Happy Holidays (see you back here on 12/30)!

In the meantime...

Feel free to catch up on some oldies, but goodies!

10 Tips to Grow a Non-Picky Eater

Hello readers of Cropped Stories! I'm Alicia and I blog over at A Sweet Fragrance. My family and I are American-born but live as expats over in SE Asia. I blog about our life overseas, recipes I attempt to make while substituting lots of ingredients, projects I do around the house, "tot school" lessons I teach to my toddler, and lessons I learn through parenting and walking with the Lord. I hope you'll stop by my blog for a visit!

Is there anything quite more frustrating than a child who doesn't want to eat anything you put in front of him? Not even a nibble! I know of this frustration very well. Not only am I (unintentionally) raising a picky eater, I grew up being a very selective eater myself. Unfortunately, I can't blame my child's eating habits on genetics. Whether I want to admit to it or not, I'm the one who has created these picky tendencies of his.

Tips for parenting two children under two!

In the last few weeks of my second pregnancy, I remember thinking one constant thought. When this kid comes out, I'm going to have two kids under the age of two running around on this earth. And the idea of that immediately wall-slammed me to this thought: I wonder if there's a way to keep this second one in my belly a bit longer, at least until he's on solids.   Unfortunately, our ObGyn said this was not "advisable."   So, when he came out a week shy of forty, husband and I hit the ground running with our pre-planned ideas of how to parent two children under two while trying not to go Cuckoo Clock bonkers in the process.

Your kids will burn up with these HOT Back to School supplies

I feel like a ridiculously premature Fall clothing line in a one of your local retailers (you know the ones that had their Fall clothing line available at the beginning of the Summer)?  Now I walk into stores and there’s limited Summer apparel but boat loads of clothing I can’t even wear yet unless I’d like to sweat my hiney off in a pair of corduroy pants and a thin knit sweater!  It’s sort of a pet peeve of mine.  And now here I am publishing this post on back to school supplies and we are barely into August.  I’ve just become my worst nightmare!

HOT BACK TO SCHOOL SUPPLIES

Nah, I’m just kidding.  I’m well aware of the benefits of being proactive (since I am myself) and feeling the satisfaction of crossing off an item on your to do list.  For those out there with school age kids that haven’t shopped for back to school supplies yet, I hope you’ll find this post helpful!  You’ll find my list of items are affordable, fun, trendy and, like my post title describes them, HOT! 

LeapFrog Learning Activities by MEGA Brands

I have a wonderful Pre-K educational product recommendation for you today!  I received a LeapFrog Product Kit by Mega Brands in the mail several days ago and I was very impressed with the learning assortment they provided.  The activities were both fun and educational at the same time.  Apparently, I wasn’t the only one that thought so.  Alivia, my 3 year old, has been asking to use it everyday!  I don’t think “obsessed” is too dramatic of a word when referring to her persistence to use the products on a daily basis!  In fact, her enthusiasm for learning is more than I could ever imagine!  She especially loves the activities like the Colors, Shapes & Numbers Book and the Dry Erase Practice Board that require the use of dry erase crayons and a marker!  The dry erase writing utensils easily wipe clean from just about any surface including your child; a SUPER bonus!