She found both of them and managed to turn both of them on!
Category Archives: Toys & Games
Momentary heart failure
I was getting dinner ready when I looked in the living room and saw this:
Yes, she had gotten the pony up there by herself then climbed on and was rocking.
She wants to be close to him!
He was playing a video game and she had to be right there with him.
Iron Man and his robots
Nerd parenting!
I just told Owen there was a new Star Wars Mythbusters and he was positively gleeful.
My friend called it “Nerd parenting at its best!”
Bear angst then bear fun
It’s too heavy…but fun to fall on.
This shot is called Under Covers: Remnants of a Little Boy
When I came up to my room, I saw the guns on the floor, the block towers in the bathroom counter, Tom’s push up handle things on the bed…but I didn’t expect this when I pulled back the covers.
And my heart melted.
Why did I get them gifts with so many little pieces?
This is just one of many (race track, TinkerToys, puzzles, sorting games, ABC letter games…) where I just. wasn’t. thinking.
And this is what happens when I take the pieces out of Katie’s mouth and tell her no. It went on for MUCH longer than I recorded. And more than once. Fun.
This is what mornings are like!
Bath time!
(I’ll have to try again with the video—this one’s a bit blurry.)
“Look at this world!”
Scrubbing Owen! (It’s the mesh bag the foam cars are stored in, but she has the idea!)
New army men
I was cleaning the dining room and found the bag of army guys—which Owen was excited about. He knew they were “poop toys” and wanted them desperately so he said “Mama! I gotta go poop!” AND HE DID! Which of course I was happy about…BUT WHY CAN’T HE DO IT WITHOUT PROMISE OF TOYS?!
Anyway.
He was happy.
The eggs are back!
Owen loved these eggs at Katie’s age…and she loves them, too! I love that they’re both playing together with their drinks at their sides!
Lego parade
He’s been into parades lately. Sometimes they’re in a long line like this one…and other times they’re eight abreast. 🙂
Stuck in her pony!
Pony feeding time!
Time to ride the pony!
And then Owen trying to sit on the pony behind Katie but not quite making it, so holding on to her.
Why not Cheez Doodles?
They make just as good bumps as anything else. (They’re not real—they’re felt.) And the cats’ jingle balls are a noisy addition, too!
Look what Santa brought Gramma Jean!
Santa does know all! He knew Gramma Jean was staying with Owen, so he brought her a Lego car to assemble! So the three of us put it together!
And still more gifts…
There was such an over abundance of gifts this year that we opened some on four separate days…and today we finished them.
Owen got Tinkertoys from Grauntie Rose and Uncle Jim. (I miss the wooden toys of yesteryear, but these are cool, too.)
>>> Tinkertoy Transit Building Set
He had to open them right away!
Charlie liked the box!
First we built a windmill (one of the patterns given—I’m not that smart):
Then we tore apart the windmill to build the train. Gramma was impressed with how quickly I put it together…but I’ve had practice with Legos and this was far fewer pieces! Then I left Owen to his own imagination and he built this spachship:
Then he opened his Lego book from Doug and Marie: “OH. MY. HEAVENS.” 🙂
>>> LEGO Minifigure Year by Year: A Visual History
Ninja Turtle Trouble
Or, technically, Ninja Turtle “pop up” game. The game went on a little longer than his attention span…but he won so it was all good!
More morning toy fun
She loves to play with this game of Owen’s—it’s a bunch of letters that look like cookies!
>>> ABC Cookies
We have since moved the contents to a screw-top container! 🙂
The light sabers got him!
She’s liking her pony a bit more now!
Just a little confused as to how to correctly sit on it. 🙂
New bath toys from Grauntie Rose!
>>> Sassy Soft Swimmers Animal Characters Bath Toy, 3 Pack
Morning light saber fight!
I didn’t let Owen take a light saber up to his room at bedtime since I try not to let him have noisy toys that might wake me up in the morning…but he came in first thing and asked if he could go get it and I said yes. He said “Great! And I’ll be quiet and won’t wake up Grauntie Marge!” 🙂
After my shower, I walked in to see this.
Santa was here!
>>> Rockin’ Rider Candy 2-in-1 Pony Ride On
>>> Mindscope Twister Tracks Neon Glow in The Dark
These are all taken within about a half hour. Yes, it was chaos. And normally I wouldn’t post this many pictures, but it’s Christmas! Enjoy!
She carries her pony around like it’s a stuffed animal!
Both kids had M&Ms from their stockings for breakfast! 🙂
Of course Maggie got a present, too. The cats got jingle balls but they couldn’t care less. The do watch them once in awhile when Owen puts them on his track and they get pushed around by the cars…but I haven’t seen either of them even bat at one.
The blue ninja mask that Owen asked Santa for!
>>> Power Ranger Blue Mask
Christmas morning clutter.
Owen really likes Lambie so I got him one…
But Katie loved it more so he gave it to her!
Giving the pony a drink!
Putting a dog treat in the tunnel!
Stealing my new Tervis “Mommy’s Sippy Cup” cup! So now I have a chewed straw already!
Playing Owen’s new squirrel game!
>>> The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game
Maggie sat at Gramma’s feet and looked pathetic until she moved the laptop and freed up her lap.
Katie singing with her bear
If you listen closely at the very beginning, you can hear her singing along with the bear. 🙂
The second round of presents…
We didn’t take as many pictures this time, as the kids spent more time playing with old and new toys among unwrapping gifts.
