Top Tip Tuesday Toys for Boys

Tweet Boys, huh? what should we give or make for them for the holidays? What to tell friends and family when they ask you and you don't want to end up with boxes full of shiny and new plastic toys that nobody ever plays with? I love the handmade suggestions I posted last week, but here are some more ideas, especially for a smaller budget

We love adding to toys that our kids already have - it keeps the toys fresh and interesting.

• Lego - there's still room in our lego box and Mr. Noodles gets better at building and constructing with it all the time
• wooden train set - you can always use mor tracks or bridges!
• Star Wars figures - it might be something different for your kid, but Mr. Noodles loves Star Wars and every new figure goes into the collection and gets played with. You know what your kid is a fan of - Dinosaurs, cowboys and indians, superheros or soldiers...

I don't place restrictions on these things (friends and family can gift this)

• Books (age apropriate and hopefully interesting) in english and german
• Puzzles
• Boardgames (people need to check with us first to see if we have something already)
• Art and Craft Materials

Vee

top ten tuesday - why should you buy Handmade? 10 Gründe diesen Winter handgemachtes zu verschenken

Tweet Top ten Reasons to buy handmade this Winter

1. Handmade things are made by Artisans who love their Product - you will notice the difference
2. Often, handmade Gifts are made from recycled/upcycled Material and better for the enviroment
3. If you support an indieartist/artisan, you don't help them to buy a 3rd Sportscar, you help a college student pay off their loan, you get food on the table for a family or you help the confidance of an old lady knitting in her retirement home.
4. Your can give it with a clear concience - it wasn't made in a sweatshop, it was made by someone who was paid what their work is worth
5. A handmade gift says "I really care about you", not "I got this at walmart"
6. Your gift will be unique
7. you don't have to go to a crowded shopping Mall/Store and fight other people for the last item on the shelf
8. The quality of handmade products is usually amazing! You will not find lead paint in them...
9. You make a connetion with the actual MAKER of your present, not a sales clerk who doesn't care about you
10. Buying handmade shows our children that not everything in this world needs to be mass produced. It teaches qaulity over quantity and shows that you value skill over mass production.

 10 Gründe, Handgemacht zu kaufen:

1.  Handgemachtes wird mit Liebe zu Sache hergestellt - ihr werdet den Unterschied merken!
2. Handgemachtes ist of aus recyclingmaterial und besser für die Umwelt
3. Wenn Ihr einen Künstler/Kunsthandwerker unterstützt, helft ihr ihm/ihr nicht, noch einen Sportwagen zu kaufen sondern ihr helft einem Studenten, seine Studiengebühren zu bezahlen, ihr stellt eine Mahlzeit auf den Tisch einer Familie oder gebt einer alten Dame im Altersheim etwas Würde zurück.
4. Ihr könnt mit gutem Gewissen einkaufen - Euer Geschenk wurde nicht in einem Sweatshop hergestellt, sondern derjenige, der es gemacht hat, bekommt einen fairen Lohn für seine Arbeit
5. Ein handgemachtes Geschenk sagt "Du bist mir wichtig" nicht "Ich hab's von IKEA"
6. Euer Geschenk ist einzigartig
7. Ihr braucht euch nicht im Weihnachtstrubel mit anderen um die letzte Schachtel im Regal streiten
8. Die Qualität ist üblicherweise grossartig! Und um Blei in der Farbe müsst ihr euch auch keine Gedanken machen...
9. Ihr nehm mit der Person Kontakt auf, die Euer Produkt gemacht hat, nicht Verkäufer der sich nicht wirklich für Euch interessiert
10. Wenn ihr Handgemacht kauft, zeigt ihr euren Kindern, das nicht alles aus Massenproduktion kommen muss. Ihr bringt ihnen den Wert von Qualität  und individuellen Fähigkeiten bei

Vee

I just realized I never showed you this...

Tweet I know the Holidays are wayy behind us, but I just realized that I forgot to show you what I made for my husband! He is the biggest Star Wars Fan I know...

Weihnachten ist zwar schon lange vorbei, aber mir ist gerade aufgefallen, dass ich euch nie gezeigt habe, was ich meinem Mann geschenkt habe! Er ist der größte Star Wars Fan den ich kenne...

I got the fabric from a really cool shop on etsy...

