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Jody, Buffy and I all bought the summer tub bubble machine from BRU ($10) and it comes w/ a ridiculously small bottle of bubbles. Of course they recommend that you only use their product in the machine but I’ve found a good alternative. The best part? It’s non-toxic bc if your kids are anything like mine – they sit on top of the darn thing exclaiming over and over “bubbles”.

Found @ Walgreens for $2 they are called Miracle Bubbles and are in an orange container. They are non-toxic and made in the USA.

If you don’t have the machine these work great running around blowing bubbles in the yard as well.

This weekend was my community garage sale so I had to look around For about $15 I got a little tikes toy box, little tikes push-around car with handle for the parents, a kid-size pretend vacuum, and a little tikes slide. Not a bad score at all!

I was in the market for the vacuum since I’m trying to keep him away from mine when I’m using it. And for 75 cents you can’t beat that! I’ve just got to give it a quick bleaching to remove any germs and let him have at it. I was considering “parking” it with my big-people vacuum so we both get them at the same time. What do you guys think?

Moral of my story – hit those community garage sales and don’t forget to just check your classifieds to see what is going on in your area. Why pay full price if you don’t have to? And the best part, for those of us environmentally conscious, it saves stuff from going in the landfills, either from new packaging when you buy retail or when the garage sale stuff gets tossed. And really, kids don’t care. It’s new to them and fun all the way around.

Not really a kid item here but it saves you some money so I figure it qualifies to be posted I just bought some restaurant.com gift cards for Christmas gifts for various relatives and they sent me a score of a coupon code!

Save serious $$ on gift certificates – spend only $5 for a $25 certificate. Enter code “passport” for these incredible savings. Offer ends Oct. 14, 2007 so hurry!!

If the cup is dropped, the colorful face on the cup can break off and leave small parts or sharp exposed edges that can pose a choking or laceration hazard to young children. Starbucks has received seven reports of the cups breaking, including two reports in which a child began to choke on a broken piece. No injuries have been reported.

The recall includes four styles of Starbucks children’s plastic 10-ounce cups. Styles include: “Dot” Red Ladybug; “Dash” Green Turtle; Bunny Pink; and Chick Yellow cups. Sold exclusively at: Starbucks stores nationwide from May 2006 through August 2007 for about $6. Consumers should immediately take the recalled cups away from young children and contact Starbucks for instructions on returning the cups for a refund. Starbucks is also offering a complimentary beverage as an incentive to return the recalled cups. Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Starbucks at (888) 288-4008 anytime or visit the firm’s Web site at www.starbucks.com

(From babycheapskate.com)

Thank god I’m not using Huggies! I hope this doesn’t effect the price of Pampers too much though….

A reader sent me this snippet of news:

DALLAS, Oct. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB) today announced that its consumer tissue and baby and child care businesses are notifying customers of plans to raise prices in the U.S. during the first quarter of 2008. The company said the increases are necessary to offset significant inflationary pressure from higher raw material and energy costs.

Prices for Cottonelle and Scott bathroom tissue, Viva and Scott paper towels, Huggies diapers, Pull-Ups training pants, Goodnites youth pants and Huggies Little Swimmers swimpants will increase between 4 and 7 percent effective February 3, 2008.

Darn! and that’s the toilet paper I use, too! It will be interesting to see what happens to the Stockupportunity price for Huggies Supreme. It could increase from $7.99 to $8.30-$8.54 per jumbo, but KC’s competition with Procter & Gamble (Pampers) is so fierce that I wouldn’t be surprised if the lowest sale prices stay the same or if P&G announces something like this too. Another good reason to fall in love with store brands!

One of the moms at BBC was telling me about this great invention she had with her first daughter. It basically is a strap that attaches to the stroller/car seat/shopping cart and holds onto a sippy or snap trap. I was really interested bc I was getting tired of picking up a sippy that launched repeatedly from the stroller. I didn’t give it another thought until I was in Walgreens the other day and lo-and-behold there they were! Amazing! For about $4 a piece you can have peace of mind on where your child’s accessories are – tethered. They come in boys and girls styles but I grabbed the last 2 they had (one green and one purple). To learn more, visit No Throw’s website or stroll on over to your local Walgreens.

