Tis the Season

Despite my fervent protests, Christmas is just around the corner. We made a conscious effort last year to get away from the commercialism of Christmas and focus more on things like family togetherness and having memorable experiences. This year, we're resurrecting last year's advent calendar idea that gives us a fun activity or experience to do as a family each day.

We're also continuing the tradition that each person in our family will be receiving 5 gifts:

Something they want:
Izzie wants "seeds to grow a pumpkin", so I'm on the watch for a good gardening kit (any suggestions?).

edit: the gardening kit was a bust. Nobody had them in stock, and the ones available online didn't get great reviews. I did find her some seeds and will add that to the science stuff. Her major want is going to be a plasmacar, which she saw the other day and has been talking about ever since.


I'm thinking about getting this Metra Train for Elijah (who would be over the moon-- his favourite toy train broke and sadly, Brio's customer service has been nonexistent, so although these trains are pricey*, I appreciate that they're handmade (in the midwest) and come with a fantastic guarantee) :

*I would never spend this much on a toy train if I wasn't absolutely positive that it would become his favourite toy ever and he will play with it every single day and probably sleep with it at night and one day want it to become a part of his wedding ceremony or something. I mean, the kid wrote an original song about metra trains. He's obsessed.

Something they need:
Not sure on this one yet. Maybe Laptop Lunchboxes?

Something to wear:
I'm thinking these adorable and great for curly hair hats from Mustard Seed Creations


Something to read:

Something handmade:
For Izzie, I'm planning to make a jewelry hook so she can hang up her necklaces

For Elijah, I'm not sure yet. If I could sew, I'd totally make him a cape.

The twins will also be getting one shared gift from Santa*:
The Haba Ball Run. They've gotten to play with ball runs before at their grandparents house, and both kids love them. I especially like the Haba ball run because there's no limit to how creative you can be when building it (i.e. pieces don't have to be put into any specific order, you can use other objects to make the track more interesting). I must admit that this totally plays into my secret desire to have my very own rube-goldberg machine! Of course there are a million different accessories you can purchase later on, but for now, we're starting with the basic set.




*I'm planning a post about our thoughts on Santa Claus in the future

They'll also receive a variety of stocking stuffers that are all science themed (since I am *not* the science type at all, I have to work extra hard to encourage those skills in my kids so that they don't grow up with the same math and science phobias that I have).

For those who might be interested in what we're including in our science kits, here's the inventory (*Note: I found that I could put together a much more interesting assortment of items than any of the pre-packaged sets provided for about the same cost):

magnifying glasses
test tubes & test tube rack
sun print paper
graduated cylinder
Clear Plastic Tubes in 2 different sizes (for the sensory table)
counting cubes
touchable bubbles
Shrinky Dink Plastic
PH testing strips
A Tornado Tube Maker
Moon Sand
Goop
Eye Droppers
Plastic Tweezers
Liquid Motion Bubble Tube
Baking Soda
Vinegar
Breakable Geodes
A Prism
Magnets

Stay tuned for our "favourite things of 2009" recap!