Purple protective cover

Aunt Cindy sent a cover for my Kindle.  This is what we landed on, and we'll later

make it a nice zip up cover. (We meaning Aunt Cindy, Rhoda, and Vannan - me as in, I hope I get to pick the material).

It was splendid today holding onto my shopping list.

Anyway, my biggest concern was blows to the screen and random spills.  ...  

Pros:

It is very light weight.

It was a bright happy purple.

It fits very tightly, but still allows all the knobs and buttons and holes to be available.

There is a  thick hard plastic cover over the screen.

It got here - FAST.

It comes in a reusable plastic bag with a bit of a handle, it snaps shut at the top, and when the whole Kindle is placed inside, offers more than a bit of protection against spills.

It has a nice feel once the cover is on the Kindle.

It has a stand in the back ... useful to copy text from ... or hands free reading.

If you can't make up your mind - it is a great price for a first choice.  I expect that unless the Kindle is hit very hard or dropped in a puddle, it will help protect it for a good long time - or at least a year or so - longer if well cared for.

Cons:

The plastic feels "brittle".  I don't expect the stand part to last long.  I actually was surprised that it was so "flimsy" feeling.  Of course I didn't try to break it - it might be a much stronger plastic than it looks or feels.

Several spots are not completely snapped together - it was a very tight fit.  Most of the snaps are together completely, and those snapped easily, but the last few seem to be poorly aligned.  This is most noticeable along the bottom, where the plastic slightly gaps away from the unit.

Some of the buttons on the edge are harder to use because of the width of the plastic.  Most especially the directional button > is right up next to the opening.

There is some glare to the screen because of the plastic cover - however, the trade off to having more protection over the glass will probably be worth it to me.

The flip out stand does not actually snap into place - and while the friction feel of it keeps the stand from "swinging out" away from the back, still, it is easy enough to catch on something.

Early Feb - Joel Loves His Banana Letters

As often as I will let him,

and provided that we get a clean surface on a table or 

the sidebar (in this picture),

Joel will pull out his bananagrams.

He asked for some for Christmas,

and one of his kind Aunt's couldn't resist them.

He had to have them.

1.  It was a banana.  He LOVES bananas.

He loves apples too - but nobody bought him apple letters.

2.  He thinks he is a monkey - 

and all monkeys have to have a banana.

3.  He is learning to read. 

So he said he needed them to make his words.

4.  His cars needed the letters.

(Though I never quite figured out why?)

He especially loves to play messages.

He hides his eyes,

somebody makes a message,

and he gets to read it.

Well Lo^ed Toys

LaRue plays with her turtle quite a lot since her birthday.

Aunt Cindy got it for her - along with the cupcake dress she made.

We were well pleased with it until one of the big buttons got jammed.
We hope to exchange it for another one at Walmart.

Because she has really been frustrated with that jammed button.

Yes, I would buy it again.
She thinks it is fun with the music, ABC's, and se^eral modes of play.

This was a GREAT buy.

We got it FREE as a promotion around his first birthday.
He began to actually play with it after his second birthday.
Each year, he acquired a few more books.

It has been replaced with the Tag Jr.



which is on Clearance at Amazon.

If I were buying today,
I would like to get the regular Tag



which is quite similar.

Their are so many books, cards, gadgets to go with the Tag system.

But as this one still works perfectly well,
LaRue will soon be the owner of the My First Leappad Bus.

Ironically,
while my sister got a Blue MFL,
she often complained of it's eating batteries.

But I ha^e not had a problem with the bus doing that.

We are long time fans of ^Tech and Leapfrog

My mom bought dozens of the older toys at Goodwill,
and most of what she brought home
has worked perfectly.

LaRue and her Little Pink Dress

Aunt Cindy made LaRue this Little Pink Dress.

It was among her favorites ...

only she's outgrown it now.

Aunt Cindy has her own Etsy Shop.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/thisonesmine

She also has a Facebook Page for her store.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arlington-TX/This-Ones-Mine/141441849210913?ref=ts

This is where LaRue plays during school hours.
It's right in the room with us.

Good Movie - The Inn of the Sixth Happiness

We watched this movie the other day as a family, checked out from our Public Library.

There were quite a few places where Joel was upset and hid ... the beheading was unexpected.
Not that you SAW it, but Joel knew what happened.
And he also did NOT like the war scenes where the planes shot up the village or soldiers burned and pillaged at the onset of WWII.

But ....

the girls were mesmerized. Even Tim got hooked.

It is set just before WWII - a young lady is denied becoming a missionary because she does not have the right credintials.
So she plans to go without a mission board and gets help from unexpected places.

The story is amazing, from her first days experiencing China, to her adopting children that were unwanted.
And then as the war starts, she rescues 100 children, marched them over a big mountain in November, where the mission board was waiting for the children if they could arrive in time.

We think it was at least as inspiring as Sound of Music.

And it is based on a true story.

Apartment Therapy ohdeedoh | Kiddo Kidkeeper Proximity Alarm

Apartment Therapy ohdeedoh Kiddo Kidkeeper Proximity Alarm: "Have you ever been in a store or park or other public space, turned around and didn't see your child immediately? It can happen no matter how diligent you are. Perhaps the Kiddo Kidkeeper can be of assistance."


Why do all the coolest stuff for kids always come out after your children don't need them anymore?

Kendra use to be the WORST as getting lost. Thankfully she loved to ride in the buggy and always wanted to be buckled into the seat. Even when Vannan was tiny, we carried Vannan or Vannan walked - Kendra rode. It was funny - except when she got lost. Which was often, but only once was it really bad. Usually it was no more than one or two aisles over ... but one day she was lost for nearly 30 minutes in a Walmart Super Center.

I'm so glad that Vannan and Joel do not tend to wander off or get lost - though I do worry about Joel, because he loves to give out hugs to Grandma and Grandpa people. Seeing their faces light up as he says "HI" with a big grin and a big hug ... he makes their day.

Fisher Price Fp3 player - Product Review

Joel received this for Christmas last year when his 2 big sisters each got small Mp3 players. We later also got the speakers.

We really liked that it was so easy for a 2 1/2 year old to use, fit nicely into his hands, and the earphones were never so loud that I was worried about his ears - even sitting right next to him, I could not hear it! I also like that there is an expansion slot for more stories and music. I had tons of fun drawing pictures to go with the Puggle songs that I put on it for him.

What we didn't like is that it tends to reset itself to the first song easily. There is no repeat play for a favorite song. Sometimes it will not delete a song and gives an error. And you have to have a CD of the music to translate into the fp3 format. It's not hard - but it's not easy either. And I'm not sure having an extra expansion slot was a good thing because I have never heard it go to the end of the playlist without resetting. It tends to eat batteries - and there is no way to plug it into the wall.

Still - he LOVES it. And it seems to be holding up to his gentle care. He is not rough with any of his toys.

I haven't reviewed any Mp3 players for toddlers this year - but this was the best find last year.