7 Best Toys for 2 year olds

Now that my boys are two, I thought I'd update you all on their current toy favorites. If you'd like to read about their favorites last year check out this post.

Let me start by saying that I'm not a fan of loud, flashy toys- my boys zombie out and button mash until the darn thing gets glitchy. And then it really drives me NUTS. So for the most part we avoid toys with batteries. Most of the toys we have are gifts and with twins everyone always gets us double so we have a LOT of toys. But I've narrowed this list down to their 7 absolute favorites. So here we go...

This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on a link and make a purchase I'll receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. To learn more you can view my full disclosure here.

*Disclaimer* This post contains affiliate links, meaning I earn a small commission when purchases are made by using the link. Regardless, all product reviews are my honest, unbiased opinion. If I share it, it is something I have honestly used and loved. Otherwise I wouldn't share it!

1. Little Tikes Water Table* It's currently summer so this one makes total sense, who wouldn't want to play in water when its 10 million degrees outside (not really but 115° is pretty darn close). But these water babies will probably be begging me to fill this in the winter too. Water is their jam. They love to scoop up the water and sprinkle it around the yard and pour it on brother. HAHA. But they also enjoy the spinning wheels and the ball launcher (although they'd rather launch water).

2. Badger Basket Covered Sandbox* We bought this for their birthday and it is a huge hit. The shade and cool sand are the perfect relief from this awful desert heat. They seriously love burying their feet and legs. Pouring and scooping are a close second. the fact that the sandbox is covered is a huge bonus in my book. It helps keep them out of it when I don't feel like hosing the sand off, and it keeps away the neighborhood cats. Of course you'll need some sand toys to go with it, I picked up a cheap beach toy set from Walmart.

3. Pocket Stix* My boys are drummers, it's in their blood after all (daddy's a drummer too). JellyBean especially loves his drumsticks. It's one of the few things he'll ask for daily, multiple times a day. This toy is for brave mama's who are patient enough for the banging. We have taught the boys that they may only drum on certain surfaces. Their favorite things to drum on are the laundry basket, cardboard boxes, and empty coffee cans.

4. Little Tikes Sizzle and Serve Grill* This is mama's favorite! It is so adorable to watch them cook on the grill just like daddy. They love to bring me food to eat. My sister got them this for their first birthday with an extra set of food*, but since they weren't walking yet it sat unused for a few months. But once they were confident walkers and had watched daddy grilling they were all about it. Pretend play is so important for their development, I love watching their imaginations grow!

5. Little People Animal Friends Farm* They love the vintage version of this farm that their Speech Pathologist has been using with them, so I knew we needed one at home. This was at the top of their birthday wishlist! They were so excited when they got it. They love putting animals down the shoot and matching animals to their spots. Its great for identifying animals and practicing their sounds, perfect for 2 year olds!

6. Balls* This is the set my boys got for their birthday and they love it! Rolling, kicking, and throwing are all very important skill for toddlers to practice. These balls are perfect for indoor or outdoor play. They're air-filled and on the softer side so no one will be hurt by a stray ball. And they are small enough to be easily managed by toddler hands.

7. Lego Duplo* or Mega Bloks* These last two are so similar I grouped them together. Every little guy needs a building block set. Both Lego Duplo and Mega Bloks have their advantages. My boys like the Mega Bloks because they are easier to build with and destroy, essentially the slide together and apart very easily. They also don't need to be perfectly aligned to fit together, which is nice for inexperienced or impatient builders. They are perfect for the boys to play with on their own. So far we love the Lego Duplo for when mommy and daddy are joining in on the fun. Together we can make fun creations. My boys love the construction themed set they have and it made the perfect cake toppers for their construction themed 2nd birthday! They just love filling and dumping the dump truck. Eventually they'll get the hang of building Lego Duplo on their own but for now its a great family activity. And I have to admit both my husband and I have been caught building while the boys were off doing something else. :)

Bonus: Toddler Learning Charts These are learning charts I created when my boys fell in love with the ABC chart at the back of their favorite book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom*. They would carry the book around asking "What's this?"  So to save the book from extra wear I made and laminated an alphabet chart for them to carry around. Before I knew it they could identify most of their letters! So I added shapes, colors, and numbers too! They love asking about them and really love identifying them when we asked them to point to specific ones! The chart is a free printable in my Teachers  Pay Teachers shop here or available to download free here.


