Archive for the ‘Toys’ Category

Christmas in July

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

It’s important to test your snowman kits BEFORE winter arrives.

Praise Jesus!

Sunday, July 3rd, 2011

Flora’s church. All are welcome.

Top of The Heap

Sunday, July 3rd, 2011

Looks who’s at the top of the heap.

King Of The Castle

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

Hands down my favorite toy when I was little was my Fisher Price Castle, hence why I still have it. It has a secret hiding spot behind the stairs, a hidden door in back of the cave, and a trap door on the floor of the top that leads to the dungeon. Charley has repurposed it for his dinosaurs and Star Wars guys, and sometimes you can even find an astronaut hanging out in there, too. And, sometimes a cat.

View Charley’s “F.P. Castle” photos

Randomness

Tuesday, March 1st, 2011

“Kitchen Help”

“Ice Cream for Two”

Wheels

Friday, January 14th, 2011

The big girl gets a big girl ride for her birthday. Of course it is pink. And being that it is January in New England, she’s been practicing in the house!

BIG Bubbles

Sunday, August 8th, 2010

Apparently they make for a nice shampoo, too.

Sheepskin

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

Charley got a “pih-peht” (pillow pet) for his birthday, and he carries it around with him everywhere. I couldn’t resist getting him some of the limited edition Huggies Jean diapers and taking some nakey shots of him on the pillow. BTW, these pics are taken with our Canon PowerShot SD4000. They’ve improved the quality of low-light shots, making it not just an outdoor camera anymore. It’s nice to have a smaller camera again for when I don’t want to lug the Nikon D80.

View Charley’s “Pillow Pet” photos

New Exhibit

Monday, July 5th, 2010

Greta finds a place in Flora’s zoo.

Play Zoo

Monday, June 21st, 2010

Flora’s new favorite thing is to “play zoo.” We build cages with every size lego and block, partition the animals, and repair the set up over and over after Charley gets in on the action. It costs two dollars to get in, none of the animals are mean (including the dinosaurs), they have a pool and diving board at their disposal, and often have inter-species families!

Lego

Sunday, May 30th, 2010

I think Flora inherited Marty’s lego gene — she built the house (aka the deck) above all by herself while Charley played with Daddy’s creations.

Bubble Machine

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

Rah Rah Rusty

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

Flora took her High School Musical Build-A-Bear outfit off the bear and put it on Rusty. She then gave him a hairstyle. Rusty has been sporting this look for a couple of weeks, and is now a girl, according to Flora.

The Retro Housewife

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

We gave Flora a retro play kitchen for her big birthday gift — which took two hours and four adults to put together — but decidedly well worth the effort. Our vintage play dishes are right at home now, and little Miss Housewife can serve us up some mean cupcakes.

View Flora’s “Retro Kitchen” photos

Stuck On You

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

I started a sticker chart for Flora a couple weeks ago so she could earn stickers for doing good jobs during her most difficult times: getting dressed and ready, drop-off at school, playing well with friends and Charley, and going to bed. We call it her Big Girl Chart, but sometimes she calls it her “Job Chart.” At the end of the week, we count up all her stickers. She loves to chose from her many stickers and place them on the chart (hung right in the kitchen for maximum visibility), but more importantly, she has been SO much more cooperative and SO much less defiant since we started! I found some extra special googley eye Halloween stickers at Target, and she loves to earn one of those for her hardest transition … getting dressed (clothes must be all cotton (no jeans), no buttons anywhere, no ruffles, yet can’t be plain, preferably a dress, and of course must be pink. Recently she added “no cats.” Brother.) I, myself, am a seasoned sticker lover, and at the height of the sticker craze, I was in 6th grade with quite a collection. At recess, my classmates and I would trade, although I remember never wanting to let go of many of my stickers. My most coveted — the puffy Captain Caveman sticker (bottom right). Yes, I still have my sticker collection, and my Captain Caveman — one of the few things I saved from years past. I’m going to scan in others to share — they are just too good not to!

John Deere

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

See, in these parts, I’m what you call a corn-fed, midwestern boy.

Bubbles

Monday, May 4th, 2009

Mommy had to work an extra day this week, so I got to hang out with Charley and his sitter, Diane, today. Diane brought us new bubbles to play with, and I had a great time experimenting with all the different wands and spinning around and around making bubbles.

View Flora’s “Bubbles” photos

Silly Sleeping Bags

Saturday, April 18th, 2009

The shipping box was almost as fun as the new sleeping bags!

View Flora and Charley’s “Sleeping Bags” photos

Charley’s Pre-Harley Days

Sunday, April 5th, 2009

Wash My Ride

Sunday, March 15th, 2009

After Flora washed her trike, she learned how to pedal in the driveway, and was tickled pink at her new accomplishment. She is very into being a BIG girl, and doing everything “by myshelf!”

Eight Months Old

Friday, February 20th, 2009

And for my next number, a little tune by Rachmaninoff.

View Charley’s “Rachmaninoff” photos

1 Luftballoon

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

MMMM, Plastic

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008

No toy is too big for me to taste-test. MMMM, plastic.

“Love” The Panda

Sunday, July 6th, 2008

Hugging Love 2

Michelle Kindig, my oldest and dearest friend, has taken up knitting (in all her spare time between taking care of and home-schooling her two little ones!) and made this very special panda bear for big sister, Flora. We named him “Love” because he has a little, red heart sewn onto his chest. As you can see, Flora really liked her surprise. She said, “I love him so much” and asked, “Who gave him to me?” and later said, “I want to talk to Michelle on Tuesday.” Heartfelt thanks to Michelle for all the time she spent learning how to make a most adorable and unique bear — we’ll cherish him always!

View Flora’s “Love the Panda” photos

New Trike

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

New Trike 3

I got a new trike this past Christmas, but being that I live in New England, Dad was just able to put it together and bust it out this weekend. It was worth the wait — what fun to zoom around the neighborhood, ding the bell, and take brown bear for a ride!

View Flora’s “New Trike and Climber” photos