The New Rainbow Brite

Hallmark sent our family a cd-rom introducing us to the new Rainbow Brite. The girls and I have had a blast playing with it. It is always so much fun when I get to introduce the girls to a character from my youth.

Here is the old Rainbow Brite from my childhood.....




















And here is the new souped up rainbow brite.....
















I am really quite picky about what my girls watch on TV. We do not watch the "tween" shoes that are so popular on the Nickelodeon channel. We don't own the "Bratz" line of dolls. Because of that I wondered how I would feel about the new Rainbow Brite. Would she be too bratty, or sexed up?

I was pleasantly surprised. My girls have outgrown the characters like Dora, and they like that Rainbow Brite seems older than a character like Dora. There is a glut of good shows and good messages for the toddler - preschool set. But there is a shortage of good shows for the girls who are age 7-12. It seems like most companies want to put them in the "tween" category, something I strongly object to. I don't want my girls dealing with teen themes, I want to preserve their childhood for as long as I can.

Rainbow Brite and her friends Moonglow and Tickled Pink are on a mission to spread love and happiness throughout the world. This is a message I can get behind.

Chloe loved the theme song, she has been singing it for weeks now...







For more info about the new Rainbow Brite visit www.rainbowbrite.com

**disclaimer**: I was provided with a free CD-Rom from Hallmark for the purposes of reviewing this product. However, my opinions are my own and I received no compensation for them.

So I go to tuck them in.....

....and this is what I find... such jokers I have over here.

To sleep, perchance to dream...

Some people, including the one I married, can miss sleep and just feel a little groggy the next day. I don't do well without sleep. I become a zombie, literally, except I smell better. My eyes are always half closed, and I mumble incoherently. My brain just backfires and sputters.

This past week was not awesome for us. Poor Chloe's asthma started acting up and from Wednesday through Friday I didn't sleep at all. We were up each night trying to get her asthma under control. It has finally resolved itself, and Brian came home so I was able to catch up on some sleep. I feel like a new woman, a very grateful new woman.

We are at an interesting place on our family life right now. Brian's schedule has become much more hardcore for travel. He is flying internationally now, and this limits even our chance to speak with each other when he is gone. Through our new dietary changes I discovered that I am really allergic to wheat and dairy. The changes have to stay, and the process of completely overhauling our menu is turning me inside out in many ways. We had a handle on our schedule and everything was rolling along smoothly. But the changing needs of our family are dictating a tweaking of the schedule both for our home, and our homeschool. This week I am going to focus here at home, and the blog on developing a schedule and some ideas to make our life run more smoothly.

Valentine Boxes

Ah the holidays, always something for a Mom to do. My kids needed a "mailbox" to have their valentine's dropped into and I happened to be out of shoe boxes that we could cover with wrapping paper. This was a very happy problem, I love how these turned out. After valentine's day we are going to give these boxes a brand new life as our "family love note center".

Okay so first you have to run to your local craft store and purchase an unfinished kleenex holder. In my Hobby Lobby they were all in an aisle with the unfinished wood. I paid about $3.99 each for mine.


Then you just paint them all a solid color. I let the kids do this part. I was very specific for them not to paint the bottom, but I forgot to tell Chloe not to paint the inside. But I figure a little paint won't hurt anything.

Once they are dry, just use a pencil to outline what you want to paint and embellish to your heart's content!

Homeschool day at the Zoo 2010

Guess who lost her first tooth at the zoo? It was Chloe! I told her she wasn't allowed to lose a tooth at the zoo, but did she listen :)?


We met up with our friends there, and we got to watch so many of the animals being fed. The girls took a bajillion photos of the meerkats eating.


John did his yoda impression with a tiny stick. "Patience young one, Yoda I am..."


I was so excited, in the bear enclosure this cardinal showed up. The girls correctly identified the bird. See, we didn't do eight weeks of a bird unit study for nuthin!!




You might be wondering what is in that cooler. I packed a knife and a cutting board, and lots of fruit. In hindsight, the post 9/11 world isn't very friendly for knife carrying. Thankfully, I have come up with some better ideas since then. We have bought some travel friendly foods. This is the day that I realized that the diet isn't just good for me in theory, but I realized that I am actually allergic to dairy and wheat.