Wearever Warranty Claim #2

I like to save things here for documentation purposes :) They never get lost. And also the experience I have can serve as a review for their customer service and warranty.

WearEver® Warranty Assistance
2199 Eden Rd
Millville, NJ 08332

I am enclosing a set of non-stick cookware for return under warranty. The Teflon has begun to badly flake with normal use. We do not use metal utensils.

This is our second set of non-stick Wearever Cookware. The first set did a similar thing, but after a much longer span of time, and it held a lifetime warranty and was returned. It was replaced with the set enclosed.

When requesting a replacement, I am wondering if you would consider a replacement with a Stainless Steel cookware set, so that I do not have to continue dealing with the telfon flaking. This would make me a very happy customer, because sending the cookware back every few years isn’t the most convenient and I anticipate this will continue to happen with the non-stick cookware.

I also own a set of Pampered Chef Professional non-stick cookware, which is 7 years old, and have never had flaking under the same conditions of use. Please advise. Thank you for your time.

Meagan Johnson

Reference #: 090721-000149

Kidspeak- Mexico

Watching Ardyn play in the tub and act out a scenario where her mermaids and their dolphins and seahorses needed to escape. They were running from some imminent danger and she squealed in her best mermaid voice "Swim! Swim to Mexico!"

It's like she's been watching CSI Miami or something....?



Meagan ~ via iPhone :)

Kidspeak- A Conversation with Ardyn

walked to the bank this afternoon, and Ardyn insisted on walking while Marek rode in the stroller, so we took the umbrella stroller.It was nice, probably 82 degrees. Warm in the sun, but perfect in the shade. We walked to the bank, did our business and walked right home. We were probably three blocks from home when Ardyn says "Whew, I am so tired, I just can't even go one more step. I need a drink really badly." and I say "We are almost home, you can have a drink and then we can play outside for a bit before naptime."

Ardyn says "can we just find a house where someone we know lives and get a drink of water." Me, "um, no Ardyn. Most people we know are at work today, and we are only 3 blocks from home." Ardyn "I can't even SEE our house."

Pauses. "Mommy, who lives there?" I tell her and she says what are their full names, and I tell her and she says "see, we know them, let's stop for a break and some nice water to drink." Oy.

We are less than a block from home now. I explain that we are not stopping anywhere. We are two houses away, then about 20 feet from our driveway and she says "Mom, I can't do it, it's like a whole three miles."

Apparently she got my athletic ability and desire to exercise. You may laugh, but I am the kid who used to cry in Kindergarten when we did those "field-day" track meets because they told us we had to do one running event and one field event. I HATED running. I always have. Always. Everything in my body and mind is against running. In the end, I always did two field events. Not sure how it happened, but I was stubborn. I usually ended up throwing the frisbee, or doing the long jump or the softball throw. And when I was in Jr high I did track stats and even did track stats for the entire Indian Valley Conference meets.... anything to NOT have to run. :)

Kidspeak- Quiet!

Marek "Mommy, turn that movie off. I need some police and quiet!"

New Year's Resolutions?

I am working REALLY hard right now to stay on track. REALLY. HARD. The house was clean on Friday, and I am working so hard to keep it clean and picked up. Every time I turn around it's trashed, and so I am staying on top of things to the best of my ability. Loading the dishwasher after every meal and every snack, running it once a day, laundry in the hampers, diapers in the "chomper" and toys put away. Used play-doh for leverage today and got the kids to pick up all toys they have touched since Friday and put them away before playing play-doh and then after play-doh they went down for naps. The problem is that we are OFTEN on the go, and that leaves little time for enforcing these things, and I am bad about that. Plus Marek was not quite old enough to follow directions 100% and while he is a good "cleaner upper" it was hard to keep him from tearing things up over and over. I am seeing a light at the end of that tunnel now, and he understands consequences a bit better now, and also understands when I want him to do something BEFORE he gets to get a treat, and so that is helping. It's kinda like when he turned the corner to show some interest in potty training, and understand the positive side of things and the upsides to doing good, he also started seeing rewards for other behavior.