Die Stoffe habe ich auf etsy in einem echt coolen shop gekauft...

http://www.etsy.com/shop/whimsiedots


and the solids are from Ikea
die einfarbigen Stoffe sind von Ikea

This is the first quilt I have ever made :-) I had a blast - I think it took close to 100 hours for me to finish it. I started by cutting up the Star Wars fabric into squares and rectangles in multiple sizes from 5cm to 40cm (all multiples of 5cm) plus half a cm or so all the way around. I arranged the squares/rectangles into 40cm by 40cm squares, filling the gaps with 5cm solid squares.


Das ist der erste Quilt den ich gemacht habe :-) Ich hatte jede Mange Spass - und habe etwa 100 Stunden gebraucht. Ich habe zuerst den Star Wars Stoff in quadrate und Rechtecke geschnitten, die eine Größe von 5-40 cm hatten (alle ein vielfaches von 5cm), ein halber cm Nahtzugabe ringsum. Ich habe die Stücke dann zu großen. 40cm quadraten zusammengesetzt, die Lücken hab' ich mit den Ikea stoffen gefüllt.


I'm going to have a scheduled upload this week! I will upload on Sunday night to my etsy shop - you can follow me on facebook to see a preview as soon as I take the picture!


Ich werde am Sonntag abend neue Puppen in meinen etsy shop stellen - ihr könnt mir auf facebook folgen, um fatas der puppen zu sehen, befor sie in den shop kommen!

Aurelie' s amazing adventures/ Aurelies aufregende Abenteuer

Tweet Sooo - we're back from Disneyland Paris! sadly, our internet connection didn't like me at all - the last days I wasn't able to post Aurelies Adventures to facebook. But hey - I can always blog about them, right?

Also, aus Disneyland Paris sind wir gesund und munter zurückgekommen! Leider konnte mich die Internetverbindung im Hotel nicht so gut leiden - an den letzten Tagen konnte ich Aurelies Abenteuer nich auf facebook posten. Aber ich kann ja hier darüber schreiben :-)

Wednesday/Mittwoch
We had to get up really early to go to the airport! luckily, Veelana took me along in her backpack, so I didn't even have to wake up. I only got up after we were on the plane - I looked out to see Vienna and later to see Paris from above! I thought it was pretty amazing :-)

Wir mussten wirklich früh losgehen zum Flughafen! Zum Glück hat Veelana mich in ihrem Rucksack mitgenommen und ich musste nicht aufstehen. Ich bin erst herausgekommen als wir schon im Flugzeug waren - Ich habe aus dem Fenster geschaut umWien und später Paris von oben zu sehen! Das war großartig :-)

My first day in the Park was a great success - I went on several rides and I saw the pretty castle! I loved the small world boat ride with all the pretty dolls, and I think that was also little Turtles favourite today. Mr. Noodles loved Star Tours :-)

Mein erster Tag im Park war sehr erfolgreich - Ich bin mit einigen Bahnen mitgefahren und habe das schöne Schloss gesehen! Die "Small World" Bootfahrt mit all den schönen Puppen hat mir sehr gefallen, und ich glaube, die kleine Schildkröte mochte das auch am liebsten. Herr Nudel liebt Star Tours :-)

Thursday/Donnerstag

I went on big thunder mountain today! I was only a little bit scared, but then it was a lot of fun. Veelana took a lot of pictures of me in Frontierland, just like a real Photoshoot!

Ich bin heute mit big thunder mountain mitgefahren! Zuerst hatte ich ein bisschen angst, aber dann hat es ganz viel Spaß gemacht. Veelana hat ganz viele Bilder von mir gemacht in Frontierland, das war ein richtiger Photoschoot!

Friday/Freitag


I got a pair of mouse ears today! We went to the park really early to make the most of our extra magic hours, and we got to ride on Dumbo twice! after that, we stayed on the Carousel (or rather the "Mewwy wound" as little turtle calls it) for a couple of rounds. I loved lancelot's carousel, I got a horse all for myself.
All the walking made me so tired, I'm going to bed early. 

