Gifts by gender

Why is it always more difficult buying gifts for boys? I'm not talking about little kids, but by the time they are twelve or so, boys just seem so difficult to shop for. My son is only three years old, so he is happy with just about anything. But we have some young male relatives that make things tricky in the gift buying department.

Usually we just end up giving gift certificates or spending money, that way everyone is happy and they can just buy what they want for themselves. You can purchase gift cards for almost any business these days, even movie theatres and coffee shops. Perhaps even video arcades offer gift certificates? That would definitely be appreciated by a boy of almost any age.

Keep memories alive

We're big on memorabilia in our family. We have a "memory box" in which we save things like the first note my husband wrote to me when we first met in college, or the first movie my daughter saw in a theatre when she was six months old. Actually, the "box" has overflowed into two small shoe-boxes for my husband and I, and the children each have their own box from when they were infants and we saved all the cards they received, some photos, and other fun stuff they will enjoy looking at when they are older.

To continue with our tradition, we make DVD slideshows each Christmas for our extended family members, as well as a copy for ourselves to keep in our box. This way, even though we live far apart, they can see what we've been up to all year and how the kids have grown.

For those of you who are into celebrity and sports memorabilia, I recommend an online store called Millionaire Memorabilia. They specialize in authentic collectibles in all genres and are worth a look if you are searching for something specific. The search function is very helpful and user-friendly and the site is easy to navigate. Their prices are very competitive and they even have sales periodically.

Make it count

We have always preferred educational toys made of sturdy materials like wood and metal to the modern "plastic crap" that is in abundance these days. I am so sick of kid's toys that break easily or can't stand up to normal wear and tear that exists in children's lives. Things like blocks, tinker toys, wagons, puzzles, marbles, Lincoln logs, and Legos allow children to have fun, learn, and use their imagination at the same time.

These are also the types of toys that last forever, so you can pass them down to younger children and they will still be in great shape with many more years of play left in them. Leave a lasting impression and give classic toys that will be enjoyed by kids of all ages.

I've been tagged - Random Christmas facts

OK, my wonderful friend Mile High Mommy has decided that I should share 12 random Christmas-related facts about myself. I've got a bit of time before the elementary school Christmas party, so I'll give it a go...

1. I don't know what happened, but Christmas totally snuck up on me this year. I've felt stressed and rushed for the last couple of weeks.

2. Since all of our relatives live in another state, we have to get everything ready even earlier so we can get it in the mail on time.

3. Our dog has ruined about eight ornaments already, even though we only decorated the top half of the tree.

4. Sadly, I wasn't that upset about throwing them away... I guess I'm not as attached to that stuff as I thought I was.

5. Just when I thought I was done sending out Christmas cards, we received some from people I didn't expect to get cards from... So now I have to send a few more last minute cards to be polite.

6. Thankfully, my kids don't have their hearts set on actually "seeing" Santa in person every year. We saw him last year and they both kind of "clammed up", so this year we just wrote lists. It's like, if we see him, we see him... If we don't, we don't. No big deal.

7. School Christmas performances are way over-rated. Everyone just wants to see their kid and everything else before and after is usually a let-down, especially the rude parents in the audience who talk over the performance when you are trying to hear your kid sing.

8. My husband and I split up at a store since I had our 3-year old and we had some presents to buy. We didn't really plan on where to meet, but I figured I would just check out and go to the car. Then my son says, "Hi Daddy!" I look up, and he is right in front of me! He casually walked away from his cart (which was filled with bicycles and other stuff that didn't fit in bags) and walks over to us, pretending like it was someone else's cart. I think we fooled the kid, but if not, we will surely have some explaining to do.

9. This is the second year we will spend our Christmas away from relatives. We have a love/hate relationship with family gatherings so we are both saddened and relieved by our situation.

10. I like to drink Egg Nog around Christmas. I haven't bought any this year, however, because it is just so expensive! I swear, the price has gone up a lot on that stuff.