Although I don't think my dear husband quite understands the concept yet, as I have been picking up his dishes and garbage still for the past two days, but he will get there. It's almost like whole-family boot camp going on here, and while I have to be drill sergeant, I also have to have serious discipline to pick things up constantly, both for themselves and myself. It's been two days and I feel successful, but all it takes is one bit of "life" to throw me for a loop. Sickness. The number one thing I dread, has been on my mind heavily lately. After last winter and Evan with H1N1 and kids bringing home things from school, I just do NOT look forward to the season ahead. I am already on the list for flu shots and am so thankful that Evan will be getting one to this year. But I can already feel the anxiety building towards flu season.

I have to find the balance (if there IS one) between neurotic housekeeping that I used to partake in and sloth-filled disaster that came over us after Marek was up and moving. All without losing my mind or strangling anyone who lives here.

It IS possible, right? I am done with MOPS now and although I have joined PJWC I am taking on little with any groups right now. I love the way that PJWC is all about giving back to the community and also how they have such a definite goal in mind that their time is largely spend planning and executing... and there is a lot I can do to help there, but I am going to be very selective in what I sign on to do, which they have been really supportive and encouraging of. I have enough on my proverbial plate and lots of friends who also like help from time to time, but right now this family is first. I anticipate telling a lot of people "no" in upcoming months, and that's okay. I plan on working more on keeping the family unit going strong and less on involvement with groups. I think I have group burnout. Volunteer burnout has happened to me several times over the years already, and I tend to do all that I can, then feel disappointed or exhausted, then back off for a while. I think I am into my "back off" phase for a while now. Especially with both kids going strong. we have plenty going on and I just don't feel the need to add a whole lot more. I also want to focus on fun things like scrapbooking and going to the zoo, whether they be fun times with the family or getting some me-time. I just don't want all my me time going to volunteering anymore. I need me to be in full mental capacity if I am going to keep this place on track.

Today I hid a little toy in Ardyn's bed before naptime. She is really getting to the point of not wanting a nap, but there are days she really needs to rest. I always make her have a 45 minute or longer rest period in the dark in her room, but she almost always ends up waking Marek up halfway through his nap, because their rooms are adjacent. It's really hard when they are attached to each other like that. But anyway, I hid the toy (which is in the toy library so not seen much) in her bed and then I whispered in her ear "It's naptime, and after you go potty, go get into your bed and look for the surprise." She was excited and even more so when she found the doll with her little snap on clothes, and she played in her bed quietly while I got Marek down. I told her when she started to feel tired, to put the pieces back in their tote and put the lid on and lay down, but above all, to stay QUIET. So far so good. I think giving her something like that to play quietly with at naptime might help her relax and ease into napping if she is able, and at least let Marek nap peacefully. He badly needs a nap. If he goes without one, he is begging to sleep by 6:30, which is not like him at all.

I am also working towards an 8pm bedtime, which will be easy once the time changes, but right now it's hard. Not because they won't GO to bed, but because there are nights when our lives are still in full swing at 8pm. Or times when we aren't HOME by 8pm. So that will be some adjustment for all of us. But the kids always sleep 10 hours, and 12 is even better for them, especially if Ardyn won't nap. And I want them to say healthy and not be too ornery during the day... and more sleep seems to help... so with back to school, and early rising... They will be working on 8pm bedtime. I have been trying to get myself into bed early. My goal has been to be sleeping by 10:30/11, which sometimes works and sometimes completely backfires, but a little homeopathic sleeping medicine seems to help. And I have also been working on reading each night instead of watching TV or doing work or chores. Like after the kids go to bed, no late night marathons. I don't know how I will get anything done, but hopefully being home more and more vigilant during the day will help.

