Review: Organic Milkmaid Tea (and a coupon code!)

A week or so ago Earth Mama Angel Baby, sent me a box of their Organic Milkmaid Tea to review. I first heard of Earth Mama Angel Baby when a dear friend gave me some of their products as a baby gift when the twins were born (yes, 7 1/2 years ago!).  And I have loved their products ever since. Even at the health food stores it is hard to find truly SAFE products!! Many of the "natural" products still contain artificial "stuff". But EMAB is dedicated to keeping their products truly natural and safe.

I happened to receive my tea on a day when I wasn't feeling great anyway, so it was a great pick-me-up.  I was abit worried that the fennel taste would be too strong for my liking (I'm not a fan of licorice, and fennel tastes similar). But it's quite mild. It's a yummy blend of flavors and lovely health benefits!

Then I noticed that the box said it could be served hot OR iced. So of course, in order to give a complete review, I had to try it iced too. Why yes, that is yummy too!

But THEN, as I was starting to write this review (what, you didn't think writing blog posts happen all at once did you? I can't tell you how many drafts of posts I have going at any given time, it's a process, I tell you, a process!), I happened to notice, as I was looking on the EMAB site for the specifics of the tea, that they have a recipe tab (see it? It's right there next to the ingredients and the reviews and such). So of course, I had to check that out. French Vanilla Chai . . . umm, of COURSE I need to try that!! BUT . . . I don't have vanilla creamer (soy or otherwise), and didn't really want to go buy some because, well, I don't like soymilk in any form, and pretty much every flavored creamer I've ever seen (can't speak to soy creamers because, did I mention I don't do soymilk) is full of artificial flavors and preservatives and all kinds of things that I TRY to limit in my diet. But now I was totally in the mood for vanilla chai, so I improvised.  I brewed my yummy milkmaid tea. And stirred in a little sucanat (natural sugar). Then I added a little organic vanilla extract, then some raw milk. Then sprinkled some cinnamon and ginger on top.  Oh WOW!! That was some GOOD stuff!!! Seriously, I'm not a huge chai person (I like it, but don't get it often, and certainly am no expert on it) but I think this was at LEAST as good as "real" chai tea, and certainly a healthy version, with all those good herbs in the tea! Seriously, you have GOT to try it!

The Milkmaid tea contains lots of great herbs for helping with milk production, including fennel, anise, and caraway! It also contains nettle & red raspberry leaf which are chock full of great minerals, super healthy for all of us, and especially those of us who are sharing our nutrients with a nursling.

I can't say I saw any change in my milk production from drinking the tea, BUT I'm nursing a toddler, not an infant, and I've always had plenty of milk (I nursed twins without any problem, afterall). I CAN say that I have heard MANY moms who were having difficulty with milk production, vouch for how well fennel and anise work, so this would be a great, easy, YUMMY solution if you ARE experiencing difficulties.

And if all that hasn't convinced you to run right out and try this yummy, healthy tea (even if you aren't breastfeeding, it's yummy & red raspberry leaf and nettles are good for you no matter what!) Earth Mama Angel Baby is letting me share a coupon code with you too!! Just use coupon code Milkmaid 20 at checkout to receive 20% off your purchase of Organic Milkmaid Tea.  Enjoy!!!

Disclaimer: I received a free box of Milkmaid Tea in exchange for writing this review. No other compensation was received, my opinions are my own.

Organizing Our Chaotic Life . . .

I mentioned a few weeks ago, that the 2010 Schoolhouse Planner, is a great tool for organizing our homeschool (and life). But I thought I'd take a few minutes today to give you the specifics of how we use it, and other resources to keep things organized around here.

This summer, on the recommendation of another homeschool mom, I got a Proclick binding system. It is AWESOME!!! I don't like 3 ring binders because they're bulky, and the rings get in my way when I write (I'm a lefty). I'd contemplated comb binders various times, but really prefer spiral binding that can be folded all the way around (again, getting stuff out of my way to write left-handed is a major factor here, but even for righties (like my kids), if we're in the car or otherwise limited for space, being able to fold the book back and take up half the space is a benefit). So, when I heard about the Proclick I was thrilled!! It is basically a hole-punch that punches a BUNCH of holes. Then the spines can be clicked shut and it is essentially a spiral bound book (but they CAN be popped back open to add or remove pages. Alternately (though I haven't tried this) you can buy 3:1 spiral coils and "twirl" them into the holes for a permanent, and actually spiral-bound, book. I plan to do this for the girls previous-year school work and other "archive" type things that I know we shouldn't ever have to remove or add pages to. But for now, we're using the pro-click spines.

