Toys my Boys are Loving Right Now!

I am so thankful for our big back yard and the fact this pandemic hit during the best weather in Southern Texas! I can’t imagine this hitting in July. We would be stuck in the house all day!

I thought I would share some of the toys my boys are playing the most with right now. My oldest is 5 1/2 and the youngest is 20 months. These toys are great for both ages.

Duplos

G got this Duplo Set when he was around a year old for Christmas. This is the exact set we have, but doesn’t seem to be available on Amazon. There are lots of other sets to choose from - 1 / 2 / 3

G still plays with these all the time! Cash loves them too. They like to build towers, stacking them on top of each other, build a sky scraper and they ask me to build the exact items on the box!  One evening I took this entire box and dumped them in the bathtub with the boys. They LOVED it!!! The legos got a good wash and the boys had a blast!

Picasso Tiles

My boys LOVE these! They are a magnetic tile that stick together. I should buy 1 more set because there is a lot of fighting over them. G loves to make buildings for his star war characters and dinosaurs.

Cash loves when someone builds something to smash it down. A lot of times this causes problems because Cash doesn’t understand G just spent 10 min making his creation perfect. I try to make a few little buildings for Cash to crash, so he leaves brother alone.

A friend bought these for the boys for Christmas. They are played with every single day! I have added to their wish lists the wheels to be able to make cars with the tiles. I should probably add another set of these to the wish list too.

Magformers

Apparently building items are the best Christmas gifts because all of our sets were gifts. lol These are so magnetic and work with the Picasso tiles. Often times we have both sets out to build large creations as G likes to call them.

It’s nice these sets interact with each other, so the kids can create large things.

Nugget Comfort

I heard about the Nugget from a friend who ordered one last year. I wanted to get one for the boys for Christmas. Well everyone else had that same idea. I was able to get ours around February. Another great item I am so happy we have during this time! 

I bought the koala gray color. We keep it in the boys room against the wall when it's not being used. The boys are able to drag it out on their own. They practice their ninja and gym moves on it. We build houses, use it to climb, jump, flips, relax and sleep on. It's actually REALLY comfortable to sleep on. 

If you want a Nugget it's going to be very difficult to get one. They are closed during the pandemic, but you can get on their back order list. I was able to get one by ordering one in December on their back order and we received it about 6 weeks later. They did say it would take up to 14 weeks for delivery, but we got it much faster. They run about $250. I can see us using this for years! This is one of my favorite purchases we have made for the boys in the past year. 

Outdoor Toys

Bubble flash light

The boys love bubbles!!! I found this adorable bubble flash light at Target for Easter. This is a perfect toy for Cash. He can easily use it and loves it. 

Big Wheel

When the grandkids on Art’s side of the family turn 2 Art’s parents buy them all a big wheel  car. G picked out a fire truck. We moved this car across the country and man am I glad we did. We had nooooo yard for this thing in California. He could go in a circle in our back yard or down the sidewalk. It wasn’t used that much.

Well now we have a huge yard! G drives it and Cash rides in it. G has been trying to give Cash driving lessons. It’s rather entertaining to watch.

I feel I’ve been able to teach them a lot of vehicle safety with the fire truck. Why we need to look all around before we back up. Why it’s important to sit down when someone else is driving. How doors are always kept shut when driving. All of these things sound like something a mom is yelling at teenagers. Lord help me!!!

Solo Cups

Veronika from Veronika’s Blushing posted on Instagram her kids playing with solo cups and building towers. I ordered a big bag from Amazon for around $7. The kids love to stack them up and crash them down with super hero’s or drive their cars into them.

One night I built a tower around the coffee table for them to wake up too. They love finding things I’ve built them the next morning. 

What have you been doing to keep your kids entertained during this pandemic? Are there certain toys your kids have played with for years? 

I'm Back!

I have realized blogging goes to the back burner when I have a baby. When I had G I took a break too. It takes a little while to find your groove and be able to do it all again. 

I took a break from social media over Good Friday and Easter. It was really helpful to me to just give my brain a break from all the scrolling. It helped me come up with some things I wanted to share and realize I do miss blogging. I just haven't been able to fit it in. When Cash was first born I felt all I did was sit and nurse all day long. It's true that is about all I did. I was constantly feeding him. 