So there you have it, our twin-tested, mom-approved toys!

I hope you found this list helpful, if you did I would appreciate you sharing it with your friends. Comment below with your must-have toys for 2 year-olds!

 

How I got my toddler twins to sit through a wedding quietly...

Let me start by saying this post is not meant to mom-shame or make anyone feel bad about their parenting choices. It was born of a desire to help. I get asked about my parenting a lot, because apparently well behaved two year olds are becoming rare. And well, a pair two year olds who sit through a whole wedding ceremony while listening quietly (without a toy in sight) really makes people stop and ask questions. I don't claim to be an expert, after all I'm only 2 years into this whole mom business. But I must be doing something right to have been asked so many times nearly everywhere we go. Take it or leave it. My parenting philosophy can be summed up with this, "Do what works for ALL of you" (not just you and not just the kids, but the whole family).

1. It all starts with healthy sleep.

Did you know that many toddlers are chronically overtired? Fact is that overtired kids are misbehaving kids. My 2 year old twins sleep at least 12.5 hours per day and that's about average (toddlers need 11-14 hrs. per day). My boys sleep about 11 hours at night (without waking) and take a solid 1.5-2 hour nap. Believe me I have sacrificed a lot to ensure my boys sleep this consistently well. We had them on a schedule from Day 1 (thank you NICU nurses) and sleep trained them starting around 4 months adjusted. We had many hiccups along the way (think stubborn reflux-ers and having 2 babies share a room) but they started consistently sleeping through the night at 11 months.

I know sleep training and schedules can be quite controversial, especially if you breastfeed (like I did) and most especially if use the Baby Wise method (like we did). But most of the controversy comes from a misunderstanding about what sleep training and schedules entail and from horror stories of parents who didn't use common sense. But here's what it boils down to: always feed hungry babies; know the difference between hungry babies, tired babies and bored babies; teach babies to self soothe; and avoid sleep props like nursing to sleep, rocking to sleep, etc. Nothing crazy there, right?

Is sleep training right for everyone? Probably not. Was it crucial to our success? I'd venture to say yes. This mama is a lot, A LOT less patient when she lacks solid sleep and my babies are exactly the same. We are high sleep needs people.

Bottom line, do your best to set your kids up for healthy sleep. Provide them with a quiet, restful space for sleep. For us that means blackout curtains, white noise, comfortable temperature, and nothing in bed but a lovey and blanket (after 1 year...follow your pediatrician's advice to avoid SIDS and suffocation risks). We try to wake up at the same time, nap at the same time, and do bedtime at the same time each day. We make exceptions for certain occasions but exceptions are few and far between, or we all suffer the consequences (more on that later). And when things don't go as planned... Early wake ups mean early and longer naps and late bedtimes mean sleeping in, because we always do our best to make up for missed sleep. Sleep is everything around here.

2. Healthy food is a close second.

I don't know about your kids, but mine do infinitely better when they eat healthy and complete meals. Our biggest meltdowns are usually on days they've had fast food or a bunch of junk. Our other meltdowns typically occur when they don't finish meals and are hungry before its meal time again. In our house full bellies = happy kids. But even so, snacks are small and infrequent in our house. The majority of our calories are eaten at meal times. And if there is a snack, it's a small healthy one after nap by request.

But honestly a full belly often isn't enough, what's filling that belly is just as important. We are by no means perfect, quick meals of fast food are sometimes a necessity. But 90% of the time my kids are eating home cooked, unprocessed foods. Are they all organic? Honestly we can't afford to live like that. Does it take extra effort on my part? Definitely, cooking for 4 people, 21 meals a day is a ton of work (which I understand not everyone has time for, heck I'm a SAHM and sometimes I don't have the time). But the effect that convenience food has on my kids and their health is worth all the extra effort. There are plenty of studies showing the correlation between declining health, especially among kids, and the ingredients found in most convenience foods. The big ones we avoid are: High fructose corn syrup, high sugar foods (including undiluted fruit juice), MSG, and GMOs when possible. Just do your best to feed them the healthiest options that you can afford.

