Holiday Gift Guides: Odds & Ends

Are you stumped on gift buying for anyone?  I’ve gathered up some items that I think might work or at least point you in the right direction.

  1. Voile Spaghetti Measure, Moma Store
  2. Jubilee Hoops, Sundance
  3. Ugg Scuff, Zappos
  4. Multicolor Ceramic Mixing Bowl Set, Williams-Sonoma
  5. Bose Noise Canceling Headphones, Amazon
  6. The Pajamas Warming Pouch, Hammacher Schlemmer
  7. The In Your Own Voice Storyteller, Hammacher Schlemmer
  8. Xyron Create A Sticker Machine, Amazon
  9. Pearls in the Stream Bracelet, Sundance
  10. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse DVD, Amazon
  11. Mad Men Season 1 DVD, Amazon
  12. Toy Story 3 DVD, Amazon

Holiday Gift Guides: 8 Year Old Boys

Have an 8 year old boy?  Buying for an 8 year old boy?  Just want to know what the hell they are droolin’ over this year?  I have an IN with my special little man, Austin, and this is his 9th Christmas and sure to be kick ass.

  1. Moon Shoes – remember these babies?  Theeeiiirrr back and on Aus’ Christmas list.  I’m  just worried for when he asks mommy to give these a go.
  2. Basketball goal – great for the active boy, but portable, so can be stored, moved, or taken into the middle of the cul-de-sac when the boys really want to get schooled by mommy.
  3. DSI XL Special Edition – yes, another one.  And it haasss to be the red one, its for the 25th anniversary of the nintendo Gameboy/DS console.  I think we can all remember what fun these were no matter how old we were.
  4. iPod Touch – This was on Aus’ list, but not making the cut just yet.  We opted for the DSI XL for a little bit longer, but these are really really hot right now.
  5. BopIt Bounce – harder and possibly more annoying than the original BopIt.  Dreams really do come true!
  6. College Snuggie – Aus’ has really gotten into collegiate sports.  The name of the game around this house in the Texas Longhorns (even though their football is less than stellar right now).  Aus will not be a fair weather fan though and I think this is the perfect accessory for someone that devoted.
  7. NFL Jersey (Andre Johnson) – adding to the obsession with football players and sports in general.  This time the Houston Texans.  A jersey of a little boy’s fav team is a shoe-in for a gift.
  8. Original Adidas HiTop – Aus is very colorful inside and out and has had his eye on these.  I love their throw back to the 80’s feel and can hear my mom saying “What’s old is new” in my head.  So true.

It’s going to be one very merry Christmas around here!

The One with the Yeti

Remember the Friends episode where Rachel and Monica bug bomb the neighbor because they thought he was a yeti?  Good God do I love me some Friends…I need to start re-watching that series all over again.  So anyway, back to yetis..I’ve been seeing them in the stores lately while searching out some winter wear for my little guy and I just think they are adorable!  I mean it’s not your typical holiday t-shirt, it’s a YETI, it’s an ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN!

  1. Hanna Andersson, Cryptid Tee
  2. Boden, Comic T-Shirt

Bonus question! Name the actor who does the voice of the Abominable Snowman in Monsters, Inc.  GO!

The Latest Distraction

I have a two year old and dinners out can be challenging to say the least.  I mean you want to go out to dinner so that you don’t have to cook every single night but at the same time you don’t want to go out so you can shovel the food in as fast as you can because the kiddo is DONE DONE DONE, mama DONE?

Enter our latest distraction, the Melissa & Doug Bead Maze!  The best part of this toy is that it has suction cups on the bottom.  I know some places this won’t work, but the places we frequent the most, it does.  So I thought I’d share what has been working for us lately.  Also, this ranges in age from 12months to 4 YEARS.  That’s almost crazy insane.

