Little People Swap

Meg and Mag hit the road

2010-03-16T18:03:00.000-07:00

Well Meg and Mag hooked up in North Carolina this past week and it was super fun. We both mentioned how much we enjoy the swap and miss it. But, life is a little crazy this winter so we will be holding off for a bit. Hope to be back on track next year!

Thank you!

2009-09-20T16:03:00.000-07:00

Nature Girl loves swap Mail! Here she is hugging her Back To School Swap package from Zoey.

This is wahat we mailed off to Zoey. She loves music and since she hasn't officially started school we went with a musical theme for our package. We included the latest Ben Rudnick and Friends CD, a whistle, a plush friend to share the music with and a book. We hope Zoey enjoys her goodies.

This is the package Nature Girl received. She got a book, mini notebooks, pencils, colored pencils, glue sticks, shells and a set of 6 card games. She's had lots of fun with her goodies! Thank you Zoey!

Better Late Than Never

2009-09-09T07:45:00.000-07:00

What is your name?

I’m Liz, mama to S (almost five) and K (three.)

Tell a little bit about each of you.

We live year-round on Mackinac Island. Mackinac is a small island located between the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan. Cars are illegal here so everything is done via bicycle, horse power and snowmobile. It is a major tourist attraction in the summer, but in the winter there are only 500 of us here so it is the quintessential small town. Since we live in such a small town, I do not use S and K's real names or show their faces on-line. S loves legos, mermaids and princesses, while K loves her baby dolls, stuffed animals and her Leap Pad. I love to sew, quilt and be crafty.

Do you have any back to school traditions?

Not really. S went to his first year of pre-school last year and K starts her first year in two weeks. So far we just take lots of pictures on that first day.

What's your favorite back to school memory?

Fresh milk! My parents were both teachers so they didn’t get paid all summer long. By the time the end of August rolled around money was really tight. My mom would often try to sneak canned milk into a milk carton to try to save money. She insisted she couldn’t tell the difference – but we sure could. Blech!!

Name one thing you like to do with your child.

We really love to read books together. It is one of S and K’s favorite things.

Tell three things you've learned since becoming a mom?

Criticizing other parents is easy - until you are one. Then you realize things aren’t quite so black and white.
It is different when it is your child. As a teacher people always told me that but I never believed them; now I know it is true.
Having a clean house isn’t as important as spending time with your children.
What do you like to do?

What do you like to do?

We enjoy geocaching, taking walks through the woods, riding bikes, playing at the park, inventing recipes and reading books.

Lisa and Fischer

2009-09-06T21:03:00.000-07:00

I guess we are EXTREMELY late introducing ourselves. (We blame the baby.) We had a wonderful swap and want to give a BIG thank you to Amber and B for such an awesome back-to-school package! Fischer is elated! We’ve really enjoyed getting to know B!

What is your name?
I'm Lisa and this is my son, Fischer.

Tell a little bit about each of you.
I am a teacher, but my main student right now is Fischer. I left the classroom shortly after he was born to stay at home with him. Fischer is a very busy boy who loves all kinds of vehicles, sports, space, and anything to do with firemen and their trucks!

Do you have any back to school traditions?
Fischer hasn’t started formal schooling, so he doesn’t really have any traditions yet. Mine, growing up, were back-to-school shopping – my favorite and organizing all of my new school supplies. Like some of you - I still love school supplies.

What's your favorite back to school memory?
My favorite back-to-school memories are actually as a teacher. I love that first day – jitters and all!

Name one thing you like to do with your child.
Fischer and I love to read and sing together. Thankfully, he has no idea that his mother can’t carry a tune! We also love to go to Starbucks -is that bad? ;) Our most favorite thing is to get together with our friends and “play, play, play” – as Fischer puts it.

Tell three things you've learned since becoming a mom?
1. I was the perfect mom – BEFORE I ever had kids!
2. I never knew love like this – Sometimes I miss him when he is asleep.
3. Being a mom makes me want to be and do better.

What do you like to do?
We like to play with friends and family.

Jill And Nature Girl

2009-08-23T17:40:00.001-07:00

We're a little late posting our introduction but here it goes.

What is your name and where do you live?
I'm Jill and this is Nature Girl. We live in a rural part of the North East.

Tell a little bit about each of you.
Nature Girl is 5 and begins kindergarten in just a few days. I return to teaching 4th and 5th grade special ed this week. We enjoy reading, crafts and spending time as a family.

Do you have any back to school traditions?
This is Nature Girl's first big school experience as she attended a wonderful little preschool for the last two years. We haven't established many back to school traditions yet but last year I began writing a daily note for her. I leave for my school before she is awake in the morning so I leave a note to greet her. She has really enjoyed this and lets me know if I've forgotten to write the note. She's just beginning to read so the notes should be a good way to practice reading this year.

What's your favorite back to school memory?
Nature Girl says her best school memory is doing projects. I'm a teacher so the best part of going back to school is the school supplies! Who doesn't love buying new crayons and markers. Especially when they're on sale!

Name one thing you like to do with your child.
We like to snuggle up in her bed and read chapter books. It's a good thing she has a full bed. It gets a little squishy with Nature Girl, her dad and I all snuggled up to read a chapter before her bedtime. We look forward to this time of the day. One chapter is never enough and she pleads for another chapter. Of course we give in.

Tell three things you've learned since becoming a mom?
1. There is nothing like the love for your child. My favorite time of day is bed time. I love to snuggle in to read with her but the best time of the day is after she's asleep. When I check on her before I go to sleep she looks so sweet and no matter what kind of day we had I fall in love with her all over again.
2. A child's excitement is contagious. Your child's excitement makes you excited. You believe in the magic of Christmas and fairies again just because your child does. It's wonderful!
3. It's not possible to be a perfect mom but there are a lot of ways to be a good mom.
4. After having a child you will never have privacy again. I have an audience for everything I do. Then again I'm never lonely.

What do you like to do?
We like to watch movies, read books, do craft projects and spend time as a family.

Have you met Misty?

2009-08-12T07:39:00.001-07:00

What is your name and where do you live? My name is Misty and I married to Chw (who isn't in the photo as it's the first one I found.) We live in the Boise Metro aread of Idaho.

Tell a little bit about each of your children. We have one daughter, by adoption, who is 10. She is a firecracker- obsessed with theater, art and reading.

Do you have any back to school traditions? We home school so not really. Our "break times" are just about as fun as our "school times" just constructed a little different! :)

What's your favorite back to school memory? New clothes. That's about as exciting as going back to school was for me.

Name one thing you like to do with each child you have. My daughter and I love to swim together and read together. I know that's two things, but they are a definite tie!

Tell three things you've learned since becoming a mom? 1} Nothing is simple, and parenting is the least of this. Parenting a child with an attachment disorder has been like nothing I could ever have prepared for. 2} Enjoy every second, they disappear to quickly. 3} Clothes shopping for little girls is awesome.

What do you do for fun? Swim, read, travel, the wii, giggle, movies...

Introducing Amber!

2009-08-10T05:33:00.000-07:00

What is your name and where do you live?

My name is Amber and I am married to Matt. Our son is B.

Tell a little bit about each of your B.

B is 4 1/2 years old and ALL BOY. He is a train fanatic. He also loves Hot Wheels, Superman, Tom and Jerry, and Scooby Doo. He is an only child. B will be attending his second year of Montessori pre-school this fall. He loves going to school and his teachers. B has many grandparents that live only minutes away who enjoys spending time with. He has just learned to ride his bike with no training wheels. One of his favorite things to do is wrestle with his dad, who is the head wrestling coach in our town.

Do you have any back to school traditions?

Since last year was B's first year in pre-school, we don't have a lot of traditions yet. We did the usual photo at the front door with his backpack on. We also took a picture on the last day with is teachers.

What's your favorite back to school memory?

When I was growing up, I would lay all of my school supplies out and make a big display of them. I would pack and repack my bag several times before the new year started. As I was older, I remember my mom playing this one song, "Good Morning Little School Girl" by Johnny Lang so loud. She would dance crazy and after a few minutes we would all be laughing, singing along, and dancing. A great way to get a smile on our faces as we were not happy to be going back to school.

Name one thing you like to do with each child you have.

I love showing B new things that I know will amaze him.

Tell three things you've learned since becoming a mom?

1. It's much much harder than I ever imagined.
2. It is much much scarier than I would have imagined.
3. I didn't know I could love anyone so very very much! He is my biggest motivation to be the best I can be. He is behind all of the choices I make.

What do you do for fun?

We act crazy and silly, we swim, we go to the mall to play trains at the book store. We ride bikes, play games, and visit local parks, museums, and playgrounds. We get together with our friends, have picnics in the yard, and camp in our living room while watching movies.

Here's Meg!!!

2009-08-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

1) Who are you and where are you from? My name is Michelle (aka Meg)I am a woman becoming a midwife (Right now that means full time 3rd year BSN nursing student) , a mom, and someone who loves to help women transition to being mothers, whether that means cooking a meal, helping them learn to breast-feed, or sitting and listening. I was born in Mississippi, live in Ohio and from California since I lived there for 27 years!

2) Tell me a little about each of your kids.Lacy age 5 is very artistic and I think will love drama. She just finished circus camp and after the performance she said it was the bestest moment of her whole life.Oliver age 3 is into trains, pirates, and ghosts. He loves to tell long complicated stories, usually about ghosts. He is a kick and a handful all in the same breath. He is very sensitive and also loves to do intricate things like play with small plastic animals and build with legos. He does art if his sister is doing it. Ashby- At one it is hard to know who Ashby will be. But she loves to be in the in the thick of things with the older kids and she seems very smart with baby math concepts. She hates water which means all 12 o her baths have been traumatizing to everyone involved.

3) What's your favorite back to school memory? I don't have any memories per se. But, I do remember always being really excited and not being able to sleep the night before.

