I wanted to give you a little review of the gifts that my kids got for Christmas… the ones that were a HIT and the ones that were a FLOP!
The picture above is our Christmas tree at the Tree Top. I think it is beautiful! We had so much fun! Now, the toilet paper was a parting gift from our Elf on the Shelf, he T.P.’d the tree, my son to his bed and the deer in the wall. I don’t ask, I just live here.
Lets start with the FLOP, because there was really only 1. One BIG, HUGE, FAT flop! I am still crying about it!
I was so excited for my 14 year old to get a Kindle Fire from Santa. He was not as excited. At first, he had no idea what it was or what it did. So I spent FOREVER showing him just how dang cool it was and helped him get his iTunes music on it…. then it sat there for 2 days. I finally asked him if he wanted me to return it ( I mean if he wanted Santa to return it) and he said yes, he kept apologizing and said he just wouldn’t use it.
I just finished printing my return label from Amazon. It was really easy to do. I keep trying to justify keeping it for my self but I can’t 🙁 I asked him if there was something he wanted instead, he answered, “can I borrow your iTouch and I need some shoes.” DONE.
Onto the WINNERS!
OMGosh! This thing ROCKS!! It was a spur of the moment purchase that I wasn’t sure about when I posted it and another device. It is called the Go Groove and works with your iPod or iPhone. Everyone in the house is fighting over it including me! The sound that comes out of this thing is AMAZING! I would totally recommend this sound system to everyone! We made my son bring it on vacation with us. You can see it HERE.
YEP! Obviously the Nintendo DS3 was a HIT! She was a pretty happy kid. Even better all the DS games they already have work on it, so there is no shortage of games to play. Thank goodness as we didn’t really buy any new ones! I did get her a cool carrying case for it through!
Another spur of the moment purchase because it was a lightening deal that I posted. Paul and I had talked many times about getting a pair of nice headphones that I could use while working, and in the car. These had GREAT reviews and were really discounted, plus I had some Swagbucks I could use, so I grabbed the white pair (thinking the kids would think they are dorky and wouldn’t want to use them)!
They are AWESOME! They were so nice on our trip, and have not been removed from a persons head 24/7 since they came! I would highly recommend these! Go HERE to see them .
The elusive Leappad! Oh yes! It was everything that it was cracked up to be! The kids have really loved it. Plus the games and graphics are good and fun. The 3 year old loved it along with the 11 year old who can be caught playing on it also!
The shortage was justified, I can see the kids no getting tired of this one for a while. Two years ago I bought the handheld Leap Frog device and that was a flop, the never played with it at all, so I was worried about this one initially. They love it though! They are also finally in stock HERE, and my Walmart had ONE today in the store!
For the 18 month and under crowd, the boxes, wrapping paper and bows were priceless!
This baby (cutest baby on the planet!) figured out how to open presents and was a rock star! She just wanted to open them!
There were 2 that really stood out if you were wearing diapers. The Leapfrog Learn and Groove Microphone was a big hit, in fact we had to hide it in the car on the way home to keep Dad from tossing it out the window. True test of a good toy!
Finally, the good old fashioned Playskool Busy Poppin’ Pals was the biggest hit for the diaper crowd! They wouldn’t even let it come out of the box, they were too busy playing with it!
Look at how good my baby is… sitting there quietly waiting her turn to play. While her cousin pushed his way in 🙂 LOL! Not quite! More the other way around!
That is it for my wrap up. Except for the Kindle Fire which was in my opinion the coolest gift ever, it was all really good!
What were your hits and flops?!
Part comedian, part Dad, part athlete. He will boss around your children while they play ball.
Just as angelic as she looks, this girl could easily raise a Village by herself, and all the children would grow up to be President.
Self proclaimed, she would be a webkinz dog. Because, "they're cute, and puppies are too. And they're sweet and they always get along with other puppies."
This mini-Martha Stewart can handle ANY craft you send her way. She isn't all bows and rainbows, she's got karate kid moves!
Not "Pick-Me-Up" like caffeine, she wants you to pick her up! AND NOW!
Anything that can be destroyed WILL be destroyed!
Practically Perfect in Every Way for now! Nicknamed "The Panda" she is rolly polly and lives by the motto, "the little one, is KING!"
