Tippy Toes and Tantrums

Happy, Happy. Merry, Merry.

The cards are sent. The shopping is done (other than fresh crabs tomorrow). All Amazon packages have been delivered. Folding chairs have been purchased. The wrapping is almost complete. The Festivus grievances have been aired. The Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack has not been found. I cannot put off cleaning the refrigerator any longer. It's time.

This truly is the happiest time of year, when UPS and FedEx make multiple stops each day bearing gifts. I will miss them the most.

Many wishes of sugar cookies, naps, and warm blankets. Merry Christmas!

Fast, Fun, Kid-Proof Gift Tags

This year I planned to get an early start wrapping gifts and my chances looked good as I've been finished shopping for some time. Two gifts in, I ran out of paper. I went on a wrapping paper binge a few years ago and the stash finally ran out. I went to Target and bought more (a mistake as I've forgotten how thin cheaper wrapping paper can be). Then I remembered I was out of ribbon. I went back to Target, which this close to Christmas is growing quite crowded, to get ribbon. Now it's label time.

I used to photocopy the kids' picture with Santa and turn that into a tag, strung from the fancy ribbon I used to wrap the gift. Kids have worn me down and now I use curling ribbon and I can't have tags that are not fully affixed to the gifts. If the tag is not totally attached to the gift, it gets ripped off well before Christmas while the kids are "just looking" at the presents under the tree.

Enter sticker paper.

Cute, free, printable gift tags are everywhere on the Internet. I love Amy's gift tags, but after two years, I think I've overused them. It's just that they express my thoughts so well. I love these seasonal trees from Fog and Thistle, but I wanted something with a little more Christmas. I think these tags by Mushy are really cute, but I like something bigger. I ended up using Julissa Mora's tags and Martha Stewart's tags found on Scrap 'n Crop. What sold me on Martha Stewart's was the maze tag. Clover loves mazes, so I used that one specifically for her.

Once the right tags are found, simply print onto Avery Sticker Project Paper (I always have this paper on hand for birthday favor bag stickers), and adhere them to the proper gifts. Simple, cute, and less expensive than buying tags at the store. It's also much nicer than names written on the wrapping paper in Sharpie, the method preferred by one of my relatives. Nothing says I bought this on the way over and wrapped it in the car like Sharpie on wrapping paper. Cute tags say that some thought was put into the gift, even if it's wrapped with purple curling ribbon because I ran out of the Christmas colors. Next year...

Disclosure: While I have received labels from Avery, I bought the sticker paper myself.

Where I've Been and Where I Want to Be (Napping)

It's the first Monday of holiday break and I already had trouble getting out of bed (over an hour later than my usual weekday rotinue). A few days of clouds and rain and all I want to do is stay in bed. Today I got into bed under the guise of working where my toes were warm, but soon enough I turned to Hulu and lost an hour of my day.

Kevin and I went to Napa last weekend where immediately upon arrival, I took off my shoes, jumped under the covers and turned on the TV. Moments later there was a knock at the door with complimentary wine and a cheese tray and the guy carrying it into the room took one glance at me under the covers, then quickly turned his face to the ground. He never looked up again and I wanted to get up and yell, "I'm dressed! Fully dressed! See?" but I was so cozy under the blanket, I didn't have enough motivation to restore my dignity. I'm sure this kid has seen much worse while on duty. At least that's what I told myself.

Since then, someone learned how to do the monkey bars,

we've made a lot of cookies,

and the kids have bemoaned each day that there are x number of days until Christmas, while I've freaked out that there are only x number of days until Christmas.

All of the gifts are purchased and mostly wrapped. This year, of all things, I ran out of ribbon and I've been reduced to using really cheap white curling ribbon that came with a pack of balloons a few years back. I've fallen so far down since my pre-kid, Martha Stewart-worthy gift wrapping days, when I used wire-edged ribbon to ensure maximum bow height. I don't even use double stick tape anymore. I've really let things go.

