Mon Mode

The Bubby has an Etsy shop. Check it out.

Cool Little Backpack and Deal

When we were in the bay area working recently, we went in to an Elephant Pharm to look around. We came across their display of SIGG water bottles and accessories. Along with them were these cool backpacks for kids. They are super sturdy, colorful, functional and come with a kids size SIGG bottle (blue with pirate frogs). Aren't the little feet at the bottom cute. The most useful feature is that the red flat in the front can pull open so you have direct access to the SIGG bottle. No need to open up the whole flat, just pull open on the little ear shapes and grab your water bottle from it's special home from the inside. The Monkey loves it and so do we. Oh, did we mention, Elephant Pharm is selling them for $25.00 and they are $45.00 on the SIGG website. What's up with that? Call Elephant Pharm and get one.

Words of Wisdom From The Bubby Part I

"All the cool things come from Sweden. I mean like, IKEA, H&M and ABBA."
Hmmm.

Doing Our Part...Because It's Important

For those who pay attention, the recent recall of toys and news regarding manufacturing practices in Asia are of no surprise. That so many goods are manufactured and even grown abroad really is a problem. Oversight becomes compromised and less than ethical decisions can have free reign. Trade deficits drive imbalances in economies from which few ultimately benefit.

The manufacturing base of the United States was once huge and powerful. Out sourcing has pared this to a shell of its former self. This is not unique to the United States either; other countries are experiencing similar changes. This is not a xenophobic assertion. There are organizations that do oversee ethical and fair business, manufacturing and farming practices. But when one creates or grows a product more “locally”, one can have more control over the result. One can take on a greater share of responsibility.

We are concerned about these issues. At nina and tom, we do everything we can to minimize our role in these issues. Increasingly and especially as we convert our entire line to organic, we are accomplishing this. Presently, with only a few exceptions, everything we produce, from the growing of the cotton to the sewing of the garment to the printing of our totally cute designs is done here, in the United States, in a fair and responsible way. We’re proud of this, because it’s important.

Dinky-Dinky-Dink-Dink

This has become The Monkey's new thing. He loves watching it and has gotten Tom to make him his very own. Only Tom's isn't quite elaborate (Oh, but he is working on it). We'll be posting a photo or video of it soon. I love the song that plays at about 4:50 minutes and because there is just something diverting about it.

Sometimes A Three Year Old Can Be So...

OK...That Was Lame but Lucky

So,
this morning I was at The Monkey's gymnastics class watching him bounce around with the other kids. As I walked to go to the other side of the trampoline, I felt my toe get caught on a mat and heard the sound of a stick snapping. I looked down and saw my left pinkie toe in a position I had never seen it in before, saying rather calmly, "Oh my gosh, I think I broke my toe." The other moms came over to look and were completely shocked. Some saying, "Oh, it looks like you just displaced it." (You think?) or "Wow, that looks broken." Amazingly, it didn't hurt then but now it does. I called Tom and he came right over. He looked at it and put it back to where it has always been. Many don't know this but Tom is a surgical tech at local hospital (two days a week, mostly so we can have health insurance during times like these) and has an amazing understanding of the anatomy. The three of us walked home and called one of the doctors he works with. I went in and had some x-rays taken and low and behold I broke my toe. What was so cool was that the doctor had said Tom had put my toe back perfectly, "I couldn't have done a better job. This is why he can't leave his job, he's too good." (well that's a whole different story for a different post). Tom was very pleased and flattered by what the doctor had said by saying, "Gosh Honey, you married a man who can sew, cook, pees sitting down and can align a fracture, perfectly. Aren't you lucky?"
Yes I am.

Something New...Poll Qustions

I guess blogger is having some problems with their poll software. Unfortunately, I do not know HTML enough to figure it out on my own, so if any one wants to answer the the questions to the left under comments, that would be great.

(Would you like to see new holiday designs? Would you like our organic shirts in long sleeves?)

What do you think?

Cool Hand-Made Goodies & Giveaway

We have added more beautifully hand-made goodies to our gift ideas section of our website. Beebee Mod's lovely custom made Lovely Sleepy Sacks, Lily Bean's amazing detailed playfood and Diddle Dumpling's exquisite baby shoes. So cute, no?

Also, we are having a giveaway of our t-shirts to five lucky customers. Just join our mailing list or make a purchase and you'll be entered to win a cool shirt. The drawing will be September 15, 2007. The winner will be notified via email.

This morning The Monkey and I went out exploring. I had intended to take him peach and raspberry picking, but alas, they were closed after a busy weekend. So...we ended driving out to Solano Lake (about 1/2 hour drive west of us) and stopped at the picnic/campground area. We walked along and threw stones at the little lake, climbed trees, and looked at and chased peacocks. Yeah, peacocks. They were wondering all over and were beautiful. After a while we headed back to Davis and stopped by the peach and raspberry stand (which was open but not for picking). The owner was just getting ready to feed the the chickens, goats, sheep and the pony (named Candy) and she asked The Monkey for some help. He obliged and did a great job. We were told that roosters will cock-a-doodle-do to let the hens and chicks know there is food, as well as, eat only when they know everyone else is finished. She also told us that there is this one hen that lays an egg everyday. After she lays the egg, she calls out to the rooster and keeps doing so until he finally comes to her and the egg, then and only then will she stop calling. Pretty funny. We then picked out our peaches and raspberries and talked about how beautiful the morning was, how great it was to be outside and how important it is for kids to be enjoying the outdoors. The owner and another customer were talking about The Dangerous Book for Boys, a book for playing in the outdoors. The book talks about the essential outdoor gear boys need, a Swiss army knife, a compass, a magnifying glass, etc. and how to make anything from a paper airplane to a fort. Pretty cool. Then I had mentioned that I've been reading (slowly) Last Child in the Woods. Which discusses children's (and adults) Nature Deficit Disorder, the criminalization of play and how we can get our children back outside free playing and using their imaginations, so they can become more in touch with nature and themselves. The ladies were interested in the book and I had felt my morning come full circle. Where we live is truly beautiful, with farm country just outside of town, a big open sky and trees everywhere. I don't want to get preachy on my soap box but I'm feeling like more and more needs to be done about kids and the environment. They are told everyday to be environmentally friendly, "be green", recycle... but how will they ever know how to save something that they feel so disconnected to because they are indoors watching T.V., playing video games, chatting on myspace, blogging, talking on their cell phones or plugged into their ipods, to name just a few activities. It can all get too overwhelming, so all Tom and I can do is raise our boys to appreciate nature and make it a part of our daily lives and hopefully they will continue doing so.

I Can't Help It

Along with being busy with work (we're having a big 25% off Back-to-School Sale, now until August 20th) having a sick Monkey (GI problems, need I say more) and being one man down (The Bubby went to Austria for 3 1/2 weeks), I thought this would help explain as to why there haven't been too many posts this month. Thanks for understanding.

Super Hot and Super Busy

It's been over 100 here in Davis, which makes things a little harder to do but we're getting work done. Hang in there we'll be coming back with our latest ideas and adventures.