Citrus Lane Review: June 2013

This is my second Citrus Lane box.  I have to say that it is a lot of fun for Noodlebug and I to get these boxes.  We subscribe to the 5-yr-old Boy box.

Citrus Lane offers a monthly subscription box of items for children ages 0-5.  You can tailor your box to boy, girl or gender neutral. The boxes are $25 per month for a monthly subscription.


This month's box had a "fun in the sun" theme. 

The first thing I pulled out was a Crocodile Creek space-themed water bottle. This water bottle retails for $11.99.

Then, I pulled out a Mole Hand set from Haba.  This will be perfect for digging in the sand at the beach this Summer. The set retails for $6.00.

Next, there was a full-size Top to Toe Body Wash from Bathtime Kids.  Perfect timing because we were all out of body wash. This wash retails for $15.95.

Finally, there was a trial-size Sunny Sunscreen from Episencial. We love Episencial products so I am always happy to get anything by them.  Since this size was specially made for Citrus Lane, I figured out its worth based on the cost per ounce listed on Amazon. I came up with $6.59.

The box usually comes with about four items and list of discount codes for buying more.  I'd say this box's value was about $40. And these are all things that we will definitely use.  The water bottle will be great for the new school year. 

If you'd like to try Citrus Lane, follow any of the links within this post to get $10 off your first box!  I'm already looking forward to the next box!

Superhero Birthday Party

This post is much delayed but it has taken me this long to recover from the party!

Noodlebug's 5th birthday was on May 18 and we had a (non-licensed character) Superhero birthday party!  I pulled a lot of inspiration from Pinterest and the internet for this one.  It was very important to me that the kids be the superheros so we had no licensed characters. No Batman. No Superman. No Spiderman. Nada.

I got my invitations from Tiny Prints. I use them every year. I am a big fan of paper invitations. I think they are more formal and make a nice souvenir.  Plus, I don't have to worry about people not getting the invitation. So many times I have not received digital invitations from people and then found out about a party at the last minute. Tiny Prints gives you the best of both worlds because they offer digital websites where your guests can RSVP.   Here is the invitation I used:

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We created a Superhero Academy at our house.  I made handmade reversible capes in gender-neutral colors for all of the kids using the wonderful tutorial from HIDEOUS! DREADFUL! STINKY! For kids this age, I highly recommend going with the 30 inch length. Otherwise, they look too short.  I also ordered some mask/sunglasses from Oriental Trading Company.

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I was going to make felt masks with elastic straps but then worried that the straps would break.  The kids loved the Superhero sunglasses.  Cheap and easy to use. The arms would often pop off but they were easy to put back on.

I used an old hot water heater box and spraypainted it to look like a phone booth. When the kids arrived, they entered the phone booth and selected a cape and some sunglasses.  The kids mostly liked crowding into the booth together.

The guests then headed to the backyard to the fueling station to fuel up with healthy snacks. We didn't have anything sugary.  Berries, carrots, crackers, etc.  I used the wonderful free printable from Simply Swanky for the food signs.

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I modeled the activities after Designer Girl 007's ideas and printables.  We started with a "Magnificent Minds" guessing game.  I really didn't want to use candy so I compromised with a jar filled with circus animal crackers.  I told the kids that the circus animals had run away from the circus because of toxic slime. They had to guess how many animals were in the jar. The winner would receive the jar of animal crackers.This tied into another activity and worked well.

 After snacks, the kids officially entered the Superhero Academy.  Their first task was to cross the LAVA PIT!!!! This was by far the hit of the party.

My husband rigged up a board across a baby pool we already owned. We filled the pool with water and I threw in some red food coloring.  I bought a cheap fog machine off eBay for the steam effect.  The kids wanted to do it again and again.

After that task, they moved on to MIGHTY MUSCLES.

I used a dowel rod I already had along with two styrofoam balls from Michael's. Be warned. These balls are very expensive. I used the Michael's 40% coupon. Because spray paint tends to melt styrofoam, I handpainted the balls and added "1 TON" to each one.  It made for a great photo op.

Then, it was on to LEAP A TALL BUILDING IN A SINGLE BOUND. I had been hoarding boxes for months and spraypainted about 7-8 of various sizes.  I used the smallest size as the building the children would jump over and the rest as a backdrop.