I’ve been using it for the past 2 weeks with the stroller on walks in the neighborhood and BBC and it works great. The only complaint I have – I don’t have more. I’m going to purchase another one for the car seat so I don’t have to hear “thump – uh-oh” from the backseat. I’ve used it with both the sippys that have the wide bottom and top with the smaller middle, and the straight ones and it holds on to both. Just make sure you tighten the velcro well and it doesn’t move.

Use coupon code PARENTING06 at checkout to save $10 off your order of $25 or more. Plus, there’s free shipping on orders of $25+. All-in-all not a bad deal. According to their website, they also accept manufacturer’s coupons but I’ve never tried it.

O how cute these shoes are! I can’t wait to receive them (I placed by order Sat). If you haven’t heard about these shoes then let me give you a brief background. They originate in China (go figure) and have a small squeaker in each shoe to encourage beginning walkers to walk properly with heal – toe action. They offer a variety of styles for boys and girls, but as usual the girls styles far outrank the boys. The shoes come in a variety of styles – sneakers, sandals and dressy.

I placed my order from a store that is liquidating their inventory (www.squeakershoes.com) and bought up a size in each shoe also. Geez for the price you would be stupid not too. Their s/h is $4.25 for 2 pairs of shoes so I combined an order with a GF and saved a few more bucks. Gotta love that!

I can’t wait to test these out on Anthony since he is walking, but only short distances. Knowing him he’ll start tap dancing for joy once he realizes he is the one making the noise. lol. A word of caution I just thought of – make sure your dogs don’t go nuts on the little ones trying to steal the invisible toy since I believe the squeaker will sound very much like a dog toy. I’ll let ya’ll know what happens with that.

If you don’t find any styles that you like at the above website then visit www.squeakersneakers.com and enter “babybootcampfreeshipping” in the coupon code for free shipping.

Happy squeaking!

Not that I’m a bad person that likes to peddle candy to children, but it never occurred to me to not give kids candy on Halloween, that is until Anthony. He certainly has changed a lot of my thinking! Some of the little ones are too small to receive it and well, most of the big ones don’t need it. Which got me thinking on alternatives to give kids that aren’t too hard on the pocketbook but still fun for them.
This year I will be giving out Gerber Graduate Puffs individual packs (picked up at Big Lots for $1 8/pk) to the wee ones, bangle bracelets (think Madonna in the 80s), temporary tattoos, mini-puzzle books and a small amount of candy. I’m including the candy because I couldn’t resist buying some because I wanted to taste it but I, by no means, need to eat the whole bag.


Here are some other ideas I’m stumbled across. Feel free to add anything I haven’t thought of!

1. bangle bracelets from Target for $3.99 100/pk
2. spider rings
3. pencils
4. Wendy’s Jr Frosty Coupons ($1 for 10)
5. glow sticks
6. Playdoh jars (I saw a 24 pk at Target for $5 or $6. Sams and Costco also have these)
7. stickers
8. tattoos
9. Halloween erasers
10. crayons (purchase when back to school stuff goes on sale for extra savings)
11. Teddy Graham individual bags
12. Goldfish individual bags
13. mini-popcorn microwavable bags (Sams)
14. bouncing balls
15. cards

To learn more about the Green Halloween movement visit this helpful site.

Just remember – keep it fun and keep it safe this Halloween! Don’t forget to carry a flashlight, watch our for cars and to look through your candy before anyone eats it.

Kids II Recalls Baby Einstein Color Blocks Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. Name of Product: Baby Einstein Discover & Play Color Blocks

Units: About 35,000

Distributor: Kids II Inc., of Alpharetta, Ga.

Hazard: Surface paint on the blue block contains excessive levels of lead, violating the federal lead paint standard.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported.

Description: The recall involves the blue block included with the Baby Einstein Discover & Play Color Blocks, Model 30726 and Model 30881. The blocks are made of soft textures and come in different colors. Only date codes of GE7, GF7, and GG7 are included in this recall. The model number and date code are printed on the labels affixed to the green-colored block.

Sold at: Various retailers and specialty stores nationwide from June 2007 through September 2007 for between $10 and $13.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should take the recalled blue block away from children immediately and contact Kids II to receive a free replacement of the affected block.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Kids II toll-free at (866) 203-6788 between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.kidsii.com