I won't lie my kids often don't eat the veggies I offer to them. But I've learned how to sneak them in, smoothies and sauces are a great way to hide pureed or minced veggies. Often when the veggies I make for dinner are rejected, I puree them, throw them in a reusable pouch, and boom they get eaten. Sometimes it’s the texture or even color of veggies, not the taste that turns kids off. So hiding them is always worth a shot. Also feeding them exactly what's on my plate and daddy's plate helps loads by making them less apprehensive of new foods. Using adult utensils and dinnerware, also makes them feel included and teaches responsibility. And if at first you don't succeed at introducing a veggie try, and try, and try again, kids opinions change with the wind. If you continue to offer a food without forcing it, eventually they may decide they actually like it. Baby-led solids (aka Baby-led weaning) worked great for us, they ate almost anything. The toddler years have proved a little more picky for us (asserting their independence is totally normal), but they have a much more varied palate than most kids their age. Bottom line, their taste buds are molded by what they eat, so do your best to have them eat a wide variety of foods. Give them lots of healthy choices.

3. Let them learn to entertain themselves.

I think as moms, we've placed undue pressure on ourselves to give our kids the perfect childhood. One that is engaging, entertaining, educational, and full of activities. But what gets lost on us is the fact that kids learn best through self-initiated exploration and discovery. That means they need to have space to discover and explore their surroundings without someone directing and prompting. 

When I step back and just watch from a distance I'm amazed at how well my boys can entertain themselves and I'm even more surprised by the learning they do. Consider this... my boys sat quietly through the wedding ceremony without a single toy. They entertained themselves by observing the ceremony, the people around them, and their surroundings. They quietly asked "what's that?" and that was all not a single whine from either twin. 

How did that happen? Well each day I've made sure to include a period of unstructured independent play. The length of time has increased with age, my boys can now happily play while I shower and get ready. But initially it was short, like a trip to the bathroom short. I always make sure that my boys are safe, the area where I leave them is baby-proofed and age appropriate, and they are either within sight or visible on the monitor. Initially that mean in their cribs or a Pack 'n Play. Now at 2 I can trust them to play in their room with the door shut, because I've toddler-proofed it. At first, I would add 2-3 toys to their crib, and over time I started to give them choices. Now I let simply let them play in their room while I get things like dishes and laundry done. I'll only shut the door if I need to like to fold laundry without it being knocked over by my helpers or if they indicate they'd like it closed. 

This practice has taught them to entertain themselves, not to depend on me. Sure we do structured play and activities. We read and practice our letters. They even get screen time on occasion. But every day we practice independent play, it’s as crucial for me as it is for them. I get things done, they learn to entertain themselves. 

4. Practice, practice, practice.

Even if you are doing everything else right, things tend to fall apart if you fail to practice a new skill before putting it to the test. Did I jump from independent play straight to the wedding ceremony? No way, that would have been setting my kids up for failure. The fact is we've been "practicing" for over a year and a half. When we started to venture out of our preemie cocoon (around 4 or 5 months), we were already practicing. First it was things like going to the store, where it’s polite to use "indoor voices" but things won't necessarily get too ugly if your baby is crying. Eventually we began to step up the expectations, as they got older and showed they were ready. We took baby steps, increasing either the time span or decreasing the acceptable volume (outside voices, then inside voices, then whisperers, and eventually to no talking). 

The best practice by far, has been bringing them into church service with me (their daddy plays the drums, so mama is usually solo). Initially we only stayed for the worship portion and left the sanctuary if there was any sign of fussiness. The music did a great job of covering those initial whines that indicate a baby meltdown is on its way. Eventually we worked up to being able to stay for part of the sermon -- at age 2 staying for the whole service, at 1.5 hours long, I feel is asking too much. As they get older, they'll be ready to stay longer and longer. 

People are always impressed at how long my boys are content to sit through the worship and part of the sermon. They don't fuss or whine anymore, but instead tell us ''all done" when they're ready to get their wiggles out. So we quietly excuse ourselves to a spot where we can view the sermon on a video feed while they get those wiggles out. Eventually we may put them in Sunday school after they're "all done", but I'll keep them in the service with me as long as they're happy to stay. Eventually they'll need to sit and pay attention for long periods of time (think school), so practicing now once a week gives us a head start. And it's especially great practice for things like wedding ceremonies.

I totally get that not everyone attends church, and that there are even some churches that won't let kids into the service with parents... All that means is that practice will look different for your family. Where and when you practice isn't the important part, taking the time to practice regularly is the important part. So if that means sitting quietly at library story time, waiting politely in line at the post office, eating respectfully in a restaurant, or watching an older sibling/friend play a sport-- seek it out and practice. Model the behavior you want to see, gently correct and redirect as needed, have age appropriate expectations for their attention span and need for wiggle breaks, and most of all start small and progress slowly. It's never too late to start building this important skill! Your kid's future teachers will thank you!!