The next activity involved a bit of creativity. It was called SAVE THE CIRCUS. I have this great circus playtent from Bazoongi that I wanted to use but had to figure out how to incorporate it.  I told the kids that some toxic slime had taken over the circus and the circus animals had fled. (to the MAGNIFICENT MINDS jar!!!) Each child needed to enter the tent and retrieve some of the toxic slime.  My original idea was glow sticks that served as Kryptonite but I wanted to stick with the non-licensed character theme.  So, the toxic slime was glow-in-the-dark slime from Oriental Trading Company.

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The last activity was a wild one.  I called it SAVE THE PLANET. I purchased a giant Gigaball from eBay and told the children that a giant meteor was headed to Earth and they had to stop it.  This was the other big hit of the day. The kids took turns getting inside the Gigaball and getting rolled around.

Then we had the graduation ceremony. Each child got a certificate that I purchased from Designer Girl 007. 

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I also made superhero stickers using this tutorial for Photoshop that I found online. I made one with each child's first letter and printed it out on 8.5 x 11" sticker paper.  Then, I trimmed them and attached each one to the graduation certificate.

So, their favors were the cape, sunglasses, slime, certificate and sticker.

I tried really hard to recreate this photo booth.  It looked great but we couldn't get the results we wanted.

 

I think the photographer needed to be a little higher up and photographing from overhead.

 Everyone seemed to have a good time. With sixteen kids, it was a lot of work but I think it was memorable.

I purchased all the signage and certificates from Designer Girl 007.  


All photography by Paul McGavin.

End of Year Teacher Gifts

Money is tight this year so I combed Pinterest for some ideas for homemade teacher gifts.

I thought this tutorial from Sun Scholars looked really cute.

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While mine aren't as cute as the original and I didn't have time to embroider them, I still think they turned out all right.

Just a few more days left of preschool.  I know I'm going to cry on Thursday!!!

Keeping Busy this Summer!

(Noodlebug---2009)

I am going to start compiling a list of my very favorite resources for activities for kids. There are so many things I would like to do with Noodlebug! Of course, I will still be working full-time over the Summer.  But I work ten-hour days in June and July so I can have Fridays off.

1.  A great group of bloggers put together the CAMP MOM ACTIVITY PACK and I ordered my copy right away.  It has printable planning pages, activity ideas and more for kids ages 3-9.


2. I have been stockpiling ACTION PACK e-zines and ALPHABET GLUE e-zines for years.  I can't wait to start using them this Summer now that Noodlebug is old enough. Sadly, we lost ACTION PACK founder, Kathleen Ricketson, but you can still get all thirteen issues of her amazing e-zines.

3. I have been buying each of THE ARTFUL PARENT'S ebook series and can't wait for her to come out with the Summer edition.  Hopefully soon!!!!

4. Kiwi Crate!  We have been members of Kiwi Crate for a few years now and love it.  Although there are other subscription craft boxes for kids, I love this one because it is fairly inexpensive and comes with almost everything you need for each craft.  They are very flexible with subscriptions so you could order just for the Summer or you can join and then suspend your account as needed.

5. The Natural Nester's AT HOME SUMMER NATURE CAMP ECURRICULUM.  I am so intrigued by this 8 week curriculum. At $39.95, it isn't cheap but it has been put together by some quality bloggers.  And I can use all the inspiration I can get!

6. Here's a free downloadable PDF of ways to entertain your kids from Quirk Books!

7. Get inspiration from blogs!  Some of my very favorite blogs post amazing activities for kids almost every single day.  My favorites (which you can find in my sidebar) are:

All for the Boys
Artful Parent
Imagination Tree
Little Acorn Learning
Nurturestore
Tinkerlab

8. Michael's is doing a Passport to Imagination event with three 2-hour events per week for only $2.  Lots of really fun-looking crafts!!!!
 

More to come.....


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Poetry

This poem always makes me cry.   But it also makes me feel better about the fact that I always skip housework in order to spend more time with my Noodlebug.

 

Song for a Fifth Child

by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren’t [his] eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

Citrus Lane Review: May 2013 for Five-Year-Old Boy

We got our first Citrus Lane box last week.  I decided to take advantage of a discount code and got our first box for $13.41.  I wish I had known about this when Noodlebug was younger.  Citrus Lane is a subscription box service that sends an assortment of age-appropriate goodies for children each month.  It covers ages birth through 5.  We just squeezed in!

