5. Hot Wheel Tracks

The boys need help to get these set up, but we all enjoy seeing if the cars can make it through the upside down spin and on the jump. We've learned that many of the Hot Wheel cars don't work. The slimmer cars with a longer hood seemed to work best

Today Dad added to the fun by making a tunnel with the Citi Blocs

These Hot Wheel Tracks are not available at all toy stores. They can be found at Toys R Us though.

4. Citi Blocs

This was our best Christmas Deal!
I think they may have been mispriced, because even for Costco, $9.97 is too good of price for this set of 300 blocks.  
This is a toy that will last and the boys could still enjoy for years to come. I would pay $50 if I had to for them.

Together,  we attempted to build a trash truck today.

Here's something Westley built all on his own a few days later

3. Strider Bike

Will got a Strider Bike.
This type of bike does not have pedals, it is meant to teach balance and steering first, before including the element of pedaling.
Somehow I just pictured will magically getting on this, pushing with his feet, and then him going.
Not the case, learning to balance is work. (for him and me)
It's fun though, and he likes it.
And, I think his tiny little self looks super cute on this tiny bike.

2. Air Hockey Table

Westley and Will came downstairs to see an air hockey table under the Christmas Tree!

This is a Sport Zone Tabletop Air Hockey table, but it is working out fine on the floor for the boys. I play too, I just sit on the ground.

I knew Westley would like this, but I was surprised that Will is also into it and can play decently well for being 2! Also, it's great that they play together!

1. Railroad Crossing

On the 1st day after Christmas my true loves played with me:
Their own Railroad Crossing 

This was very easy to put together (I did it)
It is cute as you approach either in a ride on toy, or you could just be pushing a toy car, it talks and tells you to wait for the train, then the bar comes down and it makes the ding ding sound, then you hear a train go by. Sometimes it sounds more like a Amtrak, sometimes more like freight train.
then the arm goes up for you to drive past.

It says ages 3 and up and I would stick to that, unless you have a 2 year old that listens well (which Will was not doing) He kept trying to touch it and pull on the arm which I was scared was going to break it. It hasn't broke yet, so maybe it is ok to do so, but I'd rather not find out the hard way.

The only bad things about this is one, you probably have to be careful not to leave it outside when it can get wet since it is battery operated, and two, trains come by every time you get near it so there is a lot of stopping and waiting time for kids in the cars. Westley didn't seem to mind, but Will was more impatient.

Overall, I would recommend this, especially to places that have a circle bike path, and for kids who love cars and trains

Thanks for the gift Grandma Kathy!

12 Days of our Christmas

The boys got so many toys and games for Christmas, we haven't even took them all out of their boxes yet!
So I am going to do our own version of the 12 days of Christmas... for the next 12 days we will play and showcase one thing they got for Christmas, and let you all know how we would rate the toy.

Merry Christmas!

We spent the morning unwrapping presents from Santa, Mom, Dad and Grandma Kathy, and then went to Hemet where we opened more presents with Grandma and Grandpa, Lisa and Curt.
That, and cooking Christmas dinner consumed the whole day!

Happy Birthday Jesus,
Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve

Today the boys helped me wrap presents, we made cookies for Santa, and went to an outdoor Christmas Eve service at our church.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Poinsettia Bowl

This year SDSU was in the Poinsettia Bowl
Kevin and Westley are their top fans.
So the three of us, and Uncle Keith went to the game.

I am very surprised by how excited Westley is by football. We went early, took the trolley to the game, walked around through tailgating time, watched the pregame show, the entire game, the trophy ceremony, the postgame show, stood in a line to ride a crowded trophy back, and then walked to our car.
At no point did Westley lose interest, whine or not listen. He soaked up every minute of it.

SDSU Aztecs won, 35-14!!

Handprint Shoeprint Reindeer

Today we made a traditional Christmas kid craft.
While I think many of the ones kids make in school are cheesy, and a waste of paper as each child mindlessly makes theirs just like the example, I liked this one because it brought awareness to the size of their hands and feet... for them, and for me as a mommy keepsake.

Westley's favorite part was me singing Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer as we finished.
Will's favorite part was using the googly eyes

Play dough Christmas Cookies

We already made some real Christmas shaped cookies, but the boys were ready to make more.
So we made ones with play dough.
We had our rolling pins and cookie cutters, and I pulled out for the first time a play dough toy oven I bought last Christmas. It was perfect for our pretend Christmas cookies.

Will especially enjoyed this activity, and with all the rain, it was a great one that kept them busy for 1/2 hour

Letters to Santa

Today the boys made letters for Santa.

They didn't know you usually tell Santa what you want in the letters, so Westley just drew a picture (of a beanstalk with ornaments on it, wrote his name, and told me what to write.
He said,

"I love Santa, and I love Jesus and I love presents."

I guess that about sums it all up anyway :)

Will made a picture too and I helped him write his name.

Christmas Stars

Today we made stars, to be like the star of Bethlehem.
On Construction Paper, I drew and cut out a big star. The boys each had two I let them glue together, gluing a popsicle stick in the middle, in between.
Then they decorated them with glitter glue pens (much less messy than real glitter)
Will was very excited about using the glitter glue!

Dehydrating Green Beans

Kevin bought a dehydrator as part of his project of building an emergency food supply for our family.
Today he dehydrated a big Costco bag of frozen green beans.

We taught the boys about dehydration and what it means.
They got to feel (and taste) the dehydrated green bean.
Westley was interested in putting it back in water, so we did and kept checking back until it was the consistency of a normal green bean.

Fun little science lesson I guess!

Let it Snow Show

Today we were supposed to go on our annual trip to Knott's Berry Farm, however we were scared away by forecasts for rain.