Heute habe ich mickey mouse ohren bekommen! Wir sind ganz früh in den Park gegangen um das meiste aus unseren "extra magic hours" herauszuholen, und wir konnten zweimal mit Dumbo mitfliegen! Dann sind wir für ein paar Runden auf dem Karussel geblieben (oder auch aif dem "Mewwy wound", wie kleine Schildkröte es nennt). Lancelots karussell war toll, ich hatte ein eigens pferd. 

Ich bin schon sooo müde vom vielen herumlaufen, ich gehe ganz bald ins bett.

Saturday/Samstag


Today we went to Paris to see the Eiffel tower! It was amazing! We got some delicious food at a small bakery and had a picknick on the grass. Everybody was worn out because we walked so much...

Heute waren wir in Paris und haben den Eiffelturm gesehen! Es war großartig! Wir haben in einer kleinen Bäckerei etwas leckeres zum Essem gekauft und ein Picknick gemacht. Am Abend waren alle ganz furchtbar erledigt weil wir so viel gegangen sind...

Sunday/Sonntag

We spent a lot of time in Discoveryland again - Buzz Lightyear is the bestest thing EVER! I had so much fun shooting the batterys to help the little aliens! The big X-Wing is really impressive, and Wall.E and Eve are soooo cute!

Wir haben heute viel Zeit in Discoveryland verbracht - mit Buzz Lightyear fahren ist super! Ich hatte  soviel Spass dabei, mit Laser auf Batterien zu schiessen und den kleinen Aliens zu helfen. Der große X-Wing ist ganz schön beeindruckend, und WallE und Eve sind soo süß!

Monday/Montag

After playing with the broomstick and its two buckets, we all had the music to the sorcerers apprentice stuck in the head :-) Luckily, I like it - and playing was fun. Mr. Noodles thought so, too!

Nachdem wir mit dem Besen und seinen Eimern gespielt hatten, hatten wir alle die Musik zum Zauberlehrling im Kopf :-) Zum Glück mag ich sie - und das Spielen hat viel Spaß gemacht. Herr Nudel fand das auch!

Tuesday/Dienstag

I met Mickey today! We started our last day really early, and met him right after the park opened. He was riding around in his car, probably doing a last check to see if everything was all right for the guests. Awesome!

Ich habe heute Mickey getroffen! Wir haben unseren letzten Tag wieder sehr früh begonnen und als der Park geöffnet wurde, fuhr er in seinem Auto herum - warscheinlich ein letzter Check um zu sehen ob auch alles seine Ordnung hat. Sooo Toll!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for reading about my Disneyland adventure - I had so much fun! I hope the pictures show this a little. Now, I will be looking for a lovely family to adopt me :-)

Danke, dass Ihr  euch die Zeit genommen habt mein Disneyland Abenteuer zu lesen - ich hatte so viel Spass dabei! Ich hoffe, dass man das auf den Bildern sehen kann. Jetzt suche ich nach einer lieben Familie, die mich adoptieren will :-)

Hugs,
Aurelie

Team Umizoomi, ready for action!

When we heard about the "Faschingsfeier" (= Mardi Gras Party) in Dorians Kindergarden, Dorian and I ran into a bit of a problem. Toy weapons where not allowed, and he didn't want to be a knight without a sword or Darth Vader without his lightsaber. Tthat left us with a somewhat limited selection of boy costumes...
After a lot of thinking it over, we finally agreed on "Geo". He's a tiny superhero in one of Dorians favourite TV shows, Team Umizoomi. Its on Nickelodeon and really cute - look it up!
Anyway, I thought I'd post about the making of this costume :-)

Tweet this is what I'm trying to make. Cute little superhero, right?

I started with some very soft velour fabric in blue and cut the parts that I need for the costume. I used a pair of well fitting pants and just traced it onto the fabric. The sweater was a bit harder, but not much. I again used a sweater to trace the parts I needed onto my fabric.
I sewed it up real quick - there are only straight and easy seams...
The only trouble I ran into was when I tried to hem the Arms and legs and forgot to remember to swtitch to a zig-zag stitch to keep the seams stretchy...
I finished the hood with a double layer of orange fabric.all the way around the opening.

After a bit of thinking I came up with a fairly simple way to make the belt:
I cut the parts out of very sturdy cardboard (a box that Pampers came in) and painted them with acrylic paint. Here's what they looked like after aplying the first coat of paint - I painted it twice more.
I cut out some shapes (squares, triangles and circles) and assembled the belt with adhesive film to protect the paint and to smoothe over any rough edges.