4) I know you homeschool, will you do anything special to mark the beginning of the school year with your kids?We are officially starting the 18 of this month, I got Lacy a backpack! I think she will be thrilled!

5) Name one thing you like to do with each child.Lacy- I enjoy sitting and doing observational drawing.Oliver- I like go grocery shopping with Oliver. It is sort of our special thing. We get a cookie.Ashby- I like to hold Ashby when she sleeps. But she thinks my favorite thing to do is nurse! Haha!

6) What's an activity you like to do with all 3 kids?We have started going on walks and I love that.

7) Three things you've learned since becoming a mom? 1-That the person who just cut me off may have had a really hard morning with their small children.2-That I am much calmer if I slow down, don't hurry and focus on the moment.3-That children are very forgiving, thank goodness, because I make a lot of mistakes.

8) What do you do for fun?I love to use my camera, read, knit, sew, and I especially enjoy doing research, any kind (academic, internet for personal research, whatever!)

9) HOw long have you been married and what's the best thing about your husband?I have been married for 9 years!!!! I think the the thing I most enjoy about my husband is that he likes to play games with me and is a good sport! I think the best thing about him is that he is loyal and dedicated to doing his job well, whether it is as an employee, a dad, or a husband. (In spite of all this we still find time to have the normal marriage "loud conversations!!!")

10) One thing you would like people to know about you? Hmmmm.... I think secretly I wish that people knew that I am very lonely in Ohio and also very smart, not stuck up or judgmental like I come across when I am insecure, so don't tell anyone all you blog readers! But, I will just write on here that I am trying to learn how to RUN!!! I can go 20 minutes right now!!! Really slowly, it's not the distance that matters!

Introducing...Mag of Meg and Mag!!!

2009-08-06T12:16:00.000-07:00

No one has posted introductions yet so I thought I would get us started by introducing Mag to you all. I interviewed her this AM!

Who are you and where do you live? Melissa (aka Mag) from Spokane, WA

What is your favorite back to school memory? My mom taking pictures of me on the first day of school. I think she tried to do that every year. I plan on doing it with my kids.

How many children do you have and what are their names and ages? Two kids, Sammy is 5 and Abby is 2, but they will both have birthdays before the end of the month.

What is your favorite thing to do with your kids? It would have to be swimming. It is something they both love and the three of us can do together.

What is your kids favorite thing to do with you? Probably to sit on my lap and have my undivided attention for awhile.

What are three things that you have learned since becoming a mother? 1) It is not easy and I don't know what someone else's story is, so I shouldn't judge other parents too harshly. 2) I am my children's number one advocate and I have to be the one to stand up for them even if it is uncomfortable for me. 3) I should base my parenting decisions on what I think is best and appropriate for my kids and not worry too much about what other people will think.

How do you unwind? Talking over the day with my husband after the kids are in bed.

What one chore do you love and which one do you hate? Hate, hate, hate laundry. I don't know if I could actually say that I love any chores, but I do not mind watering the lawn.

Ok, who's next?

Stubby Pencil Studio

2009-08-06T05:21:00.000-07:00

Hi Swapping Friends,

I (Meg) wanted to let you know about a special store our family loves. I actually just bought gifts there this morning for Mag's kids birthdays coming up. It is called Stubby Pencil Studio. Our gift closet has the recycled cards that my kids color to include with presents they give, the crayon rocks and then I buy coloring books like Rosie Flo's and we have a unique gift everytime without buying lots of plastic or risking giving something the child already has! Here are some questions that I asked Kate the owner, who is a mom herself and has twin girls. She started the store so that other moms like her would have a place a buy eco friendly art supplies. She is lots of fun to talk to. So call her up if you want. ;) And if you place an order than please make sure to check the specials page (at the top under the header to the left) because she is always giving away free stuff!

A brief Interview with Kate:

What is your favorite school memory?

New Shoes

How would you describe Stubby Pencil Studio?

Stubby Pencil Studio offers earth friendly alternatives for art and craft supplies like crayons made from soy - not petroleum; stationery, greeting cards, sketchbooks and journals made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper - not virgin trees; pencils made from sustainably harvested wood and recycled newspapers - not dying forests. You'll also find natural play dough, non-toxic wooden toys, do-it-yourself kits, reusable bags, birthday party favors, and many other fun and creative eco products for families.

What essentials do you think every kid needs to do spontaneous art?

First pick - watercolor crayons - they are a water-soluble crayon - meaning they turn your drawing into a watercolor as soon as you touch it with a wet brush. Super fun and immediate results - without much of a mess. We keep a drawer filled with art supplies for our girls - watercolor paper, blank sketchbooks, crayons, pencils, markers, scissors, glue sticks... They'll open the drawer and get creative for hours on end.

Of the products you sell, which is your favorite?

We have a brand new item that I'm super excited about - eco stars. They are star shaped crayons (recycled from 100% old, broken and discarded crayons) They are perfect for little hands and kids just LOVE them.

(Oh and by the way, no kick back, incentive or payment was received for posting this. I just wanted to share a fun back to school resource with you!) Happy Swapping Meg (and Mag)

Blog Invites Just Sent Out

2009-08-04T15:58:00.001-07:00

If you are new to our swap, we sent out an invatation to contribute to the swap blog today. It should be fairly self explanatory, but you will need a google account to be able to sign in. Let us know if you have any trouble and we will walk you through the process. Feel free to do a post introducing yourself to the group and/or share ideas here on the swap blog. If you have swapped with us before, then you should still be able to post this time around, but we can send you a new invite if you are having problems.

We have a small group this time, so it would be fun if we could all get to know eachother, not just our partners. One way to do that is to visit and comment on one another's blogs. If you don't have a blog, don't worry--you can always post here. Here's a list of links to all the swap participant's blogs (they are also in the sidebar):

The Quilted Turtle

Rainy Day in May

Life With Nature Girl

Everything Except the Grill

Sea Dragon Creations

F is For Fischer

The Mama Chronicles

Mommies Think Too

So check them out!

Did you get it? Check your email and start your engines!!!

2009-08-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

The little people swap is now underway. Partner emails were sent out this afternoon and it looks like we will have a fun group this year!!! Check back here frequently for updates, intros, pictures, and ideas! Meg and Mag

Calling all procrastinators!!!

2009-07-30T11:33:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is the last day for sign ups! So if you have been waiting jump on board! Meg and Mag

Sign-Ups Are Open!

2009-07-15T16:20:00.000-07:00

Okay everybody, sign-ups are open for the Fall 2009 Back-to-School Swap. Here are the guidelines:

1) Introduce yourself via e-mail to your partner once the pairs have been assigned and exchange a quick questionnaire to help you get acquainted. Parnters will be assigned beginning of August.

2) Put together a back-to-school themed package for your partner. If you sign your children up individually, you should spend around $10 plus shipping. If you sign-up as a family, you should spend about $20 plus shipping.

3) Mail your package by August 15th or a date agreed upon with your partner.

4) Send some kind of thank-you to your partner: it could be mailed, e-mailed or posted on the swap blog.

5) It would also be nice to see participants post to the swap blog (we will send out invitations that will allow you to do so). You can feel free to introduce yourself and your family, post ideas that you would like to share for the swap, give hints to your partner, and also post a thank-you. We have loved seeing pictures of what everyone swapped in the past. Posting is not a requirement, but it does let all the participants interact a little more and adds to the fun!

What To Do to Sign-up:

1) Send an e-mail to megandmag@gmail.com no later than July 31st, 2009.

2) Tell us:

your name
e-mail address
names and ages of children participating
individual or family?--if you sign-up individually, each child will send and receive their own package; likewise if you sign-up as a family, your whole family will send and receive one package
names of people you have swapped with in the past
your blog address, if you have one
the state you live in (we try to pair people with someone outside their state)
if you are/are not willing to ship internationally (in the past we have had participants from Canada & Australia in addition to people from all over the US)

We will send you an e-mail to confirm that you have been signed-up within a day or so, and then send out your partner's info the beginning of August.

Feel free to share this info with anyone you think would be interested, we would like to have our biggest group ever this time around! Also, if you have a blog, we would appreciate it so much if you did a short post about the swap and link back to the swap blog.

Drumroll please...

2009-07-10T06:38:00.000-07:00

Mag and I have been talking about the swap, a theme or no theme? Family or individual. As we have bantered back and forth we have shared ideas and then this morning she sent me this quote: "Do you remember the movie 'You've Got Mail' where Tom Hanks tells Meg Ryan he would like to send her a bouquet of sharpened pencils and she buys a bunch of school supplies and sniffs scotch tape? That was one of my all time favorite movies." I remember that part Mag and I too love school supplies and all the hope that goes along with a new year of school. Here at my house, this is Meg speaking, we home school and will start our first year of homeschooling. But, that doesn't mean we don't know the excitement that goes along with Fall and the fresh start of a new academic year. So no matter what your school situation: Jr. High, Elementary, homeschool, unschool, boarding school, pre-school or no school we would love to have you join in the fun. We would like this to be the biggest swap ever. So pass the word. We have decided from all the feedback that the swap is going to be individual based on pairing children. Since this has been requested in the past. But, we do not want to leave anyone out so if you would like to have a family swap then include that when you sign up. We will open sign ups soon and have more information on the specifics. Right now the guidelines are Individual swap of $10 and lots of creativity and Family swap of $20 and lots of creativity. Also we will be allowing kids from 2-15 participate and will do our best to pair up ages. So you folks with older kids may just end up with a pen pal out all this!!!

And the theme is:

Back to school, rules!!!

OK, now go recruit everyone you know!!!! Let's get ready to play!!! "Hey, you, no throwing sand, or you will have to repeat Kindergarden!!"

Hello, is anybody there?

2009-07-08T06:08:00.000-07:00

Heeellllllloooooooo! (Echo)

We are shaking off our hibernation, we slept in this year, and waking up. In Ohio our winter was very cold and in Washington it was very snowy! I don't know about Mag but we did not have a spring.

