Toys, Toys, Toys!

School has started!  The weather is getting cooler. Christmas will be here before I know it.  I have actually started a list of things that I want for gifts for the kids.  This year, I am hoping that we don't wait to the last minute and end up not really getting the things we want.  I think I want to get some more car toys and some older doll house toys as well as some duplo blocks.  The twins are playing with some toy doll house pieces with EI and they seem to really like it.  I am also thinking that I want to get a few more dolls.  I had gone out looking for a Barbie doll for my daughter and even though I got so many thoughts about Barbie not being an issue for girls, when I looked them they were just so skanky and I couldn't spend $20 on a barbie for a 2 1/2 year old.  As I looked for something that I felt was more appropriate, I found a small doll that was bigger than a barbie, but still small enough for a 2 1/2 year old to carry around.  It came with a couple of changes of clothes that snap on to the doll and there are a few different dolls to choose from.  The kids love this doll and it was such a good choice.

Now, with Christmas approaching faster than I care to admit, I really need to weed through a lot of their toys and get rid of things that they wither don't want to play with, or that seem too young for them.  That way I can make room for new toys and hopefully keep a cleaner more organized house.

I am really looking for toys that are going to have a developmental benefit to the kids.  I am not crazed about the type of toys that they get, but I do want to make sure that they actually do stimulate some learning.  One of my goals is to also make a few gifts for them.  I am hoping that I can make some things to go along with toys that they will potentially get for Christmas.  A friend of mine made a great map quilt for her kids to play with their cars.  I am thinking of something like that, or maybe even just a simple case for the kids to carry their cars in.  I want to make a doll or 2 or 3, their quilts, and on and on and on.  I have way to many thoughts and not enough time to complete them.  I am hoping to have a few travel projects so that I can take them with me, for example when there is down time at work.  Right now, I need to utilize what ever time I can find to complete my projects!

Amy

Silhouettes

Thank you http://sotorrifictwins.blogspot.com for this fabulous idea!  I'm actually doing my second post of the day.  This is the gift for my mom.  I was thinking of doing a scrapbook, but I just don't have time.  This is such a great idea and so quick too.

Michael, Eva Rose, and Thomas

Michael (Excuse the flash)

Eva Rose

Thomas

I think they came out really good, and I know my mom will love them!

Happy Holidays!

Amy

Handmade Christmas Update

My Christmas cards are pretty much all stuffed and ready to be mailed.  No, I did not make them myself, but I did pick out the pictures and the card myself.

I have completed 4 felt eggs and a few felt bow tie pastas for the kids for Christmas.  I have a few Oreo looking cookies that still need to be sewn.  I have a few other cookie to cut out and sew and I still want to decide on a few other felt food items for their Christmas gifts.  I really need to move on to making aprons to go along with the food as well as some scrubs to go along with the doctor kit that I bought them.  I also want to make a doll for Eva Rose and something else for the boys.

I have my silhouette patterns to cut out for my mom's gift.  I need to get together an album of the kids for my grandmother (which is probably something I should do sooner than later since she is in a nursing home and is declining and is out of state).  I have a few wine sacks to sew and I would love to make some wine bottle stoppers to go along with them.

As you can see I have way too many projects and so not enough time to complete them.  I'll probably have to hold off on some of the kids gifts so that I can get the others done.  Someday, I'll learn not to wait until the last minute, but wait in 37 years I haven't learned it yet.  I probably shouldn't hold my breath, but it is something to strive for!

Happy Holidays,
Amy

Sleep and Christmas

Hopefully by writing this, I am not jinxing myself.  Michael has had almost 1 week of sleeping through the night (with a little of going in and rubbing the head or the back but only 1 out of the bed nights).  The only night that he woke and was uinable to be quieted in his bed was the only night that I didn't go in and check on him.  In the past he has always fought having a blanket on so I haven't been putting it on him figuring he's like his dad and tends to like to sleep on the cooler side.  He has since started letting me put the blanket on him and it seems to make a huge difference.  Yeah, I know, bad mom.  I should have figured this out sooner, except like I said he would always kick the blanket off almost immediately.  I have to admit that the one night that I had to take him out of his room, not only did I have an upset stomach, but he sounded like he was going to get sick also (we've also been fighting sickness in our house as well as a lot of stomach things going around).  Let's hope that this continues and we all get some good much needed rest.

On another note, Christmas is 12 days away.  Can you believe it?  This will be our second Christmas as a family of five.  I think the kids are going to love getting presents this year.  I'm not sure that they are going to get Santa, but gifts should be much more fun.  This year, we are giving them some new toys and some recycled toys that were given to us.  Given that we got so many toys given to us, they are getting a ton of things.  They would not be getting nearly as many things as they are if we had to buy everything.  We are getting them some new toys.  I got 3 Mr. Potato Heads.  Mainly, I got these because I am trying to get gifts that will help with their speech so I was looking at getting things that EI (early intervention used) and also the Potato Heads are from Toy Story, which they love!  I also got them some puppets, some blocks, and a doctors kit.  I am making them some things also.  I had wanted to try to make sure that they got something handmade every year, but this is the first year that I am able to do it.  I have started on some felt food.  So far I have eggs and farfalle pasta.  I want to make a few more things (even though I asked for play food for Christmas).  I also want to make aprons for the kids and maybe even some kid sized scrubs if I can get around to it.  I am trying to have a somewhat handmade Christmas this year.  I am, as usual, last minute susie here, but I know that the things I want to make for everyone, can get done by Christmas.  My friend over at http://firstcametwins.com/ has inspired me to get my butt moving and make things.  I need to stop stting and vegging out at the TV.  I can hand sew things, make my scrapbooks, do my clay, even set up my sewing machine if I have to all while I watch TV.  This way, I can be rpoductive rather than just a lump doing nothing.  Plus, it's way better for my mind!  I never watched TV growing us and here I am as an adult and I am wasting precious time in from of the TV.

Happy Holidays,
Amy

Handmade Christmas Gifts

I am attempting to make a few handmade gifts for Christmas this year.  For my sisters and my sister in-law and their husbands, I am making a wine sack and thinking about adding a handmade bottle stopper to the gift as well as a store bought bottle of wine.  I think my mom is getting an album of the kids in 2010.  No idea for my husband.  But the kids are definitely getting some handmade felt food.  After I read a post from my friend over at http://firstcametwins.com, I was reminded that this was a project that I wanted to make for the kids.  She had a couple of post about a couple of handmade items that she made for her twins for Christmas.  She made the most adorable aprons, which I have to attempt as well as some fabric food.  After making my apron for my swap, I decided that I want to make the kids an apron also.  I had also seen a ton of felt food on multiple blogs that made me want to make some.  So far, I have made a few felt bow tie pasta.  When I asked my husband to tell me what I was making, he knew right away.  How awesome it that!  I also have a few egg shapes cut out that just need to be sewn.  The next step is to pick out a few more food items and make them to put under the tree for Christmas.  I figure, I can always make more after the holidays are over and there is less pressure to get things done!  My other goal is to make at least Eva Rose a baby doll.  I may even try to make the boys a doll also.  I did ask for both the play food and dolls for Christmas gifts, but you can never have too many dolls or play food right?  Now I just need to get my butt in gear and get moving so that these gifts actually get made and it is not just another idea that never comes to fruition.

Happy Holidays!
Amy