I think it’s safe to say I took the weekend off, and I’m excited to see how the next month brings articles and discussions about the holidays! It’s coming faster than you can say “HappyMerry Chanukistmaswanzaa” (insert your favorite multi-cultural holiday word here). I have some amazing giveaways reserved for some holiday giving-goodness, so let’s get started, shall we?

I was sent a LeapFrog Tag ages ago, when my family took a lovely, ten hour roadtrip to South Carolina. I hid it for most of the trip, since I didn’t want to deal with the girls fighting over it. I had originally wanted to test it out with my now six-year old, since the books I had for the Tag were pre-reading and more her speed. Of course, she loved it, and much to my surprise, found myself buying a second one for my three-year old…

Let me backtrack - the LeapFrog Tag is one of the hot, new items LeapFrog has recently rolled out. They’ve seriously done their homework! The way I’ve been describing the Tag is, it’s like a chunky, digital pen (the official term is “talk-and-touch reading device”). Special Tag-related books include everything from Dora to Dr. Seuss to one of our new faves, Olivia, and are “read ” through the Tag after a bit of modern magic. Install the Tag’s included CD, and download the contents of your books onto the Tag (the Tag holds up to five books at a time). Once the book is downloaded, and as soon as you touch the Tag to the book, the real magic happens! Kids can choose to have the story read to them, plus they can press the point of the Tag onto just about anything on the page to hear sound effects or other fun extras to embellish the story. There are also games included in many of the titles. All are educational, fun and completely absorbing for kids. I mean it, I can’t tell you enough how easy and exceptionally entertaining the Tag is!

Another aspect of the Tag I fell in love with is the Learning Path system, a free online tool which allows you to see what your child is working on with their Tag (and other new LeapFrog toys as well). Just set up an account, plug in the Tag often, and the Learning Path will give you detailed information on particular skills engaged and progress made. Kids can also unlock “rewards” see how they’re learning without even knowing it!

I am beyond excited to offer a Tag for one lucky winner, as well as two Tag titles - Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin (a real belly-laugher in our house) and The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss! You won’t be disappointed, I promise. So, the rules are: Please leave a comment at this post by next Sunday night at midnight, PST with an answer to this: What do you think will be your child’s (or any Tag recipient’s) favorite Tag book? Please, one comment per person! One winner will be chosen at random. This contest is available to US residents only. Good luck!

This contest is now closed!

This week, we sat down with our girls and talked about what we’re thankful for. Some thankful mentions were Mommy and Daddy, family, puppies, chocolate milk, books we love, food, the beach, flowers, bananas, big and little sisters and of course, cookies. Considering we make a special effort to give thanks to loved ones on a regular basis, I’m not sure if this is a momentous occasion for my kids. It’s refreshing, however, to mark the day with special foods and customs, and to spend the day with friends as well as family this year.

I hope everyone has a wonderful, relaxing, fun and fulfilling Thanksgiving day! Whether spending the day with family or friends, far away from home or right where you’ve always been, make this a day to always cherish and remember. I’m sure my fellow green bloggers and I agree that helping to bring more green to Thanksgiving adds an extra element to the holiday season - and taking care of the Earth as well as our family has it’s own, amazing rewards!

I subscribe to A LOT of email newsletters, blog and website feeds, updates or anything to keep me up to date about being a green mom. The problem is, I don’t get to read many of them, and I end up either deleting them or playing bad games of catch up with my emails! One site that I click through to every day is Ideal Bite. Like the name implies, a small “bite” of news is all I need for ideas and valuable information about being eco-friendly and hip all at the same time (it’s really possible, really!)

I’m loving their just launched Mama Bite, a daily dose of Ideal Bite for moms and moms-to-be (and dads for some of them, but the name pretty much sums it up. Each weekday, Ideal Bite brings thorough yet quick to consume facts and products relating to being a good green parent). Today’s Mama Bite features the email of the day, but you can always dip into the archives for the complete Mama Bite library. Mama Bite features IB’s signature subtle snarkiness, ability to “rate” the bite for feedback, the “Personally Speaking” column from an Ideal Bite writer who’s in the know about the topic, and a great set of links to further highlight the subject. They’ve already covered cloth diapers, farmer’s markets, eco soaps for babies and non-threatening, organic cookies. This is a well-organized and awesome place to come for research, without having to bookmark a billion websites!

Oh, and it’s free! How could I have forgotten to mention that before?

Welcome back to the Mommy Go Green Blog Tour! I’m so happy to share with you this month’s sponsor. I’ve been a big fan of Natural Pod for a long time, and I can’t believe I hadn’t written about them yet! Natural Pod has an amazing array of natural and safe toys, dolls, clothing and accessories for kids of all ages. With products from materials such as wood, felt, silk, wool and organic cotton, you can’t go wrong giving your child these open-ended, imaginative-based toys sure to jump start their creativity.