I stuck the shapes on with regular tape afterwards.

Dorian loves his costume - and the pants I made fit so nicely, he'll wear them as lounge pants :-)


If I had the time I would totally make a matching Milli costume for Lilith!

Sunday Scrapbook: Moments in time I want to preserve: Disney world 2010, part 4

Tweet This is it! the last part of our WDW vacation 2010 - and I'm so glad I finally took the time to write it all down! You can go and read the first three parts here:
Part 1 part 2 part 3 have fun reading this!

Click to view day fourteen album

Dec. 5th: Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo!
We had the most delicious breakfast at Wolfgang Puck Express and spent the morning in Downtown Disney. We did some shopping, the kids wanted to go to Disney Quest one more time and we played our favourite video games.
We went back for a mid afternoon nap (most of us - chris went to the parks again), and when we wanted to go out for the night again, something really cool happened.
Our hotel had this gigantic Christmas tree in the lobby. Every evening one kid got to light the tree with a magic wand - and today Dorian was picked! (that only works if you define "picked" as: "mom went there early to ask them if they could pick him and got on the hotel staffs nerves until they did")
Dorian got very, very nervous. He told me that he didn't know if he could do it...
He did very well! We yelled "Bibbity-bobbity-boo" as he was told and the lights went on. Very cool!
We ended up not going out anymore, just played at the arcade for a bit.
 

click to view day fifteen album

Dec. 6th: Pizza Planet, here we come! 
Dorian really wanted to do the Jedi training again before we left Disney World, so we headed to the Disney Studios. We got in an hour early  because they had the extra magic hour that day and I headed right to the Jedi training area with Dorian, while Chris and Lilith got us fast passes for the Midway Mania (Toy Story) ride. We just had time to see clubhouse Disney again and I tried to get onto the rock n roller coaster but it was closed. Dorian did  a great job with the Jedi training! To celebrate, we went to Pizza Planet for lunch and I finally got some salads! I love having a salad with my meals, I had Idea how much I missed it!
We went back to the hotel for a nap and headed back out in the evening - and while everyone was sleeping I had a quick dip at blizzard beach. Sliding is soooo much fun!
The magic kingdom was next on our list and we got to see space mountain with the lights on, I think they had to fix something - very cool! and we saw "Wishes" again which was just as awesome as last time.


Interlude: Strollers
Just in case anyone is wondering why there is no stroller in any of our pictures - we didn't have one. We did originally plan to buy a cheap stroller for our vacation, but we didn't find what we where looking for right away and did our first day in the Hollywood Studios without one and it worked great! Our kids are used to riding on mom and dads shoulders and we never had to deal with stroller parking.
I have to say that I never once missed the stroller, but there where plenty of times where I was really happy that I didn't have to deal with one, especially when we were in a crowd...

Click to view day sixteen album

Dec. 7th: We need a break! 
After having a late night, we just stayed in bed for a while. Chris went out early in the morning and we planned to meet up for lunch at Wolfgang Puck express again. The food was delicious and Dorian got to go to Disney Quest with his dad one last time. I had time to pack in the afternoon when I was back at the hotel with Lilith and  I had plans to head out right after glee again that night for one last shopping trip.
Chris brought Dorian back to the hotel and headed out again to Epcot. I planned to put the kids to bed before glee started, but it didn't work that way - Dorian was asleep after his head hit the pillow, but Lilith refused to cooperate. We ended up watching "glee" together - and she fell asleep about three seconds after the episode was over...
I used the rest of our snack credits to buy candy at Goofy's candy shoppe and had dinner at "Earl of sandwich" - and the best ice tea lemonade EVER...

