Recently, I shared about how I used Neat Containers, a patented system of clear plastic storage pods, to organize toy trains and cars.  If you are dreading the influx of new toys that will be coming into your home during the holidays, then it may be time to donate unused toys and create an organized and ample storage space for existing and incoming toys.  This system was extremely easy to set up.  You can see for yourself how simple the concept is in the demonstration video below . . .

You should have seen the look on my children's faces when I was able to pull out one pod from the middle, the bottom, or the side without disturbing the rest of the pods.  They were truly in awe.

You can learn more about Neat Containers storage systems by visiting NeatContainers.com.

Thank you to Neat Containers for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base our review upon and for providing an additional product for our contest prize.

With three children in the house, two of them being boys, we have a vast amount of trains, tracks, and die-cast cars.  For the standard die-cast cars, we actually put them in a single layer on boot trays and slide those trays under our sofa.  For specialty cars, we tried sorting them into different baby wipes tubs and shoe boxes, but my children did not always feel like searching for the right container to put each vehicle back where it belongs.  In the end, everything gets all jumbled together and put in the wrong places.  The same goes with our different sets of trains and train tracks.  They need to be organized and stored separately.  I tried using shoe boxes in the train table drawers, but again, everything ended up all jumbled.

When I first was offered the opportunity to try the Neat Containers storage system, I thought I would be using them on my closet shelves.  That is mostly how they are advertised . . . for shoes, hats, and small accessories.  Then I had the idea to put this system right on top of our train table.  Our children like building their train tracks on the floor because they have more space and the track can be easily accessible to all 3 children.  The train table turned into a place for our daughter to color . . . well, we have a regular table for that.

The Neat Containers come stacked with the tops, which are clearly marked, and bottoms separated.  All you need to do is separate each piece and hinge each top with the matching bottom.  You must use a minimum of 5 containers across.  Watch this video, which demonstrates how easy it to assemble the Neat Containers system . . .




The kit I used is the Large Neat Containers Combo Kit.  It was so easy to put together after watching the instructional video on the website.


One thing I love about these containers is that they are perfectly see through, so I do not need to label each pod.  This is especially helpful for households with children who cannot yet read, like our twin preschoolers.


I have found the Neat Containers pods to be especially good for displaying any specialty vehicles that children like to collect, such as all the various Chuggington engines, Disney Pixar Cars and Cars 2 die-cast vehicles, and Automoblox.


Each Neat Containers pod does slide out just like a drawer and can be completely removed while the rest of the system remains intact.  How well the pods slide in and out is directly related to how much weight is in each container.  Empty pods just want to all slide together because they are so light.  Pods that are too heavy do slide, but not as easily.  A single layer of die-cast cars seem to be the perfect weight for each pod to slide in and out with ease.


To learn more about the various Neat Containers kits and add-on packages, visit NeatContainers.com.  You can also view a variety of demonstrations of their products by visiting the Neat Containers YouTube Channel.


Thank you to Neat Containers for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon.

How are all my readers on the East coast doing this weekend?  Did you get much snow?  Although it snowed pretty hard here Saturday night, we did not have much accumulation ultimately.  We did, however, lose power Saturday night, but it returned in the middle of the night.  When the power went out, we lost heat and hot water, and that has yet to return.  At least we still have Internet access, right?!

We have just one contest to draw the winner for today.  Let's see who the lucky reader is!

My husband and I never dreamed that having 3 children could be so challenging at times.  One of the main things we struggled with were our children not finishing their dinner.  The other thing we struggled with was bedtime.  For some reason, our children refused to stay in their beds and remain quiet even if they could not fall asleep right away, resulting in all 3 children (plus 2 parents) not getting enough sleep.  Both these things were huge sources of stress for both the children and us.  We had tried all sorts of things to make both of these situations better, but the only thing that has truly worked for us is a trophy system. This system has led to our children genuinely making an effort to behave and finish their dinners and to be good at bedtime and breakfast about 80% of the time, which is a huge improvement.

How to create a trophy reward system . . . 

1)  Buy an inexpensive plastic trophy to serve as the symbol of the reward.  We bought ours at our local Target in the dollar section.  You can also find them in party supply stores.

2)  Make a prize box filled with small prizes.  The winner of each trophy will get to choose one prize out of the prize box.  My children were introduced to Squinkies a little over a year ago.  Back then, I thought what a great toy to be used for small rewards, but they were mostly geared towards girls, which would have left out our two sons.  Now that there are new Squinkies for boys (like Hot Wheels, Marvel, and Disney Pixar Cars 2 Squinkies), we have included Squinkies into our prize box.  They especially work great for our 7-1/2 year old son, who loves collecting things.  Other items we have in our prize box are temporary tattoos, pencils, small notepads, puzzle books, small craft kits, and other party favor-type items.  At first we started with items that were small enough to fit inside the trophy, but then we branched out to include larger items.  When we did this, we still gave the winner the trophy, but it became less important  to the child since the prize was not inside it.

3)  Give your children something special to hold their prizes.  This step is optional, but especially recommended for items that are collectible, like Squinkies, trading cards, stickers, etc . . . so that your children can easily see how much they have earned by being good and can feel proud about it.