Hopefully that didn't come off as preachy, that's not my intent. I simply seek to share what has worked for us, to help those who are seeking it. In the end, we all must do what works for our own families. <3

Have any great tips of your own? I'd love to hear them in the comments below!

How to Decorate for Christmas with Toddler Twin Boys in Five Easy Steps

This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on a link and make a purchase I'll receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. To learn more you can view my full disclosure here.

I love Christmas! It is my favorite time of year, seriously. The decorations, food, cocoa, cozy fires, warm sweaters, Christmas jammies, ALL OF IT. Last year I didn't need to change up my decorating, because the boys were still small enough that they stayed pretty much in one spot. They were just starting to attempt crawling, but they never got more that a few feet. They just loved staring up at the tree, but I never had to worry they'd mess with it.

BUT this year my boys are walking, climbing, and bulldozing. I'm not kidding on that last one... Their cute little stand and push walkers are now bulldozers, they run around with them and the more they drag or push along the better. Bonus points if it makes a lot of noise. Triple bonus points if it's your brother. I wish I was joking, JellyBean thinks its hilarious to bulldoze his poor brother{we're working on it}. So you can see why I was worried about decorating for Christmas. I've been combing the Pinterest for ideas since Halloween. So I thought I'd save you some time and share the 5 things that have been working for us.

1. Create a Tree Fence

The biggest change for our tree this year was creating a fence around the tree. I knew a fence around the tree was a must have, but I wasn't willing to pay the big bucks for it. So I grabbed a ton of boxes (thank you, Amazon addiction), filled them with heavy books, and wrapped them up. Most of them are chest high, except one which I'll explain later. The chest height has deterred them from climbing on top of them.

2. Use Shatterproof Ornaments

I kept the tree trimmings simple this year, and I definitely left off the breakable and heirloom ornaments. Why tempt fate? If I didn't want it broken, it stayed in the box. So I stuck with salt dough, felt, and plastic. You don't need to go out and buy special shatterproof ornaments, just use what you have or make some. I'd bet you already have all the ingredients to make your own salt dough ornaments.

3. Try a Jingle Bell

This one has probably been my boys favorite part of the decorations. I put a gold jingle bell within their reach and used a shorter box in front of that section of the tree. I taught each of them how to gently touch the bell and tree, and watched them very carefully the first few days. I made sure to praise them for gentle touches and did time outs for getting too rough. I chose a bell so that I could hear when they were touching the tree, which is super helpful for monitoring and correcting their behavior. The need reminders from time to time, but overall their doing well.

Some of you might worry about your little ones climbing on the shorter box, but it's only happened twice in the 2 weeks we've had our tree up. That's pretty good considering I have 18 month old twin boys. The time outs seem to have nipped that in the bud. But honestly if you have a climber the shorter box might not be the best idea for you, my boys aren't huge climbers so it works for us.

4. Setup a Mini Tree

I happened to have an old tabletop christmas tree from my college apartment. So I set it up on a table next to my tree, where they can play with it. They love that they can touch the lights and garland, and they are usually super gentle with it. It's super sweet. When their not gentle, it disappears for a while. Simple as that.

5. Put up a Felt tree

This one is my favorite, I just love how cute it turned out. There are a ton of tutorials on Pinterest, but here's what I did... I grabbed some felt, folded it in half, used chalk to draw a tree, and cut it. I used a lid to trace the ball ornaments and printed a template for the retro ornaments. I sewed on scraps to make the designs. I also sewed on scrap circles as the lights. I sewed the fuzzy side of Velcro to the back side of the tree points and used Command Picture Hanging Strips on the wall to hang it. {we seriously we used those strips to hang EVERYTHING!!}This year my boys mostly like taking the ornaments off the tree, and watching me put them back. But the giggles are worth it. :)

I hope you found this helpful! I'd love to hear your tips for toddler-proof Christmas decor. Post them in the comments below!

**Disclaimer** This post contains affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission through when purchases are made by using the link. Regardless, all product reviews are my honest, unbiased opinion. If I share it, it is something I have honestly used and loved. Otherwise I wouldn't share it!

