WE LOVE: DRAWNIMAL

I love finding apps that are fun, educational and well designed. It's so rare! Drawnimal meets the requirements. It teaches the alphabet with some pretty adorable animals that prompt you to draw around the phone to complete the design. Genius, right? We love it! It's really easy to use and a lot of fun. And if you don't feel like using up an entire stack of paper, you could laminate a piece of paper and let them use that with some washable dry erase markers. They can draw again and again and your printer will still have paper. The illustrations are so cute. After they draw what is prompted, they can click on the play button for a little animated surprise. It's pretty fun stuff. I hope they continue to come out with more animals for the letters to give a little variety so the kids will keep going through the alphabet again and again. Just a thought! If you don't have it already, we really recommend it. Your kids will love it! It really comes in handy at any moment you need to keep the kiddos occupied. Which we all know is often. 

WE LOVE: TWIG

Our friends Michelle and Steve from Twig are the husband and wife duo behind the adorable and brilliant wooden toy cameras. This past weekend they hosted an event to launch their new cameras which was amazing. New colors, new styles and the clever viewfinder so the kids can actually see what they are "photographing"! Elliott fell instantly head over heels for the new Instamatic camera. It's inspired by the 60's Kodak camera and it even comes with a color-changing viewfinder. Awesome, right? Elliott has no idea yet, but the Easter bunny will be bringing him one in his basket this year. At the event there were creative stations for the kids to work on a couple of different projects. There was tree stump rubbings, stamping and drawing, cardboard camera coloring and building and we even got a bare wooden camera from Twig to paint ourselves. Elliott chose the color and painted most of it and I might have micromanaged...just a little. All of the kids had a blast going from station to station working on their projects and showing off their skills. Twig also has some incredible children's chairs of which we are huge fans. It was such a fun launch event and we are so excited to have some fun with our new cameras! Thanks, Michelle and Steve for a seriously awesome time.

WE LOVE: THE DAY THE CRAYONS QUIT

It's been a while since we've shared a favorite book of ours! Elliott received this book for Christmas and it has been a frequent read ever since. Oliver Jeffers did the illustrations, so of course we had to have it. The Day The Crayons Quit is basically about a box of crayons that have some things to discuss with their owner, Duncan.  Each has a different bone to pick with Duncan and it's just adorable. My favorite is the peach crayon. You'll just have to read it to see! What I love about this book, is Elliott is able to "read" the story to us. After a few times of us reading it to him, he remembers what the crayons had to say based off of the pictures. It's a riot to listen to! There is more to the story than just the letters, but the letters to Duncan are the really entertaining part. At least to us! It has a happy ending and that makes us happy. If you haven't already, you should read it ASAP. You'll be glad you did!

WE LOVE: CHRISTMAS PAJAMAS

Normally, I wouldn't have Elliott modeling his not yet gifted Christmas pajamas. We usually give a pair on Christmas Eve. But he was sneaky and saw them a few weeks ago and has been bugging me to let him wear them since. That kid. He still can't have them, but he can model them for us! I saw these on Pinterest a little while back and found them on Ebay for super cheap. I'm talking $9 a pair including shipping. How could I resist? Naturally I got two. And something I recently learned about snug fitting pajamas for kids, you can order a few sizes up and they will fit for a lot longer! Thank you elastic ankles and wrists. You saved the day. I was a little hesitant to buy his PJs off of Ebay, but the quality is great! I am in love with the little leather knee and elbow patches. Over all we really love them and I can't wait to see him in them on Christmas morning!

WE LOVE: PUPS + CORNS

What's better than a balloon animal? A balloon animal that will never pop! Aren't these adorable? I am seriously obsessed with these guys. I want to collect them all and line them up on my desk so I can look (play) at (with) them all day.  I found them a few months ago when I was drooling over the goodness that is The Land Of Nod and when I saw them, I knew we needed some. My justification was that they would be the gifts Elliott gives to his little friends for Christmas. And while that is still true, I may have ordered a couple more than we needed. Elliott hasn't seen them yet, because we are going to give him one in his stocking - they are the perfect size for it! They come in two types, the pups (dogs) and the corns (unicorns) and  each comes in a bunch of different colors. The only thing is, you can't choose what colors you order, it's a surprise! Which can be a gamble if they are supposed to be gifts. All of the colors are great, but it would be nice to be able to choose with someone in mind. I was hoping to get a red pup for myself, but I guess we'll just have to order more and hope we get one! Again, I'm obsessed. But can you blame me? You can check them out and order them all up over here.