The resident Labradoodle, Miller got his name because Mom won and got to name the baby! Need something chewed up? He'll take care of it. Especially if it's expensive..
Love that the elf TP’d the tree and house! My 18 mo old and 3 1/2 yro got an electronic drumset from Santa. I believe you or Paul posted them being on sale at Walmart.com for $10! Such a hit! Both girls are jamming away and we already want to throw them out! They also received the Step 2 Legacy Kitchen set. Awesome! (From Nanna) Of course they didn’t play with it the first day, they played with the enormous box all day! They said it was their new home! Glad you had a great Christmas! Happy New Year!
I love your house and your TP job is awesome! I mean, Elf on the Shelf’s TP job. Anyway, our gifts were hits for the most part. I got my husband a Blu-Ray DVD player for our bedroom with wi-fi so we could watch Netflix. We are 1 family that did not cancel it because we use it daily. Anyway, it required a USB to pick up the wi-fi. I thought it would be around $20. We get to Walmart and its $80. Hmmm… nope! That’ll have to wait. Until then, it’s just DVD’s. 🙂
And I have a step-son who’s 16 and lives with us. He didn’t really ask for anything and we didn’t get him a huge gift because he still is like a kid (wants candy for Christmas) – and that’s what we got him lol. His plane ticket to see his mom was kinda like a Christmas gift too. He also wanted shoes like your son.
My daughter received this http://www.walmart.com/ip/Disney-Princess-Sing-Along-CD-Boombox/11025947 and I’m pretty sure it was her most favorite thing! She was also madly in love with the Polly Pocket Jet. I think we have roughly 50 polly pocket dolls now….ugh!
I have stepped on more Polly Pockets…..
I have vacuumed up more Polly Pocket shoes…
How sad that the Kindle was such a bust for you! Our 3 biggest hits for the 18month old (the only kid/grandkid around here) was; mega blocks w/truck, weebles playhouse thing, and of course, a tent w/tunnel. We can’t keep her away from those things this week!
I got a Kindle Fire from my DH and our 11 yr old son took it from me. He loves it and wants one. So we know what he is getting for his Birthday in May.
Thanks for helping us save money. Hope you and your family have a great 2012. Now I have to go look up the Go Grove.
See that was what I was thinking would happen!
Our three year old daughter ‘ordered’ a Nintendo DS from Santa, but we had actually purchased a a Leap Frog Leapster 2 on Black Friday. She calls it her “DS” and carries it everywhere. She did get two games, but sticks to a scribbling screen. Not sure if it is one of the game options or just another feature of the hand held player. My 6 y/o son received the helicopter featured on your blog and others, from Amazon. He actually wanted one that had a missile launcher, it was at least twice as much, but he is pretty content with this for now. The battery in the helicopter wears out pretty quickly. All my son is doing is hovering and landing it it to get he hang of the thing. He also got a lot of Spy Net toys from Santa and other relatives.
We have 2 boys and have the Leapster2 and the Explorer. They’re both great devices. Yes, the scribbing comes with the device and then there are games as well. I guess you can download games too but I have yet to figure that out.
Was the Nintendo DS3 the 3D version? and if so, don’t you need to buy 3D games for it? My friend has the leappad for her 3 year old daughter and we got our son the Explorer. She is now wanting to buy the Explorer for her daughter because the Explorer is more hands on where you can push buttons to play the games while the Pad is just touching. To each his own I guess 🙂
the DS3 can play both 3D games and the original DS games. Our 5 yr old and 11 yr old got them and the 5 yr old is still hanging on to his regular DS… guess he’s just use to it??? Well once he finds out he can do internet games and stream movies from netflix he’s gonna be glued to that thing..lol
Such a great story that u shared, I didn’t have any really any flop but one lonley baby doll that was taken out of the box and put under the bed not sure why., But who knows with 5 year old tom boy, My 16 year old love the ipod and we were going to get the kindle fire for my nine year old but desided to save it for birthday so the 5 year old wouldnt take it. she also got a leap pad that i just found on the fly. You help me save so much money this year that the kids had way more then they could deal with. Thank you so much for all you do. Look forward to the new year with new saving. Happy New Year
Haha what a great Christmas… that was hilarious. Yeah the face on the teen who scored the sweet kindle fire was priceless.
My dad also got my mom the kindle fire and she had the same look :/ Oh well. I would have LOVED one!
My husband got the helicopter that you featured and has to fight my 3 year old for it! My son (the 3 year old) got a LeapPad and has to fight his dad for it. LOL!! It was a great Christmas in our house 🙂
Thank you so much for posting all the great buys!!!
We bought our 4 and 6 year old daughters the LeapPad, and I’m SO impressed with this toy! The educational component of the games and apps are fantastic–my girls are learning so much already, while being entertained. They’ve played with our IPads but actually like their LeapPads better because the games have more depth. Excellent toy!
We also bought the Razor 360 that you posted about here, and it’s a fantastic outdoor toy. I even caught my husband trying it out, even though he exceeds the weight limit. 🙂
I’m enjoying my magazines from the DiscountMags subscriptions you’ve posted.
Thank you for posting all of these deals Tiffany!!
YOu are welcome!
I have 3 boys. 19, 13 and 10 so they are difficult to buy for at those ages. Oldest got a gift cert to a music store, he bought a set of drums (against our wishes) and we are trying to foster his musical talents..within reason. Middle got a nice skateboard…like $100 nice! ouch!
and Little one got a set of those extreme water guns that takes the aqua pellets..husband loved it..kid? not so much…kinda adds a step if you ask me..but whatever. He also got a bunch of tron action figures, marvel superheros and stuff like that.
Those were all from the fun parent…husband.
I of course went with practical.
All three needed some clothes so I cleaned up with the Aeropostle sales…spent alittle over $200 between 2 orders and got two huge shipments…one had 19 items and the other 18! That included two hoodies!
Middle son is totally into Aero wear so that made him very happy.
I also jumped online and placed a $100 order at Epic sportswear or something like that…got 18 prs of basketball type shorts, 2 wrist wallets and a pair of pj pants for me… again…very happy boys here!
My youngest is a little baker…so he got the bella cucina cake pop maker and the donut maker. LOVE the donut maker…we tried it the day before yesterday and was quite pleased. His favorite was batman arkham city for xbox though…he loves it and is using some of his Cmas money for the ‘skins’ that let him play as other characters w/ different storylines…I don’t get it..but I’m a girl. LOL.
My husband got me a blue tooth…and himself one too…
I didn’t really get it because I don’t talk and drive. Too distracting bluetooth or not…but it made him happy so I went with it.
He also had my Nursing school certificate framed for me. I had to stop him from taking my actual license…have to show that everytime I apply for work..lol…that would have been interesting, lugging a huge glass framed license in ..lol. I really liked that gift.
I was just looking at mamalovesherbargains.com and I found a free book and app for the Leap Pad. I hope this helps somebody. Neither of my kids got a Leap pad this year, but I know lots of others did!
Getting these freebies is simple- connect your unit to the computer, go to the App center, and enter the codes below to redeem!! These will work on your Leapster Explorer AND your LeapPad!
To get your FREE eBook “The Book of Super Awesome Stuff”
Enter code 5813-1140-1518-1413
To get your FREE Game “Alphabet Stew”
Enter code 5813-0790-4610-4973?
we bought our oldest son(9) the original Kindle….($79) one and I wish we had gone with the fire as he really wants the color….:-( no real “flops” my 7 yr olds foosball table had to be exchanged as the first one was damaged..and his remote truck broke after literally one run…Walgreens was awesome about it though..My 18 month old got tons of leapfrog stuff the potsy is the biggest hit, followed by SCOUT…our 3 month old likes his Fisher Price Kick and Play piano playmat and Eric Carl developmental elephant toy
we didn’t really have any flops this year we just had some stuff that shes played with more then others (and by others we mean that the stuff hasn’t even been opened yet) shes 2 1/2 and when i thought my little pony would be fun because she has one of the bigger stuffed animal ones (the ones with the harder heads that i can only seem to find at walmart) so i thought my little pony…not so much. tons of barbie stuff…that she really hasn’t played with. Our hugest hit though was littlest pet shop and fisher price little people. oh and the castle tent my mom bought her. and her new Jacob from twilight blanket that my MIL bought her because she “loves him” lol