So, with this handy dandy tool, and the OH SO handy 2010 Schoolhouse Planner, I set to work.

First, I made books for each of the girls. I wanted all of our daily-use school papers to be in one place so that they're easier to keep track of here at home and also easier to take with us on the road.  I let each of the girls choose a picture off my camera to use for a cover for their books, then just added title information to the picture & printed it.  I slid these into sheet protectors to keep them from getting torn & make them seem like more of a "cover".

The first section of their books, I included a 2010 calendar and the monthly calendars for the next few months (I plan to "revise" their books every couple of months, removing completed pages and adding new ones, to keep it small enough to be manageable, so did the same with the calendar pages). I had a free printable calendar with horse pictures that I'd downloaded, so used it for their monthly calendar pages. Also in this section, I included a page for "books I've read"  where they can list any books they read on their own (we will NEED this information, starting next year when we have to report to the state, so I want them to get into the habit now.  Then to differentiate the sections of their book, I got tabbed pocket dividers. This gives them some pockets in their books to slip extra pages and such into, and was an easy way to divide it into sections.

These sections are for each of their school subjects that requires "papers".  There is a section for their Bible copywork (they copy a Bible verse or part of a verse off the white board each day).  A section for Peterson handwriting, and a section for Spanish.

Next I decided to make myself a "Homeschool Planner".  Not for lesson-plans per se (I keep them on the computer), but for all the other odds & ends.  I didn't other with a fancy cover for mine, choosing instead, to use a tabbed pocket divider as my cover (gives me more pockets to stuff papers into that way, hee hee.

My first section is my "calendar section". You can see in the above picture, that the first page inside my book is a 2010 calendar (most of these pages come from the 2010 Schoolhouse Planner). Followed, logically by a 2011 calendar. Then I have my "annual plan" page. While I don't have everything on here, by any means, it allows me to add trips, holidays, other things that I need to keep in mind when figuring out what we're doing for school. As much as we're traveling this year, this page is going to get lots of use LOL.
Also in the Calendar section, I have a couple pages of "dates to remember" to write future dates, by month, in case it becomes relevant, and then I included a "Year End Evaluation" form. I suspect I'll end up jotting notes on this throughout the year & then fill out a new "pretty one" to actually include in our 2010-2011 "school work to keep" book, but I wanted it in here throughout the year for just that purpose.

The last page I included in the calendar section was my own "books I've read" page. I use this page to record the read alouds that I read to the girls, both for school and at bedtime. Again, trying to get myself in the habit for next year when we "have" to do this.  And finally, I added some blank notebook paper to the back of this section (and all my sections). Like in the girls' books, I used tabbed pocket dividers between my sections, and use the pocket at the back of the first section/front of the second section to hold the book of Stories that came with our felts (and a guide of what felts to use when).

My second section, I consider my "fun" section. I LOVE to plan ahead & make lists & such, and this is my section for just that purpose I had so much fun looking through the 2010 Schoolhouse Planner & printing whichever pages struck my fancy for this section.  First I have a list of "teaching supplies" I can use it to jog my memory of things we need to get, record when I find a good deal and stock up on something, etc. (don't mind the pink stripes on the paper, our printer is acting up again, sigh).
Next I included an "all purpose wish list" where I can jot down things that I think of that we might "need" for our school.  To  be honest, I already have quite a long wish-list of school related stuff stored on amazon.com, and will continue to maintain that as my main wish list, BUT I thought it would be nice to have a paper one handy if we're sitting at the table working on something and something comes to mind (did I mention I LOVE lists?).

