My Little Pony EXTREME!

My daughter Lucy has been in a My Little Pony dream cloud for the past year.. movies, toys, stickers... but who can blame her, those ponies are cute. But as cute as they are, my husband always thought there were a little frilly and girly. He always joke about girly things taking over the home... and well.. he might be a little right :)

But then my brother gave me this link on Facebook and well... I think it might be the answer to bring balance back into our house hold :) I don't think my husband could resist a pony that could kick his butt :)

So check out www.jodimoisan.com to see the full collection.


THOR Pony


MR.T Pony


Ronald McDonald Pony


The Thing Pony


Green Lantern Pony


Batman Pony


Spider Man Pony


Night Crawler Pony (Im an X-Men fan.. so I loove this one)


Eagles Pony (Now make it a 49er Pony and I'm in heaven)


Darth Maul Pony.... can you sense the awesomeness?

Children Blocks

With Lucy getting older and being more of a toddler than a baby everyday, I have been having to make some adjustments. Different foods, more safety items, nap schedules, and even some toys. I was racking my brain the other day about what toys I might want to invest in for when she is a little older and I asked my mom what was the best toy she bought for us kids. Very easily she said, "BLOCKS!". She informed me that she invested in some great wooden blocks for us that all 6 of us kids grew up playing with and even I can admit, provided hours of fun as a barbie beach house or as the next doomed city for our dinosaurs.

So, with this in mind I have been keeping my eyes out for some great blocks and found some of these fun ones.

Wooden Multicolor Blocks
A complete set of a 100 vibrant building blocks in a wide assortment of shapes and sizes: solid colors, stripes, plain, arches, blocks, triangles, and many more. Not only are they fun to play with, but fun to put away because of the shape sorting lid that lets you match up the hole to the shape of a block that you are putting away. Great fun for the kids for $24.98.

Nesting Nursery Rhyme Block Set

These beautifully decorated nursery rhyme blocks form a 32"-tall tower of glorious illustrations! Stack the alphabet A-Z or numbers 1 through 10. When stacked just right, other sides picture nursery rhyme characters and a park panorama with corresponding words. Even though you can pile them 32" high you can also put them away in just 6" of space. You can purchase them for $12.98 or if you purchase two, you get them at $10.98 each.

Cardboard Building Bricks
With 24 colorful bricks your children can be free to create castles, forts, and entire cities! But don't let the cardboard trick you into thinking that they aren't sturdy because the makers claim that they are strong enough for adults to stand on, but light enough for tots to tote, stack, and sit on. Easy to assemble and come in a collection of 24 blocks. You can choose from 2 different color sets: Bright or Pastel. They cost $14.98 for a set of 24 or you can get 2 sets at $9.98 each... that is almost 50 blocks for only $19 bucks.

