Learn about Healthy Environments for Kids

Healthy Child Healthy World is a great place online that gives all sorts of information to help you help your family have the healthiest start in life.  Many mom celebs like Sheryl Crow, Laura Dern, Brooke Sheilds and Meryl Streep give a voice to this wonderful site that offers answers, support and solutions for for creating a healthy and safe environment for kids.

I highly recommend you check it out to see what green tips and inspiration the site can offer you snd your family.  It is so nice to have so much information in one place!  For more local informationabout this great organization and it’s partners please contact Anke at info@naturalsolutionsbyanke.com 

Mama Jen

Mahar Dry Goods carries vintage and artisan crafted delights for your children!

Mahar Drygoods has some of the most unique, fabulous hand-crafted items you’ll find.  If you are looking for an artisan gift for your child, or a special child in your life, this is a great place to start!!

Look at these adorable Crabby Pants!!!!!  They say it all with loads of charm!  I wish I had these for my daughter when she had colic….
                               

Take a look at this storybook-like elephant teapot.  This is a truly unique and beautiful collectible.
                                                          

Knitting kit for kids?  Check this adorable kid-friendly knotting kit out!!  Now you can share your love of knitting with your child!  Mama Jen
                                                      

For Knitters And The Knitters They Love…

Not that I am terrific at it, but I love to knit. I consider myself an enthusiastic beginner. Beginner or otherwise, all knitters know that it’s completely “normal” to have many, many (many!) projects going at once. My husband thinks I made this fact up, but I swear it’s true!

So lots of projects yielded putting one down for several weeks. I picked it back up this weekend and realized for the first time that with knitting (as with most things), you get what you pay for. I had purchased a set of Signature Needle Arts size 9 knitting needles with a stiletto tip and they are hands down the finest needle I have ever worked with in the 7 or so years I’ve been plugging along.

Signature Needle Arts needles are made in Kenosha, Wisoconsin. In full disclosure, I’m from the city right next door so I was buying a set of these needles from my “neighbors” no matter what. The needles were conceptualized and put into production by a knitter that was tired of commercial needles being too dull or too weak, and often not made in America. 

Each set of needles are custom. You go to their web site and you pick the size, length, decorative end and the needle tip. All this customization and you still receive your product really quickly. The customer service is awesome. I placed my order and the same day received a call from the owner offering a suggestion for a different needle tip for the project I was doing…and she was absolutely right!

Signature Needle Arts products have been featured in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, they have beautiful ads in Vogue Knitting and Interweave, and they were very well received a Stitches Midwest a few months ago. Soon they will be putting double pointed needles into production.

So if you or a friend is a knitter, consider adding these beautiful needles to your/their collection. No kidding, you will be tempted to throw away any plastic or aluminum needles you’ve used in the past and make these needles your new collection!

Holiday Gift Idea – Roy Toy!

 My son has Lincoln Logs, and enjoys them very much. I knew I wanted to get him more logs to build with this holiday season, and came across Roy Toy play sets online. Very Lincoln Log -esque, but what I like about Roy Toy products is that the logs are not round…soooo much easier for toddlers to build successfully with!

Many sets to choose from, all well priced to fit any budget…from stocking stuffer up to big time gift giving. Reasonble shipping costs and my order arrived very promptly on my door step. Another plus (for me) is that this product is created in Maine.

Take a peek at all of Roy Toy’s products…you won’t be disappointed!

And The Winner Is…

Christine! Congrats, Christine, on winning a long sleeved “Trophy Wife” tshirt from Planet Mom Tshirts!

Thank you to everyone who participated…and thanks again Planet Mom Tshirts!!

Toys Made in the USA

With the holiday season coming up, Mama Jess and I will begin every week with a gift idea for parents and/or their kids.  In the meantime, I came across a wonderful collection of links to toys made in the USA which may come in handy while shopping this year if all the recent recalls from toys made overseas has you bummed out.  Check it out at this fellow mom’s site http://journeytocrunchville.wordpress.com/2007/08/28/toys-made-in-america-part-two/.  Mama  Jen

Bumbo Seat Recall

                                  

Folks, there is another recall, and this regards a previously reviewed Mom Appeal item—The Bumbo Seat.  Before you get too worried, it sounds as though the Bumbo Seat manufacturer just wants to ensure that everybody knows about the instructions to NOT put your baby in the seat when it is on a countertop, chair, or any other place where, if tipped over, your baby would have a serious fall. 

There have been 28 reports of children falling out of the seat,  including three that had skull fractures from having fallen from the chair when it has been placed upon a tabletop.  Consumers who have the Bumbo Seat should contact the company and they will be provided with safety instructions and a warning label that will read–“WARNING – Prevent Falls; Never use on any elevated surface.” Consumers should use the Bumbo seat at ground level, but should never leave a child unattended. 

More information can be found here http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08046.html and at Bumbo International.  Mama Jen

Our First MomAppeal Giveaway!

I’m soooo excited to post our very first giveaway at MomAppeal! The awesome gals at Planet Mom Tshirts will send one lucky MomAppeal reader the shirt of their choice! Here is what you need to do to enter:

Go to the Planet Mom site and look over all of the hilarious sayings on their long and short sleeve tshirts. Examples are: “Because I Said So.” and “Whine? No. Wine? Yes.” Celebs that love these shirts include Sarah Jessica Parker, Brooke Shields and Cindy Crawford!

Then simply post a comment to this post letting us know which shirt is YOUR fav…you can email us at momappeal@gmail.com if you prefer…just put “Planet Mom Tshirt Entry” in the subject. A winner will be chosen at random and Planet Mom Tshirts will handle sending your choice shirt to you with their compliments.

We’ll post a winning name this Friday, so hurry and get your entry in! Since I can’t enter, I’ll post my favs now: “Because I Said So.” and “Nanny Deprived”!

Thanks Planet Mom Tshirts!!!

TykeLights offer portable lighting for your child!

               

When I was out visiting family, my sister-in law had a rather unusual looking device on her beautiful twin babys’ dresser(I am a proud first-time aunt can you tell??).  I had to ask about it and found out it was a Tykelight! 

TykeLights are these amazing little light-up creatures that contain a rechargeable battery which keeps them going for 10 hours.  Set the TykeLight on it’s base (which plugs into the wall) to get some juice, take it off and it lights up!  Perfect for providing light for your child in the middle of the night, AND, it’s portable for those walks down the hallway in the middle of the night to mom and dad’s bed or the bathroom… genius! 

Ours is coming via Amazon and I can’t wait for it!   It is also available at Target online , and possibly in their stores.   Take a look at the differences–one model does have a sleep timer which will turn the TykeLight off after 15 minutes.  That feature is great for not wanting so much light all night, or as an agreed upon signal to your child that it’s time to stop playing with toys and books in bed and get to sleep.  Since it doesn’t plug into the wall, you also don’t have to worry about little hands fidgeting with it while it is in the outlet—a nightlight problem in our house!   TykeLights absolutely have MomAppeal!  Mama Jen

The Cure For The Scented Magazine!

This is a short but sweet entry. If you already know this, feel free to chuckle that I just found this out today…

Is your nose ever bothered by the overwhelming scents hiding in various pages of your favorite magazines? I am not allergic to anything, but reading any magazine with perfume samples makes my nose itch. So here is the exciting news…you can call any and all of the mags you subscribe to and request scent free copies be sent to you! I did it just this morning with my subscription to O Magazine…it was a simple toll free call (found the number in my mag on page 350) and starting next month, no more itchy nose, thank you very much!