Following my wish list is my Loaned/Borrowed List. I LOVE this!! My friend Vicki & I trade books back & forth ALL the time and this way, I can keep track of what she has of mine (so I don't waste time hunting for a book that isn't even HERE) and what I have of hers, (so I remember to return it).  I also loaned out some curriculum this year, and feel better having that recorded, again, so I don't go hunting for it in vain. I didn't take a picture of the next page, but it's one of my favorites. It is titled "One of these days I would like to . . ." and then there are categories for all the things I'd LOVE to do someday. I love being able to jot ideas down on this page as they come to me!
And finally, another very fun page. I found this in the "information" section of the Planner. It's a whole double-sided page of ideas for Preschoolers!! And while, Little Bit isn't a preschooler, per se, I still love having the ideas there to start thinking about it. I will add my own notes and ideas and plan to work this into a page that I can flip to when we're trying to do school and she's needing something to keep her busy. Just this morning she threw a huge tantrum when she realized that the big girls were "doing school" in the dining room while she had to come upstairs with me for naptime. She wanted to be doing school with her sisters (I made a mental note, from now on, I take her upstairs and THEN the big girls go into the dining room, if that's the schedule for the day). So, even though she certainly doesn't need "academics" for quite some time, I can see that we do need to have things that she will perceive as "school" available in the very near future, this list should come in handy for that.  And finally, in the pocket in the back of this section, I keep the lists of weekly, monthly, and annual chores that we pull from each week when we decide who's going to do what for the week.

The final section of my planner is my Blog Reviews section!  I printed off another copy of the Annual Plans form to use for this section, and write in the blog review dates as I get them. I also have listed at the top of the page, a reminder of some of the weekly Blog Carnivals and such that I would at least LIKE to participate in, it doesn't always happen.

 Next I have a checklist page that another crew member created, for keeping track of all the reviews, and what I still need to do for each.  And finally, I have several copies of another page, created by another crew member, that reminds me of the specific information to include in each review (I use one for each review that I am involved with).  And that's my planner! I love how personalized it is, and compact (thinner than a normal spiral notebook). Easy to grab and go when we need to travel.

I was planning to also show you the handy-dandy Kitchen Notebook I made, ALSO with pages from the 2010 Schoolhouse Planner, but this post has already gotten so long, I think I'll save that for another day.

Weekly Wrap-Up - September 5

Waaaah! I WROTE this post. On Sat. night!! And I thought it was scheduled to post ON SUNDAY!!! And then when I came to the blog today to write the post about organization, it wasn't there! So I went into drafts, and it was showing as a draft, but when I OPENED the draft, it was BLANK!!! Sigh . . . THIS is what happens when I try to be ahead of the game!!

Ok, so anyway . . . last week . . . it was a nice quiet, at home kind of week.  We started the week by celebrating my birthday. The girls were so cute! They made all kinds of plans and insisted on doing ALL of it! They, with Daddy's help, made me breakfast in bed. Then brought their own plates up and we had a picnic of sorts on my bed (after which I decided it was a lovely day to wash my sheets LOL). A little while later they declared that Little Bit needed to go for a car ride for her nap & I needed to take her. This gave them time to decorate the house and prepare lunch. When I got home we ate lunch and ice cream cake (yum!)

The rest of our week was spent doing normal stuff.  School, laundry, chores . . . lots of fun stuff like that, hee hee. We enjoyed outside time (and the little plastic seesaw I got at a yardsale when the big girls were around Little Bit's age, is still getting lots of use. Who says a seesaw is only for 2?

A2 has discovered that reading *is* fun! And read Meet Molly in 2-3 days!!! (she spent weeks trying to read another American Girl book a few months ago, so her reading is definitely improving, and as I predicted, once she got to the point where she wasn't struggling so much to read, she now loves it, which of course will lead to further improvement as she reads more. Reason number 101 why we homeschool, being able to not learn things on a pre-determined time table.

In preparation for our Williamsburg trip, we've been listening to the Felicity stories on CD (from the library).

The big girls are doing well with remembering their chores, and having great fun with their new Schleich animals.

Sabbath the weather was PERFECT!! We enjoyed a picnic at the park with friends from church. The girls even found a HUGE owl pellet (we think it used to be a squirrel), they thought that was pretty cool (I thought that was pretty gross, hee hee).

Sometimes It's the Little Things . . .

If you don't want to hear about poop & stuff, don't bother reading this post. But it's my blog & if I want to be excited about poop, it's my prerogative hee hee!

So, I think I mentioned that Little Bit has decided that diapers are for going out only. And for the most part, I've been going with the flow on that. At least when Daddy's not home (he takes issue to potential accidents. AND when he's home I tend to try to get more other things done while he can help keep an eye on her, and my main defense against the accidents has been keeping a close eye on her and running her to the potty if she so much as looks like she might be thinking about going potty (but more often, making a very fast run when she starts to go LOL), and he doesn't tend to notice such things, so accidents are more likely if he's home too.

