Monday, January 13, 2014

Christmas recap and our favorite gifts


Wow.  I hadn't realized it has been about a month since I blogged last.

Time flies and all that.

Here in the Brong household, we had a great Christmas.

The kids got more than they could ever want.

Gabe cried he was so happy he got a Kindle.

Zander and Calla hosted a pirate concert.

They played with cousins.

Calla dressed up.

They hung out with Grandparents.

They played outside.
 

They made Christmas treats.

We went to an Ugly Sweater party and Gabe won!

It was a great end to a great year and we were very happy we were able to see all of our family this holiday season!

There are still a lot of gifts that the kids haven't even played with yet, but here is the list of gifts that they have enjoyed the most and I highly recommend if you are looking for a gift in the future:

Gabe's Kindle
I love this thing.  I should specifically say how much I LOVE Freetime - the system built into the Kindle that allows me to set daily limits on how much app time, video time and reading time Gabe is allowed.  It allows me to set times he can use his Kindle and if I want him to read before playing.  It offers a database of Kindle books, apps and videos just for kids.  At the monthly cost of $2.99 for one child's profile or $6.99 for a family, I think this is a great investment and has really reinforced my love of Amazon.  I HIGHLY recommend this as a tablet option for kids.

Calla's Disney Princess Castle
Calla got this Fisher Price Disney Princess castle and it is so adorable!  It comes with Cinderella and Snow White and there are multiple different Princess packs you can buy to collect all of them.  There is a dance floor in the back where you put each Princess and she states her name ("My name is Ariel.") and sings a little part of her signature song.  It is so adorable and Calla absolutely loves it.  

Zander's Take A Part Truck

This thing is so cool!  It is a fully functional crane truck and comes with a working electric screwdriver to take apart the truck and put it back together.  It comes with different tips and Zander loves being able to take it apart and try to put it back together.  I love that the parts are big enough that they can't get lost and that he can do it by himself (for the most part).  Calla loves it too and tries to help brother.

Click here to see the description!
Click here for the description!
These books are AWESOME!  The pictures are huge!  The words are good sized and not too difficult for Gabe to read to himself.  They offer a wealth of information and fun facts.  There is a whole series, but the boys received these as gifts and they have been a big hit and the go-to books to look at before bedtime.

Click here to see the description!
Click here to see the description!
I love love LOVE all things Melissa and Doug.  I love the sturdiness of the toys, I love the concepts, there isn't much I don't love except the price.  Amazon and Toys R Us almost always have decent sales on Melissa and Doug things around Christmas time.  I also like using Barnes and Noble coupons to order Melissa and Doug things online, as they always have a good amount in stock and sometimes on sale to before the coupon.  Calla got these to sets, but all the kids have enjoyed playing with them and adding them to the kitchen set they got last year.

Click here for the description!
Jake and the Neverland Pirates is really big for us right now.  After seeing him at Disney, it only reinforced the love of all things Jake.  Zander and Calla got a lot of Jake, but the biggest hit was this dress up toy box that includes a spy glass, sword and gold doubloons.  

I am in the process of working on some more "meaningful" blog posts, but I wanted to include the successful Christmas gifts into a post.  I always have a hard to find things for birthdays and holidays.  These are things that work in our family and I hope it helps give you suggestions!

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