Oh October – Where did you go?
So, did anyone else turn around and realize that November was right around the corner? Christmas decor is up in the stores! OMG! Halloween is less than a week away, Marlee’s costume is almost done, cake pops for both Dylan and Tyler’s classes are done. Dessert for the PTA board meeting is done. I still have to do the Girl Scout mass email about the meeting for tomorrow which will be celebrating Juliette Low’s Birthday – also on Halloween. I’m pooped.
So, this week I made my first Halloween costume for one of my kids. Marlee requested a scarlet macaw costume, which apparently doesn’t exist. So online I went and found several helpful ideas. With the help of Raechel, who supplied the 7 red boas, I sewed them all onto a red hooded sweatshirt, along with a teal boa and yellow feathers for accents. Added a tail out of a foam sheet and I just need to attach the eyes and beak and she’s done. She looks like Big Bird’s smaller, redder cousin and I’m really hoping that it’s like 40 degrees on Monday because that costume is HOT.
So that was Monday, after I unstained my hands, and shirt, and pants I moved on to baking four cakes and then proceeded to break them all up into bowls and made cake pop insides out of them. Tuesday morning I woke up totally pumped to bust out some Halloween cake pop madness.
I’m posting my craftiness on my facebook page at the same time, and I start getting challenges from a good friend of mine. She started with vampires…
and I accepted her challenge…then I got tired since I had been doing it for about 9 hours so I dipped a few more in white and sprinkles (sacrificial lambs for the kids to slaughter for dessert) and I picked up for the night.
Which brings me to today, I tried to get out of bed and be all productive and stuff. Eventually I even did, but it was after much complaining (me) and whining (Marlee). But we got everything done that we set out to do and even managed to totally confuse the poor guy at CVS in our quest of craziness. So now I’m off to pick up Andrew from soccer and then off to the board meeting, the dessert came out really cute.
I think they may keep me on the board for my desserts…good thing I like making them 
Check out the bikes on sale…of course they are the black and orange Striders!
Have a happy and safe Halloween!
-Sherry
Free shipping on all bikes!
We have upgraded all bikes to free shipping, this is a limited time offer so get your orders in now! Kinderbikes will be restocking soon, I’ll be sure to put it up on facebook, twitter and even blog about the new Morphs. Marlee will be sporting one as soon as we can get our hands on it so we will post some video, I’m super excited about it!
Have an awesome day and don’t forget your helmet!
Who stole my summer?
Dang…summer went by like light speed fast. All of the sudden it’s meet the teacher night, and PTA meetings and spirit shirt selling. I’m so glad we did the pre-order of the school supplies, that is freakin awesome. If you school doesn’t do it, request it. I had to go to Walmart on Tuesday to get the supplies for my high schooler and it was a mad house.
I was looking forward to school being back in session, I thought “oh how much time I’ll have to get stuff done” – I was so wrong. So far I have had two board meetings, I’ve sold shirts every morning, I’ve kicked off a fundraiser and I have to attend a pep rally…and not any of this helps my business. It does help my kids though and honestly, it helps my frame of mind. I’m happier, the kids seem happier, everyone – except Marlee who wants me to go pick them up early so she has someone to play with.
I hope everyone is kicking their school year off with a bang and having fun with it and if you have any rain…please send it this way
-Sherry
Another day, another GIVEAWAY!!!
Yep, that’s right, another bike is going to find a new rider for free. Just enter on our facebook page or twitter here. It’s random this time, anyone can enter, only one will win. We love these bikes, we believe in them and we want to share them.
Embrace your day and don’t forget your helmet!
Cramming as much as I can in before Saturday…
This could also be titled – why the phones aren’t getting answered…
I have 5 kids, you might not be able to tell from most of our posts, they tend to center around the one kid who seems to be the center of our attention, but if you sit in my house for more than 5 minutes you will hear all 5 kids. Raechel is not technically a kid, at 21 she is a bright, successful young woman, as my oldest step-daughter I couldn’t be more proud of her if I tried. She could wash a few more dishes, but other than that, she’s awesome.
Andrew is my red headed wonder man-boy. Everyday I see that glimpse of the man he’s going to be and it breaks my heart, he’s such a good kid and at 16 it gives me the willies to think about him driving. He’s unemployed so if you are in the San Antonio area and you have a job opening….HIRE HIM.