Click to view day seventeen album

Dec. 8th: going home  
We spent the last day of our vacation in the magic Kingdom, doing all of our favourite rides one last time (or three times in the case of Dorian and the Peter Pan ride) and went on a ridiculous spending spree at the main street bakery with our last meal credits. We got three pastries for each credit and I think we had about 12 or 15 credits left - yes, we had a whole suitcase full of food on our way home. The cinnamon buns are sooooo awesome...
Dorian ate a whole ice cream sandwich - two gigantic freshly baked cookies with about two inch of vanilla ice cream in between - and I think he only got hungry after we were back home about a day later...
Our flight back to Frankfurt was uneventful but cramped - they where looking for volunteers that would take the plane on the next day. We volunteered (800$ cash per ticket, a nice hotel room and an additional day of vacation are pretty strong pro arguments), but we ended up on that flight anyway...
We couldn't get onto our plane in Frankfurt as we planned becausebecause they were backed up for days.
Going home by train had its advantages - the airline transported our bags :-)


That's it! There will be an epilogue post next week with some stuff I forgot to mention or that just didn't fit anywhere, but you made it to the end ouf our vacation! Thank you so much for reading all of this - the last couple of days were pretty hard to do, I waited a tad too long...

Sunday Scrapbook: Moments in time I want to preserve: Disneyworld 2010, part 3

Tweet hey there,
This is the three part of our Walt Disney World vacation, and there are going to be four parts, and then maybe a post with some of the things that didn't really fit anywhere else. You can go back and read part one and part two. This weeks post covers the first four days of December and a praise to Disney's guest relations and lost and found services. Enjoy!

Click to view day ten album

Dec. 1st: Wishes
December 1st found us at  Disney Downtown in the morning - we got most of our shopping done at World of Disney (I got a very cool hat!) and we went to Wolfgang Puck Express for lunch - they took our dining credits :-) It was so nice to eat off real plates again and to use cutlery that wasn't made of plastic.
The kids (and of course, us) played for a couple of hours at Disney Quest and went back to the hotel for a nap. We actually had plans for the night for once...
We made it to the magic Kingdom with a bit of time to spare before the Parade - we looked at the character houses in Toontown and Dorian took his first ride on a roller coaster, Goofy's barnstormer.  We found a great spot in front of the castle for the Electrical Parade, next to THE sweetest gay couple I've ever seen. One of the guys used to work at WDW and we got talking - he was at the lost children department and told us a bit about the inner workings.
The kids were completely mesmerised by the parade and I loved it, too - just the music got a bit annoying after the tenth repetition...
We saw the "Wishes" firework at 8 pm and this is by far the best firework I've seen in my life. I love the way this is set to music, just perfect.

Click to view day eleven album

Dec. 2nd: Some thing's missing 
Let me say this up front: I'm not very proud of my reaction, 'kay? And I used to think that I keep my head in an emergency...
The day started off nice enough - we made it in time to the magic kingdom to get in early with the extra magic hour. Only when we got to the entrance I noticed that my wallet was gone. I knew I'd had it when we where at the hotel because I used my key card to pay for breakfast, so there was no chance that I had accidentally left it in our room. I started panicking, Chris went back to check if I'd lost it on the way to the bus and I got in line at the guest relations counter - I knew that I'd have to cancel my credit card if the wallet didn't show up right away.
Chris went into the park with Dorian and we agreed on a meeting point.
After that, I pretty much went to pieces. I started crying, and everyone in the queue was so nice to me! One lady even gave me 20$ so I could enjoy the rest of my vacation. I didn't want to take it, but she just stuffed it in Lilith's pocket.
Guest relations helped me sort out the credit card and key card mess and got me a day pass for WDW so I could go in and join my husband and son. We had a nice enough time at the magic Kingdom - we finally had that pineapple float everybody is talking about - and went back to the hotel for a nap. We headed out pretty late to go to Epcot in the evening to see the illuminations. It was really impressive, but the Wishes are still my favourite firework. The sidewalk and fountain lightart in Epcot is stunning. I've never seen anything like that...


Interlude: Guest relations and Lost and Found at WDW
If you  can't live without the experience of having your wallet stolen, do it at WDW ;-) The guy at Guest relations went out of his way to help me cancel my credit card and ATM card, he even called my austrian bank to do so.
My wallet was found the next day (minus credit card and room key) - I'm so glad that I didn't have to retake my drivers licence!
As nice as everybody was, I still don't recommend it :-)

Click to view day twelve album

Dec. 3rd: Animal Kingdom
The kids had been so great the last  couple of days and everything had worked so well that we ignored the feeling that it was time for another rest day. That was not the smartest plan...
The kids where pretty grumpy for most of the day, but we managed OK after a while. The Safari was great and the kids loved seing the animals - the jungle trail was pretty impressive, too! 
We had the most fattening breakfast EVER in animal Kingdom. The muffin and chocolate shake where so rich, we shared them four ways and the kids didn't want to eat the chocolate lolipop that came with it afterwards...
We had fun banging the drums, we went to the lion king show where we learned that giraffes go "baaaa" like sheep and I got to ride the Expedition Everest coaster while Chris went to see the Nemo show with the kids. We ended up on the playground, where the kids finally started having fun - and I had a chance to go see the bugs life show inside the tree of life.
I love the look of Animal Kingdom - theres such an incredible amount of detail! The kids didn't really dig that park too much, but there wasn't so much for them to do.

