I volunteered to make 15 floral head wreaths for my son’s preschool class. They have an adorable “May Day” celebration–with May Pole dancing, flowers, singing, the whole bit–but it’s always a little strange to me that it happens in late May instead of right on May 1. (Scheduling issues? Unpredictable early spring weather? The mystery remains.)

I love wearing circlets of flowers on my head, always have, always will. And there’s nothing like a bunch of two and three year olds so attired to make every adult within a mile pause and say, “Awwwwww.” But let’s just say that I forgot how long it took to make even one of these!

I put the kids to bed, arranged all my buckets of flowers (some from my garden and some from the ever amazing Stray Cat Flower Farm), made a neat stack of floral tape, and started watching the Lord of the Rings–the extended editions– while I designed head wreaths. Let’s just say the first movie was long over and I was deep in the War of the Ring before I finished.

The kids were gorgeous. Mama was a little sleep deprived.

I know it is spring for some of you, but in Vermont any March weather that doesn’t still freeze your face off is definitely a gift. If I declare otherwise, there’ll be a blizzard in no time flat! My kids would love a blizzard, though…

As requested, there’s a new box of bath time essentials on the site called Rub a Dub Dub! It’s on sale along with some other boxes that make us feel like spring! Hurrah!

Green Baby Gift Box will be closed for a holiday break from December 18-January 1. UPS could not guarantee holiday delivery to the West Coast after 12/17, so that set the dates. Orders can be placed on the website at any time, and customer service will also be open during the day (except on Christmas Day), but no orders will be shipped between December 18, 2009 and Sunday, January 3. We’ll ship all orders placed during the break on Monday, January 4, 2010.

Happy Holidays to everyone! It’s been a very busy year with lots of new projects, and I’m looking forward to a little vacation with family and friends.

Did I mention that my older son started Kindergarten in September? I thought this would give me more time, but after our friends got done volunteering us for everything from baking cookies to teaching extra science lessons, I had to invent a whole new balancing act… whew. I can’t wait until both boys are in the same school again. Right now I am supposed to be out shoveling snow…or was that doing the books for November? Or maybe looking up the directions for making gingerbread houses, since I have to produce four of them for a party on Saturday afternoon…

I will be not be shipping orders between July 6-10. Any orders placed during this time will ship on Monday, July 13. We are going to have a little company holiday, because my parents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary(!) and all the kids and grandkids have been summoned to embark on a grand family vacation together. Hurrah!

It sounds lovely until you remember that I will have two small, easily overstimulated whirlwinds in tow. Wish me luck. :)

After some deliberation, my sons decided to have a Star Wars Cantina Tea Party for their joint birthday celebration. Though I suppose 2-year-old Finn didn’t have too much to do with it, since any party that involves cake is a good party as far as he’s concerned.

We asked everyone to bring a favorite stuffed animal or doll to be an “alien” in the cantina. Then we made doll-sized tables and chairs using Anna Wulick’s patterns for cardboard doll furniture. (Click the “cardboard doll furniture” link from that page to download the instructions.)

Thank you, Anna! Crafters should check out her awesome blog and her February appearance on Martha Stewart! (We know Anna, can you tell?)

Of course, making 12 cardboard chairs–one for each of the kids to paint and take home–sounds easy if you plan to do it over the course of a few months. And then your weekends are eaten up by your small, wildly energetic boys, equally bouncy husband, business, rehearsals and—-opps. I left all the chair-making for the week before the party, and then one of the boys was home sick. One of our friends came over the night before the party and helped us finish up the chairs and decorate. Connor *loved* the $4 Star Wars tablecloth more than Mom’s entire cardboard toy-sized cantina. Of course. Laugh. So that’s what I’ve been doing instead of growing the business the last month.

I have been known to go a little overboard when planning out snacks for the kids at Connor’s preschool. The little brooms made out of string cheese and pretzel sticks last Halloween may have been a little over the top. After all, preschoolers just want to eat these things, not admire them. Right?

Connor’s 5th birthday was on Saturday, and here’s what I sent for snack time on Monday:

I need a lighter chocolate icing so that the face stands out better. Not to mention better chocolate flaking skills. Still, these little cuties invaded the kitchen and caused a ruckus. Think flour everywhere. Connor helped assemble these, although he was across the counter making Ankylosaurus cupcakes (which bore a strange resemblance to hedgehogs which had had a really unfortunate encounter with a brick wall).

Connor has a little sign up in his room. It’s this amazingly happy clown cupcake with a caption that reads, “Life is better with a sugar buzz on.” Enough said.

Now I revert to my usual whole foods obsessive cooking self. At least until the joint birthday party for both sons, which is less than two weeks away. I still have 12 doll-sized chairs to make. And tea sandwiches for twelve. And scones. And cakes. I should not be planning events. That’s what generates these huge to do lists and starts off those dangerous thoughts like, “Wouldn’t chocolate ganache mice at each place setting be adorable?”

In honor of all you fabulous mamas out there, all our eco-friendly baby gifts are 20% off all weekend! Yippee!

My oldest son was born on Mother’s Day, actually, which means I must now go dig up the family birthday cake recipe and start baking–his birthday is tomorrow. My to-do list is about eighty items long, and most of those items have multiple exclamation points after them. Never a good sign…

Across the street from my house is a great city park with woods, hilly terrain, and some seriously huge rocks. I bring the kids out here for an explore as often as possible.

Over the weekend, I took my not-quite-2-year-old Finn in his stroller and climbed up the to the tower–a 2-story lookout over Lake Champlain that looks like a forlorn remnant of some lonely castle. While we were watching the turkey vultures catch the updrafts, three mountain bikers came along and then took off down one of the little trails that leads deeper into the park.

It has obviously been too long since I was child-free and found time to run on this path, because when Finn pointed after them and said “Bike! That way!” I thought, “Gee, how bad can it be?” and went off down the cute little path instead of the main path that I usually take when I’m wielding my trusty Mountain Buggy stroller. (The stroller comes out a lot–it’s the only way Finn will nap, alas.)

Down the winding path, around the bend, and into Extreme Strollering! The true sport of all hiking moms! Jagged rocks, clawing tree roots, intense slopes–this really did have it all. I have done crazier things with my stroller–the first set of tricycle tires was worn down to the wires–but this path definitely hit our top 10 list of wild stroller rides.

Finn started to complain about the time he was ready to tip out of the seat.

We brought Finn’s big brother Connor back with us the next day and did it all over again. Alex took the pictures.

Think we’re ready for the X Games? Though I think my real specialty is Toddler Lifting–Finn is well over 30 pounds and he’s not even two yet. It’s like having a personal trainer who only yells, “Up, down! Up, down!”

It’s May Day! And it’s raining, raining, raining, so I think the impromptu may pole for the kids is probably out. But–save 15% off all our luscious baby gift boxes all day long! Enjoy.

Our shipping charge for the continental USA is now just $10! We’ve been experimenting with how to lower our shipping costs and are passing the savings on to you, our fabulous eco-savvy customers.

As always, order 3 or more gifts at once and the shipping is free!