9 Best Toys for 1 year olds

Lately I've had toys on the brain... Can you blame me? It's practically Christmas, and I have yet to finish shopping for my boys! Figuring out what to get the boys can be challenging for me. As a twin mom, it's so easy to be inundated with toys--ALL THE LOUD, NOISY TOYS, that we mamas just love. We decided long ago that two of everything wasn't going to work for us. And we agreed that our boys need a ton of toys, we'd like them to value the ones they do have. So we've carefully selected toys that have a good lifespan, meaning our boys can't {easily} destroy them and that they will hopefully enjoy playing with for a long time.

**This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on a link and make a purchase I'll receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. To learn more you can view my full disclosure here.**

Honestly, this has been a tall order so far. Some duds have definitely slipped past our radar. Seeing as I'm probably not the only one who has a tough time finding quality toys for this age group, I thought I'd share with you the toys that have been hits with our now 17.5 month old twin boys.

Toys we own and love: 

1.  Melissa & Doug Caterpillar Gear Toy**. This is BY FAR my boys' favorite toy. If I took everything else away and left them with this, they'd still be two very happy boys. This is one of the very, very few toys we actually have two of. We take it with us on trips to grandma's and hotel stays. They love it that much!

2. Fisher-Price Classic Infant Trio. There's a reason this is a classic. I remember playing with all of these as a kid. My boys love sorting the blocks {and chewing them}. They love the stacking the "donuts" as we call them, and they really love balancing them on mama's head. BUT their favorite is definitely the xylophone. Yes, it's noisy, but they are making their own music. I love that the cord on the xylophone is short, so that they can't bang each other with the stick.

3. Melissa & Doug First Bead Maze. My boys love things that spin! We actually earned one of these by saving up and redeeming our diaper points. Score!! I love that it has suction cups on the bottom. We suctioned it to our french doors, to encourage the boys to practice standing.

4. O-Ball Infant Rattle. This was one of the very first toys they actually played with. Those little holes are perfect for little hands to grasp and shake. My boys still love playing with these. They are great for throwing and rolling practice, because they are flexible and light. I don't have to worry about them hurting each other or damaging things in the house. This is another product we have two of.

5. Melissa & Doug K's Kids Pull-Back Vehicle Set. These little cars are adorable. My boys haven't quite mastered the pull-back idea, but they love pushing them around the house. They think it's hilarious when we adults pull-back and let them go. I love that they are soft, I don't have to worry about the boys falling on top of them as my wobbly new walkers do often.

6. Early Years Roll 'n Swirl Ball Ramp. This one is prefect for teaching cause and effect. My boys love dropping the ball down the ramp and hearing it plunk-plunk-plunk down the ramp. They love playing together with this one, thankfully it comes with 3 balls- one for GummyBear, JellyBean and Mommy.

7. Bright Starts Lots of Links Accessory. Technically this isn't a toy, but my boys have been playing with these since they could grab them. We used them to attach extra toys to our play gym and infant chairs. But our boys loved grabbing them and waving chains of them back and forth. They also happen to be my boys preferred teether {haha}. Bonus use! They can still be found in our play room. In addition to chewing them {molars, anyone?}, they love collecting them and putting them into containers. They also love when mama helps them make long chains of them.

8. Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Workbench. Another big time favorite in our house. This is the toy that encouraged both my boys to sit up on their own, just so they could play with it. This one has all the bells and whistles, but the volume can be turned down or off. Also there are three settings that change the songs, so that you aren't constantly hearing the same song over and over. I actually find the songs to be cute and some are even educational (ABCs, counting, size, colors). I appreciate that the boys can still enjoy it when mama turns the sound off, since all of the moving parts still work without power. I'm going to be honest here... my boys were super rough on this toy, because they loved it so much. I mean they literally spent hours ramming that poor little drill press lever up and down very rapidly, multiple times a day for extended periods {they would sit there and take turns with it, giggling away}. And between the two of them it was just too much for that poor little drill press lever to handle. A spring in the mechanism broke, and the drill press stopped spinning. I honestly think it was a freak thing, because I've read many reviews and I haven't heard of this happening to anyone else. Fisher-Price customer service seemed surprised too. They were great and sent a check to pay for a replacement. We definitely bought a new one, because my boys just adore it! We'll let you know how this one holds up!

