I can’t get enough of momAgenda. I’ve reviewed a few of their items and I continue to sing the company’s praises. Their momAgenda planners are a lifesaver (my leopard-print one is sprawled open in front of me as I type) as is the Kitchen Folio (I can see it sitting next to my bread machine chock full of coupons, schedules and important info). So how could I resist a review of one of their newest products, the School Years organizer?

I’m not one to keep a lot of my children’s school work. Call me unsentimental or opposed to extra file cabinets, whatever the reason I’m big on keeping only the most important things from each school year. But even with the smaller collection I have it is still a bit disorganized, with pictures here, report cards there and masterpieces thrown into the mix. momAgenda’s School Years is a simple (yay, simple!) way to keep track of all the important info from each year of your child’s education, from Pre-K through 12th grade.

I received the School Years planner in aqua, the perfect color for George. Because he’s not yet in his Pre-K years I have yet to start filling it out, but I did browse through it and was amazed at how concise yet complete the information is. You have a separate 7” by 9” folder for each year of school, which holds a report card, class picture and even a writing sample or art sample. Similar to a baby book you have space to write interesting and pertinent info like age, height, weight and the all-important info like friends, activities and sports. I love that everything for every year is in one place—and it’s not a file cabinet or plastic crate. In typical momAgenda style, the School Years folder is designed to last all 13 years and then some. That means it will still be in perfect condition when you need to pull it out and show your son’s fiance his gap-toothed first-grade picture.

While you’re picking up a School Years organizer for each of your children, check out momAgenda’s other products, including their desk pads and family planners. Don’t wait until January 1st, 2010 to get organized when there’s no better time than now!—Emily

*** Giveaway! momAgenda is giving away one School Years folder, winner’s choice! Please visit the momAgenda site and leave a comment telling us what other momAgenda product(s) you love. Leave a comment with a valid email address for our drawing. We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: August 11, 2009 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

* For second entry tweet about this giveaway and leave a separate comment with the tweet’s URL.

* For a third entry blog about this giveaway and leave a separate comment with a link to your blog post.

• Congratulations to lise, the winner of the momAgenda giveaway! Thank you to everyone who took the time to read the review and add a comment. Keep reading the Daily Dish for your chance to participate in more giveaways!

By now you may have already seen the fabulous Waste-Free Lunch Kit from Kids Konserve. I’ve seen it reviewed on a handful of my favorite sites and yet I can’t get enough of this lunch kit that helps kids “choose to reuse!” And with Earth Day less than a week away, I felt this was a timely review for our Daily Dish readers.

Did you know:

• The average child generates 67 pounds of lunchtime trash per year?


• 38 billion plastic water bottles end up in landfills each year and take 700 years before they start to decompose?


• Trash is often mistaken for food and eaten by ocean life?


• 1.5 million barrels of oil are used in making plastic baggies and plastic bottles each year?

Those are some pretty sobering statistics, but one company is doing something about it—and helping kids do their part to reduce, reuse and recycle.

I received the Kids Konserve Waste-Free Lunch Kit in the super cute butterfly print. Before my girls even knew what it was they were fighting over who would use it first. I have never seen them so excited to take their lunch to school—heck, they were taking it even when it was chicken drummies on the hot-lunch menu! The kit includes a food cozy (a sort of thin, foldable plastic sandwich holder), two stainless steel round food containers, a stainless steel water bottle and cloth napkin inside a recycled cotton sack. The combination of the stainless steel and fun green and white print make for a pretty darn stylish lunch kit and a much preferable option to the old Barbie standby!

Kids Konserve uses food-grade stainless steel, the cleanest non-leaching and safest material in which you can place your food. And the reusable containers mean you’ll cut back on the use of plastic baggies, plastic water bottles, paper napkins, juice boxes…I could go on and on. That also means cutting back on the $$$ associated with all that uncool, landfill-filling stuff. I found my girls actually packed themselves healthier lunches when using the Waste-Free Lunch Kit. Go figure! And feel free to use the lunch kit items together or separetely. Those round containers are the perfect size for on-the-go snacks for little ones.

You have to check out Kids Konserve’s new Party Pak. This awesome waste-free kit is great for classrooms, picnics and birthday parties and includes (25 each): plates, tumblers, forks, knives and spoons in three cotton drawstring bags. I love the idea of not buying Costco-size packages of paper plates and plastic silverware!

Help your kids (and you) “choose to reuse” by incorporating the Waste-Free Lunch Kit from Kids Konserve into your daily school or daycare lunch routine. See? It’s not that hard to make a difference!—Emily

** Giveaway Kids Konserve is giving away one Kids Konserve lunch kit! To enter please read the story about Rose and the “Garbage Patch” and share your voice for change. All comments will be entered to win. The drawing will take place on Earth Day, April 22, 2009.

* Promotion! Kids Konserve is offering Daily Dish readers 10% off their purchase! Simply enter the code “boutique” when checking out from KidsKonserve.com. Offer expires May 31, 2009.

The container we use to store our markers often reminds me of the laundry basket on top of my dryer. Where one holds a collection of single socks missing their mates, the other holds a collection of dried-out markers in desperate need of their caps. Though my kids may enjoy the challenge of finding the handful of markers that still work, I don’t enjoy throwing away the handfuls that don’t. If your markers are suffering from MCS (missing cap syndrome) then you’re going to love The Cap Trapper from Savvy May Creations.

Designed by a mom with a teaching background The Cap Trapper is a simple yet ingenious way to keep your caps together and organized. Caps don’t go AWOL and markers don’t dry out. The flexible material allows The Cap Trapper to fit any cap size from super skinny Color Wonder markers to those chunky, perfect-for-toddler, washable (or so they claim) markers. The minute we received our Cap Trappers I had them out of the package and attached to the few working markers we had left. My kids thought they were pretty cool and I loved knowing I wouldn’t need to stock up on markers from the back-to-school bins. Though they take up a little more room in the bucket, you actually don’t need as much room since you can eliminate half your markers. (When only one out of five green pens actually work you can really downsize.)

The Cap Trapper isn’t just for home and school. Savvy May Creations also has a line of professional Cap Trappers perfect for dry erase and flip-chart markers. You can keep your dry erase markers in one place so you’ll know just where to find them when called upon to present at that last-minute meeting. No need to steal markers from the conference room down the hall because you’ll have your own, full, moist set!

With back-to-school shopping here you’ll want to add a few sets of Cap Trappers to the list; be sure to throw in one or two extra for yourself. Even if you’re not a crafter or teacher you’ll find they come in handy for organizing those pens and markers you have hidden on the top shelf (right next to your favorite pair of “good” scissors). You can purchase Cap Trappers from Amazon.com or from Little Angel Baby boutique.—Emily

** Giveaway! Savvy May Creations is giving away one two-pack of their fabulous Cap Trappers! Please leave a comment with a valid email address for our drawing. We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: August 11, 2008 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen. Good luck!

** Congratulations to Suzie G., the winner of the Cap Trapper giveaway! Thank you to everyone who took the time to read the review and add a comment. Keep reading the Daily Dish for your chance to participate in more giveaways!