So, anyone up for the 2009 swap?

I have some questions to ask, feel free to reply in the comments section. We will take all your ideas into account as we create the swap!

Do you want your children posted by individual ages? Or do you like the family pairings?

Do you have any themes or guidelines you would like to see used?

We are open for suggestion. Currently we are thinking of doing a back to school swap or an open ended swap. I am going to send out an email to all you previous swappers to gauge interest! HAppy Summering.

Thank you Cordelia and Samuel

2008-10-21T14:57:00.000-07:00

This past summer Tay and I participated in the Little People on the Road Swap hosted by Meg and Mag. Our partners for this swap was Cordelia and Samuel. They are from California but if I'm not mistaken they now live in Spain. It was a fun swap. Tay and I enjoyed putting ours together but she especially enjoyed receiving her treats.

Her package consisted of a photo album with Samuel's summer adventures with his traveling buddy, Owlie, a box of Granola, a Flower Press kit, some Bento items that Cordelia got from one of her favorite stores in Berkeley, and Tay's favorite, a sketch book and color pencils.
Here's Tay with Owlie. At first she was having a hard time saying "Owlie" so she gave it another name which I can't remember what it was right this moment, but eventually calling it "Owlie" again because that was his first name. She carried him around for days.
The photo album that chronicled Samuel's and "Owlie's" adventures. Samuel went to a Science camp, they took a trip to Canada, and spent a good part of the summer with his Grandmom in Berkeley, CA. All before he and Cordelia left for Spain to live for a year.
Tay loves to draw. Imagine her excitement when she saw this in her swap package. She has dubbed this her "special" sketch pad and color pencils. No one but her is allowed to use it, although she has drawn a good many pictures for the refrigerator.

Thank you Cordelia and Samuel for the wonderful gifts. I hope you are both enjoying Spain.

Operation Christmas Child

2008-10-14T10:28:00.001-07:00

Operation Christmas Child is not a swap, but is sort of along the same lines, only the package you prepare will go to a child in need in a third world or war torn country. It is a fun way to teach your children about giving to others. My son and I have done it in the past and even though he was pretty young (he was 3 the last time we did one two years ago), he seemed to get the concept of giving to another child who didn't have all the great toys and games that he has.

You can pick the gender and age range of the child you are preparing a box for, and even include a personal note and pictures of your family if you wish. You should be aware that the organization that sponsors this outreach program, Samaritan's Purse, is a religious organization and christian books and/or tracts will be added to your package before it is distributed.

Guidelines & Suggestions for Operation Christmas Child Packages

How to Find a Drop-off Location Near You

Samaritan's Purse asks that you include a check for $7.00 with each box to help cover the shipping costs.

If you decide to particpate, please feel free to post photos of your packages here on the swap blog and let us know what your family thought of the experience.

And the winner is...

2008-10-08T14:10:00.000-07:00

Jill!!!! Congratulations!!!! Jill will receive a $50.00 gift card courtesy of Box Tops for Education. She can use it at one of over 50 stores that participate in the Box Tops Marketplace (Barnes&Noble, Kohl's, Target and Shutterfly to name a few). Plus a percentage of her purchase will go to the school of her choice! Thanks to Boxs Tops for Education, as well as one last thanks to everyone who participated in the Little People on the Road Swap!

Airmail from Australia

2008-09-19T16:40:00.001-07:00

We got our package a few days ago and loved everything in it, especially how it was all themed around our new Australian friends Pinta the koala and Birra the wombat. We got books and stickers about each animal as well as lots of other fun Australian treats. Thank you so much Jane, Sophia & Tessa!

They even took Pinta and Birra to visit their real live counterparts at the Melbourne Zoo. Too funny!

Sammy and Abby have already been showing Pinta and Birra around town and taking them to our favorite spots. Thanks again to Jane and family and everyone who partipated this time around!

Rhino & Lion arrive Down-Under

2008-09-19T05:41:00.000-07:00

Wow! Our parcel arrived today from the U.S.A. How exciting! We LOVE Rhino & Lion, thankyou Abby & Sammy. Lion has been claimed and already taken to Playgroup with Tessa to visit all her Aussie friends.

We also received; a fabulous scrapbook with room for more adventures, whiteboards to practice writing, pencils, U.S. coins, and alphabet stamps. I think thats all !?

Here is Tessa studying the beach adventures of her new friends.
Thankyou to everyone involved, we have really enjoyed our 1st childrens swap.

Welcome Harvey and Harry!

2008-09-11T19:22:00.000-07:00

Fischer was excited to welcome Harvey the Horse and Harry the Horseshoe to our home yesterday morning. They brought with them a fabulous scrapbook all about their adventures in Oakdale California.

They brought Fisch a hat and a shirt and a bunch of other goodies!

Thanks Manami!!

News

2008-09-10T14:18:00.000-07:00

First, we have extended the deadline for thank-you posts to Oct. 1st. You will still be entered into the contest if you post by then. The prize is a $50.00 gift card to the Box Tops for Education's Marketplace On-line Store, which will be generously donated by Box Tops for Education.

Second, everyone should have received an e-mail with a quick survey asking how this swap was for you and your family. Please take a few minutes to fill it out and e-mail it back to us.

Lastly, Jill (a participant in this swap), is hosting a fall swap for kids called One Good Book. We love her idea of having each participant choose a book to send to their partner along with goodies related to the story. Check it out! The deadline to sign up is September 18.

Happy Fall!

Good bye Lollie, Hello Elmer

2008-09-09T17:47:00.000-07:00

Although we were very sad to see Lollie go...

We got a box!

Now we have Elmer! Thank you Zoe and Erika for all the fun suprises and Elmer! He has already been roaming around the house and I am sure he will be exploring the great outdoors tomorrow! Thanks for bringing us along for your summer!

B, S, & KW

Bunny Fun!

2008-08-21T11:34:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago, our package from Nature Girl arrived! What a fabulous surprise it was! She and her mamma Jill went all out! Bunny came with accessories! (Hmm, someone must have known that little girls like accessories!) Pirate stuff, princess stuff, tutu stuff, she had it all! They also included some great books, a mini bowling set, dice games, and all kinds of little things. Hours and hours of fun, in mom-language.

Thank you for your precious package. Thank you ladies for getting this all together. And thanks Nature Girl!

Your hand written thank you note is on it's way!
Hope you have a fantastic fall season up in beautiful leaf land!

The Dancing Robots

Thank You ...This is Why Kid Swaps are the Best!

2008-08-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

Thank you to The Mom, The Dancer & The Robot They were our partners for this swap. We had a great time taking Adventure Bunny around on our summer travels. We were a little sad to see her go but when our new softie friend arrived yesterday my daughter was excited!

This is the moment she saw her new friend!

The first hug!

After reading about Daffodil's summer adventures and her love of ice tea my daughter insisted we give her some ice tea. She was excited to feed Daffodil Love Bunny carrots and ice tea. She was even more excited that she got to sit in the middle of our table for the picture.
Thank you Karah and kids for our new bunny friend!

My Thank You's

2008-08-14T13:24:00.000-07:00

I am not officially participating this round but as a hostess wanted to say thank you to all of you for doing what you need to do to make the swap run smooth.

A big thank you to Melissa for running this swap solo since the end of June when I went on my extended babymoon. You are doing a great job!

Final Contest

2008-08-09T22:06:00.001-07:00

For the final contest all you need to do is post a thank-you to your swap partner, which was already a requirement of the swap anyway, but a little extra incentive never hurts! If you can, include a picture of your kids unwrapping their package or a pic of your loot. Since everyone should send their packages out by August 31st, we will make the deadline for the contest September 10th.

Also, please let us know if you encounter any problems in completing the swap--we want to make sure everyone has a great experience and that there are no disappointed kiddos.

Drum Roll Please...

2008-08-06T07:07:00.001-07:00

And the winner of the July contest is.... The mom, the robot and the dancer!

It was so fun seeing everyone's travelling buddies and the summer adventures everyone is having. Thanks to everyone who did a post!

Look for rules for the final contest later this week.

Searching for a Prize

2008-07-31T15:56:00.000-07:00

After much hemming and hawing, I decided that the prize will be a Where's Waldo book. Meg stopped by and saw my family during her cross country trek and gave my son one as an early birthday present. He has been obsessed ever since! He takes it everywhere with him and falls asleep looking at it at night. He not only likes to find Waldo, but just loves to dissect everything that is going on in each scene. Plus I can have Amazon do the shipping and save myself a dreaded trip to the post office:)

P.S. You still have until midnight tonight to post a pic of your travelling friend(s) to be entered in the contest.

Lollie travels

2008-07-31T07:28:00.000-07:00

Lollie (named by S) started her travels with us at Longboat Key, FL where we were on vacation with our extended family on Daddy's side. She loved watching B and S playing in the waves as she played in the sand

But most of the time Lollie liked laying on the lounge chair in the shade, making sure she didn't get a sunburn, and resting up for the big travels that were ahead of her.

We will update on that later! Happy travels!

KW mom of B & S

Look what we did

2008-07-29T23:35:00.000-07:00

Guess what? We got to go to Kindergarten with Sophia last week. It had been raining, but we still got to play outside. Here we are on the climbing frame.
Yesterday we went to a Fairy party at Sian's house, Sian is 4 now. Life's good at the moment, party food and birthday cake....yum!

Travel pal spotted at the beach.

2008-07-26T15:04:00.000-07:00

Remember in an earlier post my daughter couldn't decide on which traveling pal to take with her to Hawaii. Well, at the last minute, she decided that she wanted to take the little puppy that her big sister gave her.

Meet Lihi. She came in a little purple purse with pearl handles and the word "Royalty" embroidered on the little bag.

Here is Lihi at the airport waiting for our flight. We flew on Hawaiian Airlines, the best way to fly to Hawaii.