11. I will never wear clothes with a Christmas picture on it. Those look cute on a limited number of people (mostly kids under the age of 8) but usually they look pretty cheesy. I'm just not big on clothes that can only be worn one time a year.

12. We've been getting so many cookies and sweets at work, that we will all be as fat as Santa by the New Year!

Well, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed these little tidbits and Merry Christmas to you all!

Almost no Disney World trip??

We had a scare the other day when we received a call from Frontier Airlines regarding our upcoming trip to Orlando next month. It seems that Frontier is no longer flying through Memphis, Tennessee, as of January. Since that is where we were flying from, that presents a big problem for us. We booked this flight about six months ago and are using free miles from my father-in-law's credit card, so it was already complicated to begin with. We were stressed for a couple of hours until it was all worked out.

I am happy to report that Frontier stepped up to the plate, and after a long time searching, they found us seats on an affiliate airline on the same dates, only a couple of hours difference. Whew, what a relief. So our Disney World trip is still intact. Thank goodness, because even for those couple of hours that we were unsure of the outcome, I thought my daughter would have a nervous breakdown. She was just slowly walking around in circles with her head hanging down repeating, "You mean, we might not get to go to Disney World?"

I still prefer booking travel with online sites like Hotel Reservations. We've never had a problem with flights, hotel stays, or car rentals when booking online. I've compared their site with some of the other top online booking agencies, and they always come up with the best deals. Even international offers can be found easily. For those who still prefer the old-fashioned method, a toll-free number is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to make reservations over the phone.

Christmas vacations and illnesses

Why is it that the time of year when many people want to take time off for vacation is also at the height of cold season? This makes it very difficult to keep businesses running as usual. Take the library, for example. We had one employee out on vacation this week, so I was scheduled to work extra hours to cover for her (yippee!).

Then another employee came down with what we thought was the flu, but is actually pneumonia. So she can't come in either. We had to shift the schedule around again, call in some extra volunteer help, and ask an employee from the administration office to fill in for a couple of hours tomorrow night so I wouldn't miss the elementary school's Christmas performance at the Auditorium.

We are very fortunate at the library to have such wonderful and understanding employees, volunteers, and board members who are willing to step up and help during our times of need. I am still so thankful to have "won" a job there. I say "won" because sometimes I just sit and think, "Wow, do I actually work here? How can I be so lucky?" That is a great feeling.

If we bought each other gifts...

My husband and I stopped exchanging gifts for Christmas and birthdays a long time ago. We are of the belief that if we are in need of something during the year, we just buy it then, rather than ask for it for Christmas. But sometimes, I hear my husband say things that he would like, but doesn't feel justified spending the money on it.

For instance, I know he would like an air hammer, and I noticed an online store that carries Ingersoll Rand air tools, including air hammers, drills, screwdrivers, and other useful tools. Maybe before he starts his next home improvement project, we'll visit the website and see if there is anything we need at that time.

Protect yourself

Given the fact that Christmas has become so commercialized, it is no surprise that this is also a time of year with high crime rates. I recommend arming yourself with self defense products. There is a line of pepper spray that looks just like lipstick that women can feel confident carrying in their purse and catch a possible assailant off guard if necessary.

We never want to think about it, but these things happen everyday. We all probably know someone who has been effected by robbery, identity theft, assault, or worse. This is an unfortunate part of life today and rather than ignore it, we must prepare ourselves and be realistic.

Christmas crescendo

Crescendo (kre-shen-doh): a gradual, steady increase in loudness or force.

I think this word perfectly describes the week before Christmas, especially if you and your spouse are both notorious procrastinators. Hey, nothing would get done if it weren't for the last minute, right? So we started our shopping last Friday, and amazingly enough, got nearly everything we wanted. My husband has to go back and buy a bicycle for our daughter in a couple of days, only because we couldn't figure out where to hide it in our house. We thought maybe we could just get one in the box and we would assemble it on Christmas eve, but they assemble all of them at the store right when they get them.

