If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!I took some clothes to a local clothing consignment shop to see what would come of it, and I was pleasantly surprised. Four or five of my tops sold and I made almost $13. This place is called […]
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Isn’t bath time supposed to be fun? It used to be. Around the time that Joel turned 1 he started to hate bath time. I couldn’t figure it out! He never really did like to get his hair washed, but being in the water didn’t bother him until one day […]
Filed under: Family Fun, Family Life | 3 Comments »
Last weekend we went rock hunting (or hounding) with my husband’s family. I had never heard of rock hunting either, so you’re not alone in your wonderment. Rock hunting is…well, hunting for rocks - every kid’s dream!
We trekked over to the west side of Utah lake to find shell fossils first. The […]
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My original focus for this blog was on families and parenting - I’m realizing that I’ve gotten a little distracted. And I think I know why. As the mother of a 14 month old energetic boy, I haven’t yet had to venture out into the realm of real parenting. Sure, we’ve had […]
Filed under: Education, Media, & Literacy | 1 Comment »
Several friends are having babies, so I’ve been thinking about baby gifts. I think it’s nice to give a new mother a little something, even if it’s not her first baby! Here’s what I’ve come up with.
1. Trumpette Baby Sock and Tights
Trumpette has some fabulous products for babies and toddlers […]
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Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli is an inspiring story about being yourself. Stargirl Caraway is so different from her peers - she wears old fashioned and bright clothing, adorns her school desk with a flower and table cloth, and sings Happy Birthday to people at lunch while playing her ukelele.
Stargirl experiences a moment of popularity […]
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Hello everyone. This is Boyd, Kelsey’s husband and this is my 2nd attempt at writing a post on Vanillajoy.com. Just thought you should know it was me and not Kelsey.
Every parent should learn how to do one thing—kids face painting. Why? Because it is the only activity that every single kid enjoys (if […]
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For the last several weeks we’ve tried something new - Dad makes dinner on Saturday nights!!! This is the best idea I’ve ever had. He gets to decide what we’re having and make it, so I don’t have to think about dinner one night a week. He helps with dinner most nights, […]
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Trick Number 1
Did you know that you can use white board markers on mirrors? Maybe I’m the last person to catch on, but I discovered this useful fact not too long ago. Now I write my most urgent list items on the mirror in the bathroom where I’m sure to see them several […]
Filed under: Randomness, Around the House | 1 Comment »
At the beginning of this year I did a series of posts about my favorite things from Christmas. One of those things was an Olympus digital camera, which I thought was pretty great until I got pictures printed out. The colors were dull and fuzzy, the focus was not sharp, the prints were […]
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When babies turn 1, they are usually walking and getting into everything, curious, and much better at using their hands. Toys that require hand-eye coordination are excellent because 1 year olds are working on mastering their movements. Toys with music and lots of bright colors are also great. Still watch out for […]
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To convince my husband to come shopping with me I don’t tell him all the stops I intend to make, because if he knew, he would most definitely refuse to come. Or he will try to refuse - he’s not very good at refusing. He will do almost anything for me if he […]
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I was really excited about this book before reading it and a little disappointed after. It was a good story but the writing was hard at times to follow. This could be because I mostly read this book when over tired, so it’s possible that if I read it again I would really […]
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Infant Products
3 Month Old Products
6 Month Old Products
By 9 months, baby is ready for larger and more active toys. These toys are my favorites because they have lots of moving parts and require the baby to interact more with them. Watching Joel play with these toys has been so much fun because he […]
Filed under: Shopping, Kid Stuff | 1 Comment »
Infant Products
3 Month Old Products
9 Month Old Products
Here we go again, for 6 month olds this time. By 6 months, babies are usually sitting and getting better with their hands, so these things are great.
1. Fisher Price Booster Chair
This chair is awesome for baby as soon as he can sit up. A […]
Filed under: Shopping, Kid Stuff | 1 Comment »
Infant Products
6 Month Old Products
9 Month Old Products
Around 3 months, babies start to be more alert and interactive, but still don’t move around much and are not yet ready for most toys. At this age it’s important that they have interesting things to looks at, mostly faces but also books and objects. I […]
Filed under: Shopping, Kid Stuff | 2 Comments »
3 Month Old Products
6 Month Old Products
9 Month Old Products
I wanted to put together a series of posts that talk about great baby products and toys for babies up to 1 year. To start with, I want to share some of my favorite baby products that I don’t think I could have survived early […]
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Friday was the Beehive Bazaar and Saturday we visited the Oh Sweet Sadie! Art and Gift Show in Draper. This show was held in a beautiful and enormous home so there was plenty of room for local artists and creative people to showcase their stuff. Here are some of my favorite things from […]
Filed under: Art, Shopping | 2 Comments »
The Beehive Bazaar happened again this last weekend, and my son and I went and had a great time! I saw some familiar stuff from the last Bazaar and also some new stuff. I am amazed at how creative people can be! I had a lot of fun browsing and getting […]
Filed under: Art, Shopping | 1 Comment »
This book by Jim Trelease was full of excellent information about kids and media, reading in particular, but also the effects of television and other forms of print media. I learned so many great things from this book that will help me raise my children to be avid and successful readers.
The main message of […]
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I just found this quote on my friend Lindsay’s blog, and I thought it very appropriate for Mother’s Day. This is what motherhood is all about.
“I don’t want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully tailored clothes…and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in […]
Filed under: Randomness | 1 Comment »
According to an NPR broadcast this morning, if mothers were paid a salary, it would be $117,000 per year. Most of that pay would be from overtime since mothers work an average of 100 hours per week.
You might not be able to give your mother a monetary thank you this Mother’s Day, but […]
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | 3 Comments »
Mother’s Day is in 2 days!!! I know what I’m getting my mother - some new bobbins for her sewing machine. She’s so used to having only a couple that she would never buy herself more, but I know she will use them.
Now for what I want. I never know - I […]
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My sister told me about an Oprah show a while ago about a Grandmother who accidentally backed over her son while pulling out of the driveway. This was an eye opening show for me because I realized how many times I get in the car and start backing out before looking. I just […]
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A happy memory from my childhood is going on birthday outings with my Grandma. She would take me to lunch at a restaurant of my choice and then shopping to pick out a birthday gift. The birthday I remember best I chose to eat at RAX (which I haven’t seen in years - […]
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Occasionally I get something interesting via email forward. This, for example. Julian Beever is a sidewalk artist who does pavement drawings in different countries all over the world. If you look closely, you can see the ground through the drawings that are made to appear 3-dimensional from one particular viewpoint. Pretty […]
Filed under: Art | 1 Comment »
So I wrote a post a few weeks ago about an email forward I got about gas saving tips. A reader named Mike kindly directed me to two websites that contradict those tips. I did give a little disclaimer at the beginning of the post saying I didn’t know if the info was […]
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I found this on Design Mom, I’m sure you’ve all heard of her. This link has a handful of beautifully designed tags and labels to use for all kinds of parties and other celebrations. The designs are ready to print, cut, and use to make your party extra special!
I have always wanted to […]
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DID YOU KNOW that breath holding spells are a symptom of anemia? I didn’t either!
When my son gets crying he often breathes out and then doesn’t breathe back in for several seconds. This is a common thing with babies and is called a breath holding spell. I told my doctor about it […]
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We are trying to wean our 13 month old son - I decided it was time when we discovered he hadn’t gained any weight between his 9 and 12 month checkups (this is normal for breastfed babies). We have encountered some challenges, so hopefully our experience will make weaning easier for you.
To those […]
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