Fun Cheap Toys For Children

Finding toys for children can be tough. For me, I have a hard time because Curtis and I decided that we weren't going to give Lucy a lot of toys, that we wanted to let her learn to be productive with what she has and not be over stimulated... pluuuus.. we are kind of cheap and can't justify droppin' a $124 on a Leap Pad Frog baby Blackberry-laptop-iPhone. So, I am pretty picky with what toys I get for Lucy because, hey, if the poor girl isn't going to get showered in toys, then the ones she gets are going to rock. So here are a couple really fun cheap toys that I have found for several ages.
.
Cranium's Bloom Shop & Match
Bloom Shop & Match (which has one Parents' Choice Award) is a sorting and matching game that takes place at a grocery store. The game has a basket, food, reusable grocery lists, dry-erase marker, spinner, and game board. This game is great because it encourages color recognition, sorting and classifying, object identification, pretend play, teamwork, and turn taking. What is also really nice, is that the pieces are well designed and sturdy, so you know the pieces can handle your toddler throwing/shoving/biting/burying/and toilet flushing. The game has activities in the four categories of discover, perform, create, and connect involving counting, categorization, and color hunting. And wait... here is the best part... it even comes with a little working scanner that you use to purchase and scan your items... how cute is THAT!? This is just a great game to help get your little ones thinking, organizing, color recognition, taking turns, and object identifying. It is great for kids 3 and up and suggested retail is $19.99
..
Laugh & Learn-My Learning Tools
My Learning Tools puts Bob The Builder to shaaaame. This cute talking tool bag is filled with songs, tools, and instructions to help teach your child how to open/close, use all the tools, sing a long, numbers, and even about opposites. This Fisher Price toy has three different play modes that aims for encourage, imagination, and musical fun. Great for letting your child learn with the toys or simple play by enjoying the music. And hey, if you have a little girl that wont like playing with a toll bags, then don't worry, because they even have a My Learning Purse it is practically the same thing, just a purse with keys, wallet, lipstick, and a zipper instead of a ruler to figure out. This is good for as young at 6 months to 36 months and the suggested retail is $17.00
.
Wok' n Roll
This is just a cute game that helps your kids hand-eye coordination, also while helping to teach them colors and organizing. In Wok'n Roll players use plastic chop sticks to grab their colored food and simply place it into the matching bowls. When you child has master that, players can they kick it up a notch and turn the wok on, which then allows it to spin and turn as players try to grab their matching colors. This game has been suggested for 3 and up, 4 and up, or even 5 and up, so you can use your judgment if your child should play with it or not. I don't think it is because of the skills so much, but more if the child will be tempted to swallow the colored pieces. It's suggested retail is $19.99.
..
eeBoo's - What Time Is It?
These little tickers are here to help your angles how to tell time. With smiling clock, different levels of difficulty, and moveable hands your children can easily learn how to read a clock and tell time; both digitally and the good ol' fashion way. You can be assured that your child will learn because eeBoo is one of the most respected names in children's educational products. There are so several levels of difficulty; so beginners won’t get frustrated and players with more advanced skills will still be able to feel challenged. Suggested for ages 4 and up and retailed at just $16.00.
.
Are there any toys/games out there that you have just loved as a parent or even a certain company that you like?

Kiddie Pools

Oh summer, you are finally here! We can now enjoy your heat, the smell of cut grass, days of resting in the hammocks, and...... KIDDIE POOLS! Okay, so I know that I'm too big for them and also probably too old to play in them, but still..... I can live vicariously through my kid!

So here are some oh' so cute kiddie pools that I have discovered... also not too hard on the nickle.



This is a cute one from Wal-Mart that costs only $19.94 online. It has a nice canopy to help keep your kids from frying. This is called Banzai Jungle Cruise Canopy Pool


.
.
This one is the Banzai Elephant Park Spray Pool from Target. I think this one is super cute, I just love the palm tree and elephant slide. It is priced nicely at $24.99.
.
.
.




This one is great for monkeying around... hee hee this is Little Tikes Monkey Slide and Splash Pool from Wal-Mart costing around $19.96.









The Boathouse Floating Habitat is definitely more money, costing around $78.99 from K-Mart, but hey, I couldn't pass up a chance to post it because... well... just look at it!!!! It is a floating pool house for the kiddies to play in! How fun is that!?
.


.

But the places of all places to get some cheap cute kiddie pools is a website called Just Kids Pools. They have a nice selection of pool sizes, prices, and age appropriate pools. Here is just one of the cute pools they sell going for $15.99. They have everything from great baby pools to giant pirate ships with cannons and even a pirate flag.

.

So if you are in the market for a nice pool here are some recommendations. If you know any other cutes places please let me know :)

Toys From The 80's

There have been many times when I have been at a store buying something that Lucy needs, but then I get side tracked looking at toys that I want to get her. Unfortunately, I have heard that a 5 month old is a little young for dress up cloths and play time kitchens. So until then, I guess I will be stuck buying chew rings....I hate how those sound more appropriate for dogs than children.

Over the last few months of scanning the toy aisles wishing I could pick up some cute little Polly Pocket for her I have noticed that there just aren't as many good toys as there use to be. Toys these days seem to either be a simple, not too imaginative doll or some high tech toy/computer board that will claim to have your child making Einstein look like a gomer.

