Swim season is just around the corner so I thought it would be a good idea to start labeling my kid’s swim gear. Every year at least one of their goggles, toys, or swimming equipment goes mysteriously missing at our swim school and community pool. At least if the items are labeled the changes of them disappearing from over 2000 students and swim members would be far less. From now until June 3o, 2010 I.D. Me Labels is offering 10% off on all of their waterproof labels. Just enter coupon code summer10 at checkout! Visit www.idmelabels.com.

By: Anne Pham

After 3 months of living without a kitchen, endless amount of dust, sweeping, mopping, elbow grease, and dozens of tradesmen putting their skills to work, our long awaited kitchen renovation is finally complete. The experience of functioning without a kitchen when you have two toddlers was challenging but we all survived. Here are the before and after shots.

By: Anne Pham

When I was a young girl I can remember always wanting to see Disney On Ice. The television ads especially fueled my desire to see Cinderella, Snow White, Mickey Mouse, Ariel, and Belle, to name a few. Unfortunately, because we were poor, my sisters and I never had the opportunity to go.

Today, I was proud to realize a childhood dream by taking my two toddlers to Disney on Ice, and they absolutely loved it. In fact, I never saw them so focused and non-fidgety at an event.  It was truly priceless to experience our childrens’ animated expressions of joy in seeing their favorite characters in person. Here are some pictures of our day 30 years in the making.

By: Anne Pham

The first snow of 2009 hit on December 19 in Central Jersey. I spent at least 30 minutes getting my kids dressed for the 45 minutes they played outside. We had a blast! The snow was truly a magnificent sight.

Sophie, saying hi to a camera shy Splash (one of our two horses on the farm).

I was elated to receive these AMAZING custom T-shirts from our dear friend T, who happens to be one of the best airbrush artists in the world. As you can see in the picture, the shirts were a huge hit among the girls. Sophie clung to her “Power Rangers” shirt all night, and a euphoric Olivia would not let anyone near her “Elmo” shirt. A heartfelt thanks to T for such an amazing present!  If you seek a unique gift for your child, a custom airbrushed shirt will score huge on the happy meter this Christmas.

By: Anne Pham

If you are one of the millions of moms who’s child own a pair of Crocs you can now label their shoes with ID Me Labels (we own 4 pairs in this household.)My kids love their Crocs! I  can certainly appreciate these shoes because they’re colorful, practical, and simple for our kids to put on. No Lacing! I used my ID Me Binky Button labels and placed it on the side buttons of my daughter’s winter Crocs and the labels fit perfectly. Not to mention they work great in identifying her shoes from her classmates and sister. The label seen here has my daughter’s name on it with pink background in space patrol font. CUTE!

By: Anne

Happy Thanksgiving and and a big thanks to my sister Kay for hosting dinner this year. Here is a picture of our kids enjoying their dinner.

After weeks of my husband desperately trying to drop hints on taking a family trip to Disneyland, I finally embraced the idea. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to go, I just knew all the stress and work that can come along when taking two young crying toddlers on a plane, packing all the kids clothes, and everything else in-between. I remember last year about this time, we took the kids down to florida to visit their cousins and the 2 and a half hour trip from New Jersey felt like 10 hours because my older daughter was fussy and crying the entire time, not to mention annoyed passengers staring at us as if we were hopeless parents didn’t help either.

This time around I made sure I was going to be better prepared by loading up on my kids favorite dvds, coloring books, and tons of snacks. Let me tell you that M and M’s can go a long way with a two year old for about 10 minutes. Then you better start coming up with new ideas before they start screaming and getting everyone else around them upset! So I bought enough junk food, aka bribery to last the trip down to florida. I’m sure the passengers next to us at least appreciated my thinking.

The following morning we started out at Disneyland stopping at the kids show in front of Magic Kingdom. I definitely can see how Disney has been so successful when you look around and see all the excited little faces smiling at you, including my two little ones. After the show, my oldest daughter Sophie who was reluctant and sad to go asked me “Where did everyone on the stage go mommy?” I had to tell her that they  had to go night-night so she wouldn’t get too upset. Probably not the best response but it was the only one I could think of at that time. Hey it worked!

I’m so grateful that we took our family vacation. Even though it was a lot of work planning, my kids still talk about the vacation everyday. It’s really about the memories. That to me is Priceless!!!!

Here are some pictures of our vacation from Florida.

By: Anne Pham

The Girls in front of magic kingdom: Day one of our trip

Shamu was great. The girls could be a snack for him. Day two of our trip.

The girls had a blast swimming with cousins Alex and Brooke at the hotel: Day 3

One of our favorite stops was Aquatica. A must!! Day 4

As parents we always want to teach our kids that helping out others is very important, especially if those people aren’t as fortunate. This past summer at my sister’s annual yard sale, the Chen family decided to set up a lemonade stand to sell lemonade, popcicles, and cookies in which all proceeds were to be donated to their local senior center. Dr. Chen, my brother-in-law volunteers at the local senior center once a month and thought it would a great idea if his kids learned the value of volunteering so he decided what better way then to let his kids help pour lemonade, hand out cookies and popcicle to those attending the yard sale. At the end of the day the kids had made $80 and were excited to see their hard work pay off. GREAT JOB guys!

Here is a clip of the story that ran in their local newspaper. Way to go Andrew and Kaityln!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: Anne Pham

Kids BackSeat Car Organzier

Every mom knows that traveling with kids can be fun, crazy, and definitely messy at times. Thats why I decided to make life a little easier by organizing my mini-van with a car organizer.

Four years ago B.C. (before children) I never had to worry about chocolate milk-stained carpet, finding socks beneath baby seats, siblings screaming at one another, or the discovery of ‘ancient’ French fries on the floor. At the time I was climbing the career ladder as a senior sales rep for a major pharmaceutical company. Ahhhhh, those were the days when I could drive peacefully in my car and listen to uninterrupted radio or have a conversation with another adult sans screaming babies in the backdrop. And, my car was very clean and organized. Fast forward to 2009; I’m now a stay-at-home mom running my own business with two toddlers under four. Needless to say, traveling with them can be a challenge, and my beloved radio has been eclipsed by blaring Arthur, Elmo, and Thomas DVDs, and uninterrupted adult conversation is now a vague memory.

My plan of attack was finding an organizer that would store my childrens’ gear: wipes, diapers, DVDs, tissues, toys, snacks, drinks, and more. I found an organizer called, what else, a “kid’s back-seat organizer.” I made a bee-line home after purchasing it, purged my car, and placed all the kids’ odds-and-ends it. It worked out beautifully and I highly recommend buying an organizer for your car, especially if you have kids. Not only does it make life much easier because everything is in one place, but it also helps teach and encourage my children to find things for themselves.

Do you have any tips to help other moms organize their car?  I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to comment.

By: Anne Pham