Nothin' Says Fun...

Nothing says fun like letting your kids play with a room full of lead paint!

Have fun kids! I hear that if you get enough of that lead running through your blood then the trains will actually talk to you. Toot! Toot!

Wedgits

The Mother of All Jurries told Lydia about Wedgits as something that she uses for homeschooling. Lydia purchased a couple of sets and the children LOVE them! They have been playing with them for a couple of hours straight today. Get some.

On another note: Lydia had a doctor appointment for the baby. When she got home Anna asked her if the doctor took the baby out.

Owen and Thomas

Owen has been enjoying the Thomas the Train Wooden Railway quite a bit lately. I cannot believe how intuitive little kids are; they seem to know that Thomas is the main character as well as the one in charge of other trains. Anna liked Thomas the best, and now Owen likes him the best too. It is a good thing that we have FOUR Thomas engines!

We have discovered a new (to us) toy store in Grand Rapids that has a lot of great toys. It carries the Playmobile 123 as well as a lot of Haba German toys. The wood toys that so many of you moms and dads are looking for are available there as well.

We found most of the prices to be cheaper than Learning Express.
Creative Learning Toys is on East Paris Avenue about 15 minutes from Union Avenue. It is really worth checking out.

What great toy stores do you like?

Earl Grey and Friends

Anna and Owen hosted a tea party for Lydia. The pictures are great. I hope that you enjoy:
Owen does not seem to enjoy his tea. Maybe he is one of those "I need sugar in my tea" kind of guys. Anna really enjoyed learning how to hold a tea cup after the manner of Emily Post. She does not quite understand that the pinky finger that is straight needs to be on the same hand as the cup that you are holding!
Lydia enjoyed the tea. Lydia always enjoys a great cup of tea. Especially when it is French Pressed. Yummy.
Lydia wants a little bit more cream for her tea. (Who uses cream in tea?)
Lydia demonstrates the proper way in which the cup and saucer are held.
Anna pours another round.
Owen enjoys chewing on the cup as much as he enjoys the contents.
Anna spills and the tea onto the carpet!
Did I mention that the tea is "make-believe" tea? What a fun little party- it is just that Anna does not want Owen to play with her because he knocks the dishes all over the floor and tries to eat them. Here Anna is trying to be a lady and a hostess and Owen comes along and thinks that it is a game of rugby!!

OCD reflections

For some providential reason I was not required to work this evening. This came as a surprise to all of us- but we persevered. We took a little trip to the local mall (the one that does not require the use Xanax to endure an evening there). Purpose? Play, return an item, and visit our favorite toy store: Learning Express.
As you can see, Lydia is ecstatic. She refers to these trips as outings- that may explain a stay-at-home mom's excitement for some time out!

At Learning Express we began a new toy collection. We have Little People coming out of our ears, Thomas the Tank Engine was too expensive for today's tastes (and Anna was not as interested as normal), but we have had our eyes on the Playmobil toys for a while. We thought that it was time. We purchased a shepherd and two sheep for Owen. They were reasonably priced and the best part according to one of us...they are GERMAN!
Anna got a new hat but for some reason she does not want to show it off. Modest little thing!

Here is Owen playing in the mall thing for children. Lydia and I both resolved from the earliest days of our dating that if we ever married and had children they would NOT play in these things! We like clean and all things clean. Sorry, these do not fit the bill. (Exception: If you go to Woodlawn Mall at 2pm you are okay. The cleaning people scrub and disinfect until 2:15pm.)

Here is Anna playing. It seems that when ever we go we meet the same type of kids at these places: There is this kid, there is the one that is always being threatened by his non-disciplining mother, these girls, and her! The most annoying group are the ones that cannot read the sign that requires kids to be under 8 years of age!

We had a good time though. Nothing a little Purel and a scalding hot bath cannot fix!

Anna began reflecting on the disorder of this place and decided that it was time to go. We agreed that we it was getting time to leave but we thought that we should stay for a little longer.

Until Anna and Owen saw the ghost of a little black kid! We were terrified and headed home!

Night-Night Thomas

Thomas the Train is a good friend of Anna's. She thinks that he is a really great train. She loves his characteristics: hard-working, friendly, willing to be confrontational when needed, and especially his reflective personality. Thomas is always reflecting on whether he has been a good friend or not.

What a great little train! Night-night Thomas. Toot! Toot!

These are a few of my favourite things

Anna has joined the ranks of being a lover of wooden toy trains. She has purchased a Thomas the Tank engine as well as Lady the engine. The reason that she likes Thomas is that is reminds her of her friend Noah Vedra. She even refers to the Thomas train as Noah. Her favorite are the Brio trains from Sweden. She knows that her Great Grandmother was a Lawson and would be proud of her choice in toys.
When I reminded her that her birthday is still about two months away she was shocked that she would have to wait that long for additions to her train collection.

(Unless loving people mail her some)!