Best Gifts for a Four Year Old Boy

Clover is getting many ninja items for Christmas, so now it's onto Rocket, who asked for one thing: roller skates. Yep, cue the disco music, he's goin' old school and bringing back roller skates. He's never really seen roller skates in use, which leaves me a little worried that come Christmas morning, he's going to look at his tricked out new wheels with a WTF face. I think I'll buy him a wide headband to wear with them. (Stocking stuffer!)

First up, games for his Nintendo DSi. He recently graduated from a Leapster to a DSi and it's not always easy to find good games for pre-readers. He loves playing with his sister's Kirby game when she'll allow him to use it for a generous three minutes or so, but I want something he can use (and own). I rely on a lot of Amazon product reviews, but the ones for young kid DS games make me uneasy because they will report on how their child received a particular game for their second birthday, or how their three year old plays with a game all day long, and I feel awful for the child. Rocket is still young - he's 4.5 - but he just got the DS and it's usage is tightly controlled. I'm sure some people still see Rocket's use as bad, and because I can't fully disagree, I try to make sure his games have educational qualities. It makes me feel better, even if I am rewiring his brain permanently.

He likes both new games from Sesame Street: Elmo's A-to-Zoo Adventure and Cookie's Counting Carnival. I like them because one features numbers, the other letters, but he thinks they're fun. We have the Wii versions, but I've tested the DS versions too and they're great games for younger kids. Both Wii and DS versions offer gentle prompts, encouraging the kids to correctly answer the problem. The hints initially are general, but if the user continues to pick the wrong answer, the hints gradually become more direct until the correct answer is selected. The advantage the Wii versions have is that they encourage active play. There is a lot of jumping and moving around to work the game, which is best played standing up. I love this aspect, especially for a young boy. The game doesn't feel so passive, and some kids need to move in order to help process. The games are excellent for that. Not to mention, the Wii versions come with adorable little Wiimote controller covers. The covers are cute, but they also only leave the needed buttons exposed, reducing the chances of accidentally returning to the home menu, while making the whole thing less confusing for a child.

Both kids share - and love - our copy of Let's Draw. It's fun and they don't burn through as much paper when they draw with the DS. I may also get Rocket The Legendary Starfy, mostly because I want him to have a little trading leverage with his sister. He usually has to beg and beg for a few minutes with her games and she really lords her power over him. I want him to have a game she wants to play too, altering their power balance.

Rocket is well into playing with action figures, acting out all kinds of scenes, usually involving someone getting "kicked in the BUTT" or threatening to kick someone in the BUTT. (The word butt is always emphasized and said in a weird voice. Ah, boys.) We've long had Star Wars figures, but we were recently given a Spiderman* figure that he fell in love with. Spiderman has a short line (web?) and suction cups, that allow him to zip across. Rocket soon figured that Spiderman works best in the car, where he can easily suction the cups to the window and act out whatever butt kicking he can imagine. Spiderman has been taken to school for sharing and there is something about the zipline aspect that has attracted eight year old Clover too. Spidey makes a perfect, inexpensive stocking stuffer.

Magna-Tiles will likely be his huge surprise on Christmas morning. His preschool has them, but they recently had to pack them away because most of the boys spent all of their time with the tiles instead of trying other activities. Rocket keeps asking when the tiles will return because he misses them so much. The tiles have magnets, making them simple to attach and easy to build any structure. They're more expensive than Lincoln Logs (which we have too), but they can do different things and they are easier to use for less steady hands.

Dodge tag is a low tech fun indoor game for the kids. I'm sure they will still manage to knock a frame off the wall, but I love active indoor games to help get us through the winter. They will be getting kid-friendly bow and arrow sets, but I haven't picked the best model that will work for both kids. The Marky Sparky Faux Bow is the current leader.

In addition to a pile of books and a few other things, he will find these under the tree:
Superfly's dreams will come true.