Another Goal is better eating, just really more "meals" and less "What the hell is there to eat around here." The kids got bento boxes and I am hoping to really get lunches packed when I know we will be away from home for the day, to cut costs and make for a more healthy meal. My stomach just can't handle all the crap that you have to eat when you are grabbing something on your way somewhere, and with kids you just can't tell them to wait or your whole world will implode shortly thereafter. When they are hungry, they are hungry!

So, my bath is ready and the kids are napping or resting, so I am being called! But enjoy the rest of your weekend and after we pick up fair entries this evening I will try to write a full post about the fair experience. :)

bcrnews.com | Photos of my Photos Make the News!

bcrnews.com | Why we love the fair ... in Princeton, IL and Bureau County, IL

Two of my photos entered at the fair were photographed by the Bureau County Republican Newspaper and featured in an article about the fair. Mine are the blue ribbon on the upper left, and the red ribbon second from left, second down on the right. (With Marek in the tractor tire)

:) Made me smile.

Kidspeak-blonde

Marek to Mommy while on the potty chair this morning... "mommy? My pee is blonde mommy."

Meagan ~ via blogpress on my iPhone :)

Goodness

Things have been going well around here. I am pretty sure the house is a wreck, but at least I am accomplishing things (just not cleaning things :)

I have three loads of laundry on the couch that need put away, and another two loads in progress in the laundry room and I am not seeming to get too excited about any of it. But on the bright side I did get 13 quarts of tomatoes canned and 20 pounds of blueberries frozen in the last 24 hours. And I assembled the most atrocious wagon on the planet (assembly wise) and went for a walk, and took a nice two hour nap, and revamped the bunny hutch.

The hutch has this nice run that attaches to the front. There is a design flaw in some way, that I discovered in about 48 hours, when bunny decided to hatch an escape plan. The started to dig under the run. It was then that I realized that although the thing had a wire roof, it kinda needs a wire floor. Nice for the grass to grow through, but prevents burrowing out. I filled the hole and in 24 hours he had dug it back and twice the size and was so near escaping that I decided I needed to do something. I locked him inside the hutch for the rest of the day and tonight at 11pm the kids and I took the run off the front and looked at it closer. It seems that it wasn't assembled correctly, and I don't know if this was to suit their tastes or by accident, so we started to put it together slightly differently. I used the roof as the bottom and left the top open, and had some adjustments to do to the hasps/hook and eyes that attach it to the hutch front, which I did, and I also had to flip the back bottom around and reattach it. It could use one brace across the top center now but I am thinking this might work better. I will need to be sure that bunny is locked up at night to keep him safe from predators getting into the topless run, but otherwise I think it's better than burrowing out the bottom of the run.

This is the exact hutch that we have, and our run is the smaller of the two that isn't quite as wide as the house (the one shown in the picture is the exact width of the hutch.) I was fortunate to see it in a friend's yard and inquire if it would be for sale. I obtained it for $50, so it was highly affordable :) I decided to send the manufacturer an email and see if they can get me directions, because I might see about ordering a replacement top and attaching it to the "top" that is now open. Depends on the cost.

Right now Boyd is pretty good at standing watch. If the chickens get into their coop at dusk and I don't get the door shut till midnight, they are safe with Boyd around. Tonight while we were out in the yard in the dark the neighbor cat kept trying to sneak inside the fence. I shooed it off once and then Boyd took off after it the next time it got inside the fence. His doghouse is right next to the chicken coop and near the bunny hutch, and when it's nice outside he likes to sleep UNDER the chicken coop in the dirt or on the cement patio stones. If anything ever happens to him (whic is likely, after all he IS 14) I don't know what I will do. It will take a while to teach a new dog to not EAT the animals we dwell with :)

In other news, I am hoping to do some bento lunches this year. I got a new book with all kinds of photos and recipes, and I think it would be fun. Let's see if I actually get it done. Last year I did make lots of shaped eggs because I got the hard boiled egg molds, but never got as far as rice balls or shaped foods. Maybe this is my year :)

Well, kids went to bed at midnight, and although I have only had 29 minutes of quiet time today, I think I need to go to sleep soon. I am tired tonight and I hope this means that I won't toss and turn and think for two hours in bed before I can sleep.

