Info found at: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/popular-2012-cenus-baby-names-revealed-article-1.1353691.

1. The MOST important thing is to train at home. If you don’t require your little one to sit through a meal at home, you can’t expect them to do it while they are out.

2. Don’t assume they know how to use silverware. Teach them how to cut with a fork on pancakes, use a spoon with pudding. Knives aren’t necessary until a child is in 3rd or 4th grade…mostly because they aren’t ordering anything that needs to be cut before then!

3. Make it a point to have a sit down dinner several times a week. Whether it’s lunch with mom or dinner with the whole family. Being called to the table, taking a chair and using a dinner appropriate voice will be good practice for going out.

4. If you have toddlers don’t teach them to whine by answering to it at home! Teach them some simple signs for “more”, “please” and “thank you.” This is so helpful and will make mealtimes at home and out much more pleasant.

The sign for MORE:

See more signs HERE.

5. Teach your children to keep things clean. Yes, babies and toddlers can eat with their hands, but teaching them to eat a little bit at a time is a good skill. Take fruit snacks, cereal, cheese bits, or something that is clean and not as messy as spaghetti! Do not allow them to throw food at home or crush their food. While you are out you can give them just a few things at a time to keep them busy.

6. Feed little ones before you go. Waiting to be seated, or waiting on your food to come is usually too much for a toddler. Don’t overfeed them, you will want to count on snacks or toys to entertain them while you are eating.

7. Pack the bag: Take plenty of wet wipes or a wet washcloth in a Ziploc. Clean hands and face before you pick them up while you’re in your nice clothes. Take quiet toys, no loud rattles or musical toys.

It takes some preparation, but the rewards are worth it. Be sure to congratulate your kiddos when they do well. Being on their “best behavior” is a milestone, especially when eating with so many witnesses!

You know, it wasn’t that long ago when I remember watching all 3 of them in  elementary school talent shows,  middle school band concerts,  and a myriad of high school sports.  Where has the time gone?!  Such precious memories that will remain in my heart forever.

I’m continuing to learn that the seasons of a mother’s life are ever changing.  Sometimes change is hard, but we must embrace it so that we can receive  the many unexpected blessings ahead in our  journey of motherhood.  This past year in my life, I’ve experienced quite a few changes.  My oldest daughter, Rebekah, was engaged to a wonderful young man, graduated from college, and was married 5 months later.  My youngest child, Leah, graduated from high school and started her college journey.  So, I became an empty nester and a mother-in-law within 2 months!  Talk about change!!   Meanwhile, my son continues to mature into an independent young man.  He’s  just received his Senior Boots, which is a huge tradition at Texas A&M University, and we are so proud of him.

Whichever season you’re in with your children, I encourage you to soak up every minute and find joy in each moment.   Our little ones grow up so quickly!  One minute we are watching our little girls dance in dance recitals, and in the blink of an eye, we are watching them walk down the aisle on their daddy’s arm.  Happy Mother’s Day, my precious friends!

As much as we all want to hear those words ourselves, we have the opportunity, this Sunday especially, to tell our moms, “thank you.” A simple note will do, a simple thanks for a good memory or a trait she passed down to you. It can be free and yet be priceless to the mom in your life.

From some of us to our moms:

from Tiffany, Rhea Lana’s of Louisville-Carrolton, “I love my mom because she is such a pillar of support and love in my life.”

from Sarah, Rhea Lana’s of Leavenworth-Platte City, “I love my Mom even more now that I am a Mom because I can greater appreciate the sacrifices she made for us and the unconditional love she always displays for my brother, sister and I.”

From Lauren, Rhea Lana’s of Jonesboro, “I love my mom because she has been a fabulous role model for me and cheers me on more than anyone.”

From Kristin, Rhea Lana’s of Broken Arrow, “I love my Mom because she is so caring and giving!  She is always willing and wanting to help in a time of need.”