I went back to Epcot after the kids were in bed. I skipped the Illuminations this time, got some chinese food and went on Mission Space six times in a row. So Much FUN!

Click to view day thirteen album

Dec. 4th: Pause and unwind
After a somewhat stressful day at Animal Kingdom the day before, Chris took off by himself to the Hollywood studios and Blizzard Beach. We met for lunch at the earl of sandwitch and I went to the JoAnn store a bit later where I spent the 20$ the nice lady gave to me :-) I would probably have spent 100$ or more if I'd had them...
I got a great set of pretty tissue paper that I want to use for my window stars and a box of mini candy canes :-)
I really wanted to make it in time for the christmas tree lighting at the hotel, but we ended up being a couple of minutes late.


So much for the third part of our Florida adventure - the next part will be up next sunday!

Sunday Scrapbook: Moments in time I want to preserve: Disney world 2010, part 2

Tweet Hello there,
here is the second part of our vacation, where we moved to our Disney hotel and the total Disney immersion begins...
You can go back and read the first part here Sunday Scrapbook: Moments in time I want to preserve: Disney world 2010 part 1

Nov. 27th: Jedi training

click to view day six album

after a last breakfast at our old hotel very early in the morning, we went to the POP century hotel to get our "key to the world" cards. We got a room all the way in the back of the 80s building, which is a good 10 minutes walk from the entrance, food court and bus station. And we really didn't want to walk that much with tired children in the evening...
Not that I mind walking - we did a lot of walking! We just didn't want to do this on top of everything. The hotel staff was very nice  about it and promised us a better room the next day, when the thanksgiving crowd left - and they would even take care of our luggage.
So, after checking in and taking our key cards we used the shuttle bus to the Hollywood Studios. We had originally planned to just walk around and take in the sights, since this was going to be a day with a high crowd level. We really didn't expect it, but there were still spots available in the Jedi training academy! Of course Dorian wanted to go. we got a spot for later that morning and went on to do some other things that weren't too crowded. The kids loved the clubhouse Disney show and we spent our first dining credit on a sandwich, chips, muffin and bottled water deal which kept us fed for the next part of the day. We realized that eating all the food we'd get would be a big challenge...

Dorian got very intense about the Jedi training. He got scared at first ("mom, I don't want to, I don't think I can beat Darth Vader") and then he had to go to the bathroom (again!) because he got so excited - and he did so well! He fought Darth Maul and actually poked him in the foot...

We had planned to go back to the hotel for a late nap, but since the kids were still really happy, we decided against it and instead watched the BlockPartyBash parade (kind of an idealized love parade), did the lights and sounds movie tour, saw Kermit and Miss Piggy in 3D and stayed long enough to watch the Osborne Family Lights dance. I was absolutely overwhelmed! There was even fake snow - at a temperature of 25°C...

Needless to say that we fell asleep as soon as we hit our pillows.

click to view day seven album

Nov. 28th: M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E
We actually managed to be in front of the Magic Kingdom for the opening ceremony - we saw Mickey and his friends  arrive with the Train, all the dancing and the kids loved it! (We did, too :-)) While I enjoyed the rides Dorian is still too short for (most of them, actually - he's just short of the 40" that are necessary) and got wet on Splash mountain, Chris went to the country bear jamboree with the kids. They started their pin trading adventure and Dorian initiated his first English conversation with a staff member  ("where is woody? Where is Jesse?") we finally got to meet some characters (Mary Poppins was really good - She even had a British accent!) and went back to the hotel in the late afternoon - just in time to test the swimming pool before bedtime.