Waiting until the last minute is tough when you have packages to mail out in time to arrive before Christmas. We decided to make DVD slideshows for the relatives with most of our pictures from this year. This makes for a nice gift, but is stressful since it involves relying on the computer to get the job done. And as we all know, computers can hardly be relied upon for anything. So a few computer crashes and DVDs-turned-coasters later, we got all 9 DVDs completed and packaged last night around midnight. Since I had to work at the school the next day, I wanted to get to bed early. No such luck. Then my husband got the wonderful job of going to the post office in the morning to mail all the packages, which we thought would be dreadful (as most post offices are the week before Christmas). But this is yet another advantage to living in a small town - he only had one person in front of him and got done very quickly.

The overall tone at the elementary school today was total chaos. The kids are all worked up and excited for Christmas break. I can't imagine what it will be like by Friday. Hopefully no one will get sick and I won't have to substitute any more this week. Then maybe I can get more of the gifts wrapped so we won't have to do everything on Christmas Eve.

Let's hear it for my boy!

So after all my stressing out about potty training, reading a couple of books, watching a kid's video to get my son psyched up... He basically potty trained himself in one day. Yes, one day. No kidding.

Here's the story:
Last week we started letting him wear Pull-Up diapers and telling him he could go to the potty with them, etc. He wore them for two days and tried sitting on the potty a couple of times with partial success, but the diapers were still getting wet. Then on Friday, he saw me folding laundry and told me he wanted to wear "big boy underwear." Skeptically, I said "OK" and we changed him into underwear.

Today is Wednesday night and so far, he has not had one accident. We put him in Pull-Ups at night just in case, but he wakes up in the morning with them still dry. He even wants to use the big potty already and only uses the baby potty for poopies. While we are on the subject, who's up for a detoxifying colon cleanse? After reading a bit on the web, my sluggishness lately could be caused by excessive toxins in the system. Maybe a detoxifier is just what I need. I've never tried that before, so who knows?

I am seriously shocked about my boy, though. I still can't believe it, although I am very proud and happy. It's so fascinating to see something just "click" with a child and how excited they get when they accomplish it. I guess I don't have to worry about him being ready for Pre-school in the fall. It will also be so nice not to deal with diapers on our upcoming trip in January. Woo hoo! Let's hear it for the boy!

Simple pleasures

Now that my youngest child is three years old, I have started wearing jewelry again. That's one thing no one tells you - when you have babies, you can't wear jewelry for a couple of years. If you do, it will either get yanked off or broken, or both.

I'm glad because I have some beautiful bracelets, necklaces, and diamond pendants from my husband and other family members. Since I haven't worn them in so long, they are new to me and it's nice to unearth them again.

Movie review: Sicko

I watched the Michael Moore documentary Sicko last week, and it really effected my husband and myself. I knew the health care in the United States was expensive and difficult to deal with, but I had no idea the level of corruption that takes place within the system. The documentary covered several individual cases where the patient was approved for a procedure, the insurance company paid for it, then later came back and refused payment, therefore demanding the money back from the patient. They actually have detectives who research patient histories in order to find any possible mistake in their application to warrant a refusal of payment to get the insurance company's money back.

The documentary also had interviews with many different citizens in countries with universal health care, including Canada, France, Cuba, England, and Norway. These countries all have excellent health care, without insurance, copays, deductibles or fees. No one feels oppressed by socialism and they are all happy with the level of care they receive. In the United States, medical bills account for a large percentage of bankruptcies and home foreclosures. This is very sad. A person should not lose their home and their way of life simply because they could not afford the health care they deserve. Health care is a right, not a privilege. I recommend viewing the documentary and visiting Michael Moore's website for information on what we can do to help.

Cars for a cause

I have been an advocate of car donation for years. We donated our first car eight years ago, and have since donated two other cars as well. We always look for a charity that benefits children when we donate, then we benefit from it on that year's taxes. When you have a car that isn't worth the trouble of selling, donating it to charity is the best choice.

Car Angel is an organization that takes the donations and uses them to make videos for children and teens. Their program has given away 2.4 million videos so far. To get an idea of the type of video they make, check out their YouTube broadcast.

For parents in the midst of potty training...

