babes in toyland

We used to have a Disney book that had a Babes in Toyland story in it and I always loved the pictures.  Maybe it was the novelty of seeing a live action movie in illustrations, but even now I think these pictures are cool.  The one we used to have was really short and only had a few pictures so I always wanted there to be more.  When I bought the collection of Disney books, I was excited to find so many more pictures with the story.... so excited in fact, that I decided to include them all on my blog.  Most people probably won't care, but at least my sisters probably will, so it is not just in vain.  Plus, I think Babes in Toyland is a great and under appreciated movie.

Toyland

disney books

These are the Disney books I got awhile ago at a garage sale.  I took a bunch of pictures of the illustrations in the books because I thought they were so cool  (Babes In Toyland is my favorite and therefore it is getting its own post). 

You have to love the traditional stuff.... 

But what I really love is the stylized stuff like this:

I loved this Nursery Rhyme one with all the Disney character playing different parts.  I think we used to have a book with these in it growing up.  I definitely remember it. 

Don't you kind of want to live in the house from "Lady and the Tramp"?

The ones from live action movies are pretty cool too. 

This was one of the most exciting parts for me.  There was a whole section on the history of Disneyland.  Being as obsessed with Disneyland as I am, I loved seeing all the old pictures of how it used to look. 

I don't remember going on the skyride, but I do remember it being there. The pirate ship in the background was before my time though.  I remember Dad telling me about it and how you could walk on it and how he thought it was really cool.  I wonder if it is the one that lives in the "river" now?

Collage of Diversity

easy toys

So I have been feeling as though I am neglecting my blog since I got my new job teaching Acting.  I have been pretty busy making lesson plans and having auditions.  I haven't been too crafty lately, with the one exception of making a model of my set for Dear Brutus.  I "made" these things a while ago and had been meaning to post them for awhile, but just couldn't make it a priority.  Today, I needed a break from my real job, so I decided to finally post them while Jimmy is taking a nap.  These are just a few cheap toy ideas I came up with that Jimmy loves, so I thought I would share.  

GROCERIES:  

All you need is some old containers you were going to throw away anyways and one spiffy reusable grocery bag.  Jimmy lines them all up on the couch and then goes shopping.  

Hours of fun... or at least minutes.

$1 section at Michael's.  

Ketchup and Mustard were already two of his favorite food.  He used to just hold something invisible in his hand and tell me he was putting Ketchup on my invisible food.  I hate to stiffle his imagination, but I couldn't resist.  His favorite part of these is recreating the noise that real bottles make (imagine a fart noise from your mouth).

BACON AND EGGS

So this is probably one of Jimmy's current favorite toys.  I was actually quite proud of myself for coming up with it, but at the same time, it just seems so obvious.  Jimmy loved playing with his Easter Eggs after Easter.  He would put tiny little toys in them and try to close them (which I usually had to help with).  I got kind of sick of having his basket in our living room around June, so I put them in an old egg carton and decided to make felt eggs to put inside each one. And well, if you are going to make eggs, you need bacon too.  Everyone needs bacon.  For more details on how I made the bacon and eggs, go to All Gussied Up.

Here is Jimbo playing with them.

This is how our floor usually looks.

welcome home nano!

Zach's Dad (aka: Marty, Dr. Weisse, or Nano) has been in Iraq since February.  He is a Doctor in the Army and just re-enlisted last year.  He has been working at Camp Victory in Bagdad. Thank the Lord, he made it home safe and sound at the beginning of this month.  He has a blog where we wrote some stories about his trip.  You can read them here.  He has some time off now so he has been visiting family and friends in Morgantown and Wisconsin.  Then he and Janet will go to Dallas to see Natalie play soccer (Go Crusaders!) and then come and see us at the beginning of September!  We can't wait to see you!

He is the one in the middle front.

slip slidin' away

So to celebrate by birthday this year, I decided I wanted a Slip'n'Slide. I had been talking to Em about it all summer, but it sounded like a fun thing to do on my birthday since I used to have pool parties a lot growing up and we had Slip'n'Slides a few times. One time in particular I got one as a present called the "Crocodile Mile" and Danny insisted on sitting in the little pool at the end the whole time making it difficult for any one to slide. It was probably really stinkin' cute, but I just remember being really annoyed with him at the time. I didn't properly appreciate his cuteness when I was 8 years old. Anyway, I digress. I found a Double Slip'n'Slide on sale at Walgreens for $10. I guess it pays to buy these things when the season is almost over and everything is half price. My family threw a little party for me the day before my birthday at Emily's house. The kids had a lot of fun, but the grown-ups all got in there too. It even stayed up for a few days at Em's house and was put to good use. Here are some of our Slip'Slidin' adventures:

Lucy liked trying to drink the water that sprayed from the middle.

I also bought this water spraying toy for $5. I don't know if the pictures really show what it does, but I thought it ended up being a good purchase because Jimmy loved it. Water sprayed from a bunch of places, but there was also a place to put balls that rolled all the way to the bottom and then shot high up in the air. Jack decide to try hitting them with his baseball bat and he and Jimmy had a fun time with that.

Phoenix may be hot in the summer, but I think there are plenty of fun things to do outside if you just stay wet. I will take it over the freezing cold any day.

It was an awesome day. Thanks family!