Ryan dancing!

Ryan loves to dance.

Mommy loves to laugh!!

Products I Love - Isinis Brush

Long before I had ever heard of Mason Pearson ($100+), I began using the Isinis Brush ($17+), which is very similar in appearance but is not a natural bristle.  It also comes in a large and a small size.  I like the smaller ones better.  Not only is it more portable but it seems to work better for me.  I bought my first one when I was around 12 at the Carriage Shop at North Park and I have never used anything else since.  I have really straight, fine hair that is very thick.  Any other brush that I have ever used leaves my hair looking lumpy and separated.  The Isinis Brush leaves my hair looking really smooth.   And it comes in lots of fun colors and black.

The only bad thing is they are really hard to find.  The price can vary a lot too!  A few weeks ago, I was at a pharmacy in Highland Park and found them for $40!!  My favorite place to buy them is at the Beauty Store & Salon in Austin, Texas.   Since I don't live in Austin, my hoarder tendencies come out when I find them and I buy like 3 or 4 of them at a time.  They last forever, though so it's a good investment!  Another great thing about the Beauty Store & Salon - they have a great punch card program and all of their nail polishes are like 2 for 1 or 3 for 2 and they carry all of the best lines.  I love that place!!

Products I Love - Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer

I'm not the most organized person to begin with so getting ready with two little ones under two is a difficult task to say the least.  Some days I'm lucky if I even wear makeup.  And for those days that I do, sometimes all I wear is Laura Mercier's Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20.

It not only has the benefit of SPF but it really evens out my skin tone and gives a more polished look without being heavy or even looking like I have on makeup.  In general, I love Laura Mercier's products.  I buy everything at Neiman Marcus.  They are great about doing your makeup before events.  They will even put on fake eyelashes for you to finish off your look.  Nowadays, those events are few and far between but the customer service is wonderful!

Color Matching

Here is my next Busy Bag:

I am going to cut strips of the foam, glue them to the sticks and then write the color (in the same color) on the front or on a different stick.

Bead Sorting

Seventh Busy Bag complete:

I bought a bag of beads and color sorted them into different snack sized baggies.  These can be used to string the beads, color sort or simply just to mix them all up and let them run through the fingers.  Most of the colors had several different shades so you could teach that as well.  Ryan's still to young for that lesson but that's a perfect example of how these can grow with your child.

I will probably try to find those small baggies at the craft store to see if they are more durable because Katie (8 months) was very fascinated by these and was pulling on the baggies and they seemed like they would tear.  Obviously, these would be a choking hazard for her because the beads are small and every.thing goes in that mouth!!!

"M"elmo Books

Sixth Busy Bag complete:

These little books contain lessons in themselves.  For example, the bottom book is open to a page showing the difference between big and small.  

My son loves to "read" so these will keep him occupied but there is also an opportunity for us to do this together, with him "reading" to me or me reading to him!

Green Bag - $1.00

Small Board Books - $1.00

Total Cost - $2.00

Magnetic Math

Fifth Busy Bag complete:

Right now we will use this for learning the numbers and counting but since it has the plus, minus, multiplication and division symbols, the possibilities are endless.  

This can also be used initially for color sorting.  These numbers are magnetic so I need to add something for the magnets to stick to but I haven't found anything yet.  If anyone has some suggestions, please leave a comment!

Black Bag - $1.00

Magnetic Numbers - $1.00

Total Cost (for now) $2.00