This picture was taken quickly, but here I am with Rhea Lana’s of Crowley-Cleburne owner, Shari, and in the pink tee, Michelle. Shari has been a source of encouragement and support to Michelle. I love that the ladies in our company support one another!

When I left Fort Worth I headed to Collierville/Germantown, Tennessee. Lindsey is hosting her 7th event and I wanted to spend time with the ladies in this area and help train another new owner! Mindi, is new to the Rhea Lana family and she’ll be hosting Rhea Lana’s of Chattanooga next fall! Again, our friends arrived at the sale to help out, support, and just hang out with one another. Pictured here is me,  Rhonda  (Rhea Lana’s of N Mississippi), Lindsey, Mindi, and Kristie (Rhea Lana’s of Searcy). I’m so thankful to work with such amazing women who work hard as business owners and as moms! Can’t wait until my next road trip!

Moms know how to use these smart phones and we all have our favorite way to surf the web and get instant info. Here are a few of our favorites…what are yours?

From Sarah, owner Rhea Lana’s of Leavenworth/Platte City, mom of 2: “I love the PBS app where I can let my daughter watch a short cartoon like Curious George or Daniel Tiger while we are shopping or driving.”

From Laura, owner of Rhea Lana’s of Hot Springs and Rhea Lana’s of Benton/Brayant, mom of 3: “Artkive – I can take pictures of my kids’ art projects, select which child created it and add her age along with any comments.  It archives the projects into an album that can be made into a book if I choose.  Eliminates the guilt of throwing away doodles and large projects that take up space.”

From Sarah, owner of Rhea Lana’s of North Atlanta, mom of 1: “Scoutmob (Atlanta based)-  it has tons of coupons for restaurants and shops.  Pinterest – allows me to pull up a recipe on my phone at grocery store and get all the ingredients.”

From Magen, owner Rhea Lana’s of Moses Lake , mom of 3: “Out of Milk app for shopping lists. It has a to do list, grocery list, pantry list so you can take inventory and not buy the same thing twice and a local ads icon so your can view all grocery store ads in your zip code. I also love my post-it note app!”

From Ashley, owner of Rhea Lana’s of Northwest Arkansas, mom of 4: I like Facebook and Pinterest…because they’re Facebook and Pinterest!”

From Rhonda, owner of Rhea Lana’s of North Mississippi, mom of 3: “iBooks- I don’t enjoy reading and don’t really feel like I have time with so many “Mommy Callings”, but with iBooks I can download instantly, read with only one hand tied, have my page waiting on me when I return with no fumbling pages, and bookmark good stuff I want to return to in the future.”

 If you have this product for your little one you can return it to Carter’s for a full refund. Here are the details according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission:

This recall involves eight styles of one-piece, footed cotton clothing for infants made by Carter’s.  They have a zipper from the foot to the neck and were sold in sizes newborn, 3, 6 and 9 months. Baby B’gosh®, Child of Mine® made by Carter’s or Just One You® made by Carter’s is printed on the fabric inside the neck area. The style number is printed on a side seam label.

Brand	Style Number	Description
Baby B’gosh	414-208	Yellow with white quarter moons and gray and white stars print.
Child of Mine	715-839	Baseball-style, white with blue stripes, yellow accents and  “Little Brother” printed on the chest.
Just One You	520-242	White background with navy stripes and green neck  binding. Sold as a 2-pack with:
	597B537	Light blue with a nautical and green crabs print and “Captain Cutie” on the left chest.
	520-243	White with a pink cupcake print. Sold as 2-pack with:
	597B538	Pink with small polka dots and a bunny ballerina on the left chest.
	520-244	White with green stripes and an elephant and duck on the left chest. Sold as 2-pack with:
	597B539	White with a gray elephant, gray bear, green frog and yellow duck print.

Important Safety Announcement – Bugaboo replaces carry handle for the Bugaboo Cameleon

The Bugaboo Cameleon³ is compliant to all international regulatory safety standards. However, a small number of customer reports and our own follow-up testing confirm that in the case of these specific Bugaboo Cameleon³ strollers (serial numbers S/N 190101115300001 to S/N 190105124800215) their current carry handle connectors may break, presenting a falling hazard. No injuries have been reported. Carry handle connectors connect the carry handle to the bassinet or seat .

