Magnabilities were the gift from my girls to their mommy and grandmom. The elegant jewelry features magnetic inserts – some stunning, others more playful – that can be swapped out to match that day’s style. So very classy. Both the Mrs. and my mom love their Magnabilities jewelry.
Soft Heat® Electric Heated Warming Mattress Pad
– with auto-shut off and individual temperature controls on both sides of the bed, meaning my wife’s penchant for volcano-like warmth at night won’t interfere with my Snow Miser tendencies. This Soft Heat pad is really sweet for taking the chill off the sheets before you crawl into bed each evening during the cold winter months. The Bear, aka Little Mommy, is already asking for a twin-sized version for her upcoming 7th birthday.
DICEcapades Kids
is a remarkable game. That it involves physical activity (jumping jacks, push-ups), basic math skills, drawing, coordination & balance, gross motor skills, and trivia knowledge means you’ll never be bored. It can be as laugh-out-loud funny as it is challenging. Dicecapades may just be the perfect game for 5-8 year old kids. Santa hit it out of the park with this one.
Rock Show Venue
Microphone and Amp Kit – To say this is was a big hit would be putting it far too mildly. The girls, the Bear specifically, won’t give up the mic. She sings before breakfast, she sings during the day, and she sings long after the sun has gone to bed. Songs heard thus far: The Pop Ups “Balloon”, The Bloodsugars “Happiness”, The Head and the Heart “Sounds Like Hallelujah”, and Brady Rymer’s “Trim the Tree”. But no single tune has been heard more than Best Coast & Wavves original holiday song “Got Something For You”. Turn up the echo and close your eyes and my god The Bear sounds just like the actual Best Coast singer(s). Bonus: when the girls want to act out a scene from Wizard of Oz or put on a dance show, the sound-sensitive amp lights make awesome stage lights. Double bonus: Rock Show Venue comes with the cables to hook this set up to your TV, Rock Band game, or iPod for instant karaoke. So ditch those cheap plastic kid’s microphone sets and get something real, and sturdy. I also picked up a $15 mic stand and mic clip to give it a more authentic “rock show” vibe.
How Rocket Learned to Read
is one of the most adorable, re-readable books we’ve seen in a while. Tad Hills’ charming illustrations make Rocket and his little yellow bird teacher into household favorites. You’d wish you could snuggle up with Rocket and read stories in the sun all day long as well.
The Mouse & Bear opening their Bitty Twins
American Girl Bitty Twin Boys – my girls didn’t ask for much. The Mouse wanted 3 books (her 2 library favorites: Leonardo the Terrible Monster & Chicken of the Family + 1 surprise which turned out to be Rocket) and a boy doll. The Bear requested a fairy statue, dry erase markers, 3 surprises and a boy doll. Do you know how hard it is to find a non-baby boy doll? Pretty freaking hard, it turns out. So Santa delivered a pair of cute Bitty Twins from American Girl. The big man’s wallet took a hit, but my girls were ecstatic! The Bear named her’s Caelan while the Mouse went with Hugden Wigdin Arthur, which is the goofy name she assigns to authors she doesn’t know when pretending to read a book. For example, she’d say: “Fancy Nancy by Hugden Wigdin”.
Homemade Fairies in a Snowy Fairyland
Homemade Fairies and Fairy House – No Amazon.com link for this one! These adorable hand stitches fairies were a gift to both my girls from my 12-year old niece. A really beautiful present from the most thoughtful young person I know. This photo was taken on Christmas evening, after the Bear used Play Foam to simulate snowmageddon in fairyland. Yes, they’re making ‘snow fairies’.
Overall, a pretty outstanding Christmas holiday here in the OWTK household. How’d yours go? What gift did your kids like the best?