AWOL

I am so not looking forward to this week. I have so much to do and I don't know when I'm going to do it. Tomorrow the first thing that I need to do is to get together my fair entry form for the county fair and fill it out and drop off my payment at the fair office. Then I need to get a prescription refill and both kids need haircuts. I also still have tomatoes to can and blueberries to wash and
freeze and before I can do any of that I have to clean the kitchen and I do mean clean the kitchen. Getting these things done alone would not be easy but would be doable... but getting these things done while watching a three -year-old and a two year old and preparing their meals changing their diapers and keeping them from killing each other that's just, well that's nearly impossible.

Add to that the list of things that other people want me to do and I just don't know where to even begin. I am thinking that this week is going to be nice outside which also makes it difficult because I don't want to spend time in the house... I'd rather be outside with the kids enjoying the weather. And even if I didn't want to be outside it's not fair for me to keep the kids inside when it's so nice out because without me they can't be outside.

I also have my dad's birthday this week and a class reunion banquet planning meeting and also our trip to the zoo.

I have a lot of things that I want to do for other people or for other organizations but it becomes difficult when I find myself putting myself and my own family on the back burner constantly. That's not my goal and that doesn't make me feel like a good person or good wife or a good mother.

It's hard for me to say no to things that other people ask me to do... partially because I really honestly truly do want to help everyone that I possibly can... And partially because I found that if I say no the first time I end up saying yes later and having to fix whatever wasn't done right the first time. I've also found that people often say "if you don't have time to help me. Could you at least show me how to do it?" and I'm the kind of person that really would like someone else to know how to do it but the time that it takes to teach them is like three times longer than what it would take me to just do it myself... so in the end I end up just doing it and never saying no. This is not the answer either but I really haven't figured out yet what the answer is.

Recently I've been trying to come up with a different way to manage my time. Not just my time at home but my time spent doing things for other people because that's really important me. I want to find a way to make it work but I realize that I'm often taking on more than anyone else has ever been expected to do.

I spend a really heavy portion of my "me" time working on things for other people and for the most part this gives me the satisfaction of knowing that I've helped someone but at the same time it becomes really difficult to have any downtime.

This weekend I got so frustrated with myself and so upset that I wasn't able to better manage my time that I decided to just go AWOL for a while... just not answer my phone. not answer every text that I received. not answer every e-mail. not be that person on demand that has the answers that other people are looking for and not being the person that is giving up my me time to spend fixing another person's issues.

Most of the time I don't ask for, require, or even desire any form of payment for things that I do for other people. I see it as volunteering and I see it as knowing that I'm doing a good thing and then sometime down the line when I need someone to be there for me, they will be.

I think another thing that I'm getting better at is asking someone when their deadline is. Sometimes just stopping someone in their tracks and asking them to evaluate when they actually need something done by has helped me to figure out how much of an emergency It really is. I also have to realize that sometimes someone else's emergency is not my emergency. This seems to be the most difficult for me because I really want to react to someone else's need- but I realize I'm putting aside the needs of myself and my own family in an attempt to satisfy everyone else's desires.

Another thing that really frustrates me is the way that our society and our child rearing has changed. Among mothers my age what I often hear is that grandparents are absent or frequently too busy to spend time with their grandkids. In economic times like these grandparents are still working... many of them full time... and they often spend their free time doing other things and enjoying hobbies. Most parents my age talk about being children spending the entire days or entire weekends or sometimes even entire weeks with their grandparents when they were growing up. I don't think that most of us expect grandparents (our parents) to take our kids for an entire week, but when It can be so difficult to get something done or even to go on a date sometimes you make yourself wonder... what's wrong with my kids that my parents don't want to spend any time with them?

