The Monday Message

Hello, Happy Monday!

I was searching the internet for a little inspiration and I found this quote.
As a Stay at Home Mother am I entitled to stress? I don't know! Many people could say, there is no need to stress!! And there probably isn't.  No matter what you are doing, we all know it doesn't help the situation, but sometimes we cant seem to stop stressing about something!

Today I am going to try and stop stressing about things and remember how blessed I am!!!

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

We celebrated our 12th Wedding Anniversary on the weekend and went out to one of our favourite restaurants.  Benihana - Japanese Tepenyaki.  It was the first time we have taken Nicky.  He enjoyed it.  Its so entertaining to watch the chefs prepare the food in front of you.  Nicky ate plain white rice and they gave him an ice cream for dessert.  He said "I'm so lucky!"  with a big excited smile on his face -so cute.  (Can you tell he doesn't get ice cream very much, poor child!)

A few posts planned for this week...I am thinking I need to do a giveaway...its been so long! Do people still call them Candy these days?  Stay tuned, hopefully I will get that up this week.

Thanks for stopping by,

Alicia xx

Baby Card in Bright Summer Colours

Hello,

This is an older baby card I made.

I need to get thinking baby cards at the moment.  I have lots of friends and family who will be having new babies soon. This is a little Digital Delights image you can pick it up, and lots of other little cuties here.

Alicia xx

Baby Cakes ~ Picture My Life ~ Week Three

Layout #1 - 6 Months Old

Hello, and Welcome to my Week Three post 

for Picture My Life Baby Cakes!

You can read my earlier posts in this series; 

Week One here and Week Two here.

Today I have two layouts to share.  These layouts will become the fourth and fifth page in my Baby Album. The pages are showing photos of me at 5 Months and 6 Months old.

Layout #1 - Altered Cards

 I altered these cards by cutting and layering bits from other cards.  I added some gold bling as well.

Layout #2 - 5 Months Old

 Here is Layout 2.  More gold bling...and layered cards.

Layout #2 - Altered Cards

So, are you thinking you might need to get this cute little Baby Cakes kit? Are there some baby photos you could pull out and scrap? You need to visit Jessica's store and help yourself!  While you are there stock up on some sequins and gold gemstones as well! Click the links below to go directly to the products.
Thanks for stopping by,
Alicia xx

Picture My Life%u2122 Babycakes Scrapbooking Program Item Number: Z1943

Sequins Gold Assortment Item Number: Z2012

12" x 12" Memory Protectors%u2122 Design 4 Item Number: Z1951

Bling Gems Gold Assortment Item Number: Z2023

InLinkz

Top 40 iPhone/iPad Apps for Toddlers

Hello All,

Taking a little break from my usual crafty posts to share this with you today...

Does your toddler enjoy using the Ipad? Would you like to get some new games, but you are not sure which ones would be beneficial?

We have bought quite a few Apps for our Ipad over the last year for our son Nicky (2 1/2 years old) to play.  The iPad is great for when we are going for a long car trip, or when we need to keep him entertained.  Some of my friends have asked me to write down the ones I thought were the best.  I have compiled this list of apps as a starting point for parents who might be interested in downloading some apps for their toddler.  Click the title of the app to link to the app in itunes.

Some of these apps require more adult support than others.  I find it helps a lot to sit down and play the game with them at first and teach them what to do.  Then they develop confidence and can play more independently and you get a bit more value out of the app.

These Apps are not listed in any particular order.  Some Apps are better than others, some are better value for money.  Some are more educational than others.  Nicky goes through phases of his favourites.  Some we have downloaded we found to be not very good.  They didn't make this list.  These are our Top 40 favourites at the moment.  Enjoy : )

20 Apps for Free

All the lego Apps are amazing.  The fact that they are free is unbelievable.  Many of the Apps you might pay for are not even close to how good these Apps are.  You must get at least a couple of these. When using the Duplo apps the first couple of times it helps to tell your child the story of what is happening.  I just make it up to go with the pictures.  After a couple of times they can easily tell it back to you. This helps their oral language development and story telling skills.