We made a big mistake that day - we buckled when the kids wanted to get a lollipop. We never buy them stuff like that - but since we were on vacation and it was included in the meal plan we figured it would probably be OK. NO. They ended up fighting over that  fragging thing, Lilith ate about a third of it by chewing it off, she put the lolly in my hair whenever she sat on my shoulders and drizzled red food coloring, sugar and spit on herself and me. And she wasn't allowed to hug winnie the poo. Well, she could have hugged him, but she would have needed to give the sugary treat to someone else (that thing simply wasn't allowed anywhere near a characters clothing) and she was not willing to do that.
I had to wash about an inch of sugar from my hair after that...

Interlude: A word about dining credits
since we went to WDW during the off season, we got a nice deal at the hotel - they gave us the quick service dining plan for free! We had no idea if this would be a lot of food or very little, but we found out as soon as we bought the first meal that it would be near impossible to eat all of it. The quick service dining plan entitled us to two meals (main course, drink and dessert) and two snacks per person over the age of three.   So we had to eat six meal credits and six snacks every day. We managed about half of that. (but we brought our own bottled water)


Nov. 29th: A day off

click to view day eight album

Chris got up really early to hit the parks alone - Dorian had a pretty bad cough and I wanted us to take a day off. So I stayed at the hotel, walking around, checking out the shop and generally lazing around. The kids loved the change of pace and Chris got to go on all the wild rides - he did three of the four parks in one day.

Once the kids where asleep, we switched places. My husband stayed with the kids and I want to the magic Kingdom. So much fun! I did space mountain and Buzz lightyear and I had dinner without anyone stealing my fries! The veggie burger in tomorrowland is excellent! Can you tell that I haven't had a night out in a while?

Click to view day nine album

Nov. 30th: Epcot
I didn't think that Epcot had that much to offer for little kids , but I didn't account for the Innovations! exhibits. The kids loved it there - and I got the chance to do Soarin', test track and Mission Space while Chris waited in line to meet Mickey, Donald, Pluto, Goofy and Minnie. We did the little boat tour together and saw some amazing hydroponic plants and a couple of hidden Mickeys. I got the kids back just in time for dinner - and we all watched "glee" cuddling in our hotel bed.
The kids were doing so well so far, we really didn't want to push them too hard.  It was good to have so much time - we saw WDW at our own pace and we had no pressure. Resting days where so important - and going home early wasn't a problem either.


Thank you so much for coming here! The next part will be up next sunday - hopefully :-)
Vee

Sunday Scrapbook: Moments in time I want to preserve

Tweet Hello there,
you might have read that w all went to Disney world for our vacation late November/early December. I have promised to post pictures for a while now - here is part I with a recap of the first part of our vacation.


Nov. 22nd: Travel day
the kids were absolutely awesome - we had about 20 hours of air travel/transfers and we Lilith whined for about 20min when she was tired and couldn't go to sleep. That was IT! I brought a bunch of toys and coloring books and whatnot, but it wasn't necessary - the airline (I highly recommend Lufthansa if you travel with kids!) provided us with tons of things to do for the kids, they brought us candy and the kids could watch cartoons. Still - I was really impressed!

Click to wiew day two album

Nov, 23rd: Jet Lag
We kept the kids up in the evening to get them to sleep a bit longer and it somewhat worked - Lilith woke up at 4 am. which is pretty good considering that this would be ten o' clock for her in our own timezone. I got up with her and we ended up watching cartoons. Dorian joined us a couple of hours later - we let Chris sleep in a little. We all felt pretty tired that day, so we ended up just doing some grocery shopping and hanging out at the hotel pool.
We tried to find a nice, regular Mall to get some shopping done, but the Mall we ended up in was by far too expensive for our taste. The second mall we found made a dumpster look organized and friendly, so we didn't really shop there either.
The biggest surprise of the day was the breakfast. Our kids are fairly picky when it comes to food - we didn't really expect them to eat a lot on the first couple of days until they got really hungry. But they ate EVERYTHING that was available there. Eggs, sausage, waffles, cereal - Dorian even drank OJ, something he never does at home! I think we where almost able to roll them to our room!