ANYWAY . . . we do lots of talking about going potty and such, but so far any real success has been rather . . . absent. That said, there HAS been progress (IMO) because I've noticed that when she DOES pee it's a LOT, to the point that my previously favorite pull-on diapers are now pretty useless because she floods through them. So, I'm interpreting that to mean that she now holds it until she's either back in a diaper or can't hold it any more, we just need to work on that whole "go to the potty when you need to go" step.  Poop, I was feeling there was less progress, even if she started to go on the floor, if I took her to the potty she wouldn't keep going (which she will, with pee, if I catch her soon enough) & I don't think she's ever pooped IN the potty (well, when she was a baby, but not recently). So anyway . . . I've just been trying to keep track of when I think she might need to poop & make sure she has a diaper on at those times (and watch her closely so I can grab the poop before it gets stepped on if she DOES go on the floor).

This morning she had a poopy diaper early, and has been diaper-less ever since (w/ one partial pee accident). Then as we were eating lunch, she stopped eating, walked over, and sat down on the potty, then got up and acted excited about something. When I looked *I* got excited too. There was POOP in the potty!!! All on her own, w/o me even telling her to sit on the potty!! WOO-HOO!!!!

This does of course, reaffirm my strong belief in Murphy's Law!! Hubby is travelling for work and I just confirmed with him THIS MORNING that yesterday he picked up a couple new diaper covers from a friend. AND last night as I was reading a book to Little Bit and she was obviously following the "story line" and responding to what the book said, it occurred to me that perhaps reading a "potty book" would help, so I went online last night & reserved one from the library, got the notice just a little while ago, that the book is available.  So, naturally, as I take more steps toward either continuing with diapers &/or "teaching" more about hte potty, she figures out a new step all on her own, woo-hoo!!!

I must admit, if she'll poop train, I'm more than happy to deal with wet diapers for however long, it's poopy ones that are a challenge in this house w/o a downstairs bathroom. HOWEVER, if she wants to continue to run around diaper-free, she does need to master the pee part of things too :)

So that's my "excitement" for today.

In other cute toddler news, Little Bit has, apparently decided that climbing into the glider by way of the seat is SO 16 months, she now sets a stool beside the glider & climbs over the arm, silly kid.

Gratithursday!!!!

Since I never seem to find time to write a Gratituesday post on Tuesday, I just had to share my gratitude for today!!! Yesterday I was notified that we'd be reviewing a typing program for the TOS Crew. I was SOO excited, I've been wanting to start the girls on typing, since we live in such a computer-dependent world, but hadn't decided what program to use, so getting to try one out free is perfect!  But THEN . . . I got the e-mail from the company and my heart sank . . . they had generously given us a full year's access to their online program, however it was for ONE child. I struggled the rest of the day trying to figure out HOW to decide which of the girls would get to use it. Others on the group were also having trouble with this, but at least they could base it on "who needs more help with reading" or who's older or younger or . . . my girls are at the same place academically, we do all their school together at this point (as they become more able to do independent studying, I plan to encourage them to choose separate unit studies based on their interests and such, but we're not there yet). . . someone DID figure out, from reading the manual, that it's possible to archive a student and use the license for a second student, so I had decided that's what we would do. We would SOMEHOW (and that was the piece I still hadn't figured out) arbitrarily choose one of the girls to use the software for the next 6 months, and then we would "archive" her and her sister would get to use it the second 6 months. Obviously, if this software is an ideal fit for us, we would purchase the software and then it wouldn't matter, but only if it's an ideal fit for us. So, I put the girls to bed last night, still procrastinating the conversation that would require us to choose who gets to use the typing program first. I came back down from putting them to bed and there was a new message from the TOS Crew moderators. The people from the typing software company had decided to give us however many licenses each family needs for the number of age-appropriate children in the family! Woo-hoo!!! I happily and quickly filled out the necessary form to say I needed one additional license.  I am SO thankful that BOTH girls will be able to begin learning typing TOGETHER without the hard feelings and frustrations of only one getting to do it.

So that's my "Gratithursday" post for today.

What Do You MEAN They're Not in SCHOOL?!?!?!

Tuesday's topic for the TOS Blog Cruise is how to handle criticism and concerns from friends and family members. I have to admit, I've been blessed in this area. I'm not sure all our family & friends actually agree with our decision, but most of them keep their negative opinions, if any, to themselves.