I’m especially in love with Natural Pod’s collection of blocks and stacking toys. We checked out the Tree Branch Blocks - from the moment the blocks were poured out of the bag, my girls found them irresistible. They couldn’t believe they were “really” trees, and it took some explaining about how and why they make tree branches into useable blocks that don’t splinter or smell like wood. The blocks come from naturally felled Alder trees, kiln dried and sealed. They take a little getting used to for building, since the blocks are not uniformly shaped, but it’s part of the fun. And my kids decided to make the little blocks into chairs, for a doll picnic in the woods. Their friends are totally intrigued by them - who knew anything besides plastic cut outs could be so cool?

To help give your kids a truly memorable holiday (and hopefully help out a bit this holiday season), Natural Pod is offering 10% off your first order! Use the code “GCM08” during checkout, now through December 31st, and order early! Natural Pod is based in Canada, so shipping may take a bit longer. If you become as hooked as I am on Natural Pod and their message of natural play for children, you’ll really appreciate their recently launched blog, charting their background and where they’re headed to bring beautiful toys to your family. Happy reading and shopping!

Great news! If you’ve been following my articles involving Brita and their Filter For Good campaign, you know about the struggle to find a way to recycle Brita’s pitcher filters. The Take Back the Filter website and campaign has been asking Clorox (Brita’s parent company) to “go further and take responsibility for the millions of plastic filter cartridges that are also land-filled or incinerated each year.” Through everyone’s amazing efforts, diligence and support, not only can you now ditch your plastic bottles, but you can feel better knowing your filters will be recycled as well!

Brita will officially start collecting used pitcher filters at participating Whole Foods starting in January! You can also mail your filters in to Preserve, a wonderful company that creates household products out of recycled plastic (I wrote about their toothbrushes last year). Their Gimme 5 program, which includes all #5 recyclable items, will now take Brita’s filters and put them to good (re)use. It’s a wonderful, cradle-to-cradle effort, and one in which I’m proud to be a part of!

If you do not have a Whole Foods near you, mail your filters to Preserve. They ask that you use ground shipping and used boxes, and to please put your email address in the box so they can thank you! Here’s the Preserve address:

Preserve Gimme 5
823 NYS Rte 13
Cortland NY 13045

I hope this helps everyone feel at ease about buying Brita’s products, and to fully enjoy the benefits of filtering water instead of buying bottled. It’s a wonderful way your eco-efforts can truly bring you peace of mind!

If you’re reading this and you’re a parent, chances are you’re no stranger to food allergies in kids. They may not be your own kids, but I think parents these days have to be super-sensitive to all children with food allergies. We start out every new playdate with the usual questions - Where should we play? Is your child afraid of dogs or cats? Are they allergic to anything? I’ve seen EpiPen demonstrations, received numerous lists of what foods are included in tree nut allergies, and have lobbied for peanut-free schools. This startling report from the CDC that 1 in 26 kids have a food allergy (up from 1 in 29 kids in 1997) confirms what we’ve been seeing - that food allergies are on the rise, and there’s not much we can do about it - except by protecting our kids now by giving them healthy and safe food choices.

This Thanksgiving (and all year, of course) there are plenty of choices for preparing an allergen-free, often completely organic meal. It’s amazing what can be found in supermarkets! This year, be thankful for healthy families, and these wonderful companies who help keep Thanksgiving enjoyable for everyone -

If you’re not used to dealing with food allergies in kids, it can be tough to completely understand how to go about creating a safe yet enjoyable menu. If you’re cooking for kids with allergies, it’s worth checking out informational websites to make sure you’re covered. Eating With Food Allergies breaks down the “Top 8″ food allergens (dairy, eggs, wheat, soy, peanuts, treenuts, fish and shellfish), where they may be hiding and how to avoid them. Their comprehensive Thanksgiving section features a ton of recipes for a complete allergen-free Thanksgiving meal! The site Kids With Food Allergies is a nationwide non-profit organization that also offers support and many recipes as well. Aside from many articles about food and food allergies, their Buyer’s Guide can help you identify products offering safety for kids (and peace of mind for parents!)

I wrote about Local Harvest last year, and thankfully they’re still around to provide all the information you need to find local, organic products for the holidays and beyond.

In the “I can’t decide what kind of pie the guests may like, so I’ll buy them all” department, Wholly Wholesome Baked Goods contain nothing artificial, irradiated, bleached or synthetic in any of their pies, cakes, cookies or pie crusts. While many of their products contain wheat and/or soy, most are eggless. They also have a dairy-free pumpkin pie as well as spelt and whole wheat pie crusts.

Browsing the on-line store of the Gluten-Free Creations Bakery is less dangerous than if you actually order. Their Holidays and Special Occasions page is a Thanksgiving dream, from the homemade pecan pie at your Thanksgiving table to the gingerbread donuts with your coffee the next morning. Each product is wheat and gluten-free (they are a GFCO certified bakery), and there are a few that are dairy-free as well. Double check by clicking on each product for a list of ingredients.

Finally, for something completely different, Apartment Therapy the kitchn went on a brief “anti-pie” dessert campaign. While I think kids won’t like most of the recipes, I may have to try this Spiced Apple Cider Sorbet (without the alcohol, duh). Don’t forget to browse the site though - they just had the “Best Pie Bake-Off” contest!