There's a greeting card out there now that makes light of Hillary Clinton's book "it takes a village"- I sent it to a mom friend of mine once... I believe the front says something about if it takes a village to raise a child and then you open the card and it says something about which way to the damn village?

Would you believe that my husband and I are not alone in the fact that we have actual arguments over the fact that our parents don't take the kids unless we asked them to... And even then sometimes it's hard to find anyone who wants to take the kids even for a few hours. It's especially hard for our kids because they don't have any cousins and their aunts and uncles are still busy... single or newly married people... that don't really want to spend their time hanging out with kids. Poor Ardyn is always asking when she's going to get to spend the night at her uncle's house or when if ever she's going to have cousins of her own to play with.

Some moms in our area have really talked about making something happen with the popsicle sticks. If you've never heard of that it's sort of a swap of babysitters so to speak. Each mom in the group starts out with a specific number of popsicle sticks. Each stick is good for a set amount of time babysitting for example maybe a stick is good for two hours. If everyone starts out with three sticks in their possession that gives each person up to six hours of free babysitting. When you need a babysitter you redeem your sticks to another friend who's also a stick holder and then you have to give up your stick to that person to pay for your childcare. The idea is that when you provide a babysitting service you earn more sticks and then you can turn around and redeem with someone else. Ideally you have at least three or four or five people in this stick game which allows you to call on more than the same person every time you need a babysitter. This also helps to ensure that there will be someone available and then no one takes advantage of the system by getting their children away more often than taking care of someone else's.

Most moms that have more than one child will tell you that having two children of your own is not any different than adding in two children of someone else's- because new friends and new faces means more playing between the children and usually less fighting. Always so excited to have a friend over and often times I'm not doing anything that prevents me from having a couple extra around. Especially if it's only for a few hours.

It's very easy to deal with four or five children in the house when you realize that at any given moment you might need to redeem a stick for a doctor appointment for yourself or something simple like massage or something more time Consuming, like changing clothes out for the seasons in your kids closets.

Can you believe that babysitters are like $5 an hour nowadays? It's insanity! I babysat broods for half that and I ran the vacuum and washed
Dishes and prepared meals and took them to swim lessons and folded laundry and gave baths. It's insane! I love my babysitter but I can't afford to pay one most of the time!

What I probably need is a Mother's Helper. Someone who can entertain my kids nearby for around $2 an hour while I accomplish tasks. *sigh*


Meagan ~ via blogpress on my iPhone :)

Chantix- kidspeak

A- "she fell into a Chantix sleep"
M- um, a what sleep?
A- Chantix
M- what's Chantix?? (quit smoking med?!)
A- it's when you fall into a deep magical sleep and you don't wake up until someone kisses you!"
M- ahh yes, of course! I think that's called "Enchanted."


Meagan ~ via blogpress on my iPhone :)

Overexcited- kidspeak

Mom: Did you have fun last night Ardyn?
Ardyn: Yes!
M: Monica told me that you were naughty at the birthday party... Why would you do that?
A: well, because I was overexcited. You know- like I get everyday.




Meagan ~ via blogpress on my iPhone :)

Lifetime supply- kidspeak

Ardyn - "we are going to the racetrack. The winner gets a lifetime supply of.... Trophy!"


Meagan ~ via blogpress on my iPhone :)

Kidspeak

I am watching Ardyn carefully wrap a plastic otter in a discarded Smarties wrapper. "a badger in PLASTIC!" she exclaims excitedly to the driver of Marek's toy 4-wheeler.....


Meagan ~ via blogpress on my iPhone :)

Respect. Diversity.

you know what's so strange? Well I guess not strange, but well.... amazing. The way that we are all a billion people going about our business every single day, but so many people, whether we cross paths with them or not, are doing completely different things? I don't mean like on a simple level, like you are a doctor, you are a policeman, you are a shop owner. This isn't Busytown I am envisioning. But seriously, the big picture.