9. V-Tech Sit-to-Stand Learning Walker. Okay, let me start by saying this was not my favorite toy to begin with, but it's grown on me since my boys LOVE this thing. Initially we used it in the "sit" mode, and basically it's your typical noisy and flashy toy, with very repetitive songs {thankfully they can be turned off} and some "educational" toys (shapes, gears, and a piano}. My boys liked the moving parts but it really didn't hold their attention for long. When they started cruising, we switched it to "stand" mode. That's when they absolutely fell in love with this toy. In fact they love it so much, that their first and only biting incident was because one of them tried to steal it from the other! We were lucky to a have friend who offered to let us borrow a second one, but we definitely would've purchased a second one if she hadn't offered. It has been such a great tool for encouraging walking and for their independence. They love racing around the house and following us around too- it's so much faster than crawling.


And just for you a bonus idea! 

10. Books. They're not technically a toy, but my boys LOVE, LOVE, LOVE reading. They love when we read to them and they love to "read" them independently. Seriously nothing melts my teacher heart more than peeking into their room and hearing them "read" aloud. Those little babbles as they turn the pages are so, so precious to me. Now, I could link to a million books, but I'll limit myself to our top 2- Little Blue Truck and Peek-A Who. These are the ones we all go back to over and over. Currently they are also loving touchy-feely texture books and flap books, some of the best are from Usborne Books and More. {I'm not a consultant and I'm not being compensated for linking, I'm just a big fan}.

So there you have it, our twin-tested, mom-approved toys!

I hope you found this list helpful, if you did I would appreciate you sharing it with your friends. Comment below with your must-have toys for 1 year-olds!

**Disclaimer** This post contains affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission through when purchases are made by using the link. Regardless, all product reviews are my honest, unbiased opinion. If I share it, it is something I have honestly used and loved. Otherwise I wouldn't share it!

 

Just Treats, no Tricks!

So Halloween is just around the corner... And I still have no idea what the twinzies are going to be! Ack! It's making me crazy! Who knew it'd be so hard to choose a cute idea for twin boys? Pinterest is killing me, too many cute Halloween ideas but I feel like all the twin boy ideas are way over done. So I'm still on the lookout and I'm racking my brain trying to think outside the box. My BFF is awesome at unique Halloween costumes, I mean the girl was a Fandango puppet in college. Complete with the life-sized paper bag, that we made to fit her. IT WAS EPIC. I wish her Halloween awesomeness had rubbed off on me!

Last year we took the easy way out. The boys were just 5 months old, and we got home that day from a road trip. So easy-peasy costumes were a must. They'd received Ninja Turtle onesies complete with capes at one of my baby showers, which just happened to be the perfect size for Halloween. Homemade colored headbands (read: a strip of fabric with a knot) and we were good to go. And by go, I really mean stay home and take a million pictures while Daddy ate some candy. Our neighborhood is a bit dull on Halloween and we were just too tired to take them elsewhere. Traveling 10 hours in the car with twins is no joke.

My little ninjas!

But this year we plan to at least take them to our church's fall festival, we may even get brave and take them trick-or-treating in my friends neighborhood. We're on the fence though. I mean does anyone else feel weird trick-or-treating with 1-year-olds? Honestly, they can't even eat the candy, so basically I'd be using their cuteness to score myself some candy? Isn't that weird? Maybe not, I mean who turns down an opportunity for free candy... :)


But even though we're on the fence with Trick-or-Treating, I thought it was important to take a minute and talk about Trick-or-Treating safety. I'm definitely new to this whole experience from the mom-side of things. As a kids I never worried about my safety and even as a teacher I didn't give Trick-or-Treating safety much thought. But now as a mom, I see how important it is!! You really can't be too careful these days, but you still want to let them have fun right? It's all in finding a balance.

So here are some great Trick-or-Treating Safety tips that will definitely help you strike that balance between keeping kids safe and letting them have fun! And how cute is this little infographic? When I saw it I knew it'd be perfect for teachers to share with their classes, I definitely wish I had this when I was teaching! I'll be saving this for sure!

Big thanks to Norm Reeves of Acura of Mission Viejo, for creating and sharing this infographic with me. You can check out their website here. 

Cute, right? And full of great tips that I wouldn't necessarily have thought of myself. Hopefully you found the tips as helpful as I do!  

And now I'm off to scope out Halloween costumes for the twins and I. Last year was one of the handful of years I didn't dress up. And I'm not making that mistake again. :) 

So what will you be this Halloween? Any great ideas for my twinzies?