*Spell check says Spiderman is incorrect and the spelling I want is "Superman." There is a super hero hierarchy, after all.

Disclosure: The Sesame Street Wii games and the Spiderman action figure were both given to me for free. Everything else has been (or will be) purchased by me. To save 10% on any Sesame Street video game, go to www.sesamestreet.org/videogames and enter promo code MOMMY at checkout. Expired Dec. 20, 2010.

 

Craft Fair Swords, Heartache and a Lesson in Business

This past Sunday was the annual Craft Fair at Clover's school. We usually spend most of our time huddling around the Pokemon table in the student craft section, but this year featured a new It item. (Most of the student vendors sell things they actually make, but a few sell Pokemon cards or comic books they've outgrown. My kids love it, and the cards and comics are priced low enough that they can feel like they did some shopping.)

This year two students sold wooden swords. Really nicely designed and crafted swords for about $20 apiece (the range was $18-22). Rocket immediately wanted one, but he's a kid who can turn pine into a serious weapon, thus I said no. Clover wanted one too, which would have made this a $40 expenditure. Plus, it's the hype. The kids were getting swept up in the moment of wanting the thing their friends were buying, but was it really going to bring $20 worth of entertainment? My guess is that in a day or two, the swords would have been added to an already generous toy heap.

One thing about private school is that there are families from various financial positions, so from the start I've tried to avoid any pull to keep up with other families. Some may be able to open their wallet throughout the event, handing their children crisp $20 bills whenever asked, but we can't and more than that, I don't want to do that either.

After 45 minutes of watching all of Clover's friends show her their swords, with one boy sincerely saying, "I'm sorry you can't get one," I decided to give in. The sword may be later used against her by her brother, but I didn't want her to have the feeling of being left out or worse, lesser than her friends. We could afford the sword, it wasn't that, I just didn't think it was a practical use of money.

Sometimes life isn't always about being practical, so we walked over to buy a sword. That's when we saw they were sold out. Within an hour, the two boys had sold 32 swords.

The strange thing is that Clover never complained about it again. My willingness to buy the sword seemed to have been enough. Also, she was focused on the entrepreneurial success of the two sword salesmen. She was impressed by the boys, who are probably only about fifth or sixth graders, and how they turned a simple idea into serious cash. The experience ended much more positively than I would have predicted.

Rocket, on the other hand, still whines about missing out on a new sword.

Top Gifts for Ninjas and Ninja Lovers

With a young ninja in the house, I've been scouring Etsy for some cute ninja gifts to leave under the tree on Christmas. Since Clover doesn't read my blog, I'm posting them here for other lovers of ninja lovers who may need some help this holiday season. (The items we have featured below have all been purchased by me. No freebies or reviews here.)

Let's get kickin'.

Ninja by night, soccer mom by day? This cute ninja decal by Doodle Dose is a subtle wink to other ninjas, letting them know that you're a covert agent who happens to drive a mini-van.

Less subtle, but equally adorable is this Relax...I'm a Ninja shirt by Kiwi Cuties.

Clover got the Relax shirt for her seventh birthday and she's practically worn it into the ground. She'll be getting another creative shirt from Kiwi Cuties to help show her ninja pride, while stretching out her wardrobe slightly.

She'll also be receiving this shirt from SickonSin, which combines her love of ninjas and cupcakes. A dream come true.

Ninjas love to snuggle too. Another adorable combination is this plush cat ninja from the amazingly talented nine year old Jonah Skow:

Even ninjas have to eat, but a simple gift card can be ninja-ified using a card holder by DropKickTims:

Finally, kick up your Christmas tree with a tiny ninja and his reindeer friend from BeesNinjas:

One of these little ninja ornaments lives on our tree. He's a nonthreatening way to say, "Touch the presents and expect a ninja kick in return." And he's sooo cute.

Tiny Prints Amazing Holiday Cards + Giveaway!