This one's for you!



My husband saw the video on another daddy's blog and just had to share it with me since we are just starting to get serious about potty training my son. He's actually doing very well. Once we put the training pants with "Cars" characters on them, he knew we meant business (literally!). He has sat on the potty several times, and been productive on the potty once so far. I just finished reading Potty Training for Dummies, which helped a lot to put things in perspective.

The one point that really stood out for me was their reminder that potty training is just like any other milestone in your child's life and should be treated as such. For instance, when babies learn to walk, we cheer at their first steps, but don't get angry or frustrated when they fall. It's because we know they will get it eventually. It's the same with potty training. Be your child's coach and cheerleader, but don't be a preacher or a nag and keep the mood light. Treat accidents in a "matter-of-fact" way and don't make a huge deal about it.

Holiday shopping tips

Most people have a few family members who are difficult to shop for at holidays. Either they already have everything, or you just can't think of anything they would like. There are about four people in our extended family whom we always have a hard time shopping for and usually end up giving them restaurant or movie gift cards.

I was thinking the other day about things people have around their house that they don't mind having more than one of. Things like flashlights make good gifts because usually people could use another one in their home, and it's the type of thing that gets misplaced often, so it's good to have many around the house for safety reasons. Flashlights can also be given to both men and women of all ages, so they are a good nondescript gift to fit multiple people on your hard-to-shop-for list.

Candlelight tour a success

Yesterday was the 25th annual "Candlelight Tour of Homes" here in beautiful Eureka Springs. This year, the library was on the tour, along with one church, four Bed & Breakfasts, and nine houses. Since I work on Saturdays at the library, I got to dress in Victorian style and visit with many people participating in the tour. The tour benefits the Preservation Society and it is their biggest fund raiser.

The weather was gorgeous, in the upper fifties, and the feeling was very festive. Many of the visitors even dressed Victorian and there were bands and choirs spaced along the tour to add Christmas music and cheer to the event. Eureka Springs is the perfect town for an event like this, with all the different styles of architecture from the Victorian era. It will be interesting to see how the town changes once there are new condos for sale right next to the Crescent Hotel, which is one of the oldest hotels in town. I am anxious to see how the two coexist and how the change effects the town, if at all.

Finally, a real goth dating site

After countless reviews of supposedly "goth" dating and friendship sites, I think I found one that is actually the real deal. Darkyria is a well designed website, pleasing to the eye, and offers free membership for Goth singles. You can browse thousands of profiles and "send a wink" to let someone know you are interested. When you are ready to find your soulmate, let the Dark Cupid assist you. The site also has free video chat, forums, a world map seeker, and more.

This site would appeal to a wide range of interests including (but not limited to) gothic, industrial, fantasy, dark, fetish, vampire, heavy, extreme, metal, horror, and sci-fi. They have a unique feature called "Cupid Angel" which allows members to specify the qualities they desire in a mate, the location they wish, and their personality traits and interests. The Cupid Angel does the searching and privately emails the user their results. They can view the matches before contacting them.

If you are into the darker side of things, I highly suggest checking this dating site out. It's worth a look simply for the innovative web design elements. The way they designed the login area is the most unique I have ever seen. Usually the login bar sticks out like a sore thumb on a site, but on Darkyria it fits perfectly with the design and is quite clever.

Christmas Parade

This year's Christmas Parade was last Friday night and we enjoyed it much more than last year. For one, it was much warmer. So I didn't have the kids complaining about their freezing hands the whole time. My husband was sick last year, so I was alone with both kids and that was a bit difficult. This year, we all went and had a great time.

My daughter brought her camera and took about a hundred pictures and was really into it. I was shocked when she picked up some candy that was thrown off a float and she holds her hand out to me and says, "Mom, could you please do something with this candy? Quick! I'm going to miss my shot." She was actually more concerned with getting a good photo than with the candy. Very surprising for a six year old.

She got some good pictures, but we haven't downloaded them yet. My husband uploaded some of his pictures from the parade to his Eureka Springs Pictures website.