90's Toys

#10. Favorite Retro Toy

I can not say how much I love Alphie. He's a little robot with cards that asks questions about what's on the cards. I remember having one when I was young.I loved pushing all his buttons! I was VERY surprised last year when I went shopping and found the new version in the store. I nearly screamed! I immediately took a picture of it and sent it to my sisters, who had no clue who he was. The box says for ages 3 & up. Judging by how Hunter treats most of his toys, I think I might wait til next Christmas to get him one....

But, I can't forget about POLLY POCKETS! I bought my first one when I was....6? My Grandma Doris bought me a painting thing where you blow into a tube and it sprays the paint so you can make cool designs. Something what wrong with it, so I had to take it back. I bought my 1st Polly Pocket with the money. The one above actually. It was like playing Cinderella. Horse and carriage and the castle, the prince and princess... I loved it. And this was the first of...20? And if I recall correctly, it was the only one that needed batteries. The gazebo glows and the stars behind the castle did as well. 

I had about 4 that were homes of fairies, lots of cottages and miscellaneous houses. I had a tropical hotel and an large apartment... My best friend would come over and we would lay out all 50 some Polly Pocket people and pick out our people and then chose our homes. By the time the process was over, it was time to clean up. My little sister also took part in my obsession with Polly Pockets, but not to the extent that Kelsey & I were obsessed! 

And then there were my trolls....big ones, medium ones, baby ones....didn't matter as long as I had them! Kelsey and I would spend hours washing their hair in the sink. I can only imagine how much soap we used. No wonder my mom got rid of them! Along with the trolls, I had the Trollies Radio Show on cassette. I swear my little sister and I are the ONLY ones who have heard of this! I used to listen to that cassette over and over and over again! To this day, every time I hear Kokomo, I hear the trolls singing it, not the Beach Boys. 

Here's what I mean:

I am I really the only one who remembers them? I am a 90's kid after all....

Hair Bows

I've been on a felt kick the last few days. I'm anxious to learn to make different flowers, but until then, I'm working with what I know.

These are the hair clip bows I worked on tonight. Super easy to make. And quicker than the flowers!

Using a hot glue gun, quickly glue the edges of the clip and add felt to it. CAUTION: The other side of the clip will be hot when you press the felt to it. (I learned this the hard way a few times!) I say do this quick because the cold clip cools the glue pretty quickly.

Once its fully dry, cut the excess off around it.

Next, using the same color that you covered the clip with, cut out an oval and a little rectangular strip.

Pinch the sides together in the middle and glue the crease together. Once dry, glue the strip over top and secure on the bottom as well. Glue bow to clip and your done!

I thought these were cute hair clips too!

Oh the Messes

#9. I never thought I'd find this in my child's room

Let me begin by saying, our first mistake was moving Hunter to a toddler bed at the age of 15 months, so little JP could have his crib when he was born. We could close the door at night and know that's where he was going to be in the morning because he neither had the height, nor the ability to open his bedroom door.

Fast forward to a few months later.... Little Hunter woke up one morning, and began playing with his toys in his room, no big deal. I woke up, thought I should tape the changing table drawer closed, but fell back asleep. Little to my dismay, by the time I woke up, he had gotten into the changing table and took out the A&D ointment. For those of you who don't know, it's this brownish/orange greasy goo. And for whatever reason, the last person to use it, didn't screw the lid back on so it was fair game. By the time I got to him, he was one greasy, slimy mess...not to mention the carpet! Lucky for me, it's not water soluble, so I couldn't just bath him. Out came the cornstarch... I was able to get it all out of the carpet, but his pj's has to be tossed.

But seriously...oh the messes Hunter makes. I say Hunter because JP is really just a good well mannered kid. He's laid back and just a plain easy kid. Hunter is the complete opposite. He is filled with energy from the moment he wakes up and has to be constantly doing something. There is never a dull moment when he's around!

I wish I could find the picture I could swear I took of Hunter covered from head to foot in A&D ointment. But here are some other messes.

 

No biggie on this one...but still, did you have to take them ALL out?

These are Froot Loops all over the floor. I was on the phone with my wedding photographer. They were being quiet and giggling occasionally, so I figured they were good. Wrong. After they helped clean up, Hunter immediately went to the basement and dumped out a 500 piece puzzle of mine....

Let's see...what else... Hunter's favorite spot to hide in JP's room is right by the changing table, in front of the dresser. About 4 months ago, I brought home a 24oz bottle of honey, since the boys love honey on toast. What I didn't realize what that Hunter then took it and dumped it out all over this favorite spot of his. When I found the missing boy, again, he was covered from head to foot disguised as one gooey mess. That hasn't been completely worked out of the carpet. To clean up, I was able to scoop some of it back in the bottle....later, this bottle was placed on the counter, amongst other things. That afternoon, Hunter and I went outside to mow and he came and told me he was going inside (thankyou!) so I finished the row and followed. Not quickly enough though. Got the honey all over the kitchen floor. I learned my lesson, and after sitting in time out for an hour and a half, watching me mow the yard, I think he did too. He knew I was mad!

 

This is Hunter's room. Very rarely do they ever actually play in here. On this particular day, they played cars and trains together. Laughing and giggling, and NOT fighting. They were awesome! I left for 2 minutes to get the laundry and I come back to this. Body pain from their bathroom ALL over the floor. 