Then we packed up all our belongings and moved from California to Texas during the Christmas season. When I think back to all that I am like how in the world did we do all that? Well it wasn't easy, there was plenty of stress, anxiety, tears and frustration. My only tip is do not move during Christmas with kids. Putting your house on the market while trying to keep it decluttered during Christmas was a major struggle.

That wasn't our timing for the move. We had been trying to move for 6 months. The entire move was God's timing. We had been trying to move to Sacramento prior to Cash being born. It just didn't happen. I remember being sooooo frustrated because nothing was working out. The middle of September I went in for more tests. I remember thinking is there a reason why the Sac move isn't happening before I went in for tests? I pushed that thought away because things would be the same. Normally my doctor emails me with the results within a day - things are the same we will do scans again in a year, but that email didn't come. I was just going to contact her to see what was going on. She called me a few days after the scans. When I saw her calling I knew it wasn't good. There were new spots and some were growing. I remember getting off the couch and going to my bedroom to talk to her. I had a baby 6 weeks old. How could this be happening?  We decided to have a baby because things have been so stable. 

I took a week after that news and just decided California wasn't an option for us anymore. If I wanted to be with the best doctors for my cancer we needed to move by MD Anderson. Once we made a decision things started happening. We put our house on the market - sold it in 6 days - had a bidding war over it. We flew to Texas to look for a house and Art to interview for 2 jobs. We looked at 34 hours in 2 days. As we got on an airplane headed back to CA we put an offer in on a house. Art had 2 job offers. It was going so fast! 

While all this was happening I remember thinking don't push doors open. If a door isn't opening let it be. I had spent so much time praying over all these changes. I had put it all in God's hands to handle. In the past when I have pushed to get things done things have become a mess. This time I was impatiently patient. It was really hard to be patient. 

I plan to write a blog post on my experience with MD Anderson and the care I have received since we moved. It's TRULY amazing!!!! 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thursday! Maybe today you needed to hear to just be impatiently patient. It's ok to be frustrated with the fact everything isn't working out! 

Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!!! 

Christmas Decor

I usually decorate for Christmas the weekend after Thanksgiving. This year though I wanted my house decorated before my sister arrived a week before Thanksgiving. I think going forward I am going to decorate before Thanksgiving. I LOVE having the decorations up. It just makes things so much more festive. G helped me decorate the tree! He has a blast putting the ornaments on the tree! 

G did a great job helping me put the ribbon around the tree! 

A lot of the ornaments were put in one place. I had to move a couple, so we didn't have clumps of ornaments. lol I tried to just let him do it himself or suggest other areas so they were spread out. Next year I would like to put a little tree up in his room. I will let him do all the decorating himself, however he wants it done. 

I bought this white Santa after the holidays one year. It is one of my favorite items. I just love that it is one solid color. The little white house on my shelf came from the dollar bin at Target. Depending on the Target some had a lot and others had none. I had to hunt for these. 

I added a few decorations above the toys. 

G knows we don't touch the decorations. One of his friends was playing with a bell. He said C that is a decoration we don't play with those. YES! I am glad he knows he shouldn't play with them and tells others not to play with decorations too!

When do you decorate your house for the holidays? 

Grandparents Gift Guide

One of the best things ever invented was the Amazon Wish Lists!!!! My side of the family we all have a running wish list. It's wonderful to be able to go to the list and buy something the person actually wants. It's also fun to just send them a gift expectantly too! 

What do you buy grandparents for Christmas? I am all about not buying "stuff" people are going to end up throwing in a corner or in a closet until they decide to donate it. 

Have the grand kids make a video for the grandparents. You could do one for each. Here are some cute questions you could ask the kids to answer. 

• What makes Grandma/Grandpa happy?
• What is Grandma/Grandpa favorite food?
• How old is Grandma/Grandpa?
• What does Grandma/Grandpa do when you aren't at their house?
• What makes Grandma/Grandpa laugh?
• What do you and Grandma/Grandpa do together?
• What do you love most about Grandma/Grandpa?

My mother in law loves the Shutterfly calendars. I take pictures from over the past year and make her one every year. This helps because it is one item I know she will love it!

Who doesn't love a wonderful massage? Most people do! A spa day would be amazing. A massage, pedicure and/or facial. Everyone needs to relax and especially after the holidays!!!

Gift Cards! 

