Fitting in the Love

This year the Madame Alexander Doll Fan Club held their annual Convention in Louisville. This is a weekend long event where the announcement for the Fall line is made (there is a smaller thing done in the spring as well). It was amazing to see the age range that attends these conventions. There were 3 and 4 year olds who were surprisingly brought by grandma, even more surprising were the teenagers there who were super excited about this event and a chance to add to their collection. I brought with me my soon to be 8 year old kid. She thought it was neat to see what options were out there for Madame Alexander Dolls , and since getting a sneak at the launch announcement has decided she wants to be on their design team, and to own most of the dolls. This year celebrates the 90th year for Madame Alexander Dolls, which were started on the kitchen table of Madame Beatrice Alexander Behrman in 1923. She was one of the first women to start their own business, which for the time is absolute

So I like to think I'm on the green end of the spectrum. Some might say I'm a little crunchy momma. I have been cloth diapering since I had my second kid. I use more towels cleaning up spills than I care to admit instead of reaching for a paper towel. However I have gone through way too many disposable sandwich bags. I have looked into going green in the lunch pail for some time. Well since my oldest started school 3 years ago. The first couple of years I just knew she would throw them in the trash. She however has entered the second grade. She told me if I got her some reusable bags she promised to not throw them away and bring them home everyday.  I have searched trying to find the right ones for us. I was asked to try out some bags by The Mommy Nest . It was perfect timing. I was given a sandwich bag and a snack bag by 3 Green Moms . It was a super cute girly set. Just what my kiddo needed to be reminded to bring it home with her. It even has a space to write her name on

So if there is anything this family loves it would be the zoo. We have a Zoo pass and we go about 2 to 3 times a month just to see the animals. But Mommy has a thing for the holiday's. She really loves that it starts with Halloween. On a good year she will make all the costumes. Yes mommy loves the holiday's. So the fact that the Louisville Zoo has The World's Largest Halloween Party , it means we must go right? Now last year was our first year in town for this event. We went on a Sunday and didn't leave the house until 5. We had to wait in traffic for what seemed like ages. My husband didn't want to park and use the free shuttle due to riding it with 4 young kids. We had to wait in line for what seemed like forever once we actually parked. It was pure misery. This year mommy planned ahead. I knew that the it opened for trick or treating at 5. I knew I wanted to park in the lot again this year so that part opened at 4pm. So we left pretty much as soon as school wa

So one day Pumpkin gets in my car after school and says, "I found something in a book at school today I want to do at home." We encourage learning at home so I asked her to tell me what she wanted to do. She tells me she wants to write a secret message on paper and make it show up. This sounds awesome. I however am not the scientist of the family. I am the last person you want messing with this stuff. How in the world I got through biology I have no idea (no really I do my partner and I made crude jokes while dissecting our animals because really science is not my thing.) Pumpkin begins to explain what she read in the book to me. "We need to get a lemon and squeeze it. Then we take the juice and a stick with the balls on the end and write on the paper. Then we take salt and rub it on the paper. Then we dump the salt in the garbage. And  then we get a black crayon and we rub it on the paper and the words show up. That is what it said in the book. Can we do this mom, c