Portland Parents

Pass It On started out as a children’s consignment sale held in Hillsboro, Oregon twice a year, in the spring and in the fall. We provide an opportunity for parents to sell gently used (and new) baby, kids, and maternity clothes, plus toys, furniture, equipment, and more.Pass It On started out as a children’s consignment sale held in Hillsboro, Oregon twice a year, in the spring and in the fall. We provide an opportunity for parents to sell gently used (and new) baby, kids, and maternity clothes, plus toys, furniture, equipment, and more.

They’re having a big sale this week — August 15th and 16. Check out their site for more information!

Large Animal Games has some fun toys to play with. A “mustachr” to add doodles to your online photos, for instance. And they have a nice “sharing” flash tool to display your creation.

If you want something more substantial than one of their widgets, they also have full games you can download or play in your browser. Definately something to take a look at; you could spend a few hours playing at their site.

If you’re as busy as we are this summer, you might welcome a chance to push a button and order your school supplies for your kid — and have them delivered “automagically” to their classroom. If your kid is in one of these elementary schools: Ainsworth, Alameda, Bridlemile, Laurelhurst, Rieke and Stephenson, they’re eligible for a pilot program at “Schoolhouse Supplies Online.” For a first grader at Alameda, this includes :

1. 2 boxes 24 count crayons Crayola
2. 1 pair 5″ blunt scissors Fiskars
3. 1 box 8 count washable thick markers Crayola Classic
4. 1 bottle 8 oz. white School glue Elmer’s
5. 1 box Baby wipes
6. 1 ream Copy paper
7. 12 Glue stick (6 gram) Elmer’s
8. 2 boxes Kleenex Kleenex
9. 2 Large erasers Pink Pearl
10. 24 Pre-sharpened #2 yellow pencils
11. 1 roll Scotch tape Scotch
12. 1 Small school supply box
13. 1 set Watercolor paints (16 color, washable) Crayola

This does not include a few “personal” items like headphones and a sturdy backpack; but you can see how the shopping’s done all at once. And because it’s bought in bulk, the savings are, well, if not passed on to you, the non profit Schoolhouse Supplies organization supplies school supplies for the teachers at no cost.

Highly Recommended!

A recent treat was a delivery of Siente, night songs from around the world.

I listen to a wide variety of music; classic rock to country to punk, to classical to hard heavy metal. The voice of Patrice O’Neill and the guitar of Hilary Field on this album combine in a beautiful harmony. It is a very relaxing CD and my toddler liked it a lot, too. My favorite lullaby on it is probably the Irish “Codail A Leanbh,” although I didn’t understand any of the words. The sense of peace and quiet radiates through the voice.

If you’re a fan of role-playing games, I urge you to try out “Chore Wars.” It’s a site where you can create a character for each person in your house ( we set one up for Mom, Dad, and our oldest child). You band together as a “party of adventurers” and everyone creates “adventures.” (Subject to approval from the party leader; you probably want one of the parents to issue the party invites ).

Each adventure is worth an assortment of XP and treasure, defined by the adventure creator ( edited by the party leader ). Each adventure can be rated in terms of what “stat” (strength, intelligence, et cetera) is important, and those stats affect the characters that complete them.

For instance, if you have a high intelligence requirement for “paying the bills” then obviously the person who is paying the bills must have a high intelligence. Their stat block will be altered accordingly.

Finally, when the chores are complete, you can win treasure; gold coins or random items. In this treasure, you can assign real-world “loot” as well, so there’s a chance that someone can win a trip to the movies for doing their chores.

Our party is called “The Menagerie.” Who’s your party?