Like you live in Some exotic locale and surf all day, and you live in some exotic locale and worry about where your next drink of water will come from, and you live right here in America and worry about national security, and you live right here in America and worry about road repairs, and you live right here in America and worry about being shot on your way to visit your grandkids, and I live in America and worry about having enough clean underwear. It's so bizarre, all of us being humans and all worrying about such different things. I think about animals. Are there cows living all over the world with all these different aspirations and worries? Hmmm. That might be a stretch.

It takes everything I have to make it through a day with two toddlers, worrying about raising them to respect people and raising them to be polite, and just plain RAISING THEM. And people often are perturbed that I don't know enough about the national debt, or the impact of clean water (or lack thereof) for people in far away countries, or the number of politicians in the senate and the house. And here I am struggling to get the laundry done, the tomatoes canned, the toys off the floor, and the kids taken care of. Nothing makes you feel more like an insignificant nothing... than thinking about all the people in this world, going about their own daily lives. It's overwhelming. It takes my breath away. And it makes me feel like a crazy person because I go to sleep wondering if that bag of freshly picked green beans will fill 7 pint sized jars or some odd number that's going to frustrate me when I can them tomorrow.

And sometimes, when I think of the sheer magnitude of the things that people accomplish out in this world, I think "What Am I DOING?!" What do I do with my days. Where do they go?

Raising my kids is the single most important thing on my agenda. Every. Single. Day. But there are scientists working on a cure for cancer. There are soldiers missing their own families to protect mine. There are actors providing entertainment, and artists decorating the world. There are chefs creating fabulous meals that wow everyone who tastes them and make our chicken noodle soup from a can and grilled cheese sandwiches look like a joke. There are people who aspire to go to the moon. And then there are people like me, who give baths and read stories and fold tiny pairs of underwear and match millions of miniature socks, and get drinks and snacks, and take walks and answer the 437 "why" questions that a four year old shouts out to us on a daily basis. Tonight I wonder how something SO incredibly important to me can seem so ridiculous in the scheme of things?

I then try to asses the situation and determine what exactly possessed me to grow up deciding that I wanted to be a mom. What made me so sure that the ONLY thing that mattered to me was having kids and raising them? The only answer that I can give, is that I don't want to be the one to cure cancer. I hope that there is that person out there that DOES, but honestly, it's just not my bag of tricks. I don't want to go to the moon. At all. Ever. I think we should leave the moon (and Mars and all it's salt water for that matter) alone. I don't think we have any business checking into another planet when we are about to destroy our own. But what do I know, I am just a housewife :)

But I realize that these people are doing these fantastic things, and doing fantastic job at them, because this is what they are DRIVEN to do. And I, fortunately or unfortunately, am driven to be a mom. I am driven to recycle like a maniac and pile cardboard to the sky as my husband looks on and shakes his head. I am driven to raise chickens and can food, and buy kid clothes at garage sale prices. I am driven to get my hands in the dirt and grow vegetables and water flowers, and pull weeds from around the inside of my little picket fence. I am driven to read bedtime stories and scrub dirty toes and brush rats out of a screaming 3 year old's curly hair. I am driven to try to make mom friends who aren't catty and judgmental of each other. I am driven to encourage others to believe what they want and stand up for themselves. I am driven to encourage others to agree to disagree and embrace the differences about our lives and love each other anyway.

