April Fools Day

What is your best April Fool's Prank??

My favorite is substituting my husband's coffee with tea! He uses a covered travel mug every day, and never checks the inside before taking a big gulp! The face he makes is priceless! It is a relatively harmless prank, and I always have another cup of his "real" coffee ready for him.

My nephew's wife's birthday is April Fools Day. My nephew made the mistake of pranking her ONCE....after sleeping on the couch, he learned to take his wife's birthday seriously. Any of us that have been married for a while, could have told him not to prank her and saved him the trouble, but he had to learn the hard way I guess!

Have a great April Fools Day, and may all your pranks, be harmless!

Food Revolution

Have you seen the new Jaime Oliver Food Revolution show on ABC? I applaud his efforts on trying to raise awareness of not only what we are eating, but what we are feeding our children.

Jaime is also putting together an online petition to be brought to President and Mrs. Obama stressing how important healthy eating is to us. Sign his petition, and have your voice heard: http:/jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution/petition.

We have a responsibility to our children to teach them how to eat healthy and make the right choices so they may have a productive, healthy life.

Less expensive family fun

Last night my husband and I went to a local NCAA division 2 basketball playoff game. Our former college was playing, and it was only 20 minutes from our home. We are not big sports fans, but decided to go support our school.

We had as much fun at the college level as you might have at a professional level game. The price difference for the tickets was amazing! We paid $13 per ticket, we were able to find on street parking, and ate before we went.

My point is, try some other alternatives to your favorite activities to find less expensive entertainment. Try the local colleges or as many of you know, the high school sports can be very exciting too. Local schools are always having a play, concert or sporting event. Check out the options to save some money, and still have a fun family event.

Who knows, you might just see the next big "star" and be able to say, I saw her play before she was famous!

Springtime Fun

Weather Mother Nature has in store for us sunshine or rain, there are some great new Melissa & Doug toys to enjoy time outside.

We just received our "BIG" shipment of inventory from Melissa & Doug. We needed a full UPS truck just for our shipment! Wow...what a pile of inventory to go through, but it has been so fun! New items just make us want to get out and play (with or without the kids!).

The Sunny Patch collection has all the gardening supplies in kid-sizes to get their help in the yard! Rakes, gardening gloves, shovels, watering cans, trowels and more. You know what they say, if the kids help with growing the veggies they are more likely to eat them!

For the rainy days, there are fun new umbrellas, rain boots and rain coats. Bright colors and fun patterns make a rainy day brighter!

When we have beach weather, there are new sand play sets, with molds & shovels and buckets to fill with sand or water to make great sand castles.

Come in and check out the fun outdoor toys! Did I mention all the puzzles/ learning games/ and art kits to keep the kids busy too? That will have to be in another blog...we are still working on unboxing and displaying all these items.

Don't forget, you can get a picture of all these items and many more on the featured items tab of our website: everythingcutie.com.

New Warning...

The CPSC has issued a new warning for infant slings. http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10165.html

They recommend NOT using a sling carrier for infants less than 4 months old, or under-sized infants. The infant's face can get too close to the fabric and suffocate or their head can get tilted at an incorrect angle and cut off breathing.

Keep up to date with the all the recalls and recommendations by becoming a subscriber of CPSC regulations. https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx

Almost Spring

Well, we got a taste of early spring the last few days. Wasn't it wonderful?! This has made us start to think about days spent outside, soaking up the sun.

We carry New Instep jogging strollers to keep the little ones contained while you get out and enjoy the sunshine. I remember using my jogger stroller for everything (except jogging!); walks around the block, going to the beach, Brimfield flea market, the Big E fair, etc. My daughter fit into one until she was over 4 years old (rated to carry up to 50lbs), by then she kept up and didn't need a stroller. What a great investment.

When my husband and I were shopping for our first stroller, another shopper told us her piece of advice: Get a lightweight folding stroller to keep in the car for the mall, and invest in a jogging stroller for everything else. I'm so glad we listened to her, and got a really versatile stroller for most days, and just a little one for the car. That worked out perfectly for us.

Hope you enjoy the wonderful days yet to come!

Everyday Savings

Anyone addicted to coupons like I am? My husband has finally become a believer in coupons now that I am saving the family $20-$30 per week at the grocery store!

I guess that is a part of my whole philosophy of saving money where you can. Not only during this economy, but, especially because of this economy we need to use our resources wisely.

More and more people are becoming value conscience, and willing to try new avenues to save a little money. If you haven't tried it, you should try consignment. What a great way to get something new-to-you at a fraction of the original cost! Then, factor in the credit you earn for selling your items you no longer need, and you get a double savings.

If you love consignment, tell your friends!

Prom

For some of us, we can't imagine our little ones EVER going to Prom. For some of us, it's all our kids are talking about!

For those of you knee deep in Prom mania, check out our growing selection of Prom dresses. I just heard a customer this morning mention what a great selection we have. She noticed our selections are more varied than what you can find at the "major" stores.

We have more styles and colors to choose from to make her night memorable. Don't be intimidated if something needs to be shortened or straps tightened. Usually a quick trip to an alterations place (or a handy Grandma), can make most dresses fit like they were made for her!