First Day of School Memories

As I watch my boys get ready for the start of the school year, it makes me think about my back-to-school days.

By the time August came around I was always looking forward to going back to school. I loved summer vacation as much as the next kid, but by the end of August, I was ready. By that point I had climbed every tree in the neighborhood, played hide-and-go-seek so many times that there were no more good hiding places, went swimming so often I was tired of water and watched all of my favorite movies at least three times.

I was ready to learn new things. I was ready to see friends again. But most of all, I was ready to show off all of my great new supplies from our back-to-school shopping trips. I remember one year in particular: for the first day of school my mom bought me a blue dress with matching hair clips. I also had a blue and green matching pencil case and binder set, but my absolute favorite thing was my lunch box. It was one of those great tin ones that are harder to find nowadays, and my mom and I had decorated it ourselves. We painted flowers and rainbows, and my mom wrote my name in script, and I knew, without a doubt, that I had the best lunch box in the whole school.

I realize that I loved that lunch box so much because I had created it with my mom. That's why I always try to do fun things with my boys, whether it's creating origami paper airplanes, going birdwatching with them, watching them sail or taking them to an interactive museum. I believe that it's the memories that are formed by doing active things together that are the most important.

Monday Give-Aways

*This Give-Away is now closed. Come back each week for great new Give-Aways!*

Congratulations Elaina for winning Polly Wilson's charming melamine dish set!

Our next give-away is actually inspired by Elaina; in her comment, she wrote about how much she loves classic and vintage toys. She also mentioned that she still has her Bouncy Bee and her Music Box Teaching Clock from when she was a child.

In honor of Elaina's (and our) love for wonderfully time-tested toys, we're going to be giving away two (2) Fisher Price Chatter Phones.

This adorable toy was introduced in 1962, and was designed with a rotary dial to teach children how to dial a phone. While most people don't use rotary phones anymore, today’s Chatter Telephone™ makes children smile just the same with eyes that roll up and down, and a dial that rings. This friendly phone is being re-introduced for a whole new generation of children to enjoy! Ages 1+.

Here's how to enter the give-away to win one of these adorable Chatter Phones:

1. Leave a comment on this blog telling me what your favorite childhood toy was.
2. Visit the Warm Biscuit Bedding Co. and see if it has your favorite toy. Warm Biscuit loves featuring classic toys that whole families will love playing with.
3. Make sure I can contact you! Either leave an email address in your comment, or make sure that you have contact information on your blog profile.

You can receive an extra entry towards this giveaway if you link to this give-away in your blog and put that link in your comment.

The give-away ends Friday, August 29th at midnight. Winners will be chosen at random, and emailed Monday morning. Good luck!

Reminder: We are giving away TWO (2) Chatter Phones - that means that we will have TWO different winners.

Note: At this time, the Warm Biscuit Bedding Co. cannot ship give-away items internationally. They apologize for the inconvenience to all of you great people living outside of the U.S.

Monday Give-Aways

*This Give-Away is now closed. Come back each week for great new Give-Aways!*

Congratulations Janetfaye for winning Shannon Sunderland's beautiful personalized charm necklace! We chose our winner by using Random.org - it's super useful (and so much fun too)!

The next artist that we're featuring is not only an brilliant woman who shares Warm Biscuit Bedding Co.'s love for all things classic and kid-related, but she is also a phenomenal artist and a founder of her own company, Barn Dandys. Here is a short story about Polly:

Polly Wilson’s inspiration came from her love of vintage textiles that she uncovered in her husband’s family's 100-year-old barn in Colorado and from her obsession of vintage toys and children’s furniture.

Barn Dandys earliest products incorporated at least one aspect that was old: whether it was an old furniture leg, a vintage western textile, or an antique spindle. As the business grew it became harder and harder to find vintage legs and spindles. That was when they began building their own furniture in a small barn in Colorado. They made Teeny Weeny Footstools, Small Chairs, Itty Bitty Benches, and Tiny Couches. The collection grew into products that even adults dream of having.

One of Polly's newest items is her adorable melamine plate sets, and this is precisely what we're giving away this week!

This 1940s dinnerware dish set is made from sturdy melamine and they are fun for kids and funky for adults. These retro chic dishes make dinner time kitchy and cool for all!

The plastic dish set includes plate, bowl, cup, fork and spoon, they can go in the dishwasher and come in a cute box. They also make great gifts for new moms.

Everyone will have a favorite plate when they get to choose from baseball, pink floral, nautical, yellow floral, western, pink floral stripe and camp.

Here's how to enter the give-away to win one of these cute plate sets:

1. Leave a comment on this blog telling me what your favorite childhood book was.
2. In your comment, tell me which style plate you would like (baseball, pink floral, nautical, yellow floral, western, pink floral stripe and camp).
3. Visit the Warm Biscuit Bedding Co. and see if it has your favorite book. Warm Biscuit is constantly updating their products... and what better way to know what people want but to ask you guys?
4. Make sure I can contact you! Either leave an email address in your comment, or make sure that you have contact information on your blog profile.

You can receive an extra entry towards this giveaway if you link to this give-away in your blog and put that link in your comment.

The give-away ends Friday, August 22nd at midnight. Winners will be chosen at random, and emailed Monday morning. Good luck!

Note: At this time, the Warm Biscuit Bedding Co. cannot ship give-away items internationally. They apologize for the inconvenience to all of you great people living outside of the U.S.