Tyler…he has a mohawk, he’s mouthy, grouchy, a pain in the butt and at 11 he’s still cuddly and as much as he drives me crazy, he gets some zingers in there on his brother that just crack me up.
Dylan is creative math wizard that can’t spell herself out of a dictionary. At 9 she is my second step-daughter that I have had the priviledge of helping raise since she was just about 4. She is the most happy, dramatic, “I’ve got a plan for everyone and everything” kid I know and she’s a joy to be around, I miss her when she’s at her mom’s house.
If you are keeping count – that’s 4 and that just leaves Marlee, you can read the prior posts and if you had, you know she’s the crazy kid who is the face of one of our stores.
Marlee’s birthday is Saturday – the big FOUR, she does not want to turn four, she wants to stay three. Which brings me back to the floor. We ripped up our carpet two years ago because we have 5 kids and the wonderful carpet that came with the house was crap. Underneath the carpet is a beautiful concrete slab, which we lovingly sanded, scrubbed, scraped, scrubbed, washed, scrubbed again, rewashed and then scrubbed and even brought the hose into the house to rinse down.
By the time I was done with the slab I could of eaten off of it – I wouldn’t of because I had just spent two weeks cleaning it. Then came the fun part, using a garden sprayer, we sprayed acid on it that smelled like rotten eggs and looked like bile. It was magical. Twelve hours later my wonderful slab was an orange coated, egg smelling mess. Out comes the hose and scrubber again.
Two days later I got this baby clean again, all our socks are orange, there are permanent marks on my front porch from Tyler walking in the orange muck and then going out the door…Vans prints – my front porch just got a bit cooler. Anyway, so the floor is clean, ready for the beautiful six inch black border to be painted all around it.
I taped it out, painted it, did a second coat and then went to bed. The next day we did the sealer. What we didn’t do is put enough sealer on it. So here we are a year later, I have retaped the floor. I have touched up the border. On Monday I will re-seal this floor, for the last time – insert evil laugh here.
So I have a tea party to finish planning for Saturday, cake pops to make, dinner to make (although I think I can pass that off to Rob), a second coat of border to touch up, furniture to put back, a house to clean for said tea party and kids to chase. Still need to find a teapot too….will I ever catch up. I need to start a honey do list for Rob – will start with make dinner and end with review that Smart Gear bike and the Stride Bike so I can get them out of my closet
Don’t forget to enter the contest to win the Mini- Glide bike. That mentioned Smart Gear and Stride Bike will be getting a creative heave ho as well so keep your eyes open!
Have a great weekend!
Sherry
-
- Tyler
-
- Birthday Girl
-
- Re-doing the border
Reviewing Bikes with a big helper
So, usually we have two balance bikes in the house. Marlee’s Kinderbike she got two years ago and still rides and a Hobby bike that needed some extra love and made it’s way back to us. She usually gives her little buddy down the street the other bike to ride and sticks with her Kinder. But now we have new bikes in the house. On Friday a Mini Glider was delivered, it’s shiny and red and just calling her name. It’s also too small for her but she doesn’t care. The words “it’s not your bike” have become a mantra now in this house. She swipes that bike out of my closet at every opportunity, goes streaking by on it through the kitchen, into the dining room, a run through the living room and then back around into the kitchen. I’ve stopped chasing her…this game is only going to get worse. The Stride bike and Smart Gear bike are supposed to deliver this week to get reviewed. At least we gave up the dream of carpet a long time ago, the concrete, while chilly and hard, is durable and quite easy to steam off tread marks. I’m looking forward to someone winning these bikes…not just because I’d like to reclaim my closet and not get my toes ran over while standing in the kitchen, but because I believe in them and the joy you get to see on your kid’s face as they go speeding down the street keeping up with their siblings on their bikes…it’s priceless.
Happy 4th Everyone!
-Sherry
Best 4th of July Memories?
I was 10 years old when the bicentennial rolled around which makes me…cough, old, cough…but whatever. Don’t hate. At the time my parents were working for a super-secret U.S. spy organization during the Cold War, so we were living in Germany fighting Communism. Man…who ever thought fighting communism would seem quaint. My how times change.
But that’s how I reflect on it now. We lived on a tiny little Air Force Base and every 4th of July, we’d invite the local German population on base and conduct a week-long German-American version of October Fest that we simply called “The Fest.” It was a time I grew to look forward to with an anticipation that only Christmas could rival. There was delicious food…games…rides and German beer fraus with ample cleavage. It was quite possibly the greatest experience any 10-year-old American boy could experience.