I think part of it is, by the time we got around to mentioning homeschooling they were so used to us doing "weird things" (cloth diapers, co-sleeping, etc) that they figured there was no point in trying to change our minds LOL.

So, we haven't had many problems with negative comments. But there have been a few.

In most cases, I find it best to just change the subject or otherwise "not engage".  Remember how your mother used to tell you "it takes two to argue!" well it's true. If I just smile and nod and change the subject or walk away, no argument happens. 

I also often use humor and/or stating the obvious. Those who are silly enough to ask me if I'm worried about socialization, get a rather incredulous look and a comment something like, "have you MET my children? I don't think I could handle having them be any MORE social!" (I generally avoid pointing out the incorrect use of the word socialization to mean social skills, some arguments just aren't worth it . . . ).

When I talk about WHY we homeschool I try to make sure to always word things in the positive. We didn't choose to "not send them to school" we chose to homeschool. Just as, when I choose strawberry ice cream, it's not a criticism of you for choosing chocolate ice cream, my choice to homeschool isn't a criticism of others' choice to send their children to school. While some people still choose to interpret it as criticism, it's less likely if I say things like "we enjoy the flexibility to travel throughout the year and visit lots of museums and historic sites during the off-season" rather than saying "we don't want our kids stuck in the classroom for 3/4 of the year".  Beyond that, if someone chooses to read criticism into my making different choices, I consider it their problem, not mine, and pretty much ignore it.

And finally, a few of the things I DON'T say (because I prefer to not create hard feelings, and I know that it would) when I get criticism, but would like to. (If you're someone who feels we shouldn't be homeschooling and have voiced some of those feelings, or wanted to, you might want to stop reading now. If you choose to read this, and choose to take offense at it, well . . . that was YOUR choice.)

Ok, to those who ask me, in various ways, how I can possibly think I "know enough" to homeschool my kids, thank you SO much for calling me a complete idiot! My oldest children are SEVEN! If you think I learned so little in 16 years of school to teach seven year olds, well, for one thing, you don't have a very high opinion of MY SCHOOLS, so why would you think I should put my children in those same schools? And for another, you just called me STUPID. Thanks alot!

For those who are "horrified" that the state doesn't regulate every little detail of homeschooling to make sure it's exactly like "real school".  Here's the thing, it is by far EASIER to just put your kids in public school and let the government educate them as they see fit. Those who choose not to do so generally are extremely committed to providing the best possible training and education for their children. Different people have different opinions on WHAT makes up a "good education" but bottom line is, homeschool parents are doing what they feel is best for their children! Will every homeschooled child turn out to be Thomas Edison (in case you didn't know this (*I* don't remember ever learning this tidbit in school), his teacher told his mother that he was a complete failure and would never amount to anything. His mother begged to differ and promptly pulled him out of school and homeschooled him, aren't we glad she didn't just take his teacher's word for it and let the school system spend the next however many years convincing him that he really was stupid?) NOPE, but then again, neither will every child in school. 

Bottom line, most parents are doing their best to raise their children the way they feel is right. If you don't want me telling you how to raise your children (or telling you what you did wrong when you raised your children), don't tell me how to raise them.

But when dealing with family and friends, perhaps it's best if we all take Thumper's advice and "if you can't say something nice, don't say nuttin at all".

Peterson Handwriting Review

Last month, as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew, we were asked to review Peterson Handwriting's cursive e-books.

Rather than just e-mailing us the e-books, we were asked to meet in Peterson Handwriting's online chat room at a specific time so Rand (the owner) could explain the approach and answer any questions. As it turned out, the day the chat was scheduled was the day we were travelling to Pittsburgh, so I got my own personal chat session with Rand a few days earlier. I have to admit, I'm generally not someone who likes . . . hands-on customer service. I've been known to walk out of stores because overly helpful clerks drive me nuts, leave me alone and let me do my thing!  So I groaned abit when I saw that we weren't just getting a nice, anonymous e-mail (why yes, I DO have hermit tendancies, thankyouverymuch) BUT Rand was great! He took lots of time explaining the theory behind the approach. He answered my questions, was personable, it was really a great experience! I can't say enough good about his customer service and genuine interest in helping his customers succeed! And that wonderful customer service wasn't just special treatment for us, he's available most days for live chat, just go to the main webpage and there's a link right under the animated handwriting strokes that says "Meet Live Now", just click on it to have live customer service!