This was easy to clean up, especially compared to the day before's mishap. I was making Hunter's birthday cake in the kitchen as the boys were napping, or so I thought. Hunter had actually gotten into my baking supplies and found the cake dye. When I went to check on him, he was purple, blue, green, and orange. And so was his favorite hiding place in his room. That didn't come out of the carpet so his new big boy bed covers that accident...

And then there was this Mommy made mess that I let Hunter join in on.

Too Much Television

#8. Too Much Television

I read or heard somewhere that American's, on average watch about 5 1/2 hours of television each day! Which I find astounding, but believable at  the same time. I want to know where they can find the time! I have 3 tv shows that I watch regularly. Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives (and let me just say I hate how the series is ending) and Pan Am. That puts me at about 3 per week. And then plus the occasional movie I watch with my husband. We don't have DirecTV or a Satellite or the like, so no cable for us! With that said, we get about 8 channels, 2 of which are PBS. Unfortunately for me, none of the other 6 are ABC. So I'm force to watch my shows online whenever I have a chance, which actually works out better for me anyways! I can pause it and not miss a thing!

In all honesty though, if I could, I would probably just get rid of our TV. I hardly ever watch it. Granted, Perry has binders and binders of movies that we watch occasionally, but I still would opt to just get rid of it. I'm tired (already) of the boys wanting to watch movies, over and over and over, when they could have more fun outside in their sandbox or swing set. Even in January. Not to mention, save the DVDs from scratches!

The boys love to watch Elmo and Word World. I don't mind them watching here and there, I just don't watch them to get "addicted" to it. I see so many little kids sitting around on their video games and watching TV. Its really a sad thing when these activities are chosen over the more active ones. Especially with the childhood obesity rates Americans are facing. Not the lifestyle I want my boys to live. But like many things, too much of a good thing is a bad thing. I do, however, believe that the TV is a great learning tool, if used wisely. Needless to say, our TV isn't going anywhere, anytime soon though....

Something I Need Daily

#7. Something I need daily.

I need my family daily. I love my boys to death. They drive me crazy and make me so angry sometimes, but other times, I just sit back and look at them. I watch them eat and remember when I had to nurse and spoon feed them. I watch them play and remember how a play mat used to entertain them for hours. Now I'm lucky for a few minutes with each toy! The things they say and the way they go about things just simply amaze me. I don't know how I was living without them. They flipped my life upside down. I miss them all the time when I'm not with them.

Aside from my boys, I need my husband daily. I need his hugs in the morning and his kisses at night. It really stunts my day without one of those. We'll see how having him do overnights affects me....GAH! More so than hugs and kisses, I need him to talk to and help me with the daily chores around the house. There's always something that needs cleaned when these boys are home! And I need his company, more than anything else. Even just sitting with him for a few minutes. For those who know what "Love Languages" are, I'm primarily a Quality Time person, meaning just that, I feel loved when my husband (or family & friends) spend time with me. Luckily for me, he knows that!  <3

I need my mom daily too. I think a mom is something that everyone takes advantage of and then realizes later the wisdom and answers they hold. Sometimes I just need my mom's advice, and other times I just need to vent. But between the "how do you make this?" and the "what do I do when this happens?" etc. I need my mom daily. Mom's voices just have this way of comforting their children...

My "Special" Place

For those of you following my blog, I've joined Blog Dare for 2012. It gives you daily prompts to write about...we'll see how I keep up! I'm a few days late, but at least I'm starting somewhere.

#6. Where do I go when I need time to myself or regrouping time? To my room. I would love love love to have my own little hut or something outside of my house that I could escape to, but this is real life. Maybe eventually I'll get my basement living room functioning how I would like it to so that it can become "my" space. But until then, I head for my room. More specifically, my bed. I don't know what it is about laying in my bed that just calms me down, but I love it.

I used to do a lot of writing right before going to sleep. I have notebooks full, front and back, of just the thoughts and happenings in my head. I could be the only one home (which was rare) or the only one awake and I still couldn't write a thing unless I was in my room. Even as an adult, I experience the same thing. Though as an adult now, I rarely get time to myself. With a 2 and 3 year old running me around from early morning to late evening, I'm tired at night. When I'm not, I just want to enjoy my husband's company before I get tired, which would only be a matter of time.

One of my goals for this year though is to make time for myself. I'm not good with New Year's Resolutions, but to want change, you have to create it I suppose. So time to myself can mean anything from blogging, to reading, to doing yoga. And hopefully in the comfort of my room! <3

Stove Top Burns

This post goes out for little JP. Yesterday at breakfast he was watching as I cooked egged on toast. I warned him not to touch (a few times) because everything was hot. Generally speaking, we've never had an issue with either of the boys getting curious about touching the stove after we've told them not to. But of course, after watching me without touching for 5 minutes, I turned to put something in the sink, and SIZZLE. Poor little JP didn't cry when it happened, but let me know for the rest of the morning....

Luckily he didn't get burned bad. I ran his little fingers under cold water for a while and gave him some pain relief. Unfortunately for his dad, who now works overnight and was trying sleep, JP fused about all morning. He calmed down a bit when I suggested band-aides (with SpongeBob!), though he wasn't keen about actually putting them on. So for the rest of the day he wandered about holding and examining his fingers.

After everything was said and done, I googled "stove burns" to make sure I did everything correctly. Thankful he just had first degree burns, though one might be a 2nd degree. I found this website to be very helpful!

http://kidshealth.org/parent/firstaid_safe/emergencies/burns.html

Update on JP's Fingers