Seeing the Gold!

It's all about Michael Phelps in our household. The boys are practicing their best butterfly moves in the bathroom.

My favorite is each of them miming Michael's open mouth shout as the relay team won their relay race against the French. It doesn't get any better than the Olympic Games in my mind.

I love the idea of a young person working day in and day out, focusing on exceeding his personal best, out pacing the competition and willing to do what it takes to win. Now the question is whether after the games are over, the media quiets down, and things go back to "normal"...will the spark of desire be alive in my boys?

I had my own Olympic moments. In fact, I spent hours flinging myself around the yard, cartwheel after cartwheel while my best friend held up hand written scores...7.4! I was determined to perfect my gymnastic moves. But at the end of the day, my scrawny arms were sore and my legs crumbled beneath me. Olga Korbut made it look so easy and fun!

It's true. It's why we love to watch the Olympics. All of the winners make their feats look possible and achievable. Today, my Olympic feats are solidly tied to being a good mom!

Monday Give-Aways

*This Give-Away is now closed. Come back each week for great new Give-Aways!*

Before getting to this week's give-away, I would like to congratulate Tuesday Girl for winning the Dragonfly backpack from last week's give-away. I hope you enjoy it!


This week's give-away is super special. Artist Shannon Sunderland is going to be giving away one of her gorgeous charm necklaces!

Custom jewelry designer Shannon Sunderland hand-crafts each piece of jewelry she makes with vintage stamps she found in an antique store in her hometown of Boulder, Colorado. She uses these stamps to make exquisite jewelry the old-fashioned way. She says of her vintage stamps, "I adore them because they are old and seem to have their own history. The saw-dusty letters, the beat up wooden box with the peeling manufacturer's label from an era gone by....I wish I could somehow know their secrets."

The give-away:

She is offering to give away a necklace with one engraved charm with one birthstone. Of course you can add additional charms for $30 if you'd like, but the give-away necklace comes with one charm with birthstone.

Here's how to enter the give-away to win this great custom necklace:

1. Leave a comment on this blog telling me what your ideal Christmas present is. It could be something that you got when you were a child, or something that you saw in a catalog years ago, but can't remember where.
2. Visit the Warm Biscuit Bedding Co. and see if it has your ideal gift. Even if they don't have it right now... new items are added almost every week, so your dream present might appear just in time for Christmas.
3. Make sure I can contact you! Either leave an email address in your comment, or make sure that you have contact information on your blog profile.

You can receive an extra point to improve your chance of winning this giveaway if you link to this give-away in your blog and put that link in your comment.

The give-away ends Friday, August 15th at midnight. Winners will be chosen at random, and emailed Monday morning. Good luck!

Note: At this time, the Warm Biscuit Bedding Co. cannot ship give-away items internationally. They apologize for the inconvenience to all of you great people living outside of the U.S.

In Search of Boredom

Some of my favorite memories of my childhood were the long, endless days of summer.
I didn't go to camp, day or overnight. In fact, no one in my neighborhood did. Instead, my brother and I would wake up, build with Legos, play with our dog while absently picking at mosquito bites. Then debate whether we'd walk to the neighborhood pool or ride our bikes to a friends pool.

Once we'd made the BIG decision for the day, it was all about gearing up. We grabbed our bathing suits, lunches, and a few quarters in hopes that we'd run into the Ice Cream man (a highlight for sure!).

Days were lazy and slow. And if we said we were bored, my dad would quickly remind us that boredom is good for us because it made us more creative. And it was true!

I look at my kids with their jammed packed schedules from day camps to water parks? On one hand, I can rationalize they are doing things that I never was able to do as a kid.

* Sailing on the Hudson River (around the Statue of Liberty no less!)
* Rock Climbing in the wilds of Central Park
* Fly Fishing in the Catskills

And yet, where's the boredom?. And more importantly, where's the creativity that follows boredom? The inventing of odd ball games, playing a spontaneous game of neighborhood kick ball, catching fireflies to see if you could find enough to light a room.

Hmm, maybe I'll just lock them in there rooms for a week and see what transpires!

Beginning Monday Giveaways!

*This Give-Away is now closed. Check back each week for great new Give-Aways!*

Let's get this party started! I'm so excited!

The Warm Biscuit Bedding Co. is going to be hosting weekly give-aways on From One Mom to Another - starting today!

Each Monday I'll post a new item, and each Friday we'll have a winner!

For the first ever From One Mom to Another/ Warm Biscuit Bedding Co. give-away we have something that's absolutely perfect for the upcoming back-to-school season.

These backpacks are great for on-the-go kids because the quilted cotton handles are super comfy, while the vinyl lining makes the insides sturdy and roomy enough to carry books, lunch and show-and-tell.

This week, The Warm Biscuit Bedding Co. is giving away ONE BACKPACK, either the purple firefly design or the blue vintage train design.

Here's how to enter the give-away to win this great backpack:

1. Pick out either your favorite back-to-school item, or your favorite Christmas gift at The Warm Biscuit Bedding Co.
2. Leave a comment on this blog telling me what your favorites were from the Warm Biscuit website as well as whether you'd like the firefly backpack or the vintage train backpack.
3. Make sure I can contact you! Either leave an email address in your comment, or make sure that you have contact information on your blog profile.

The give-away ends Friday, August 8th at midnight. Winners will be chosen at random, and emailed Monday morning. Good luck!