Katie liked the wood vegetables from Aunt Marie and Uncle Doug.
And her new singing bear from Grauntie Marge:
And Owen LOVED his Mecha-Pede from Grauntie Marge. It really is quite cool—it has pincers and a tail, it lights up, and the eyes glow! And it’s remote-controlled!
Time to play with the new toys!
Katie’s new bear laptop from Gramma Jean.
And Owen’s hand-me-down Jack-in-the-Box!
The first round of presents…
EDITED TO ADD A FEW OF GRAMMA JEAN’S PICTURES! BE SURE TO LOOK THROUGH THE POST AGAIN!
Since there were SOOOO many presents under the tree before Santa even got here, we decided to let the kids open some. Owen was SUPER excited and Katie quickly got into the spirit—she is actually really quite good at opening presents!
Let’s just say once the first present was opened, it was pretty much chaos. I had planned to take videos for Tom…but once things got started, it was all I could do to keep snapping pics. I feel bad because I missed a really great opening by Owen (details later) but between two kids opening presents at the same time, each of them wanting to play with each other’s things (and not their own), mini tantrums from both when they didn’t get their way, Owen just wanting to blow through all his presents without actually taking even five seconds to look at what he just opened…I was glad I got some pictures.
Katie loves opening clothes…because of course she wants to put them on right away. It might be pants on her arms or a PJ top on her legs, but she doesn’t care.
Gramma Jean bought the kids a sandwich-making kit and both had a blast with it. Owen made GJ a lovely peanut butter and ketchup sandwich! I think they played with it for 10-15 minutes before wanting to open more presents!
Then Owen opened the cash register from Grannie and Papa…and he was EXCITED!
And of course Katie LOVED it, too, because it made noise! And she figured out how to get the drawer open in about three seconds.
Helping Owen open his next present.
Katie co-opting Owen’s gift. She got one of her own shortly thereafter. 🙂
Playing in the cash register box!
And then Owen grabbed (what I knew was) the Doc McStuffins kit. I had wanted to record it because I knew he would be super exited about it. But before I could tell him to wait a minute, he was ripping it open.
And of course Katie recognized what it was and was immediately interested, too!
He was SO damn cute. As he was opening it, he says “OH…MY…HEAVENS! This is my most favorite thing ever!” or something very close to that. (Of course I was sure I would remember it, but of course I didn’t.) He just went on and on about how great it was while I was opening it and taking everything out. And the doll! It talks! (I hadn’t realized that.) So that was exciting. And Katie wanted everything and Owen didn’t want her to touch any of it. (He eventually relented.)
Giving Grauntie Marge a check-up!
Posing with his new doctor’s bag.
My favorite picture of the night!
Katie opening the hand-me-down Elmo. She loves Elmo, so I couldn’t wait for her to see him. She did like him, but the batteries were mostly shot so he wasn’t very exciting at first. A quick change and he was back up to speed…then I realized he had a broken arm. But she loved watching him and carrying him around.
Owen playing with Katie’s school bus. Funny story. I actually got it for Owen A LONG time ago and put it in his closet and forgot about it. Then he didn’t really need it so I thought I’d save it for Katie but left it in his closet. Fast forward to about four days ago when I happened to have his closet open and he said “Mom! I want that school bus!” So on the spot I decided it would be for Katie, and explained how we give gifts to people we love and that we know they’d like, so why don’t we give this to Katie? He accepted that, so then we wrapped it together—our first wrapping attempt. It didn’t go too badly, though I apparently didn’t stress enough that we keep gifts SECRET because he told Katie it was a school bus when she saw it under the tree. 🙂
Opening a big squishy package from Grannie and Papa!
He had no idea what it was, other than he was excited it was Sparty. So I reminded him that he liked to curl up/hide in the pillowcases that Grannie had made him, so she had told him she was going to make him an Owen-sized bag! Oh my, yes, he remembered, then he was SUPER EXCITED!
Someone else liked it, too!
Owen wanted us all to fit in the sack but we didn’t quite fit so just the kids were in it! (This is the only family picture we ended up getting!)
Someone wasn’t happy that we told her she couldn’t play with Owen’s Doc McStuffins doll. She was also TIRED as it was past her bedtime.
A cookie alphabet matching/spelling game from Grandma Marsha!
Serious Katie opening a present. You can tell she’s concentrating because her tongue is out.
Not a great pic, but I left it in so you can see how long her bangs are! This is why she wears pig tails all the time (but tonight was bath night).
Minion PJs from Gramma Jean!
And of course Katie co-opted them to put on!
A Christmas flap book from Grandma Marsha!
Magformers from Grandma Marsha!
A thank you hug!
Finally! Bedtime milk with Gramma…wearing a tote bag of Grauntie Marge’s!
Both kids went to bed about 30-45 minutes later than normal, and both were TIRED even though neither claimed to be. But it was super fun and I’m glad we did it. The kids loved most everything and I did a pretty good job shopping for the grandparents! There are still more pre-Santa presents to open, but that will come tomorrow…
He was so excited to play Candyland!
Lego sorting day!
After we sorted them all, we had a few battles (swords and knives vs. guns and lasers, ditto, ditto, girls vs. boys) and played with Gramma Jean.
Hi-yah!
Out of nowhere, Katie picked up Owen’s sword: