Money Well Spent

I can't even begin to tell you how many times I have stressed and worried about what is the best gift to give.  Hundreds of times probably!  With Luke our oldest I wanted him to have everything and I over spent most every holiday.  I never bought with in the age range which always turned out to be a huge mistake!  With Bo I bought him expensive toys to make up for the fact that he had so many hand me downs.  One Christmas, it was his first Christmas I think I spent $80 on a stuffed Octopus with bells and mirrors that was supposed to be very intellectually stimulating all because we had everything else.  No matter how I spun that stupid thing he never would look at crawl to or play with it!

Now with Daisy being the only girl I wanted her to have barbies and babies and a toy kitchen and dress up clothes you know girly stuff.  All way to early though, she was just starting to speak in sentences when we bought her the kitchen and she didn't even know what to do with it.

So with all that in mind I really did some research this year.  I wanted to buy the kids age appropriate gifts that they would enjoy, learn from and remember.  I love that the boys are interested in action figures, we invested in more Playmobil this year we got them a Cowboy and Indian set, they have played with it every single day, and a Forestry set because with HD being a hunter the boys love playing with this set as well.  They were given the Tag reader, and it is worth every penny!  Even Daisy loves it, she is picking up some of the words by using it over and over.

Daisy got Bitty Baby Twins this year and she has proven to be a wonderful little mommy, it will be no time at all until she is ready for her American Girl.

Luke was given a Ball of Whacks, this is a great gift idea for any boy who likes to take apart and put together.  We got 2 really amazing board games one is an old classic called Shut The Box it is a math game and if you have kids who like to play games this is a great one it is fun and teaches math all at the same time.  We also got Blokus and even I am hooked, we have played almost everyday, its a little to advanced for Daisy at 3, but with supervision she has played with the pieces sorting and stacking them on the board making her own game.  The other game we got this Christmas is Cosmic Catch, I think this is my favorite game the kids got, all 5 of us can play together and it is not a long game.

Oh and we got the Wii Fit.  I found it on Amazon.com for over the retail value but really it has been worth the extra money I paid!  I have lost 2 pounds already.  I have been getting up at 5:30 and exercising before I make breakfast and I feel good.  

As far as I am concerned the money we spent this year was all on great toys and games.  I wish I could say that about every year!