4)  Be sure your expectations are clear about how to qualify to win the trophy.  It is very important that your children know what needs to be done to win a trophy.  It is also important to remind them that sometimes no one will win the trophy.  Here is the criteria my husband and I came up with for our two trophies . . .

To win the dinner trophy, one must:

• Say thank you to the person who prepared the food.
• Finish all the food on their plate, with few exceptions.
• Finish all their milk.
• Aside from general conversation, must not fool around, misbehave, or do anything to distract themselves or their siblings from eating.
• Place their dishes next to the kitchen sink when they are done eating.
• If all the above requirements are met by all the children, then the most well-behaved child wins the trophy.

I think that the trophy system works best if you have more than one child.  There is a small element of competition.  Although we have had children disappointed that they did not win, they are always happy for the child who does win and wants to see what prize they picked out of the prize box.  Our children are 4-1/2, 4-1/2, and 7-1/2 years old.  You may need to alter the rules and the type of prizes you use according to your children's ages and their interests.


If you end up trying a trophy reward system in your household, I would love to hear how it goes.  If you come up with something that works even better, I would love to hear about that as well.


Thank you to Squinkies for providing complimentary product samples for us to use in this activity.

Last week was crazy busy, but I probably say that every week.  Since Black Friday is only a few weeks away, the influx of product review requests have begun.  In addition to that resulting in some interesting products to share with you, it often results in my having some interesting photos to share as well.  Throw in dance class, soccer practice, a soccer game, and a parent-teacher conference . . . before I knew it, the week was gone.

Thanks for taking the time to view my favorite photos from last week!  Click here to view all my past favorite photos.

NYS Collection offers the newest in today’s sunglass trends without paying a high price. This company, founded in 1996, now sells its collection in over 10,000 retail locations worldwide. Throughout the past 10 years, NYS Collection has made themselves the leader in the specialty retail industry selling many types of eyewear, such as men’s polarized sunglasses.

I got these sunglasses for my husband, Mike, because I wear transitions lenses in my glasses, so I have no need for this type of eyewear. Mike is extremely sensitive to sunlight and wears sunglasses outside all the time, even if it’s overcast. He was in need of a new pair, so he was happy to try out NYS’ polarized sunglasses. He really likes these glasses and says they are very comfortable on his ears as well as on his nose. He likes that the lenses are good quality, very clear, and they offer great sun protection against both UV and his sensitivity to light. He loves that they are polarized, as well. They are also surprisingly sturdy and well made, considering they are very reasonably priced. Overall, he says they are great sunglasses that are trendy and will last a long time, but don’t have the high price tag that many competitive brands have.



You can see all of NYS’ line, including sunglasses for women, men, and children, including accessories, on NYSCollection.com. The sunglasses shown here today are the 8180 in the "matgun" color, which retails for $35.


Thank you to NYS Collection Eyewear for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon.

Over the past 8 months, I have slowly been converted from being a loyal full time wearer of heeled shoes to a part time wearer of flat-soled shoes. I know that I feel taller and more confident in heeled shoes, but the comfort that flat shoes offer sometimes make me forget about that.  These Sporty Wedge Designs Tokyo Mary Jane shoes by Jambu have renewed my faith in heeled shoes.

One thing that bothers me about sporty flat shoes, other than their making me feel short, is that they are too casual and are only a half a step dressier than sneakers.  I like to wear shoes that will look just as stylish with a pair of jeans as with a skirt.  I loved the look of the Quebec ankle strap shoe, but my size was out of stock.  The main things that drew me towards the Tokyo Mary Janes were the details of the side zipper and the red contrast stitching.  Nothing is better than a little hardware to give shoes a little touch of edginess.  The combination of brushed suede and vintage leather is right in line with the Fall 2011 trend of mixed media clothing, shoes, and handbags.


Although I very much like the look of these shoes, the comfort of the memory foam footbed was what made me love them.  That combined with the cushy rubber outersole made these shoes surprisingly comfortable.  One thing I had been worried about was that the wedge bottom would be rocky and unsteady.  I own a pair of clogs with a similarly shaped bottom that never fail to cause me to sprain my ankle because my foot would tip too easily.  It turned out that the bottom of the Tokyo shoe was not tippy at all and were very secure to walk in.


Something Jambu footwear is known for is their efforts to use recycled materials.  The outersoles of these shoes are made of partially recycled rubber.  The shoebox these shoes came in is 100% recycled, recyclable, and reusable.  In fact, there is a message printed on the inside bottom of the box that reads "A Keepsake Box for You - 100% Reusable".


To view Jambu's full Fall 2011 line, including the Sporty Wedge Designs, Metro Designs, Bare Feet Designs, and more, visit Jambu.com.  The Tokyo shoes retails for $120 and is available in Black and Moss.  You can purchase these shoes at Athleta.com.


Thank you to Jambu for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon.

It's been awhile since I have shared some mispronunciations and general speech or wording errors made by our children.  As they grow older, they are making these cute little mistakes less and less.  We did have two instances this past week, so I had to write them down to ensure that I would not forget  what they were.