Peterson's approach differs from most handwriting approaches by starting with gross motor skills. Their movement-based strategy is explained here. Children typically learn handwriting only using fine motor skills (writing the letters in the small size typical of, well . . . writing), if I understand it all correctly, the problem with this is that the brain doesn't remember the movements as well this way, so the children are essentially drawing each letter instead of "hardwiring" the hand movements needed for writing. By starting out using BIG motions, the movements are hard-wired and can then be "shrunk" to the typical size of adult writing.

We were given the first 3 cursive e-workbooks to review, they range from $20-$30 for individual licenses. e-e-workbooks for printing, classroom packs, homeschool packs, and other "accessories" like pencil grips are also available. The approach is designed to teach printing first, then cursive, but didn't seem to be age-specific. Rand didn't seem to think it was a problem when I told him my 7 year olds were learning cursive. He did mention that even my 1 year old might start copying the tracing motions in the air when we were working with the letters, and she does seem to be paying attention when we do it, we've joked that she'll be writing cursive by the time she's 2.  The web store IS set up with grade-levels, but my understanding is that it's simply linked to what the child has learned, not a specific age.  If you're wanting to start with this program, I'd recommend going to the live help link, mentioned above and describe for Rand where your child is currently at in his or her handwriting, and what your goals are, reasons for switching, etc. I'm sure he can recommend the appropriate starting point for each situation.

I was excited to receive this product. Just a few weeks before we had started learning cursive at A1's request. We weren't using a specific curriculum, I was just showing them how to write a letter and they would copy the letter, and we'd add a new letter once they felt comfortable with that letter. A2 was doing great with it, but A1 was struggling. After meeting with Rand online, I was very excited, the gross motor skills aspect and finger writing in the air and everything would be adding a kinesthetic element that should work well for my 2 kinesthetic learners. Additionally, this approach assigns "names" to the basic strokes and recommends having the children say those "names" as they trace, and later, write the letters, which I thought would work well for A2 who is also highly auditory.

There is essentially no teacher prep required (always a big plus for me!), simply print out the e-book and you're ready to go. It is laid out with large letters designed for the "teacher" to hold up and show the child(ren) each letter, then there are "workbook" pages for each letter that has an example of how the letter is made, and then space for the child to practice drawing the letter.  The teacher first shows the child the page with the large letters, and traces over those letters with his/her finger, saying the strokes used. Then have the child also trace over the large letter with his/her finger, and work together to practice the strokes in the air. Once the child is comfortable with these large-scale finger tracing, move on to writing the letters on the practice sheets. We made a few modifications. We put the pages in page protectors so that the girls could practice writing the letters (both the large ones and the smaller ones) with dry erase markers before they actually wrote on the paper. This allowed them to trace over the letters that were given as an example as well, which seemed to help them alot.

I think, if we had STARTED with Peterson, that it would have been a good fit for us. But after starting wit the other, A2 has struggled with Peterson. Somehow saying/hearing the names of the strokes just confuses her, and she feels like she's not remembering the letters as well as she was when we were just going through the letters one at a time. We are continuing to use the e-workbooks, but now for A2 we are using them like we were using the plain handwriting paper before. She looks at the practice page that shows how the letters are made, and then writes the letters and we skip the steps of naming the strokes and utilizing gross motor skills to write the letters BIG in the air.  We're still doing that for A1, who seems to be doing better with it, than she was with our original approach.

One day when they were being especially whiny about practicing their cursive, their daddy happened to be home, and was sitting there wearing shorts (which he never wears in public).  We had slipped the practice sheets into sheet protectors and they were practicing the letters with dry-erase markers so that we didn't waste paper, so they already had dry-erase markers in their hands. I told them to go practice their letters on Daddy's legs. After the seconds of shocked silence, they gleefully complied. And the result was . . .

Little Bit has been "learning" during this process as well. She has learned that markers are apparently for writing on skin. Whenever she finds a marker she tries to write on her tummy and legs or Daddy's legs if he's around. She does her best to finger trace the letters in the air along with big sisters. And when they are sitting at the dining room table doing their handwriting worksheets, she can generally be found sitting in the middle of the dining room table, busily writing, either on paper or herself, with whatever pen, pencil or marker she can lay her hands on.  Through this process I have learned that dry erase marker wipes off of wood tables (if caught properly, I don't know if it sat for awhile, what it would do) and, washes off skin easily,


Disclaimer: I received the above mentioned products in exchange for an honest review, no other compensation was received. My opinions are my own.