1. Lego Duplo Ice Cream

2. Lego Duplo Train

3. Lego Duplo Circus

4. Lego Duplo Food

5. Lego Duplo Zoo

6. Lego City - My City

7. Lego Juniors - Create and Cruise

8. Lego Juniors - Quest

9. ABC For Kids

Videos and songs.

10 Laugh and Learn Puppy's Player

This is another really good free app.  It seems to have nearly all the Fisher Price Apps on the one app.  A good baby app, but Nicky still enjoys it now as well.

11 Little Charley Bear

One of the first apps we got.  Very basic for young fingers - teaching them to touch and drag.

12 Play School - Play Time

Awesome App!  You have got to get this one.  Very educational and links to Play School videos as well.

13 Paint Sparkle

Free drawing App with lots of sparkles and colour.

14 Toddler Counting 123

Teaches kids to count.  Nicky might be slightly too young for this App yet.  Or maybe just not interested.  I wait in hope!

15 Pre-School and Kindergarten Learning Kids Games

Very educational.

16 Play World Wiggles

A strange game.  Nicky loved it for quite awhile.  Wiggles fans would enjoy it.  You move the characters around and get them to do things like make pizza and have a birthday party or talk on the phone.

17. Colour, Paint, Create - Fisher Price

18. Laugh and Learn Learning Letters Puppy - Fisher Price










19. Little People - Fisher Price

20 Tiny Towers1

I personally like this game.  It is educational - maths.  Its also very cute.  Gets their little brains working.  Nicky enjoys it.












20 Apps that Cost Money

Some of these may apps may be free to begin with, but we have ended up buying the full version because the advertisements were too annoying, or their wasn't enough entertainment on the free game to maintain interest, or Nicky just really loved the game. Other games in this category cost money to begin with.


21 Doodle Critter Maths: Numbers

Teaches numbers.

22 Doodle Critter Maths: Shapes

I bought this for Nicky to learn his shapes.  Educational.

23 Shapes and Puzzles by Pirate Trio

This reminds me of "tangrams" that we did at school.  Educational.

24 Build and Play 3D - Planes, Trains, Robots and More

I personally think these Apps are very cool.  Nicky liked the first one so we bought the second one as well. Quite educational too - blocks and building.

25 Build and Play 3D - Rockets, Helicopters, Submarines and More

26 Bananas in Pyjamas: Beach Fun

Harmless fun - bit of sun safety lessons in this App too.

27 Bananas in Pyjamas: Bubble Time

28 Fireman Sam Junior Cadet

Nicky is a big Fireman Sam fan so he loves these apps.  Some adult assistance required.

29 Fireman Sam Fire and Rescue

30 In the Night Garden

I think this was one of the first apps we bought Nicky when he was about one year old.

31 Little Princess - I want to Play!

He loves this...she cracks me up this Princess.  I love her accent.

32 My Vehicle Universe

Nicky loved the free version, but the advertisements drove me crazy!  They kept taking him off to other things.  We bought the full version to avoid the advertisements.

33 The Wheels on the Bus

34 Peppa Pig - Happy Mrs Chicken

I think the Peppa Pig applications are not very good value for money...but that's just me.  Some of them are quite expensive. Nicky likes them.

35 Thomas and Friends Thrills and Spills
 There are lots of Thomas Apps.  This is the one Nicky chose.  He is not a huge Thomas fan so it didn't hold his interest for very long.

36 Mister Maker

This is pretty cool  Very imaginative and arty.

37 Blocky Roads

Not very educational but quite fun.  I enjoy playing this game myself.

38 Playworld - Caillou the Hero

I don't really get this game...Nicky loved it for awhile there.  Its cute, but kind of pointless.

39 Play Kids

This costs a monthly subscription.  It is lots of dvds saved onto this app and I don't think it requires the internet to play them.  Nicky LOVES this.

40 Tiny Airport

Nicky loves this App and we do too.  Its very cute, and there is something strangely intriguing about this relatively simple App.  Its kind of like "people watching" at the airport in real life.

I hope you find this list helpful!  If you do, please pin it or share it with your friends! Do you have a favourite app for your toddler? Tell me about it in the comments below.

Alicia xx