I love my best friend who has been in the military her whole life. I love that what drives her, protects me. I love my best friend that protects wildflowers and trees and teaches me everything I could possibly need to know about being a responsible steward of the land and taking into account the impact my life has on our mother Earth. I love my friends who are interested in politics and can talk to me at my level and help me to see why decisions made are right or wrong. I love my friend who wants to go on mission trips to help people less fortunate, and my friend who wants to do AIDS research, and my friend who introduced me to the delicious cuisine of Morocco. I love my friend who is a fanatic Christian and my friend who is a fanatic agnostic. I love my friend whose excitement is her next Tattoo, and my friend who can cut hair like no one else I have ever seen. I love my friend who has an eye for photography unlike anyone I personally know. I love being fortunate to be friends with so many diverse, interesting, and DRIVEN People. Even if they are not always driven in the same direction as I am. ESPECIALLY if they are not driven in the same direction as I am. I don't aspire to hang out with a zillion people just like me. That is not my idea of a good time. I love diversity. I ADORE people who teach you something every time you talk to them.

I love the internet, and blogs, and Flickr, and YES, I LOVE FACEBOOK. Because I am able to be connected to all of these people in some tiny way. Because I need to be constantly reminded that while I am out here thinking about what's for supper (yet again) they are thinking about someone who won't get any supper, or they are worried about How many trees were killed to make the paper plate that I am going to eat off because I can't find the motivation to load the damn dishwasher.

I want to be reminded that someone out there is incredibly angry at the house of representatives for passing a bill that will directly affect their small business. I want to know that The price of gas went up five cents and the stock market had a bad day. Even if I am not going to run right out and picket the gas station, or change my stock options, or pack my bags for a mission trip, I really, really, really, need these friends to remind me that there is so much more going on in the world. And I really need these friends who respect what I am doing, what I believe in, and what I am DRIVEN to do. These friends, these people who are not judging me, who are not hating me, and who are understanding of what I do and what I believe in, and what I stand for.... they do not expect me to be a cookie cutout of them. They don't want me to be like them, they don't want me to do as they do, say as they say, and believe everything exactly as they believe. They respect and encourage open debates and conversations. We are keeping each other on our toes. We are exercising our minds and reveling in our differences. THIS is why I love the internet. It provides us a way to be connected to so many different people, in different places, in different walks of life. They teach me something new every day. They drive me to "google it" and learn about something that I never even considered before. Their passions make me ask questions. Their DRIVE makes me rethink things that I thought I was sure of. Friends have a way of giving you their viewpoint and making you think.

After a long day of saying "don't do that" and "don't touch that" and "sit down on your butt" and "keep your hands to yourself" and "please put that back where you found it" and "buckle your seatbelt" and "turn off the light" and "Use the soap" and "Is that your inside voice?" - The last thing I want is to tell other people what to think, what to do, what to believe. I have my own kids to practice that with.

So, for all you friends who agree to disagree, and all you friends who are driven to do different things with your lives, and who are passionate about causes that I know little to nothing about... just keep it coming. Keep me posted, keep my updated, keep me in the loop. Keep my mind fresh and keep my heart humble. And thanks for tolerating all the little things that make the hours fly by in this little house :) You are great friends, and yes, even great acquaintances. Keep encouraging me to see the other side of things. Keep lifting me up when I have a rough day. Keep reminding me that my rough day is someone else's walk in the park. Even if I don't see you often, or ever, you are important to me. Reading what you have to say... is important to me. Keep being driven in a different directions, because that is what enables me to keep driving in my direction.

Wipe-off crayons

I think I would recommend melissa and doug brand wipe-off crayons over Crayola. Crayola has more colors but the nature of the crayon makes it softer. Ardyn (who is careful) broke a crayon in half the first time we used them. She was upset. The Melissa and doug ones we have come in a hard plastic sleeve to prevent this.

Crayola does however include a handy mitt for erasing. We tuck the crayons inside for storage.

Melissa and Doug also have cool mats that you can color and write on.


Meagan ~ via blogpress on my iPhone

Crayola crayons and mitt:


Melissa and Doug crayons/mats:



You can purchase Melissa and Doug products locally at two locations. Amma's Studio on North Main in Princeton and The Perry Memorial Hospital gift shop . (which is where my mats an crayons happened to come from... So the Easter Bunny told me)