Lihi had the chance to visit everyone in Hawaii.
But she especially loved going to the beach. We spent the day with family at the local beach. We BBQ'd chicken, steak, sausage. The boys went fishing, crabbing, or diving. It was a fun day.

This was one of the many days spent at the beach. Tay had a blast with all of her cousins.

Hope everyone is having as much fun as we did.

Hello from Australia

2008-07-26T00:56:00.000-07:00

Here is Birra the Wombat out for a drive through the Dandenong Ranges. Shouldn't he have his seat belt on?
And here are Pinta the Koala and Birra posing in front of the lookout over the Silvan Dam.
Its a bit cold here at the moment, and we've all had bronchitis and the flu, so we haven't been out and about too much.

Craft time with Eddie

2008-07-17T13:32:00.000-07:00

After spending the weekend with Grandma visiting, we had a little sewing time with mom, Jeremiah and Autumn. Eduardo has a playmate, Pinkie, isn't she cute?! Spending time crafting together is one of our summer highlights this year. Everyone has made something, and with it super hot in the afternoons and us laying low til our next trip...it's perfect fun!

Adventures with Kitty

2008-07-16T13:04:00.000-07:00

Kitty came with us on our first adventure of the summer...out to see the Tony Stewart #20 Home Depot Car! Kitty was enthralled with it! Kitty decided it wanted to go home with one of my co-workers for a few more adventures and get a name...and be back in time to go with us camping in the Adirondack Mountains!

Hope everyone is travelling or visiting safely and staying cool in the heat!

Traveling with Adventure Bunny

2008-07-16T05:47:00.001-07:00

We're having fun with our summer buddy! We created a pink and blue bunny named Adventure Bunny. She has been for a ride on an elephant with Nature Girl and her Grandma. She's also been on a ferry searching for Champ, the Lake Champlain monster. We didn't spot Champ, so we're off to try some new adventures before our bunny takes the final trip to her new home.

Our traveling buddy- July contest

2008-07-14T13:01:00.001-07:00

Well, I must first say that I am glad we are sitting out this round and just helping organize because we have fallen completely in love with our buddy and would not be able to send her away! Baby (no name yet) was born yesterday at 2.42 pm Pacific time. She is 20 inches long and 8 lbs. 2 oz. Her head is 14 inches around. We are all doing great and totally in love. Hope your swaps are going well. Meg.

Swap Friends Spotted in Michigan

2008-07-11T05:25:00.000-07:00

Arial the elephant and Lola the dog had a great time around Independence Day. Arial use to be a pair of socks and Lola was a pair of gloves in her former life. Patterns for both came from this book.

North Carolina Sighting

2008-07-10T22:44:00.000-07:00

A big blue bunny has been spotted, lazily enjoying the clouds float by. While everyone else was floating down a river in the heat, she was just enjoying the "lovely air" she told me. She must be preparing for her journey in a box soon.

Get plenty of fresh air now, because travels to a new place are a-coming!

Our traveling buddy is making friends!

2008-07-10T08:44:00.000-07:00

Here is our swap friend "Dino". He is feeding bread to critters in the mountains.

July Contest

2008-07-10T07:27:00.001-07:00

To be entered in the July contest all you need to do is post a picture, either of your kids "on the road" (could be past or present) -OR- a picture of your new travelling buddy. The deadline to post is July 31st. The prize is TBA, but it will be something summery and fun. I will kick it off by posting a pic of my children's two travelling buddies, taken on our trip to the Oregon coast over the 4th of July weekend.

My husband actually took this picture--it is kind of fun to see him getting involved in the swap too.

Two weeks to go

2008-07-03T12:48:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. Oregon is finally starting to feel like summer. It's been getting hotter and we've had a few thunder storms.

With summer comes vacations, camping trips, softball games, and this year pool parties. We have camping trips in the making but no definite plans, we're in the middle of the softball season, and I'm hoping to plan a pool party for Tay and her little friends. We are, however, leaving in two weeks on vacation back to our little home in the beautiful state of Hawaii.

We're all excited, especially Tay. She will be bringing her travel buddy with her. But we do have a dilemma. Tay can't decide which buddy to take with her. I thought we already had her travel buddy picked out. It was no doubt going to be "Ballerina" but a recent trip to Build A Bear has made it complicated. She is now the proud owner of "Serafina". As you can see, I included a picture of them. I didn't want to ruin the surprise for our swap partner so I just took a picture of their footsies.

It's a hard decision because both buddies are an important part of Tay's life. I already told Tay that only one friend can come with us to Hawaii but I have a funny feeling that she'll try to sneak one in her bag. Oh well...

How's everyone coming along with their swaps?

And the Winner is......

2008-07-02T08:12:00.000-07:00

Liz!

Thank you to everyone who shared their travel tips. We got some great ideas and it was fun reading all of your posts. We will do another contest for July--look for the rules after the holiday weekend. Happy 4th of July!

P.S. We did not judge the entries, instead we drew a name randomly.

Road Trips...

2008-06-30T15:05:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to take some pictures of our road trip items but have yet to find them in the many boxes post move. :-) So pictures will follow... but here is what we do for long road trips... I always put together a bag of healthy "car friendly" snacks and then together with Zoe we pick 2 or 3 books, small easy to manipulate while in the car seat toys, magna-doodle, coloring book with crayons (we received a fun crayon pocket holder during the first swap, thanks Meg & Mag).... The things I add without Zoe's knowledge usually keep her entertained the longest, I like to bring at least one new toy and one new book along on the really long road trips. I do not run out and purchase new toys but keep my eyes peeled for fun little things at yard sales or the few times we do get happy meals I snag the toy before she see it and save them for those moments that we need a little something extra in the car! So that is what I do, nothing really special but it makes our road trips more enjoyable, but I have to say we are pretty lucky Zoe really likes to travel!

Learning a little as we go, in more ways than one!

2008-06-29T12:27:00.000-07:00

Gosh, it was so interesting to read Liz's post and learn a little about her lifestyle. I think there are many different things we will take away from this swap.
I am planning on creating our little buddies this week. Now that Sophia is on holidays, I realise I may be running a bit late!
As for trips and hints, we took a trip over the Easter break and we packed a thermal bag which fitted between the girls car seats with; lunch boxes full of snacks, drinks, coloring books, and story books. We also took stable tables which the girls could put on there laps to balance books on. Lastly we packed there favourite quilts and there favourite C.D. "Hop, Skip and Jump". We also headed of in the wee hours of the morning, so we bundled the girls into the car in there p.j.s and got a few hours in before they awoke.
If you would like to see how this eventful trip ended up, head on over here!

Pine View Dam Swimming

2008-06-27T19:37:00.000-07:00

Just did a Pineview Dam visit. Lovely water, waves, and just a bit of beach.

Here we are enjoying the sand:

We loved the little plastic tub boat. It was little tipsy, but fun!!

After a long days of playing we layed on our towells and soaked in the sun. mmmmmm.

The Jorgensens in Utah....

Scamp and Her "Box" Buddy

2008-06-27T14:14:00.000-07:00

Right after Scamp and I signed up for the swap, we picked out her new traveling buddy for our trip that would be sent to our New York partners. Big Mistake for a mommy of a 2 year old!

Here she is with her "Box" who was set to accompany us on our vacation this next week.

But, Scamp quickly became attached to this little scraggly raccoon and carried him in her shirt for a few hours as her new baby. How could I send him away?

So, we picked up a new "Box" (Box #2), identical to his brother minus the chocolate milk stains Box #1 sustained a couple of weeks ago, who will also be traveling with us. Box #2 (who may acquire a new name along the way) is hiding in the back of our car until the trip on Sunday. Boxes 1 and 2 will both pose in many a picture in the Smoky Mountains, then Scamp and I will make our scrapbook and send it and Box #2 to our partners. Problem solved (I hope)!

More Travel Ideas

2008-06-26T07:23:00.001-07:00

Since we essentially live in the middle of nowhere, the shortest drive my children (ages 2 and 3) have is about an hour; when we go to Southern Indiana to see Grandma and Grampie - it is 10 hours! So, I've gotten pretty good in the entertainment department...

Often it is just the kids and me when we make the 10 hour trek. I'm driving so I can't turn around every ten minutes to get something for them. To solve this problem, I put a large Rubbermaid tub in between the two back seats in our van. That way the kids can reach the toys and they stay much happier, they can also set their drinks and snacks on the table when they need their hands for something else. Occasionally a toy does fall (as you can see, the tub is overflowing,) but S and K know they will have to wait until we stop for gas to get that toy back.

Also on the toy front, we have toys that remain in the car all the time. That way they are special and it is a treat to get to play with them. (Remember, I live on an island where cars are illegal, so the kids only ride in the car about twice a month.) The favorite car toy we have right now is the Magna Doodle. It is a great toy that the kids love, and best of all I think they were $3.00 each on clearance at Toys R Us. Lola the dog and Arial the elephant (our swap stuffed animals) love the magna doodles too.One last thing: To make the trip shorter for the kids I get on the road at 5:00 am. (You read that right - 5:00 in the morning!) I get the car all warmed up, lift them from their beds, put them into their car seats and cover them with blankets. Often they will sleep until eight or so. (My daughter is still in diapers and my son sleeps in a Pull-up, so wetting the car seats is not an issue for us.) It cuts a few hours off the trip for them making the day easier on me - even if I do have to be up before most everyone else.

Contest - Entertaining the kids

2008-06-24T21:35:00.000-07:00

We don't do a lot of traveling in the car. The longest drive that we've done thus far is 3 hours. It's not long but still long enough for a 6 year old to get antsy. So this is what I pack into her backpack: lots of snacks, books, a writing tablet, her pencil box with crayons, markers, and pencils, her Nintendo DS, and last but not least or iPod. Sounds like a lot of stuff but if you knew my daughter you'd know that all of this was necessary. She has a short attention span and need many things to keep her occupied.

