Happy Thanksgiving: From Our Family To Yours!

Let us remember the true meaning
Of Thanksgiving.
As we see the beauty
Of autumn, let us acknowledge
The many blessings
Which are ours.
Let us think of our families
And friends...
And let us give thanks in our hearts.
 - Unknown

The Blogosphere

I wanted to share this adorable entry from a fellow blogger: Tiny Things, Big Party!.  Thank you, Gay!

Success Starts With Make Believe!

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a forum focusing on children and play.  One of the speakers, Cindy Popovich from University of Pittsburgh's School of Education, shared numerous newspaper and magazine clippings she has collected over the past 25 years highlighting society's love-hate relationship with "play."  As each generation of parents seeks to find the "perfect" mix of early childhood education and play, advertisers bombard us with headlines on how to increase our children's IQ - and the benefits of exposing them to the latest "educational" gadget at an earlier and earlier age. 

But the research tells a drastically different story: the creative, imaginative world of make-believe is the single biggest factor in future adult success.  And, at least in this case, more is better! Role-playing, dressing up, socializing with other children in pretend scenarios is, hands down, the best and most enduring education your child can receive.

So, here's to extinguishing imaginary fires, hosting tea parties with your favorite teddy bears as guests, and playing school with the kids in the neighborhood.  The world of "make believe" holds the key to happy, well-adjusted, successful adults.

When Disney comes knocking.

When you're asked by Disney to develop a line of playhouses that represents their character properties, it makes you think.  How can a bunch of carpenters from Finleyville, PA create anything worthy of carrying the Disney logo?  But with the planning and cooperation of a little playhouse studio and the artistry and imagineering of the world's most renowned name in children's entertainment, you get it done. Trading concepts, ideas, images, and details, we worked together for months before introducing the officially licensed Disney playhouses at D-23, an annual gathering Disney fanatics hold each September in Anaheim, CA.  The reaction was fantastic. Fans, media and retail professionals admired and were in awe of Mickey's Diner and Snow White's Cottage. Constant photo flashes turned our display into the photo op of the event (that's not bad considering we shared the spotlight with the likes of Crayola and Lego, not to mention John Travolta and Johnny Depp).

After three days of oooohing and aaaahing, we felt confident we had achieved our goal of creating playhouses for Disney of which even Walt would have been proud.