Christmas came early

[GalaxyGirl]

We had a gift exchange with Kevin's family over Thanksgiving... Here's the rundown of stuff the girls received and my commentary:

PlayDoh Hamburger Maker - very cute, very easy to use, nice product!
PlayDoh Ice Cream Shoppe - cute, but harder to load, crank, lots of opportunities for good creations, but not likely that the girls will use them all. By the end of their first play (along with 5 cousins), every colored jar was a psychedelic blend. If you like your playdoh colors intact, plan to discard a lot!

Barbie as Corinne (3 Musketeers)
Barbie as Viveca (ditto)
Ken as Prince Louie (ditto) - no articulating joints
Ken as King Dominic/Julian (Princess & the Pauper) - articulating joints
Barbie Carriage/Hot Air Balloon (3 Musketeers) - cute! but we didn't need two of them!

Littlest Pet Shop - two small sets with 3 pets each and accessories, very cute, always a hit with my girls

Disney Princess Stationery Set - stamps, markers, cards, envelopes & glitter glue. Very cute set, would satisfy many ages. The girls have gone through almost all of their paper already, so I've unloaded a bunch of unused old stationery for the cause.

Disney Princess Body Art - still unopened; I think they are tattoos, stickers and stamps?

Some of the other popular items received by the cousins included a remote controlled Hummer, Color Explosion Glow board (cool!), Friendship bracelet kit (for a 12 yo but her 7 yo sister was doing very well with it), LIV doll "Sophie" (she's cute and seems well made; even I played with her for a bit!)

I picked up the Easy Bake Oven and Sorry Sliders for Tori. Haven't decided what to get Jenna yet.

[KL]

Ooo, very helpful!

I laughed out loud at your "But we did not need 2 of them" comment. I hear you on that one!!!

I need to run out and buy a couple of dresses for the girls. THey want everyday dresses to put leggings under. They finally hit a phase of wanting to wear dresses every single day. very cute! And the sweater dresses and jersey dresses that are out right now work perfect for comfy play.

Off to the mall. I hope my sanity remains intact. I am not a mall person. Heaven help the lady with the warm bead filled items that keeps trying to get me to buy the $50 neck warmer!!! YIKES! My scarf works just fine thanks.

[Lois]

Great! R is in a Barbie phase too. If you only got one identical/double your doing pretty good. One year I think my twins got 3 sets of identical stuffed animals! Arggh. What is a "sorry slider"??

[TamiK]

so helpful! Thanks! Abigail would love the playdoh hamburger maker..may have to check into that.

I hear you on the "but we don't need two of them"!

Lois...Sorry Sliders is a game, off shoot of Sorry! Our kids love it..they still need a little help with figuring out their scores, but they LOVE playing the game.

[GalaxyGirl]

I need to run out and buy a couple of dresses for the girls. THey want everyday dresses to put leggings under. They finally hit a phase of wanting to wear dresses every single day. very cute! And the sweater dresses and jersey dresses that are out right now work perfect for comfy play.

I'm a big fan of the jersey dresses from Lands End and if you time it right, you can get good deals and free shipping.

[LindaG]

Sounds like they got quite a haul!

[GalaxyGirl]

Are any of you familiar with "ZipBins"? They are portable storage boxes that zip open to display a town, roads, mansion...whatever the theme of the bin. I was looking at them on Amazon and wondering if it would be worthwhile. It seems I need to find Christmas presents from Santa that my smart little girls don't know is available at Target.

[KL]

Are any of you familiar with "ZipBins"?

They look really cool! It would depend on the child. I would buy it for Kait but not for Laine. My thought is Kait would love playing with that kind of toy since her imagination can transport her anywhere. But she might be rough on it (cardboard inners).
Laine would not play with it. Just not her style. She barely spends any time with our doll house even with lots of encouragement and me playing along.

It seems I need to find Christmas presents from Santa that my smart little girls don't know is available at Target.

[KL]

My shopping is mostly done for the girls so I have outlawed all shows with TV commercials until after Christmas.
They can watch PBS and DVD's with a special treat of the Disney channel on Saturday morning.

But this past weekend DH was running the AM show while I was cooking. Suddenly I heard toy commercials. I scribbled a fast note and handed it to him. It said...

"Switch to Disney channel!! Avoid all commercials at all costs. Our shopping is done and they can not get any funny ideas."

He moved fast and saved the day.

[KL]

So far here is the Holiday plan for the girls. It is more than I thought we would spend (I'm still not working and DH had a job change so that is a consideration this year).

The holiday dress they will receive is actually their dress to wear to Dh's family celebration Christmas morning. I decided to surprise them with it this year. It is gorgeous! I'm not sure yet if it will be from Santa or from us. I might move a big toy down to Santa and have the dress from us. Still figuring it out.

------------------------------------------
From us: Laine/Kait
1) Ice Side Tickets to Disney on Ice: Princess Classics. $Too much.
2) Princess Castle Jewelry Boxes $20ea
3) Hair dresser head$15/ Hair style chair$24
and each gets a Stylist belt Blow dryer set $11.25ea.

4) Hilo Ukulele$40/Hilo Ukulele$40
5) Tamborine $20/Bongo’s$25
6) Rhythm Sticks$3/Chick-Itas shakers$3

7) Klutz Hand Art Book$8/What Shall I Draw book$10 & I Can Draw People$5
8) Barbie idesign$11/Melissa &Doug Fashion Stencil Kit $7

9) Pegasus$15/Unicorn$15

10) Crayola Dry Erase Activity Center $10 (for Laine-might give to her early to help with school work or may need to get Kait one.)

Stockings:
Lip gloss, Clip on earings, Disney store facecloths, 2 sets clip bows each, ornament.

SANTA:
1) Polly Pocket Pop&Swap$16/ Polly Pocket Pop&Swap$16
2) Chloe Ballerina doll$40/Camille Ballerina$28
3) both getting matching GoldenHolidayDress $22 and Hooded sweater jacket I got on sale for $12

From Memere for Kait:
Lincoln logs $27.50
TCP Black velvet Dress $9
Littlest Pet Shop $10

From Memere for Laine:
Lego Bin $25
TCP Black Velvet Dress $9
TeeniestTinyPetShop $10