On her iPod, we have the music that she likes to listen to, TV shows that she loves such as Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Hannah Montana, and Raven, her favorite movies, and audio books. Right now I just have the Harry Potter series but will be uploading Junie B. Jones and maybe even Spiderwick Chronicles.

Before we had the iPod, we had a portable DVD player. We lugged that thing around with at least 5 different movies every time. When the DVD player broke, we started using my laptop. Thank goodness for the iPod, it's smaller and takes up less space.

When we travel to Hawaii, we pretty much take the same things. It's a 5 hour flight so keeping her entertained is a little more difficult. On the flight, she prefers to write and color so I make sure there are lots of paper and coloring books. She has her own carry on bag with all of her ammo.

I realize that not everyone has a Nintendo DS or iPod but there are other options out there to keep the children entertained. There are lots of games that come in travel versions. Playing cards are also an option that will keep the kids busy. Keeping the children occupied and entertained on long road trips or air travel will not only benefit them but also the parents.

Travel Bags

2008-06-24T20:37:00.000-07:00

Several years ago, our DVD player passed away. With several hour trips being taken almost every month up to the grandparents, it was a bit painful at first. It didn't take long for the kids to adjust though. We got books on tape, read Little House on the Prarie, and played card games in the car. Recently, I made the kids some "travel bags" (photos of the bags we also made for our swap partners) that help encourage their creativity and they've been really helpful to all of us. I stitched up some simple (and I mean SIMPLE!) little bags with a strap. Inside, I made a pocket with a few different small sections. Here's what has been the biggest hit in our bags so far:

little spiral notebook with blank pages
tiny markers/pencils/pens
card games (favorite one came from our spring Swap friends!)
little doll family set
bird identification book
finger puppets

We do alot of story telling, and the most requested ones are stories from our childhood where an injury was sustained, where trouble was had, or where something that involved loud shouting happened!

We haven't taken it on a trip, but we also like to have "conversation" and some of our favorite topics came from this box. Our little family is able to talk in a casual and honest way about lots of deep-life things. I hope that these things stick with them throughout their lives.
That's my two cents!

UPDATE

2008-06-24T14:20:00.000-07:00

A lot of you were very encouraging to Michelle (aka Meg) when she shared her story of how she was planning to travel across the country to have a legal homebirth in CA. I thought you might be interested to know that her and her family have made their journey and arrived at their destination safe and sound. They are now guaranteed a CA birth!

The Prize

2008-06-22T19:04:00.000-07:00

There are still eight days left to post your travelling tips and be entered into the June contest. Michelle (Meg) provided this prize, but I (Melissa aka Mag) will be mailing it out since she is getting very close to giving birth now. If you can't tell by the picture it is a mini-scrapbook kit with everything you need except the pictures, of course.

My best tip for travelling with kids is to remember to bring those snack catcher containers along so you don't end up with goldfish all over the car. Other than that we usually just bring a lot books and CDs. Some of our favorite music to listen to with kids includes The Curious George Soundtrack by Jack Johnson and Here Come the ABCs by They Might Be Giants--both are very kid friendly and don't drive my husband and I nuts.

Surviving the car ride!

2008-06-20T18:01:00.000-07:00

I often hear parents talk about the dread they feel anytime they need to take a long car ride with their children. They rely on the DVD player to maintain some sense of sanity on the trip. We are very fortunate when it comes to traveling by car. Since birth our daughter(now 4 years old) has taken the 5 hour trip to visit our families and is a fabulous car rider! We do hear an occasional "Are we there yet?" but generally our car rides are very pleasant. We don't have a DVD player in the car, so what's our secret? Besides lots of practice riding, I'd say having special snacks and giving her some control over the ride are our secrets. She gets to choose what we listen to on the trip. Yes, five hours of listening to Dragon Tales Tunes and Elmo is a bit boring for us but she's happy and the ride goes by quickly. We've started checking out audio books from our library right before a long trip. On our last trip we all listened to the first Harry Potter book. We all enjoyed it! We also have a scheduled stop for gas and snacks that we make on each trip. She looks forward to this and is happy in the back seat for an hour after our stop eating her snack. We enjoy the car ride.
Some other audio books we've enjoyed are:
The Magic Treehouse
Rabbit Ears Treasury of Fables
Rabbit Ears Treasury of Animal Stories
Tell Me a Story
The Spiderwick Chronicles
The Waterhorse

Contest- What to put in the stereo!

2008-06-18T06:25:00.000-07:00

Hi, I don't count to do one of the drawings since this is Meg (Michelle.) But, wanted to start us off and participate none the less. One cd I have found that I really like and am very OK with my kids listening to is Renee & Jeremy. On their site you can listen to some tracks and I bought our copy on iTunes. Other music we listen to is Folk music, and John Denver. John Denver is all about the nostalgia (Especially the song Country Roads and Grandma's feather bed) for me and the Folk music has some great songs that kids and parents can relate to. Usually our radio is tuned to NPR or the local Alternative music station. But, as the kids get older and sing along we are becoming more sensitive to what we listen to.
Another thing we are trying this trip is reading original fairy tales aloud. We bought a collection of Hans Christian Andersen ones. The local bookseller also recommended this book, called Hello Miss Piggle Wiggle. The tales in this second book are more old Fashioned, not old like Andersen's though.
Lastly we bought some toys that are new to the kids or have been pulled out from a long silence in the basement so they seem new. They include: a flat battery operated light brite, a big magna doodle, lacing beads, little figurines to act out adventures with, and some books. We also found a leapster on ebay that we are going to try. We will be in the car for a total of 85 hours this summer not including rest stops and eating, etc. Luckily, we have a built in DVD player that we use when the fighting gets to be too much. Some of these last things I have mixed feelings on. But, traveling the car that long, I think it is OK to do things that normally are limited or off limits at home. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else suggests. We leave Friday for the first leg of our trip straight to CA, 35 hours!

June Contest!!

2008-06-15T22:15:00.000-07:00

We thought this time around it would be fun to have a contest each month of the swap. To be entered in the June contest you will need to do a post that includes tips for traveling with children. You could share directions for a favorite travel game, travel music that is enjoyable for both kids and adults, ideas for games and books to take along or whatever else you can think of. Pictures and links are helpful, but not required. We will choose a winner by drawing a name randomly from everyone that makes post regarding this topic (please do not comment on this post, but rather create a new post). The prize will be a mini scrapbook kit. Please post by June 30 to be entered in the contest.

Clarification...

2008-06-14T12:22:00.000-07:00

Hi Swappers,
We received an email yesterday from a mom wondering if both her children should pick a friend to send to their partners two children or if the family should collaborate. This is a really good question. Originally we had pictured each family doing one friend/ scrapbook to send to another family. So we will say that is the minimum that must be done. BUT, this is where you can individualize your swap. If you want to customize the number of friends you take on your adventure with the number of children in your recipient's family then that is allowed. Just make sure you both agree. We have been talking behind the scenes about some of the advantages we see to both ideas and will list those here at the end of this post. Both ways of doing it are great. Secondly, we did receive a request to enter one family's children multiple times. (One partner for each child in the family.) If this was something you would like to see we wanted to explain why we do family groups instead. When reading through how we make pairs you will see that we take the number of children in the family into account. We used family groups in the first round and noticed that moms with more than one child or moms sending to more than one child were very sensitive to each child and including everyone. It worked so well that we kept it the same way this round. The other reason is that if we were to pair every child individually it would mean a lot more work for us, plus a lot more spent in postage for families with more than one child participating. Also the moms would be spread so thin that building cross country relationships would probably not happen as much as it did the first round. If you have any more questions feel free to ask. We are more than happy to take your suggestions and to clarify what runs through our minds.

Benefits to sending multiple friends to a family: Each child gets to express their creativity and interpret the scrapbook how they want. Each child receives a "friend."

Benefits to sending one "friend" from a family to another family: Siblings learn to collaborate and incoorporate their ideas into a cohesive theme that flows. Sharing is encouraged. Less stress and to do on your trip.

Both ways are good and whichever way you choose you now have reasons so you can feel comfortable talking through with your partner what you choose to do. We would love to hear what you decide. Please post in the comments to this post how you are approaching the swap.
Happy Swapping, Meg and Mag

Partners!

2008-06-13T05:53:00.001-07:00

Thank you to everyone for introducing yourself! It is fun to get to know everyone and see where you are headed. Mag and her son did a map last time. They are planning on posting another one this time. Maybe they will even be able to include travel destinations.

You should have received and email letting you know who your partner is. Email us if you didn't get it and it is not in your spam folder. This is where the fun begins. Remember the swap guidelines are just a minimum and you can add and personalize the swap however you want within those parameters. Or you can use them as a jumping off point and up the stakes. Just make sure both you and your partner are both whole heartedly in agreement. Also make sure that you are including all the swap requirements.

We thought you might like to know how we make the pairs. We paired you based on these items in this order:
1. Who your previous partner was if you had one, or who you already knew.
2. Children are older or younger
3. Number of children in family
4. Where you live, making sure it is not next to each other.
5. Travel month.

If a mistake happened we are so sorry. We do our best. This time we tried to simplify things for ourselves by not including individual ages or genders. Next time we may throw the ages back into the mix because it helps narrow it down some. If you have suggestions please take note of them and give them to us at the end when we send out the exit surveys. We hope you all have fun this round. We had tons of fun last time.

4 in Utah --ready to go

2008-06-12T20:26:00.000-07:00

Here we go guys. We have 4 little guys going out to explore the world and take notes, and read books, and collect postcards!! We have returned from City of Rocks, Idaho and we are taking a 10 dayer to Mt. Rushmore in July. We have some fun summer activities planned in between.

Busy the babes on the road

2008-06-12T19:44:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I just wanted to share a few fun things that I've found recently that may help keep your kiddos busy on long road trips.