I'm happy that our first box arrived close to Noodlebug's birthday.  In the first box we received:

1. A sample size of Barbara's Bakery organic Snackimal cereal  (retail 50 cents)

2.  Some Sunny Patch Gardening Gloves  (retail $5)

3. Barefoot Books' GIGANTIC TURNIP book and CD  (retail $17)

4. Green Toys Planting Kit  (retail $6)

5. Clean Well Disinfecting spray and Deep Steep lavender moisturizing balm  (retail $7 and $4)

The retail price of the contents was close to $40 and I really liked everything we got. I appreciate the inclusion of an organic sample.  We LOVE Green Toys and pulled on the gloves and planted the seeds in our pot right away. Our favorite item was definitely the book.  Book and CD combos are big in our house.  All in all, I would say I really enjoyed this box.  I like how the box had a gardening theme.  Looking forward to the next one already.

You can choose not only the age range of the box but also whether you would like it tailored for a girl, a boy or gender neutral.  Cool idea!

If you would like to try Citrus Lane, follow this link to get $10 off your first order!

Bare Necessities (a birthday list)

I'm not fancy.  And I have gotten to the point where I don't like birthdays anymore.  My birthday is in a few days and I'm planning on hunkering down and hiding until it is over. 

I do keep an Amazon Wish List of things that would be fun to have.  When I really think about my very favorite things that keep me going day by day, however, the list is small.  Here are my favorite things that are also the first to go when we run out of money each month. Presented in the form of a birthday wish list:

1. Starbucks/Acre Coffee gift certificates

2. Teavana gift certificates (this tea gets me through my workday!)

3. A Girl and Dog salted chocolate chip cookies

4. LUSH bubble bars

5. Cinema West movie tickets

6. Chipotle gift certificates


That's about it!  All those things would keep me happy as a clam.  What's on YOUR wish list?

5 Years

How is it possible I have a 5-year-old? 

Just writing that sentence makes my heart seize up.

I have loved these first five years.  I try to focus on the new things each year brings.  The fact that he can do things now that he wasn't able to the last few years and how fun that is. But it is hard to let go of the baby and preschool years. 

I can't believe Noodlebug will be starting Kindergarten this Fall. 

Our birthday party theme this year was a "Superhero Academy" theme.  I did now allow any licensed characters, weapons, or violence of any kind.  The kids were the superheroes at this party.   I drew on so much inspiration from the internet for this party and I will share the full details later.

In the meantime, here is my Super 5-Year-Old.  I am so blessed.

Heartbroken: RIP Kathleen Ricketson

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I never got to a part of any playgroup.  I found my community of mothers online.  Blogging has allowed me to meet amazing people who share their creativity in powerful ways. One of those people was Kathleen Ricketson.  Her ACTION PACK ezines provided me with so much inspiration with which to engage my son. I loved them so much I became an affiliate.

Not long ago, Kathleen and her family decided to take on an exciting experiement. They planned a road trip across Australia for a year.  I was having fun hearing about their progress and looking forward to the book that would follow. Their journey just ended.

Kathleen died yesterday in a tragic accident. Her partner has still not be found.  It is so heartbreaking. I want to gather up her children in my arms and hug them. I am just speechless and feel such loss for this woman that I never even met in person but who provided me with so much inspiration for so many years. Her children have had the kind of childhood I would have wished for my own son and my heart aches for them.

I'll be praying for the safe return of Kathleen's partner, Rob, and for comfort for their children and families.

Read about this loss here and here. 

The blogging community has come together to create a trust fund for Kathleen and Rob's beautiful children. If you would like to contribute, please go here.

Crafting a Birthday Party

(I made this on Photoshop)

Sorry for the lack of posting. I am in the middle of crafting a birthday party. Noodlebug turns 5 on the 18th and we are having a Superhero-themed birthday party.  HOWEVER...there will be no licensed characters at this party. No Batman. No Spiderman. No Superman.  Instead, the children will be the superheros.  They'll be attending the Superhero Academy at our house. I am busy sewing gender-neutral capes and painting (cardboard box) buildings. I can't wait to share the details with you once it is all over. It's a lot of work but I'm hoping I can pull it off. 

I have to admit that I am really struggling with birthdays this year. It is really really hard for me to face Noodlebug turning 5. And it is hard for me to face my own birthday at the end of the month. We'll see how it goes!!!