The safety and wellbeing of our customers and their families is paramount at Bugaboo and it’s our policy to act whenever we identify potential risks for injury, or are made aware of them – even if the likelihood of this occurrence is limited.

Replacement carry handles, along with installation instructions, will be made available at no cost to registered customers with affected strollers. Our replacement carry handle has been proven to withstand stress at the carry handle connection point in extensive, practice-driven tests by Bugaboo and recognized by international bodies such as TüV and Intertek.

Customers who have registered for a replacement carry handle will receive a replacement carry handle, with instructions for installation, within three weeks after registration, subject to availability.

Customers should remove their current Bugaboo Cameleon³ carry handle until they receive the replacement carry handle. With the carry handle removed, the Bugaboo Cameleon³ is safe to use and compliant to all international safety standards. We advise our customers to use the stroller’s harness at all times when going out and about with your child and to make sure the straps are properly secured.

To determine if your stroller is affected, customers can enter the stroller’s serial number here. In addition, customers can contact Bugaboo customer service at:

serviceus@bugaboo.com or 1-800-460-2922.

Supplies:

Instructions:

• Cover the foam wreath by wrapping the satin ribbon around the wreath, when completely covered, cut off excess length, and secure the end with a dab of glue. Save left over ribbon to make a bow to decorate the wreath.
• Begin gluing the foil-covered eggs to the top center of the wreath; continue around the top and down both sides, alternating colors and angles of the eggs to add interest.
• After wreath is completely covered with eggs, finish by attaching the sprigs of silk flowers and the bow made from the remaining ribbon.
• Completed craft is for decorative purposes only. Candy used in craft should not be eaten.

• SUPPLIES:

Paper Plate
Construction Paper or Cardstock
Chenille Stem
Pom-Poms
Crayons
Craft Glue
Stapler
Scissors – Used for cutting the paper.
Wire Cutters or Old Scissors – Used for cutting the chenille stems.

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. To form the basket, which is also the bunny’s body, fold the paper plate in half and staple along the rounded edge of the folded plate. Leave about 4-inches along the top open to fill.
2. Using construction paper or cardstock, cut out a basket handle about  an inch wide and 12-inches long. Also cut out your bunny’s ears. I cut out 2 white ears and 2 smaller pink ear shapes to be the inside of the ears.
3.

Glue the strip of paper into the opening on the curved side of the plate to form the basket handle. Then, glue the ears near one side of the handle on both sides of the paper plate as shown in the picture above.
4. Use an old pair of scissors or a wire cutter to cut a piece of chenille stem into 3 equal pieces, about 4-inches long. Glue the whiskers onto the bunny basket.
5. Next, glue a small pom-pom onto the whiskers to look like the bunny’s nose.
6. You can simply draw the eyes onto your bunny using crayons or even markers. If you prefer, you can glue on wiggle eyes instead.
7. Finally, glue a pom-pom (or you can use a cotton ball) on to look like a puffy tail. Once all the glue is dry, you can fill this cute bunny basket with Easter grass and treats!

What you need:

• 1 foam wreath
• Ribbon – I purchased 7 rolls of 7/8″ x 18 feet in pastels of yellow, purple, green, blue, pink, and orange; and also white.

Instructions:

1. Cut ribbon into 12″ pieces.
2. Double knot on wreath. You can put as much or as little ribbon on the wreath as you would like. I personally used almost all of my ribbon. I wanted it to be very full. Note, you may need to trim a few loose threads from the ribbon once knotting is complete.
3. I tied an additional ribbon on the back to make a hanger, but you could also hang directly on your door hanger.

Super Cute Polka Dot Eggs! Super Easy using glue dots and glitter!

Supplies: Have fun crafting with your kids! Time spent laughing and sharing is NEVER wasted!