Last week, the twins had picture day at their preschool.  Our daughter was dressed in a dress, leggings, and Mary Jane style shoes.  Since she is use to wearing sneakers to school and to play on the playground, when I arrived to pick them up, she complained to me . . .

Also last week, our children attended a fall fair at our older son's elementary school.  There were lots of games set up where the children could win tickets and then turn those tickets in for small prizes.  So when my husband brought the children home, our preschool-aged son runs up to me to tell me . . .






If you have a Silly Monkey Story to share, sign Mr. Linky below with the link to your blog post (not the link to your main blog page). Please do not forget to visit the other participants and leave them comments to let them know you stopped by!

In September, Chuggington announced its partnership with the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) on a traffic safety campaign geared towards young children who are still learning how to be smart when it comes to walking and riding.  What better time to draw attention to traffic safety than during International Walk to School Month?

I have to tell you that every child is different.  Our preschool-aged twins, for example, have very different levels of safety consciousness.  Our daughter will stop at the corner and wait for me to cross the street, whereas her twin brother will try to just walk right out even though I remind him not to every single day.  For children like him, who do not heed their parents' warnings, I am happy that Chuggington is willing to step in to help teach them traffic safety.

As part of Chuggington's "Think Safe, Ride Safe, Be Safe!" campaign, parents and their little ones can visit  the Chuggington website to find safety tips about walking, riding the school bus, bike riding, using a car seat, and more.  They can also sign the Traffic Safety Pledge, play fun games, and find Chuggington coloring pages on the site.  Keep your eyes open for shorts about traffic safety on Disney Junior throughout the month of October, as well.






Thank you to Chuggington for providing a Traffic Safety Kit for our children and for providing a prize pack for our contest winner.

For many families, sending out holiday cards is a long-time tradition.  Unfortunately, for some who grow too busy or are just too tired to be motivated to write out cards to everyone on their list, this tradition comes to an end.  I fall into the busy category.  I have been ordering holiday cards with pre-printed personalized greetings and pre-printed return addresses on the envelopes for years and they are solely responsible for keeping our holiday card tradition going.  My parents fall into the unmotivated category.  They have never tried using personalized cards, so I had these cards made for them this year to show them how much easier sending out Christmas cards can be.  All they will really have to do is address the envelopes, seal them, and put stamps on them.

My mother chose the card she liked best out of all the 360 personalized Christmas cards available from The Gallery Collection.  With so many to choose from, this was no easy task, but she finally settled on the Penguins On Ice holiday card.  The next step was to choose from a long list of greetings to have printed inside.  She wanted something that mentioned Christmas and New Years, so that helped to narrow the choices down a little.  Then she need to decide on how to sign the card and ended up going with something simple.  She even remembered to include the dog's name since he is as much a member of the family as anyone else.  She was also able to choose in which color the inside greeting and the return address on the envelopes should be printed.


The quality of The Gallery Collection holiday cards is impressive.  The charming penguin graphic is raised on the card.  Plus the foil lining and torn edges on the envelopes make a great first impression before the recipient even reads the card.

To view their full selection of holiday greeting cards, visit GalleryCollection.com.

Thank you to The Gallery Collection for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon and for providing an additional product for our contest prize.

My husband is a Star Wars fan through and through.  I have also enjoyed the movies since I was a child.  I am unsure whether a love for all things Star Wars is a hereditary trait, but if you base this theory on our children, then it is definitely possible.  For example, out of the infinitely vast selection of Hasbro board games in existence, the Operation Star Wars Edition game is one of the ones our oldest son was most excited about.  There is also a Star Wars version of the board game Trouble out for 2011, but I think the Operation game has a much higher Star-Wars-geek-coolness factor.

I had not tried my hand at Operation since I was a child and, if I recall correctly, I was especially unskilled at it.  I was mentally prepared for our 7-1/2 year old son to beat me, but the outcome was very different from what I had expected.


The object of the game is to remove the faulty parts from R2D2 with C3PO by his side.  Some of the parts that needed to be removed are a Hiccupping Princess Leia Hologram, a Cranky Crank Shaft, and an Overweight Glob of Grease that bears an uncanny resemblance to Jabba the Hutt.  The coolest part about this game is the realistic sounds that come straight from the Star Wars films, such as R2D2's high pitch scream and C3PO's  offering use of his own parts to help his friend.


Although this game is recommended by Hasbro for children ages 6 and up, I agree with what is recommended on ThinkGeek's website, which is 8+.  Our son is great manual dexterity, but he struggled with not touching the sensors with the tweezers.  I, on the other hand, was quite surprised that I only touched the sensors with the tweezers on a single occasion.  I already saw much improvement by the end of the game from our son, so I am sure he will continue to improve with a little more practice.

Hasbro's Operation Star Wars Edition game retails for $29.99.  It does require four AAA batteries, so keep that in mind if you are buying this game for a gift.  You can find this game and tons of gifts for geeks on ThinkGeek.com.

Thank you to ThinkGeek for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon and for providing a gift certificate for our contest prize.