• Amazon Gift Cards!!! These are great for everyone! That way they can buy what they want. Some grandparents love their Kindle, so they can buy more books. Amazon offers every thing imaginable, so this is a great idea for anyone. 
• My dad always needs things and wants things from Tractor Supply. We bought him a gift card for his birthday. He called to tell us everything he bought with it. He liked being able to buy what he wanted and getting deals on things. If you know of your families favorite store this would be a great option.
• Coffee or restaurant gift cards

The possibilities are endless when it comes to gift cards! 

I hope this gives you some different ideas for your parents. Start making your list to get your Christmas shopping completed! 

Widmer World A Must See!!!

If you live in Nor Cal next year add Widmer World in Pleasanton to your list of places to visit! It is adorable! We went to visit Widmer World on December 23 with our friends. George loved it! He is so good about waiting in line to get into places. They also had Santa, so George was so excited to see Ho one more time. The line to tour the back yard was about a 15 minute wait. It was well worth the wait. 

This place has their entire backyard set up with numerous Christmas displays. One display had Dept 56 houses, another had all Disney characters, santas, snowmen etc. It was a huge backyard for California standards and it was jam packed! The owners said it takes them at least 2 months to set up the entire backyard. 

Christmas Cookie Decorating

We had some friends over to decorate cookies the week before Christmas. G decorated two cookies then insisted he needed to eat them. After he had ate them he grabbed another one to decorate. He wanted to eat a third one. I told him no more cookies. .He decided he was done if he couldn't keep eating cookies. lol 

I had sprinkles all over the dining room! He had a blast, so it was worth the mess. 

He was showing me where his cookie was - in his mouf. 

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was magical with our little boy! He was so excited about all the presents! He woke up and couldn't believe Ho brought more gifts. He opened a couple gifts, got his bus and was done opening gifts for awhile. He was so excited over this little Playmobile yellow bus. When you would ask him what he wanted for Christmas he would tell you a garbage truck, bus or choo choo. He got everything he asked for plus a lot more. 

Garbage Truck!

Food Truck like No No's. He called the man from the truck No No. 

He was fixing the wall with his new drill he got from Ho Ho. He was going around the house drilling away. 

No No and Pa bought him a suitcase, so he can have one like Momma and Da Da. 

I felt I cut back this year on gifts. I even returned some things because I just felt there was too much. I was glad I took some stuff back. He got sooooo much from all the family. Next year I think we will even cut back a little more. He was happy with everything he got, but he would have been happy with  a little too. 

Merry Christmas!

Wordless Wednesday

Christmas Parade!

The day after the Christmas tree lighting in Los Gatos they had a Christmas parade! This town is just my kinda place with Christmas related events! George loved the parade! He waved at the people in the parade like crazy! To start off the parade we took turns holding him on our shoulders. 

There were people in front of us with a blanket and chairs. They offered to let us sit with them. So very nice! George made himself at home, grabbed a chair and enjoyed the parade! We lasted about an hour and a half. The parade still had almost 100 more floats. I was freezing and hungry by this time, so I suggested we leave. George was not happy we left. He was having a blast! It always amazes me how he will sit for a parade. He rarely has time to ever sit still, but he will gladly watch a parade. 

Christmas Tree Lighting!

We went to Los Gatos tree lighting a couple weekends back. It was the first time any of us have attended a tree lighting. It was cute! They had some snow, Christmas carols, tree lighting and then Ho (Santa) came to see all the kids. George was sooooo excited to see Ho! He kept waving and pointing. 

I love that George is so into Christmas! He gets so excited over Christmas things. I was hoping he would have my excitement for the holidays. I love all holidays! Christmas is extra special to us because it brought us our little miracle boy! 

Ho!

George is VERY into Ho (Santa) this year! He loved decorating the house for Christmas. I have a pair of Santa boots I put my the fireplace each year. He woke up from his nap after I put them out and was looking around the house for Ho! Ho was supposed to be in our house since he left his boots by the fireplace. 

We took him to see Ho a couple weeks ago. He was so excited to see him. Waving, yelling HI and kept pointing saying Ho. He was very patient and waited in line for almost an hour. We got there early too! 

Here he is smiling as we are next in line to see Santa. He just loved Santa!

When we got up to see Ho he wasn't too sure. I figured we had waited in line for long enough these Santa folks were going to have to give us a few minutes to let him warm up. Santa gave him a sticker. He sat on his lap, but wouldn't smile for pictures. I thought maybe he would scream like he did with the Easter Bunny. By the way when he sees a picture of the Easter Bunny he calls it a mouse. 

Santa gave him this cute hat! He had to wear it right away!