I've been wanting a tray for the car seat to keep snacks and toys from rolling away during a long trip and found this one via MomsMiniVan. This site is great and has hundreds of tips and ideas for making road trips more fun for everyone. You can buy the Snack and Play Travel Tray for $20 over at Traveling With Kids or at Family Travel Gear.

Also A Toy Garden had a fun "On the Go Bag" with lots of toys to keep kids busy. This one is the deluxe for about $30, they have another for $20. I thought the bags were great and might also make a nice gift for someone on the go. Personally, I figured I could just take the idea and run with it to make my own.I also found (via Goodyblog) easy idea to make a felt board activity. The activity comes from Plum Pudding . The boards are so cute and could be a fun activity for an older child to make for a younger one. I think I'm going to make some for my little one... if I am any good at it, don't be surprised if our partners get one in their box!Family on Board is another company with ideas and products to keep the kiddies happy in route! Happy traveling!

Hi from Southern California

2008-06-12T14:03:00.001-07:00

Hi. Cordelia here. Samuel (age 7) and I are really looking forward to the swap. Yikes! are we the last ones on board? The end of the school year is pretty hectic. We will be doing some local travels and probably a bit of camping this summer.

Hello from CShell

2008-06-12T13:15:00.001-07:00

I am finally on board...yeah!!now I can share about my gang too! We are a family of 5. Court is 16, my Jeremiah is 11, and Autumn is 9. This is our first family swap. All of the kids were interested in this, and offered to do a bit of everything to make our fuzzy friend travels fun!
And our summer travels start this weekend! We are camping for the first time ever as a family. In the West Virginia mountains.Then, in July, mom and Dad get to go away while the kids stay with Grandma! Finally, in August, we are heading to Busch Gardens and Williamsburg, VA. I am sure we will have mini-trips planned as well. Living about an hour from Washington D.C. and Baltimore, MD, we head out often. Can't wait to meet you all!

(posted via meg and mag from Cshell)

Hi from Australia

2008-06-11T19:54:00.000-07:00

Hi! My name is Sophia, and this is my sister Tessa. I am 4 and Tessa is 2.
We live in Melbourne, Australia. At the moment it is Winter, not Summer!
We are wearing our winter cardys our great aunt in England sent us for our birthdays.
We have 2 weeks holiday in July, I don't think we are going away, so, most of the time our toy will come to kindergarten and playgroup and do other fun things with us.
We hope you enjoy visiting Australia through our family.

About all of You!!!

2008-06-11T13:40:00.001-07:00

Well, here we are sign ups are closed and we are in round two officially! We thought you might like to know a little bit about our group:
There are 9 pairs being made and one mama sitting out to have a baby. 8 of you are repeaters from round 1.

A lot of you found us through the swapdex website and then the rest through random connections.

The busiest travel month for our group is July.

The person who is farthest away is in Australia, we think her partner will be mighty lucky to get some very exotic treats. Isn't it opposite season's there? So maybe we have a summer/ winter swap. ;)

We have people from these states: California, Washington, North Carolina, Tennessee, Washington D.C., Idaho, Utah, Alabama, New York, New Hampshire, West Virgina, Oregon, Montana, and Michigan.

Fourteen people have blogs. (Lots of neat info on them, check the sidebar)

So we are off to a good start and should have lots of fun. Hopefully that will help everyone get their mind off the crazy weather we are having this summer from snow in Montana yesterday, to fires in California, and heat waves, on the east coast. Look for your partner's info in your email box this weekend. And check back here often for announcements, contests, and info on the other swappers. :)

2008-06-10T20:53:00.001-07:00

Hi! My name is Cherie Uyeyama. My daughter Manami and I will be giving you the tour of the cowboy capitol of the world...Oakdale, CA. We do short trips lots of places, so our little friend will be doing alot of here and thereing! No big vacation. I look forward to the adventure. I've never done anything like this...sounds cool!

Another Scrapbook type idea

2008-06-10T18:24:00.000-07:00

Head over to Luckybeans for matchbox books. This could be a cute scrapbook idea for the older kids or moms to help make!

Countdown to Summer Swap

2008-06-10T16:55:00.000-07:00

Really, our top priority right now is figuring out what *kind* of stuffed animal to make. Or stuffed object? I'm a big fan of upcycling material and I have some excellent fabric from a fleece sleepsack with a faulty zipper (and no, I am not capable of replacing a zipper!). We're from Washington, DC but will be traveling to the Pacific Northwest, California, and New England this summer. Two kids: EGirl is 5 and CBoy is 18 months. We loved our experience in the first round of the swap and can't wait to come back for more. Thanks Meg and Mag!!

Us in Ohio...well, right now

2008-06-10T16:24:00.000-07:00

Hi, I am Meg one of the orgnanizers. My name is Michelle. But, on here and between Mag and I am Meg...
This picture is from Mother's Day. I am much bigger now. Think bus + house!!! Our trip is going to be long and last all of July. We live in Ohio. BUT, moved here only last year. After we moved here they started prosecuting homebirth midwives as felons. We only ever had homebirths. So when we got pregnant, (darn that Long Island Iced Tea) we weighed our options and decided that it was important enough to us to have another homebirth with legally acceptable help. So we are taking a trip to CA to live with my dear friend and midwife and have a homebirth. Sometime in July, I am due June 29th. This will be one vacation we will never forget. Along the way we aren't stopping. But, once we get there play in our homestate near San Francisco and head home we will be making many stops. Those new babes have to eat every 2 hours you know. From the Bay area we will hit Medford, Oregon then, Seattle, WA then Mag's house in Spokane, WA, then Lakeside, MT to see my parents, then home. We have friends in all the other places. It will be a very memorable trip with amazing before and after pics. Also my husband thinks it will be so much fun to be able to say: Look here is a picture of Michelle nursing at Yellowstone, here is a picture of Michelle nursing in Eureka, here is Michelle nursing by the side of the road. I think I prefer the Look here is Ryan changing a diaper at the fish market, here is Ryan changing another diaper at the Denny's parking lot and so on! At any rate I am trying to keep a positive attitude because I wake up thinking we are CRAZY! They have all kinds of travel now, I wonder what you call birth travel? If there is an odd number of you all participating than I will sit back and facilitate. Otherwise one of you needs to be very understanding and will be paired with me!! Happy Swapping, we are so excited for round 2!

Greetings from Washington!

2008-06-08T17:05:00.001-07:00

Hi, I'm Melissa, one of the organizers of the swap. My family and I are travelling to the Oregon coast this summer for the 4th of July weekend. This picture was actually taken byMeg on a trip our families took to the OR coast together almost 3 years ago. We now have a fourth member to our tribe and our son is like twice the size! I am really looking forward to the extra fun the swap will bring to our travels, as well as seeing all the adventures everyone else take their "friends" on.

2008-06-08T05:28:00.000-07:00

Hi I am B and I am 5 years old. My sister S is going to be 3 in a couple weeks. We live in Ooltewah, TN which is really close to Chattanooga. We love traveling, and this summer we are going to go to southern Florida and southern California. We have not done the swap before, but we are looking forward to it!

Hi from Alabama

2008-06-07T15:25:00.000-07:00

We live in Alabama and we home school. The Dancer is almost 5, and The Robot is 8. We like being outside so much that we do our school in a treehouse! Our blog is about our adventures in life, and the discoveries we make. We did the last swap and had a great time. We made new friends and we still write to them and keep in touch!

We're looking forward to making more friends this time around too!

Simple Photo Journal/Scrapbook Idea

2008-06-06T09:32:00.000-07:00

We promised that we would give ideas for cheap and easy scrapbooks, so here is one for now, but we will post more later. This one came from Martha Stewart's Good Things for Kids. It was from an old issue, so we couldn't find the directions online, but they are pretty easy to figure out just from looking at the photo below:

This was made with 5x7 notecards and an old keyring. You could add more embellishments to dress it up a little. This would be an easy for older kids to create on their own. Please feel free to post your ideas, too!

Hello from Big Sky Country...

2008-06-05T14:46:00.000-07:00

Hi! My name is Zoe... I am 2 1/2 and love this swapping fun! We had such a good time on the last go around we had to do it again. My mommy loves to scrapbook so that part will be fun for her. I like pretty much everything... This summer we get to go to see my uncle in a Broadway play, he is a dancer... We are also going to Flat Head Lake to swim and play with all of mommies old friends. Other than that we will be taking our little friend on hikes, to the farmers market, other short trips around Montana, and my favorite the SPLASH park!!! Oh, I almost forgot, we get to go see my Gamma's NEW baby horse, it will be born in July. I can't wait to meet my new partner! Have a GREAT day...

Hello from Idaho...

2008-06-05T11:20:00.000-07:00

Hi! My name is Genny and I am 9 years old!
I live in Idaho with my mom, dad and sometimes people who are like my older brother and sisters. It's pretty fun having teens around!
I am a home schooler and I love art, and music!
This July we are going to Missouri to visit family, (my mom says, "unless gas prices get really high!" ) and to the Ocean. We also go camping a lot! I can't wait to work on the scrapbook!
Hopefully I can make a new friend or penpal! That would be cool!
Thanks for reading this! My mom said I might get to guest post on her blog because I am wording out what she types so good!

Hello from Northern Michigan

2008-06-02T04:16:00.000-07:00

Hi! I'm S and I am 3 and 1/2. K, my little sister is only 2. Our family lives on an island in Northern Michigan. (Because only about 500 people live on our island, my mama tries not to use our names or faces on-line.) Our island gets a lot of tourists because there are lots of historic things to look at here. K and I would love to send you pictures of our Butterfly House and the old Fort. My mama is a teacher so we get to take our trips in the summer. This year we are going to visit our Grandma and Grandpie in Southern Indiana. While we are in Indiana we will go to Wonder Lab and to Holiday World. Both places are a lot of fun. We can't wait to get to know our new swap partner friends!

Greetings from Upstate NY!

2008-06-01T18:19:00.001-07:00

Hi!
I'm Isaac, and I'm 4 years old. Mommy calls me "Monkey!" My Mommy and I are so excited to be a part of this swap. Daddy's confused about swaps, so he's not as excited. We're taking a few day trips away from our home in Upstate NY, because I've got summer session at school, and I can't miss those days, because I like playing with my speech therapist and my occupational therapist that I see all week. Plus, I'd miss my friends too much! So, Mommy promised me some cool trips that only take a day, and we can do them on the weekend or Mommy's days off from Starbucks. I can't wait to get to know all of you!

Hello

2008-05-31T11:01:00.001-07:00

Hello! My name is Jill. My daughter and I are very excited to be taking part in this swap! My daughter is 4 and is known as Nature Girl in the blogosphere since she is a true nature lover! We have plans to do some local field trips including several plays, movies, some local attractions and a few nature hikes. We'll also be spending a week in NY with our family in July. We're looking forward to making a special friend to take on our adventures. Of course we'll probably have to make two friends so mailing it off won't be so painful!

Hi from Utah!

2008-05-29T18:35:00.000-07:00

I'm Lisa and this is my 2 year-old son. We are really excited to participate in the swap! We don't have too many travel plans other than camping and a visit to Colorado, but we have plenty to do here! We live close to the mountains, and love to go there to escape the summer heat! We look forward to "meeting" you all!

Aloha from Oregon!

2008-05-28T21:59:00.000-07:00

So this is us. Christel and Tay. And we're excited for this swap. Summer is always an exciting time for us. We love the warm weather and all that it has to offer. So let's get this started and have some fun.

Scamp from Tennessee

2008-05-27T13:23:00.001-07:00

Hi! I'm Scamp, and I'm two years old. I live in TN and my Mama and Daddy are taking me to Gatlinburg (The Great Smokey Mountains) with my grandparents this year. We are gonna stay in a big chalet. I'm excited because me and my cousin Bubby are gonna have so much fun. You'll probably meet him later on. We get into a lot of trouble together. Anyway, we're gonna go swimming and probably ride the big Tram through the mountains. We might even meet Dolly (as in Parton) this year. It's gonna be great! I already wrote a post about this swap at Scamp's Place, so come on over and visit me there if you'd like.

Sign Ups Are OPEN!!!

2008-05-26T06:34:00.000-07:00

Did you see the new swap sign up? We are up to 5 people now! Last time there was a big rush at the end. This time we are hoping to have the maximum number allowed! To entice you to sign up we wanted to let you know some of the things going on behind the scenes. We have been chatting and thought it might be fun to have some giveaways this summer. Sort of like a contest but with a random draw instead of judging. We know with this group it would be too hard to judge. Small prizes, but lots to keep you interested since this is a longer swap! Plus having giveaways means extra mail! So get your emails in, we are getting underway!

For full instructions go here, or scroll down.

Hi From North Carolina!

2008-05-25T16:57:00.000-07:00

Hi fellow swappers! I'm Angi from North Carolina. I have three wonderful kids - youngest who is a precious 6yr. old boy, middle who is a sweet 11 yr. old girl, and smartie-pants who is a 13 yr. old teen. We participated in the Spring Swap and had a great time. The kids were very into it and loved "meeting" our swap family. Last week middle child asked if we were ever going to do it again and ironically enough - the next day I got the announcement of the Summer Swap. They are looking forward to it!

Little People on the Road Swap

2008-05-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

(We are keeping this post to the top for new people looking for the sign up info. Please scroll down to read the new introductions!)

You are invited to join the Little People on the Road Summer Swap. We thought it would be fun to do a travel themed swap for summer. It is for kids between 2 and 10-years-old. This swap is going to be a little bit more structured than before, but still open-ended enough to allow for lots of creativity.

The guidelines are as follows (please read through everything before signing up—some things have changed since last time):

1) In this swap, you will purchase or make a new stuffed animal or doll (high-quality please) that will become your traveling friend. It would be fun to name the friend and even create a personality for it. (Thank you to Joy for suggesting a similar idea!)
2) You will then take the friend with you on your travels or if you don’t plan to make any trips this summer, show the friend around your hometown.
3) Document your travels with the friend by taking pictures of him or her in different locations and doing different activities. You can include your family in the photos or just feature the friend. You can also have your child take the pictures and document the travel through their eyes.
4) Make a scrapbook/journal with the photos to send to your swap partner. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate and you can check the swap blog for cheap and easy ideas. You can also feel free to post your own ideas!
5) Get a souvenir from your travels or hometown to send to your swap partner. You can buy something or collect something such as shells, pinecones, flattened pennies from those machines, etc.
6) Buy or create an activity for your partner to do on their next trip. (It would also be fun to include a CD with fun car songs or anything else extra that is themey.) Check the swap blog for suggestions or add your own.
7) Also, if possible, send a postcard to your swap partner while on vacation. It would be a fun way to help the children introduce themselves to each other.

Things that should definitely be included in your package (this is the minimum):
• A scrapbook detailing the adventures of the friend you chose, as well as the friend itself.
• A souvenir from your travels or hometown.
• A travel activity for kids.
• A note, either written by your child(ren) or dictated and transcribed by an adult.

The commitment for this swap is (read carefully new items added!):
1) Introduce yourself on the swap blog, you don’t have to tell your mother’s maiden name, just a hello and something like we are excited and we are a family of 3, 4, 20 or whatever you want to share, pictures are great, but not required. We are requiring that you do this before partners are made because we would really like to create a community among all the swappers, and this is difficult to do without everyone’s participation. Let us know if you have never blogged before and need any help posting to the swap blog. You will not be partnered unless you have posted. (the swap blog is www.littlepeopleswap.blogspot.com)
2) E-mail your partner introducing your family and answering a few provided questions within a week or two of being paired.
3) One package shipped no later than August 31, but you and your partner can agree on an earlier date, depending on when you will both be finished traveling.
4) Post a thank you to your partner, preferably with pictures, on the swap blog. (We can help you figure out how to upload pictures too. If you do not have access to a digistial camera feel free to still sign up.)
5) Keep us updated if any problems come up during the swap through e-mail (not on the swap blog). We want to make sure everyone has a great swap experience, but can’t help if we don’t know what is going on.
If you choose to do any more that is up to you. But this is the minimum.

To join in send an email to megandmag(at)gmail(dot)com
Cut and Paste the following into your email and answer the questions:
1. Name:
2. Number of Children, also are most 2-6 or 6-10 in age:
3. Month of Travel (or month you want to swap if you staying home):
4. Home State:
5. Who your partner was if you participated last time:
6. Blog, if you have one (we will put a link on the group blog):
7. Best email address to contact you:
8. How you heard about the swap:
9. If you are a listed author already on the group blog:
10. Are you willing to ship to Canada or out of the US:

The deadline to sign up is June 10th or when we reach 50 participants, which ever comes first. This time around we will try to match families according to what month they are traveling in, rather than by the age of the children. If you are from outside the US, you must be willing to ship internationally. If you are inside the US, it is not required that you are willing to ship internationally, but please let us know whether or not you are willing to do so. Also, please add our e-mail to your address book so that messages about the swap do not end up in your spam folder. We would love to have anyone willing, do a post about the swap on their blog, but, instead of listing the full instructions please link to where the instructions are posted on the swap blog and always remember to link to the original creator of any swap content.

Be sure to check out the swap blog to get to know some of the other participants and find links to their blogs, as well as get and share ideas. It is also fun to comment on other people’s posts. A good way to respond if you are the post author is to post a comment back in response to the same post.

After you sign-up for the swap, you will receive an invitation to the swap blog, if you are not already a contributor. If you are sitting out this round we will be removing you as a contributor but, that does not mean you can’t participate in future rounds.

Finally, remember to involve your kids in the creating of the packages, because truly they will have just as much fun sending a package as they will receiving one.

Happily,
Meg and Mag
(Michelle & Melissa and together here)

Teasers and Preview

2008-05-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

We thought some of you might like a preview of the next swap. So we are going to give you a few hints.
Name: Little People on the road Summer Swap
Timeline: Over the summer
And you don't have to leave your hometown to participate, but you could.
Promise: Each family will have a new friend by the end!
So stay tuned. We are really excited to get underway!
Look for your invite later this week!
That's it for now, Meg and Mag

New Season, New Swap

2008-05-14T08:04:00.000-07:00

Mag and I have been gearing up for the next swap. With June quick approaching we are ready to get things going. So stay tuned. Melissa picked the theme this time and it is great. We will post here when the sign up open and send out an email too! Hope the excitement begins to build!! Meg

Thank you for Participating!

2008-04-22T12:01:00.001-07:00

We were so glad to have you! We are thinking about organizing another swap seasonally. Melissa has a great theme picked out. I am thinking it will be fun. But, that I will need a lot of grace from my partner as the baby will take most of my time! Anyway, maybe you didn't get involved this last go round. Well then please send us an email so we can put you in our address book: megandmag(at)gmail(dot)com We learned a lot this go round and so the rules will probably change a little and the theme will be different of course. So check back often and also email us so that you can get involved in our swap community!

Ours weren't delivered by horses...

2008-04-16T22:15:00.000-07:00

...but they did arrive to great fanfare and happiness by two little girls (and one little boy who didn't have a clue what was involved but was especially thrilled by a blue fabric ball made just for him).

Our Michigan swap partners came through with a package that made us all swoon. There was something for everyone, from the honey from their own hive (!) to beautifully crafted crayon rolls. Those crayons rolls have been in non-stop use ever since. Ingenious flower pens and a bib sewn for the babe. There were craft kits for foam mosiacs, soybean plantings, Borax flower crystals, a marble painting tin (so great!), stickers, books, tons of fantastic postcards and pictures...and, and, and. So lovely and thoughtful. We are a grateful crew to have been matched with such a gem of a family. Many, many thanks to our partners.

There are many more pictures (and much better quality because, boy, is it ever tough to take pictures once kids are let loose...) here

Here is the honey looking yummy on toast:

Goodies from Vancouver Reach Michigan

2008-04-16T17:40:00.001-07:00

Yeah! The dray delivered our swap package from Vancouver on Monday! (Cars are illegal on the island where we live so everything is done with horses.) S & K were so excited to open it and explore all the goodies. Thank you so much L - they love it! Check out my blog for pictures. It still amazes me that we managed to get our packages on the same day. What are the odds of that?

From Madison to Cincinnati!

2008-04-15T10:55:00.000-07:00

Little late here, but I've finally posted the pics from our end of the Swap in my blog, right here.
Pics of the super-wonderful package we received are forthcoming... thanks again Sophie and Mel for a great package of goodies!!

Mary Jo and Isadora

Thank You Village Mama and Family!

2008-04-15T06:02:00.001-07:00

A great big THANK YOU to Village Mama and kiddo's. Little man got to open his package when he got home from school last night and he was SO excited! He loved the cool Greenpeace stickers on the outside of the package!

*Yelling at Blogger! The pics won't load where I want them to!*

Anyways...thanks for all the goodies. He played with the sea animals all evening. He and daddy read the Sports Illustrated for Kids (how did you know he LOVED sports?). He loved the T-shirts from Canada. He loved the stickers. He loved the crayons and the scissors. He even drew me some pictures last night AND cut them out with the curvey scissors too!

Thanks so much for everything! This was a great experience and little man really enjoyed making new friends. He was looking at their picture all night and even showed me where they live on the map!

Better Late than Never -

2008-04-14T18:34:00.001-07:00

Right??

Okay - I am late in posting this, we had a rough week here but I shall spare you all the gory details. Apologies to Samuel and Cordilia in California - I hope you can forgive my tardiness.

William received a fantastic package - including a book (which we shall read together when we finish the one we are in the middle of now), some cool friction cars, stickers, a wonderful warmer that you put in the microwave - this was hand made and features a delightful little camping motif - I SO want that fabric!!!, blo pens - and then - because apparently Cordilia is so very tuned in to boys and what they love she included an assortment of plastic ties, a piece of material, some string, duct tape - the only limit is William's imagination - so pretty much no limit!

Pictures speak louder than words... look at the joy on this child's face... thank you thank you thank you!!!

Toronto Package Arrives in Florida

2008-04-14T09:56:00.000-07:00

Wow...I think I must be the last one! Our package arrived this afternoon from Toronto! I haven't peaked yet since little man is still at school. It's funny how we sent our packages on the same exact day and going to Canada got there quicker than coming from Canada. I can't wait to go get him today and open his package. I know it's going to be GREAT!

Thanks to Alec and Jacob!

2008-04-09T03:19:00.000-07:00

We are late posting our thank yous, because our package arrived lightning fast, but I wanted to wait a week or so in order to update you on how the girls have been putting their things to use. The theme for the box was outdoors and nature, and it arrived just as Spring came! Perfect timing. It was filled with interesting things like bug catchers, a rain guage, several books, a wind chime, pictures and maps of Montana, a jump rope, a sewing kit, and a compass. It was a great kit, and the kids were thrilled! Kaylynn was fascinated with the jump rope and we've had several talks about it being an outside toy. :) Kristin took her bug catcher to school and hunted worms and beetles. She also took her birding book to school and carries it around like a textbook; it's very cute. I'm sorry, but I forgot to take a picture of everything in the box!

Here they are opening the package. They were ALL SMILES the entire time!

I have to confess that Kristin's interest in the package was purely interest in the packaging for the first day that it arrived. Here she is with the box on her head.

And here she is stomping the bubble wrap. I highly recommend bubble wrap as part of your packaging!

And now, a video of the opening!

See the Opening

(I had to host it on my own site because the file was too big to host here)

Thanks to everyone who participated in the swap. I loved seeing all of your creative ideas. We had a great time! And a special thanks to Angela, Alec and Jacob for helping my girls to have a good first experience with a "pen pal" of sorts.

Palm Harbor FL package arrives in Toronto!

2008-04-08T15:15:00.000-07:00

There was such abundance, 'this is from Bryce too' they kept asking...

stern warning from mama...

these maracas are so fun, so green and sound great to boot!

they dug into the books right away ;-)

IMMENSE GRATITUDE, GRACIAS, APPRECIATION to Calley and Bryce for 'music & sunshine' represented in the amazing array of: painted rocks, sand and shells, air plants, a map from your home to ours, Bryce's pipe flower crane painting (signed by him!!), the photo of Bryce (kids love it!), The Toddler's Busy Book, the Dumbo Book About Shapes, the Paw Print Parade, the two wonderfully creative bottle cap maracas made from nature and trash, and most of all for this new friendship.

More to follow here, here and here.

Amazing swap Meg and Mag, thank you for orchestrating it!

Thank you WebMommy!

2008-04-08T14:27:00.000-07:00

We really enjoyed receiving the package!

After reading your letter, the boys jumped right in and started with the playdough and "Toobers and Zots", what fun!
J loved the puzzles, and A really enjoyed the Playdough popper.

We look forward to getting into the puppet making kit, the story books and painting. They look really fun!

Thanks to Meg and Mag for putting the swap together, it was really fun!

Many Blessings to all!

for abby and sammy

2008-04-04T21:41:00.001-07:00

Melissa asked how to make the felt journals. So easy! I cut the size felt we wanted, cut drawing paper to a slightly smaller size, then staple the drawing paper together and stapled the felt over top. Then I needle-felted yarn onto the cover for the edge and names. I felted some dots and needled them onto the cover. Next time I would do the cover embellishments first, then the stapling, but it was creative process. You know how it goes.

The headband is a strip of knit 2, purl 2, stitched together at the end.

We so enjoyed putting together a beach theme package (and the excuse for a stop at the beach, which is always an easy errand!) for our new friends who live inland but love the surf and sand.

We would love to do another swap anytime.
Thank you for organizing it!
It's always lovely to make time for family creativity.

Beads, stickers, and artwork

2008-04-04T20:20:00.000-07:00

I'm posting this a little late, but better late than never, right? Tay received her package this past Saturday and because of the busyness of our everyday lives I couldn't find the right time to post.

Tay's swap partner was a little boy, Michael Carroll, from Florida. He was kind enough to send Tay a few things. The first is a picture that he drew all by himself which he called "Circle Maze."

Isn't that an awesome picture? We thought it was very creative. The other items included a bead set, a pink teddy bear, and a pack of stickers.

Tay was very excited when she received her package. I was just as excited as she was that I forgot to take pictures of her opening the box.

Tay and I want to thank Michael and his mom, Sharon, for the wonderful goodies. I also want to thank Meg and Mag for putting together this little swap. It was lots of fun and I do hope that we can do this again.

Fabulous bags and amazing books

2008-04-04T09:15:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pics of my kiddos opening their packages. The fun they had. I think most of the goodies wound up in their beds last night, and haven't left their sides this morning. Thank you to the Millers.

THANK YOU, SWAP PARTNERS!!

2008-04-04T08:34:00.001-07:00

We got packages from both our swap partners yesterday. We had two partners since there were an odd number of participants. Both packages were extremely creative, but very different from each other.

This one was from Mama Bird at Surely You Nest and her two children.

Their package was full of really unique projects for the kids and I to do together. They sent us the ingredients to make bath bombs, which is very cool because that is the type of project I would think sounds really fun, but would never go and track down all the ingredients. They also sent us the materials to make edible googly eyes, little pots with sunflower seeds and soil, and some craft supplies. My son is dying to make the googly eyes, but I want to wait until after we go to the grocery store so that we can get the stuff to make sandwich faces to the put the googly eyes on. I think the sunflower seeds are going to be great too since he has been really interested in a new book that we got about sunflowers (I mentioned it in a post on my blog). I think I am most excited to make the bath bombs and then see my kids' reaction when we put them in the tub.

This one was from the mama over at The Belly Chronicles and her two children:

They sent us an ocean themed package, which included a beautiful book about shells, drift wood, a conch shell, a heart-shaped rock and two amazing handmade felt journals with my kids' names on them (I will have to find out how they made these). This package really touched me because I had mentioned in the questionaire how we love the ocean but don't live anywhere near it. It probably would have been more accurate to say that I love the ocean and want my children to develop an appreciation for it too, so it was really neat to have these artifacts come into our home that they can touch and feel. My son immediately sat down to write in his journal and then wanted to use the driftwood to pretend he was camping. It was also very sweet of them to include a knitted ear-muff for me.
After receiving the packages my son said that he wants to go on an airplane and meet his swap partners. This has been a wonderful experience for us. My son has gotten the idea of an exchange and developed a curiosity for maps, and I feel like I have made some new blogger friends. Thank you again to my swap partners and everyone who participated.

From Coast to Coast

2008-04-03T16:01:00.000-07:00

The beach came to us via a thoughtful, fun package from the Sheldons in California. Oh, if only you could have heard all the squealing and enthusiastic admiring of the numerous, amazing shells, beach glass, and a whole sand dollar!

We managed to coax one happy face to look up for just a moment as both children were completely captivated by the "hatching" of sea creatures. Many thanks to the kind Sheldon family for sending their sunshine (it was finally a mild day in New England!), natural treasures, and other sea-themed treats!

A glimpse of some of the things that we sent across the country: appliqued bags for each child and keychains made from polymer clay.

From a late winter's walk: a variety of pine cones and needles which we used to impress discs of polymer clay.

We read that the youngest Sheldon likes to play dress-up and hope that these masks will lend themselves to some exciting adventures. Meg and Mag, thank you very much for organizing this swap! We have enjoyed meeting a wonderful family and send our warmest wishes to all of the families in this swap. Happy Spring!