After slipping on a plastic mat with suction cups that didn't grip the tub, I bought non-slip shower treads on Amazon. They're made by a company called SlipX Solutions. Several posters on GW recommended them. They're fabulous: clear, not too visible, clean easily, and best of all provide excellent traction. I highly recommend them.

We don't keep those things in the kids rooms. We have a "craft supply" drawer in the kitchen. It's actually a set of rubbermaid storage drawers that fit under the cabinet. That way I know when those things are out. That limits the incidents. When they do happen, coloring of any kind is forbidden for a couple days. To make sure, the box gets put up in a high place. We haven't had too many incidents, but arts and crafts, even coloring, is just something I don't let my kids do undersupervised at age 3. Meanwhile, if you have plans to paint any walls in the near future, I suggest semi-gloss. I know a lot of people prefer the look of flat paint, but you can't wash fingerprints much less marker off of it. Semi-gloss, though, a baby wipe will clean off just about anything. We painted everything in semi-gloss in our old house, now the new house is entirely flat and the fingerprints are showing up already! Semi-gloss paint job is on our to do list!

Thanks for the compliments. It was really easy. I did buy the pattern, it was less than $10. I'll bring the pattern down and post whose it is, I think it was clothworks, but I'm not sure that might be the purse for the 21 year old niece that I'm working on now. Dragongoddess - 2 1/2 hrs is about right. The pattern had you quilt the fabric first, then attach the crayon pockets and assemble the bag. I took this as an opportunity to practice my free motion quilting (which stinks but what 5 year old cares). BBL- Tech

Red, Mine went out in the mail today, so you'll have them tomorrow or the next day....I also included the brown strings and 2 lotto blocks...I drive them crazy at our PO.... AND, when I mailed that package, I picked up my flag blocks...What a treat, gorgeous blocks, ladies! Dorothy