I can still hear the oom-pah band playing and smell the candy-coated almonds, ‘Fest fish and ‘Fest Chicken. These were a variety of delicacies that could only be acquired at a “Fest” and disappeared the remainder of the year. They were to be treasured and savored.
And each year, the festivities would culminate in a fireworks display that in my mind and memory were more extravagant than those that followed the descending ball in Time Square at New Years. This was something truly special and patriotic that we shared with our German friends. The beer and the food and games were theirs…but the fireworks…that was from the good old U.S. of A. When the fireworks display was over…I’d hope on my bike and pedal home, disappointed that another 4th of July and Fest had come to an end, but still on a high.
How about you? What’s your greatest 4th of July memory ever?
It’s Summer, It’s Hot and It’s Boring!
Summertime is in full swing and for the kids that means tremendous, unrelenting, soul-crushing boredom. Apparently the down time in between trips to the pool and Seaworld is a giant blackhole in which no amount of countless video games, crafts, movies and TV entertainment can keep them amused.
It’s a distressing trend and the suggestion to “go outside and play” is usually met with groan and moans. I’ll relent a bit here given that we live in South Texas and most of our kids have skin that doesn’t burn…it frys. So I can understand their desire to remain inside the house and avoid the sun like their last name was Lestat.
So our time is often spent coming up with boredom reduction activities. Our personal favorite is housework. Chore..rhymes with bore. Sometimes they’re truly bored enough to mop the kitchen, but that’s a rarity. The threat of chores may break them out of the boredom stranglehold momentarily which is good.
Other times we challenge them to create their own fun. Despite what their teachers may say about their “creativity,” it appears the closer they get to our house the less creative they become. Our house is apparently creativity kryptonite.
I did find something recently that kept our 9 and 10 year olds entertained for a few hours. It’s a site called www.goanimate.com. The site allows you to create really cool looking cartoon animation. All the kids have to do is type in the dialogue and then watch their masterpiece. This led to a couple of hours of amusement and more surprisingly, cooperation between two sworn sibling rivals.
The free version is pretty limited, but it does offer enough features to keep kids entertained for a few hours. Worth a look if you’ve got a gaggle of bored kids on your hands this summer.
Dont’ forget, if you’re ready to teach your toddler to ride a bike, the best way is to buy a balance bike and get them started by learning balance first. For 2 year old kids, we recommend the strider balance bike, the mini glider or the Kinderbike Laufrad Mini.
Happy Father’s Day!
Image courtesy of 80sTees.com
Happy Father’s Day to to all the dads out there. Today is the perfect day to thank your dad for all the things he did to make you who you are. And on of those things of course is teaching you how to ride a bike. Of course, he probably didn’t do it with a balance bike but we’ll forgive him for that. He did the best he could and most of us had never heard of balance bikes back in those days.
I just had a great breakfast with scrambled eggs, bacon and Star Wars character pancakes cooked up by my beautiful wife and her lively assistant and Balance Bikes 4 Kids spokeskid, Marlee. It was absolutely delicious. We’ll head over to dad’s later on to honor him and try not to interrupt him too much as he watches the U.S. Open on TV. Of course, I’ll be watching too.
Hope you can spend your day with your dad and if you’re a dad…remember that if you want your son or daughter to look back fondly on how they learned to ride a bike…get them a balance bike.
Shameless plug I know…but it’s the truth.
More Toys Means More Exercise? Really?
Found this article online recently and came away a bit surprised. Don’t let the kids find out. They’ll just start asking for more toys!
DENVER – More is better when it comes to children’s toys, according to research presented today at the American College of Sports Medicine’s (ACSM) 58th Annual Meeting and 2nd World Congress on Exercise is Medicine®. Providing choices is the key, experts say, to encouraging children – especially girls – to be physically active.
A University of Buffalo research team recently studied the effects of three toy quantities –one toy, three toys and five toys – on the activity levels of 36 children. Children, all ages 8-12, were sorted by gender and divided randomly among the groups. Researchers observed the children’s behaviors and monitored their heart rates and activity counts.
Read the full article here. I
f you think this makes sense and you’re looking for toys that keep kids active that you can check out a Kinderbike balance bike or maybe one of our Kidimotto balance bikes. Don’t forget their Little Nutty bike helmet.