Nov 24th: Downtown Disney

Click to view day three album

We decided to get our Disney tickets today, so we went to Downtown Disney. Dorian was in a pretty bad mood - until we got to the world of Disney store. After browsing through a room full of Star Wars and Toy Story Merchandise for over two hours (Chris got the tickets in the meantime), he was totally fine and in the mood for some adventures (of course, he didn't really want to leave the store...). We played at the LEGO shop for a while and ended up going to Disney Quest. We had fun there, but weren't too excited about coming back and wanted to leave fairly early. Luckily a cast member showed us the way to the fourth floor that we had missed before for some reason. And the fourth floor is where they have the Kids arcade... Dorian and Lilith would have stayed there for hours...

Click to view day four album

Nov. 25th: Thanksgiving
Apparently going swimming isn't a thanksgiving tradition - we had Blizzard Beach almost to ourselves when we went there. The  Kids loved going on the kiddie slides and Dorian even went on one for grown ups, too - we had a great time! A lot of people told us that our kids would still be too small to enjoy WDW - But I have to say that there's a lot of stuff that you simply don't see or do without little kids. The Kiddie pool at Blizzard Beach is absolutely amazing!

We went to Whole Foods to get some Turkey&Stuffing and were surprised that they closed at 3pm - and we arrived at 2:45, just in time to get what was left over. We had dinner back at the hotel and watched football - but my husband claimed that my turkey tasted better :-)

Nov. 26th: Black Friday

click to view day five album

We had heard about Black Friday back home and we were glad that we'd have a chance to experience it close up. Chris got up sometime before 6am - but he was way too late for the great offers! We went to the Florida Mall, that we finally found and admired the sleeping people all around that had been shopping for hours already. We took advantage of some great offers (50% off at baby gap, 20% off at the Disney store) bought tons of things and went back to Bubbalous Bodacious Barbecue. This is one of those places where the iced tea is the only vegetarian choice...

I'll be back with more vacation fun next Sunday!
Vee

Who Else Wants to get started on their holiday list TODAY?

"I'm going to be done early this year with my holiday shopping/crafting" - Is that something you can hear yourself say? But somehow it never works... Then this post is for you! Join me in my quest to get my holiday stuff done early this year.



Hello again - I know I have been a bit lazy with posting lately, but here you go - new week, new post :-)
I have (Again) decided to get my Holiday stuff done soonish this year and not wait for the last minute. And this time I have made a plan! I will post my progress on my blog - just not the individual presents :-)

Waiting for Santa Christmas
Collection Jester Hat
by ohbabydotcom

Step one (do this NOW):
set a deadline.
I will be done with most of my holiday crafting by november  22nd - thats when we leave for our vacation.
Not everything will be done, but most things should be ready. No last minute sock knitting this year, I hope! What will your deadline be? Feel free to share!

make a list of people who will get presents/cards:
I have a paper list here - I will mark everyone who gets something bought, something handmade by me, something small or just a card/letter

Pick the most important people from that list
You know... Mom, Dad, spouse, kids, grandparents, grandkids - just the core group - the people whose presents should take up most of your efford :-) Just put them on top of your list

check your half finished projects
I know you have them, almost everyone does :-) Take a look to see if there is anything that is almost finished and that will make a good gift for someone on your list. How much time do you think it will take to finish this? Do you have the supplies?

Snowflake Mittens Crochet PATTERN
by BellaMcBride

Extra Credit (Do this whenever you have the time)

start adressing your holiday cards/letters
This may seem really early, but I did it this way two years ago, just adressing one or two envelopes whenever I had the time and doing the holiday cards was a breeze that year


Finish one of your "almost finished" Projects from last year (two years ago?)
...or get started, or decide that you're not going to use any of them (that might be a good opportunity to throw them away...)

Bonus

Design your christmas card!
If you want to make your own christmas cards (and I think you should because it's really easy), start by picking the picture(s) you want to use.

Gingerbread Cottage Playset Printable
Paper Craft by FantasticToys

So what’s next?

next week, we will talk about some more preparations you can get started on as well as some exciting craft ideas for this winter. There's still some time, so this is the time to get started on those slightly bigger projects.
And since that's what I usually struggle with most: Gift ideas for the husband!

If you found this article helpful, follow this blog or "like" Veelana's Design on facebook so you will not miss next weeks installment!

Keep creating,
Vee

PS: 

If you want to get one of my custom dolls early for the holidays, order one now! Tell me you read this Blog post and I will add an extra outfit. They are available with wool stuffing, too!