Is it narcissistic of me to want to frame my holiday card? What if I send them out pre-framed for recipients to hang on the wall? Because that's what I want to do, I love them so much.

This year I wanted Tiny Prints to do my cards because I've had tremendous success with them in the past with other cards, birth announcements, and business cards. My business cards are heavy thanks to quality card stock, which I think and hope adds professionalism to the cards. When I made my business cards, I had trouble fitting a logo into the right box. It was too big, but I was unable to shrink it without reducing the resolution too much. I placed the order with the logo cut off a little, which looked okay, but not great, then a few hours later a proof appeared for my approval with the logo perfectly sized into the space. It was as if I had a graphic design specialist on call. It turns out I did, as does any Tiny Prints customer, even though I like to believe I'm special and they only offer this service for me.

Salad served in Chinese food containers. I'm stealing this idea.

Recently Tiny Prints opened up their main office to a group of us for a tour, lunch, and preview of their holiday line. (I couldn't work at Tiny Prints because they have an open floor plan to encourage collaboration, but I'm a loud talker and my co-workers would quickly unite to have my desk moved into the room with the giant printer.) It was during this time that I fell in love with a tri-fold card. Happy Everything is a great card. I love the multiple picture options, that the card wasn't Christmas-specific, and that the backside has space to write something more than "Happy Holidays." Generally, I've always picked flat cards that can be easily displayed in a card holder or...(don't judge me)...taped to a wall, but the Tiny Prints tri-folds were so creative that I was quickly won over.

Happy Everything was my choice for our Christmas card this year, but as I started selecting photos, I began looking at other cards. I take a lot of photos throughout the year, making it impossible to select only a few photos for the card that were nice, but also reflective of our year. Quickly, Checkerboard Chic became the card I had to have. It has a ton of photo spots (12!), room for writing more than a simple holiday greeting, it is downright gorgeous, and totally reflective of us. It has professional portraits of the kids and pictures from Disneyland, Muir Woods, the beach, Times Square, Dylan's Candy Bar, the Maker Faire, my sister's wedding, and the pumpkin patch - all at sizes large enough to see without squinting. I love this card.

There were spots to write something about each of the kids, plus two places for a holiday message. (Spoiler alert for those receiving my card!) In the first spot, I wrote: Merry Everything and Happy Always, Love Kevin, Kimberly, Clover and Rocket. Personally, I like a general greeting, so I can send it to all of our friends without being offensive to anyone not celebrating Christmas. This left me unsure what to write in the second spot, which is smaller and holds less text. Kevin suggested using the exact message in the example on the Tiny Prints website, "The Foxmeyers send their love and wishes for a great 2011!" but I knew my personal designer at Tiny Prints would catch it as a possible error and then I'd have to explain it was intentional and that my husband has a warped sense of humor. Because the card was so personal, I wanted to write something that would reflect that. I ended up with "May 2011 be full of sunshine, cupcakes, and The Daily Show. Go Giants!" It's not Shakespeare, but it's us. I LOVE this card.

(P.S. I don't care if Dodger fans are offended. Maybe their team should try harder next season. Oh yeah, I just wrote that. Go Giants!)

Giveaway: Tiny Prints is generously offering 50 free holiday cards to one lucky reader, regardless of baseball team affiliation. The contest is open to non-baseball fans, as well (confused face emoticon). Leave a comment by midnight Dec. 7 and I'll pick a winner the next morning using random.org. I know we're getting close to the holidays, but Tiny Prints has lightning fast service. If really pressed for time, Tiny Prints can even send the cards out directly for you. Selecting your holiday card from Tiny Prints' vast collection will be the hardest part. Trust me.

Disclosure: My holiday cards, lunch, and a set of personalized thank you cards, were all free from Tiny Prints.

Update: We have a winner! Lucky Lisa is taking home the 50 cards! Enjoy them, Lisa! I'm sure the recipients of your cards will.