Spare Toys

If you don't do this, I recommend you do. Especially if you are a stay at home mom. Winter is coming... you don't want to be left unprepared. (and if you are, don't say I didn't warn you!)

We keep new toys, unopened in their packages, stashed away in our basement. They range anywhere from a notepad & pencil from the dollar bin to more expensive things that I've found on sale.

About 6 months ago, I found the Melissa & Doug Fold & Go castle 70% off on some toy website. I don't even remember where it was, but they were even offering free shipping if you spent $40. So I bought a couple of toys Ian has been coveting at friends' houses and stuck them all away in the basement.

Why?

Sometimes, nothing breaks a "bad day" like a new toy! Typically when Ian starts to get rambunctious, we head out to a playground. This week, Aaron is pretty sick & I don't feel good about taking the boys to the playground. So Ian is on day 4 of no outside-the-house play this week. (Thanks to the rain, he hasn't even been in the back yard!) He's getting on my nerves. My haven't had more than 5 continuously-interrupted hours of sleep in 4 days, been puked on 4 times, have snot on my shoulder, nerves.

So that's why we keep spares in the basement. Ian is happily playing with a new toy, it will most likely keep his attention for several days (especially THIS one) and I'm not feeling ready to call the gypsies anymore. I am proud to say, though, that this is the first "big" spare toy I've gotten out at LEAST since March or so, what with Ian's birthday presents and the summer weather being good enough to get out as much as possible. I don't feel bad about today, I really needed something to get me through until Roger gets home.



A couple of rules I try to keep about spare toys:

1. If it is over $10 regular priced, it better be at LEAST 50% off or I won't buy it.

2. Anything else better be from the dollar bin at target or less than $10 on craig's list. (ha ha)

3. You can't use the "spare toy" trick more than once a month. It becomes useless if you do.

4. Dollar bin toys are good to toss in the diaper bag before doctor's appointments, special dinners, etc. Anytime you REALLY need the toddler to be GOOD without a lot of parental involvement.



Do you keep spare toys around? Do you have any rules for yourself about them?

We Haven't Forgotten

2 years ago tomorrow, 9/22, our friends lost their baby girl before they ever got to meet her. I just can't even begin to imagine the road they have walked since then.

I just wanted to say, publicly, that we have not forgotten. In my life, there is literally not a day that goes by that I do not think of them.

I am thinking of them tonight. And definitely tomorrow.

Preschool was a HIT!

Ian literally RAN into the building this morning. He was so excited. When his teacher opened up the door, he dropped his backpack in the hallway and went running in the door. This time, I decided (after reading a bunch of "tips for successful first days" websites) that I was not going to sneak out. I went over, gave Ian a kiss, told him I'd be back in a little bit and left.

While I was in the next room over dropping Aaron off, I could hear Ian crying. (It started after about 5 min) and then I heard him STOP crying! So I left and came home. It is only about a 3 min drive from our house, we could literally WALK there if we wanted to (except for the huge hill, but I COULD walk there... and I have walked there. Maybe I SHOULD walk there to get some exercise... ha ha)

I sat here for 2 hours and twiddled my thumbs. Ran the vacuum, got the house ready for the realtor to come back and take pictures. Went back to pick the boys up and as I was walking in, Ian was getting his diaper changed. His teacher pulled me aside to talk to me about Ian. She said he cried for about 4 minutes and stopped as soon as she got him set up with a coloring book and crayons. She said he never even fussed for another second after the initial fussing stopped.

Apparently he was very social and made friends out of all the kids... during story time they were all sitting in the circle and talking about what kinds of clothes all the kids were wearing. Miss JoJo said Ian stood up and pointed at his shirt, "LOOK! I have LIGHTNING MCQUEEN!" and was very proud and excited about it. Hee heeeee.

They painted and had snack and then it was time for me to come back.

He was really happy to see me and went right over and got his bag, went and gave his teacher a hug and high five and then pointed at the door and said, "Aaron!"

We went and got Aaron and neither boy wanted to leave! I had to drag them out of there! It was really kindof cute.

And a MAJOR weight off of my shoulders.

Aaron's teacher said he was such a joy to have in the nursery. She was asking me to verify that he was "really only 10 months old!" and that she was very impressed with how smart he is. She said he was more than capable of "running with the big dogs." (Since the nursery goes up to age 23 months, there were some older boys in there with him.)

Ian's teacher actually recommended we leave him from 9:00-1:00 instead of 9:30-11:30 so that he gets to experience the full schedule of activities and gets to have lunch with the kids. She also said that if we don't do the longer span of time, we should definitely consider adding a second day per week. (We'd like to, but our finances do not really allow it right now.)

All in all, both boys had a great morning at school and got good reviews from their teachers.


God Answers Prayers. I'm so happy today.




***By the way, do you like the slideshow format for the pictures so you can see more of them, or would you rather me post fewer pictures the way I usually do?****

What we did on Saturday

Trip to the Zoo

As much as a trip to the Aviary brings on a mammoth nap, a trip to the zoo does not. Ian never naps after the zoo. But we go anyway.