.  Just handling these backpacks and lunchboxes, it is obvious that they are going to last a long time, they are so sturdy.

The backpacks are big enough to hold coloring books and papers, yet just the right size for my little tiny girls to comfortably wear.  They both love the compartments inside the front pouch - Julia filled hers up with colored pencils and stickers right away.

We previously had some cheap plastic backpacks that I was worried may contain lead.  These are BPA, PVC, and phthalate free and the lunchboxes have lead-free linings.  You can read Crocodile Creek's safety statement here.

We haven't actually packed a lunch in these yet (unless you count wooden food), but they look like they would hold quite a bit.  The sides are very thick and well insulated.  I'm sure we will use these often in the summer for packing picnic lunches.

A backpack and lunchbox would make a unique gift for a little one this Christmas.  Add a matching water bottle for even more fun!  Of course ours are girly, but there are plenty of cute boy styles at Julabug too.  We give these two thumbs up!

These items were sent to us free of charge for review.  I was not obligated to give a positive review.  All opinions expressed are my own.