Last year, we bought the Wii console along with the Wii Fit game. It was somewhat frustrating for me at first playing certain balance games using the Wii Fit balance board but now I feel I actually have a very good handle of it. My 4-year-old daughter has recently taken a liking, to put it mildly, to the Wii Fit game and plays it almost daily. It's great because she can get some physical activity into her day, especially during the rainy weather. (There's a rainstorm right now as I type!) But man, is she ever obsessed over obtaining good results. She's actually doing better than me! The funniest thing about it is watching her determination as she gyrates her hips in wild, circular motions during the hula hoop simulation game. I have to get it on video, it's so funny! I love her to bits, I tell ya, to bits!

Okay, don't think I'm greedy. I know I've already won the personalized FreckleBox lunch box for Madeleine. But I have been hungrily eyeing the Hooked On Phonics Giveaway on My Organized Chaos. I have the Hooked on French edition and Madeleine really loves it. She's learned more in one summer than some of my grade 8's learn in their lifetime. And one of Madeleine's friends has the Kindergarten edition and it seems to have worked so well for her son, who is already working his way through the grade 1 book. (He's starting grade 1 next month.) Anyway, I really want to work on my daughter's reading skills. I also want my daughter to enjoy reading more than I did when I was a kid. I always found it a bit of a struggle and felt I was a really slow reader. If Hooked on Phonics could help her surpass that struggle, then I want it!

Today Paolo visited with his daycare class and seemed quite comfortable in the toddler room. He wasn't sure if he should explore the room or hug my leg tightly, at first. But once he noticed the number of child-size furniture, he went to town. He pulled out the first chair he could grab and then nestled his little bottom onto it. Then, just like Goldilocks, he pulled out another chair and tested it out, too. And if that wasn't enough, he continued trying out every available chair in the room. I think it was a nice change from the struggle he encounters at home when he tries to climb the sofa or any other piece of furniture for that matter. It was the cutest thing to see his eyes light up at the ease of finding a comfortable place to sit. When he discovered some toy cars and trucks, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to casually sneak my way out of the room. I went to the office and finalized a few things with the administrator and left peacefully after a quick phone call to the teacher in Paolo's room confirmed he was happy and had not shed a single tear.

I can't believe it but I was just notified that I won the FreckleBox contest over at My Organized Chaos! Out of 330 entries, my number was picked and I couldn't be happier. I love personalizing things so I'm so excited that my daughter will be getting her own personalized lunch box. And just in time for school, too! She starts junior kindergarten this year and I'll be heading back to work. She already picked out the style for her new lunch box - The Cute Kitty. And cute it is!

Last Friday, during dinner, the phone rang and my 4-year-old daughter ran to answer it. I tried to encourage her to wait in order that I may check the call display and see if it was anyone we know. She chose to ignore my pleading and answered it anyway. After a quick hello, my husband took the phone from her, listened for a few seconds and determined it was a telemarketer. He returned the phone to my daughter who then proceeded to ramble on about random things, as she often does, until I heard her say, "Hello?.... Hello?"