So here are some good ol' fashion toys that I think should make a comeback...well maybe not all of them, but it is sure fun to reminisce.


Glow Worms - Oh I loved these! I slept with mine every night for the longest time. They are pretty self explanatory....they are worms...that glow! Go figure! But they were perfect for little girls at night. I loved being able to just give it a squeeze and see the cheeks light up...also helped make midnight bathroom runs A LOT easier.




Popples - These little fur balls were a fun stuffed animal that could be rolled up into a nice tight pouch. I loved them and the cartoon that they made of them, even though they do look like a cross breeding of kangaroos and turtles that has gone horribly wrong :)


Forest Family - Cute little animal families that you could play with. They had all sort of animals: bears, cats, raccoons, squirrels.... I had the raccoons. I loved to use these critters in place of the dolls in my doll house. Apparently it was more fun to have the raccoons in the house and the dolls as the family pet.



Battle Beasts - Here is one for the boys. Every figure was a different animal, reptiles, insect and they had a black square on the front. The figures would battle and you would decide who would win by pressing the square. Their chests were heat sensitive so when you pressed your finger an image would pop up... fire, water, or wood. Fire burnt wood, water put out fire, and wood could block water.



Smooshees - A plush squishy animal or doll that could fit into whatever accessory it came with. One item was a dog that came with a fire hydrant that you could squish him into. Or a turtle that had a shell, you needed to squeeze him into it to be dressed. Apparently squeezing equaled fun back then :)


Purr-tenders - The story behind these stuffed animals is that all these cats are trying to get adopted and so they pretend to be different animals because they felt like people didn't want cats. I had this one...the parrot cat and I loved to pretend that I was actually hiding this cat from my mom. So I would keep the cat in the parrot outfit till my mom was gone then I would let my cat be her self. I had an endless amount of fun with this one. Do you know how hard it is trying to teach a cat to fly to help make her look like a parrot?



Slip n' Slides - What kid didn't have one of these? Even with growing up in Alaska we had one and I loved it. Well, until I reached the end. Our yard was just barely big enough and at the end of the slide was where the grass stopped and the rock garden began....we had a lot of scrapped knees that summer.



Pound Puppies - Kids could go to the store and adopt a Pound Puppy which would come with his very own home and some information on your puppy. There were many different colors and patterns of dog so each child could have a unique dog. The creator of pound puppies actually wanted the child to have a special bond with their dog and truly love it. What is really cute is that there is a website http://www.poundpuppies.com/ where kids can still go online and pick a puppies and play with it and take care them.


Wacky Wall Walkers - A gummy sticky octopus that can be thrown onto walls, windows, or doors and would squiggle on down. As you can tell from the boy's hair and sweater this ad many be from the 80's




Wuzzles - Island of Dr. Moreau for kids apparently. These animals were cross breeds of each other. A bunny hippo, kangaroo elephant, bumble bee bear, and my favorite... seal moose. I spent several hours in class wasting my time by drawing up my very own wuzzles (But never a Li-ger)


He-Man and She-Ra - My brothers played with He-Man and I always wanted She-Ra so I could play with them cause apparently "Barbies and He-man don't mix" But I do remember the my barbies snagged that tiger A LOT cause they liked to ride with style!



Lincoln Logs - These are great great toys! Anything that has kids building things and following designs and instructions are great toys. Plus, I have many many memories of my brother and I building cabins or fortresses and fighting our battle beasts or when he wasn't looking, I'd have my Trolls go camping.


Skip-it - I think almost every kid had one of these. In my neighborhood we actually had skip-offs, yea I know...sounds like I come from the streets... "You got Skipped fool!" The Skip-It held a counter that could tell how many times you skipped over it and we would see who could go the longest. I remember getting upset when I could tell that my Skip-It was bouncing too much and wasn't counting all my skips.....oh the problems of an 8 year old.

What toys did you all grow up with and love?