I was quite bummed as I was looking forward to doing something full of Christmas magic.
Instead, before the rain came down here, we went to Legoland.
The boys had a good time on their rides, but really we went to get a taste of Christmas through their show called Let it Snow in their little theatre.

It was cute and short enough the boys both sat through it.

I'm still missing seeing Santa at Knott's and Snoopy on Ice though!

Crispix Mix

I have been making this sense I was like 12 years old.
The boys loved to help shake the bag and eat the ingredients as we made it.

Here's my recipe:

7 cups Crispix (Check can be used too but they tend to get soggier)
1 cup goldfish crackers (or Cheez its)
1 cup pretzels (or pretzel goldfish)
3 tablespoons butter (can use 2 and it will still turn out ok)
4 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce (use more if using a generic brand)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon season salt (of for less sodium, use 1/2 teas of season salt and 1/2 teas of Spike seasoning)
1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder

Put cereal, crackers, and pretzels in a gallon size plastic bag
melt butter, then add other seasonings to the melted butter.  Poor the seasoned butter mixture over the contents of the bag. Shake until evenly coated.
Microwave in a large bowl, stirring after every minute for 3-6 minutes (depending on the strength of your microwave)

Peanuts can also be added.
Sometimes I add popcorn, but I add it just after I have shaken the seasoning onto the mix, otherwise it can get too soggy.

Christmas Cookies

Today I made Christmas shaped sugar cookies with the boys.
Westley was pretty good and rolling the dough and using the cookies cutters.
He also make distinguishable faces on the snowmen and gingerbread man cookies with icing.
Will did a great job squirting on the icing on his cookies too.
They gave the cookies to their teachers at school.

I had a chance to wear my Christmas apron my grandma gave me last Christmas.
She often gave strange gifts. But this one was perfect and now I have it to remember her by.

Lighted Gingerbread House

Westley and Will are still really enjoying their lifesize cardboard gingerbread house. It has been the center of many play themes.
Today they wanted to put "lights" on their house.
Westley was going to use his Kapla blocks (still a favorite toy in our house)
He was smart to know they would slide off, so he asked for a blanket. With the blanket they stuck on,
So Westley and Will patiently put one on at a time, decorating their house with "Christmas lights"

Making Play Dough

We made our annual Christmas Play Dough

Here's the recipe:
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup salt
1 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp cream of tarter
Food coloring

Mix all ingredients in a pot on medium heat until the consistency of dough. Let cool some and then knead.

Weekend with Drew

This weekend I was a "mother of 3 boys" as my 18 month old nephew stayed with us. Besides bedtime on my own with all 3, things went well.
Saturday Kevin and I took the boys to see Hullabaloo play at Babies N Bloom

The rest of the weekend we were at home.
I didn't really attempt any new activities, but we did some of our favorites like a wagon ride to the park, sidewalk painting with water, some cooking, and dancing with our Christmas stuffed friends that sing and dance.

Stamps on Christmas Cards

Last year Westley helped me with the Christmas Cards, and I wanted it to be an annual tradition.
This year Will peeled the stamps off and Westley stuck them on the envelopes.
Will wanted to have the creative freedom to stick the stamps anywhere on envelope, but at 44 cents a "sticker" I had to intervene. He was quite good and happy at his role of peeling the stamps off for us, and Westley would stick them in the correct place.

They also enjoyed our trip to the post office to mail them off

Magnetic Geo Builders

I actually bought these Lakeshore Magnetic Geo Builders for Westley for Christmas last year. He wasn't really into them and we haven't gotten them out sense.
We finally did again, and this time he was really into them, and Will played with them a little too
Check out what we built together (Westley made most of it)

Snow Globe

Today we made a snow globe.
We used a baby food jar, baby oil, and tiny egg shell pieces.

Westley helped me break up the egg shells and put them in the jar.
He was excited about this project.

It worked well at first and looked like snow in a snow globe when we first made it.
A few hours later though, all the shell pieces clumped together and didn't float nicely.

Christmas Wreaths

I have been trying to think of a Christmas art activity that the boys could make as a decoration, but was still like an open ended art activity.
This fulfilled my goal and the boys were into it.

I took a cheap paper plate and cut out the center. I gave them each a bottle of glue,   and pom poms & cotton balls (from the dollar store). Westley knows how to make a pattern now, he made his all by himself!
Will's favorite part was squirting out the glue, but he got some pom poms on his as well.

Tails

My boys have a great time with plain yarn.

We have it strung around our Christmas tree now, and today they wanted me to help them have tails.

I tucked their long piece of string in the back of their pants and they were satisfied.... ran off meowing like kittens.

simplicity never ceases to amaze me

Oat Bran Blueberry Muffins

The boys wanted to make muffins tonight, so I looked online for a healthier recipe.
They taste really healthy!
I do not recommend this recipe, even though Will ate some (without blueberries) and Westley ate a whole one.
They were ok when we ate them fresh out of the oven, but even a few hours later tasted very healthy, and dry (and I have a high tolerance for those two things). The next day Westley still devoured his, but I still won't make them again
Here's the recipe for curiosity sake

A living Nativity

We went to Maranatha Church in Rancho Bernardo. This was our 3rd year attending a special Christmas presentation they have with a Christmas message and then a live nativity with Camels, sheep, a donkey, etc.

In the past we enjoyed the short Christmas sermon (even with two squirmy boys). This year they did something different without warning. They had a choir sing, in opera the story of Christmas. If you are into Opera it was probably a neat experience (especially since it was free) If you are not into Opera, it was, well... hate to say it but boring.... and long.
I say long and we only stayed for about a 3rd of it.

Luckily when we were leaving they were putting together the nativity scene. Although the boys didn't get to see it all with Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, etc. They did get to see the Camel, donkey and sheep up close