Countdown to Halloween is Officially On

So Austin is 8, which of course means Halloween is right up there with Christmas on his social calendar.  Which brings me to my next point.  Ever order a costume off the internet only to realize its ridiculously AWFUL?  Well this year Aus comes to me and says he’d like to be Naturo. Those of you having no clue who this Naruto guy is, have an 8 year old boy and you’ll figure it out real quick.  So no store carries the costumes, so we test our luck ordering online.

Pretty darn cute if I don’t say so myself.  Found on Amazon, ordered and BAM.  Fits perfect….AND I think we are ditching the head piece and going to find our own headband and spike the hair (spraying it yellow as well).

Bring on the sugar induced coma!!

Ghost Stories

Ghost Stories for the kiddos…My little guy was born in October so we’ve been gifted many Halloween themed books and this year he has become obsessed with PUNKINS! Mama! Punkins!  I think I’ve read #2 approximately 1.2 billion times this week already.  But hey, I like Duck & Goose, so I can hack it.  I’m curious, do any of you have #5 or #6? Any good?  Do you have Halloween favorites you read to your kids?

  1. Happy Halloween Biscuit
  2. Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin
  3. Plumply Dumply Pumpkin
  4. It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
  5. I’m Not Scared
  6. The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

Trick or Treat!

I’ve been looking for a costume for my little guy for Halloween.  Honestly we’ve been pondering whether we’d do the whole costume thing this year or just wait til next year.  I mean he’s two, he’s really not gonna eat the candy or get the whole trick or treat thing–he’ll just have fun running around the neighborhood.  But will he have fun if he’s got a costume on or will he just be trying to get it off and run around the neighborhood.  You feelin’ me?  So anyway, here’s some cute finds!

  1. Meerkat, Meijer
  2. Cookie Sandwich, Pottery Barn Kids
  3. Dino, Target
  4. Popcorn, Pottery Barn Kids
  5. Ring Tail Lemur, Target
  6. Caterpillar, Target
  7. Chick, Etsy
  8. Bat, Pottery Barn Kids

When did you start trick or treating? What are your kids going to be this year?

Drum Roll Please….

Ladies and Gentlemen I am proud to announce to you the arrival of Der’s baby boy and my nephew, Aiden James. He made his debut Thursday, October 7th at 6:45pm weighing 7lbs 4oz and measuring in at 20.5 inches. I am happy to announce that both mother and baby are doing well. Here are a few pics from AJ’s first days…

I may be a tad bit biased, but I think he might be the most beautiful baby that has ever been born.

Covers for a Cause

I told you about the Children’s Art Project awhile back, and they just introduced a new line of iPhone covers that I’m VERY excited to share with you!

They are so cute and cheery that I can’t decided which one to get!

The Second Birthday Party

For my son’s first birthday last year, we had the whole shebang at our house.  That was exactly what we wanted then, something for close friends and family.  At one, my kiddo hadn’t really made a lot of friends yo, so the party was more for the adults.  This year we decided to do it at The Little Gym.  We attend a weekly class and he loves the HELL out of that place, so it was a no brainer.  We didn’t pick a specific theme, we just decided to have balloons and cupcake toppers of all his favorite characters.  We used the same banners from last year and the same party hats as last year but we added new stickers to showcase what the ole boy looks like at 2.  I think I’m definitely going to make that a tradition, just keep using the same banner and hats as long as we can hack it but update the pic on the sticker–I mean he’s so damn cute! hahahaha!  This year we actually had a few more kids because the lil guy has made a few friends, granted we introduced him because they are the kids of our friends but you know…friends! He’s got friends now!  So we invited them and we had party favors involved this time around.  For the girls we decided to give crayon rolls with princess shaped crayons and for the boys we had car rolls with a little matchbox cars.  Anyway it was a huge hit and everybody had fun and we didn’t have to clean up before and clean up after.  It was the bomb, I highly recommend it.

  1. Sticker, Petit Enfant Designs
  2. Cupcake Toppers, Two Sugar Babies
  3. Invitation, Announcing You
  4. Car & Crayon Rolls, Party Favors & More
  5. My Happy Kid