Kate

Go Ahead, Get Messy With It

February 1, 2012
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Messy and outside, a toddler’s dream. Modern Playhouse has made an outdoor playhouse for all those times when you want to go out and play in the garden rain or shine. It’s called the Dacha playhouse, named for a Russian garden house. Not to be confused with danke, which is German for thanks. The playhouse [...]

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Oil Cloth Chalkboard Placemats

January 16, 2012
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Who knew there was such a thing? Oil cloth chalkboard placemats! I’ve long loathed the typical sickly sweet look of oil cloth. I’m sure I could find something that didn’t make me conjure a picnic back in 1950 but I have yet to find a pattern that I like. And yet, I love the idea [...]

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Teaching Character To Your Children

January 16, 2012
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What if the secret to success is failure? That was the question the New York Times posed at the beginning of the school year last year and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. The article is about character, about children learning and practicing ‘good character.’ It’s also about teachers (and in some respects parents) [...]

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5 Tips to Photograph Infants

January 12, 2012
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Cooochichooochicoooooo. Truth be told, it’s not hard to photograph babies. They are always so, so, so cute. But it is hard to take a GOOD picture of babies, what with all their moving, squirming, and drive-by smiles. You’ve got to be on your toes! Here are few tricks

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New Years Vision

December 29, 2011
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Have you heard of vision boards? Yeah, well, if you haven’t they are like your high school locker – all those things you pasted inside so when you looked at it you felt cool, awesome and just, well, less of a teenager. It’s like that. Only for grown ups. I can’t seem to get my [...]

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In Case You Missed It

December 29, 2011

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo. Marvelous. Each time I see this I get lost in the magic of it. The sense of something bigger than us guiding us, en masse. A silent, collective knowing of which way to turn. So as we end this year – and for some, myself included, this time [...]

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New Year’s Eve Party Drinks

December 28, 2011
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If I were throwing a new year’s eve party, I’d seriously think about one of these drinks to serve. Yum. I’m more of a low-key wine or beer girl, or bubbly. There’s always room for a little bubbly. That said, sometimes wine and beer don’t LOOK so festive. They come off a little snoozy. I [...]

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The Importance of Daydreaming

December 28, 2011
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Apropos of nothing…do you allow yourself to daydream? I usually daydream while surfing the Internet and wind up lost in the cyber-web of blah blah blah and can’t find my own thoughts. I gotta spend more time just dreaming! Here’s a quote for you: everything starts as somebody’s daydream Imagine. Where would we be if [...]

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The Best Gift Ever

December 27, 2011
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My new attitude: gratitude. As the new year commences, I’m going to be more grateful. See how I said that? With conviction! With assurance! With umph? It’s my way of tricking my mind that I actually WILL be more grateful, not aspire to be more grateful. Because that’s where New Year’s resolutions always fail me…in [...]

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Keeping the Rhythm of the Holidays

December 26, 2011
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It’s crazy, isn’t it? This time of year. Christmas may be over, but there’s still lots of celebrating and good cheer to come. I do love the holidays but I find myself dreading them just a bit as well. All the work. All the expectations. All the hassle. One thing I’m focusing on is keeping [...]

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Holiday Music For All Tastes from Slacker Radio

December 23, 2011
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In case you need a little push in the holiday cheer direction, I just found out about Slacker’s updated holiday stations. Slacker is a cool service that lets you listen to a myriad of Internet radio stations. I like the classics, so I’ve been listening to Burl and Bing. But the R&B Christmas station is [...]

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Why Buy Books For Christmas?

December 23, 2011
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Because they are awesome! Although their reputation is falling a bit, don’t you think? I mean, what with all those dolled-up apps, the video cool crowd and fancy toys that actually DO things, books might seem, well, boring. NOT SO. But don’t just take my word for it. Mo Willems – one of the best [...]

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Advent Calendar Mishap

December 21, 2011
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Why oh why do we do such Christmas nonsense? This is why advent calendars are a terrible idea for toddlers: impulse control. Or lack of it! So I scoured the web to find a lovely advent calendar idea. I found oh so many! Have you noticed how many moms out there are johnny on the [...]

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