Happy weekend everyone! I don’t know about you, but I’m making this weekend extra lazy and relaxing (if that’s possible with two kids, but we’ll try it!). Here are a few of my favorite links from this past week. If you’ve seen something you think fellow readers would like to click through to, please feel free to share!

My final installment about composting was posted this week at Brita’s Filter For Good blog! My plants are thanking us - it’s amazing what composting can acheive, beyond reduce food waste!

Speaking of food, if you haven’t found Smitten Kitchen yet, you’ve probably been too hungry. Even if you’re not a foodie, the brilliant photos and recipes will make you run to your nearest farmer’s market. Run, don’t walk!

Wondering how you and your kids can get the most out of food? The Daily Green has a slideshow of the Top 10 Food Sources of Vitamin C.

Green writers make talk the talk, but we can’t always walk the walk. Beth at 5 Minutes for Going Green talk about how’s she can be a great green hypocrite. Don’t be afraid to admit it!

*photo courtesy of Smitten Kitchen.

With the end of the year fast approaching, talk about Thanksgiving and other holidays goes on and on, but I’ve been starting to hear conversations about that other important holiday - winter vacation, of course. I’m sure in this economy many people won’t be jetting off to too-faraway places, but there are still plenty of vacation spots offering value and fun for families.

Here in Florida, Disney World is the place our girls ask to go year round (are you surprised?). While we don’t head up there during peak tourist season, we do try to make a trip there once a year. Full of joyous music and people, not to mention the smiles that light up everyone’s faces, Disney always seems like a picture-perfect place to spend time with family.

The Center for Health, Environment & Justice wants you to know there’s a, um, dirty side to Disney - and you can do something about it. In their investigation of Disney’s cleaning practices, CHEJ found that while Disney uses twelve certified green cleaning products, they also use over 80 toxic cleaners in all their parks, hotels, restaurants and shops! Basically, the green cleaners are used at the animal parks (where the animals have high sensitivities to toxins). Hello?! Happiest place on Earth? I don’t know who budgets for their cleaning products, but if Disney can take care of their animals with such respect, I think they deserve to be told by all of us how unhappy we are with this arrangement.

On October 29th, CHEJ held a “Disney Go Green Campaign” National Day of Action, where activists and concerned parents called Disney and held get-togethers to collect letters and emails challenging Disney to step it up and have 100% eco-cleaners for their park. Although the big day has passed, you can still get in on the protesting. Visit CHEJ’s site and do all you can - send an email, and tell everyone you know about the smudge on Disney’s cleaning practices. Shouldn’t you and your kids stay healthy and safe while sharing the magic of all things Disney?

It may be hard to believe, but I don’t usually like to toot my own horn. This week, I just so happened to have three articles circulating the green blogosphere this weekend! All are totally different, but I hope thoroughly entertaining. Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

My monthly post for 5 Minutes for Going Green (called “Filtering for Change“) about the pros and cons of my new writing gig for Brita, as well as the benefits of choosing to filter water instead of using bottled sources. My goal was to present a balanced look at both Brita’s issues with their filters, as well as how writing for change isn’t always easy.

On that note, my new post for Brita’s Filter For Good blog is Part III of my four-part series about our composting adventures. This week I chronicle how we almost ditched our efforts to make compost because of a major setback - a nasty, all-consuming smell that we couldn’t get rid of!

Finally, Beth over at Petite Planet is going greener by moving to the greenest city in the US - Portland, Oregon. While her family is getting settled, she asked me to guest post for her wonderful site. I had so much fun writing for her, and my post, called “Sugar, Sugar“, discusses the new “natural” sugar alternatives on the market today. Are they really better, safer, and overall, sweeter, than what’s out there already?

My six-year old’s birthday party may have been full of paper plates and juice boxes (we’ll leave that for another post), but I felt good knowing her invitations were made from recycled paper - and totally unique from anything else I found. My big thank you for these awesome invites goes out to Kate Rosenthal, the brainchild behind eco-art supplies and stationery shop Stubby Pencil Studio. Based in Portland, OR, Stubby Pencil Studio is chock full of super fun and simply lovely artsy goods for kids, as well as personal paper and invites for your birthday needs (see pic above for the front of my daughter’s art party invite!).

Congrats to Stubby Pencil Studio for being featured in Cool Mom Picks’ Safer Toy Guide! To celebrate, Stubby Pencil Studio is offering $50 worth of goodies for one lucky winner! So many of SPS’s products are perfect for stocking stuffers and a winner for one Chanukah night. What will it be - Holiday Smencils, the fun-smelling pencil made from recycled newspapers; amazing metallic EcoPencils my daughter can’t get enough of; or my new favorite, wink ‘n curtsy’s eco-friendly personalized stationery for kids? The rules stay the same - please visit Stubby Pencil Studio to answer this very tough question: What product would your little artist love to get their hands on? Leave a comment here after your browse this wonderful shop! This contest will be open until next Friday, November 14th at midnight, PST. Good luck!

*Open to US residents only. One winner will be picked at random.

This contest is now closed! Thanks to everyone for entering!