That’s right…MINE! LOL!

Everyone is familiar with the famous and classic M&M’s (you know, the candy that “melts in your mouth, not in your hands”) and I’d like to say right here and now that they are highly underrated!  My little ones love them and … well … if I’m being completely honest, so do I.

When Mom Central contacted me about My M&M’s, giving me an opportunity to try out the site/service, I jumped on it (hellooooo, chocolate people – personalized chocolate even).  I’m not the most creative person, but when it comes to gifts for some family members, it really helps to have a little assistance in the creativity department!

My M&M’s are a great way to create something extra special for a holiday, birthday, baby shower, wedding shower, weddings, birthday parties and many other occasions.  Pick your color, messages, pictures (yes, PICTURES people) and the package you want to receive and away you go.

I won’t share what I ordered or who I ordered it for … they read my blog!  But I will say that the process is very simple, picking the pictures to use or the messages to put on the M&M’s is the hardest part.  Placing your order is very easy and they are SUPER quick about processing and shipping it to you.  In fact, less than 24 hours after I placed my order they had already sent me an email letting me know that the order had shipped!!! WooHoo!

Make sure you visit My M&M’s and try it out, I think you’ll be amazed by the many fun uses it could serve for you down the road.

So the holidays are quickly approaching and a week or so before they arrive you may suddenly find yourself in a couple possible scenarios.

Scenario one: Your kids have been home on Christmas break for three whole days and you’re trying to finish up your Christmas preparations, but they are bored … and telling you so every 5 seconds.

Scenario two: You are in desperate need of some creative gift ideas for the children on your list and don’t want to even think about looking at another toy.

What if I were to tell you that I have a great idea?? I know you’d just love me to death right?  Well here’s one of the best ideas I’ve found yet!

Recently we were sent three Toon Books for young readers.  These great books combine a child’s love of comics into stories that are good for them to read and  bound in a colorful and creative hard back book for young readers. After all, you don’t often hear the words “literary standards” or “controlled vocabulary” in reference to comic books, but like i said these are not your ordinary comic book!

These great books, although intended for early readers (K-2) these are even fun to read to preschoolers who enjoy the creative stories and vivid pictures.  Here’s a peek at the latest three books from Toon Books.

Stinky by Eleanor Davis is possibly the all-around favorite, especially for our younger three!  The story is super cute and the pictures help to perfectly present the story to youngsters!  The story of a little monster who lives in a swamp and likes anything and everything that’s mucky and gross but is terrified of people.  Enter a little boy with a red hat who loves Stinky’s swamp.  As the story unfolds young children are captivated.

Jack and the Box by Art Spiegelman was also very popular among the 5 and under crowd.  Even our 2 year olds got into that story and the older boys truly enjoyed reading it to them with all the interesting humor throughout the book.  In this story that is a twist on a classic children’s toy, Jack the bunny gets a Box that a toy lives in.  Young readers enjoy following the silliness and crazy anics of Jack’s box and all it’s interesting contents.

MO and JO: Fighting Together Forever by Dean Haspiel and Jay Lynch was by far the favorite for the older crowd, especially my 9 and 10 year old.  Telling the tale of sibling superheroes, this story depicts the not-so-uncommon sibling rivalries and arguments, but on a little more … ummm …. shall we say “super” level.  These two simply cannot stop fighting.  As they learn to work together to save their town, young readers are learning several lessons as well.

Before I let you go though, I want to show you one of the page layouts of Stinky!  This gives you an excellent idea of the great pictures and stories these books contain.

I have officially begun my shopping!  As I have received a few review items, I’m definitely thinking of even more great ways to continue getting everything I need, but today I started at Amazon.com.  I’m currently helping my Mother-in-law get a jump start on her shopping as well, so putting two electric guitars for the twins in the cart was definitely first on the order of business.

They are NUTS about music and Bugs walks around the house all day and all night (and you think I’m joking) saying “I’m a rock star” and playing whatever he’s claimed as his guitar for the moment.  He even has a special face for it (I’ll have to get a photo for you it’s very funny).  Ok, so one major item down …

Next up, buying for the older three is getting challenging.  With the number of children we have in our little tiny house, buying gifts or giving gift lists to family can be a big challenge.  So, this year I’m leaning toward a fun creepy crawly bug maker or the new Space Alien maker – I think that my 9 and 10 year olds will love that one!

I have a long ways to go and if I end up doing more shopping for my MIL, it may take me a while to get around to my own shopping. I have some great shops and giveaways to share with you in the coming weeks that will offer you very creative gifting ideas for all your Christmas shopping! Helping to keep it simple and fun … the way it should be, so you’ll definitely want to be on the lookout!

Have you started shopping yet??? What are the hot products on your childrens’ lists??? Creative ideas?

As Christmas quickly approaches I know that many of us are still rushing around trying to find all those last minute (well not quite) gifts!  If you are like me and do much of your shopping online it is actually getting down to a “last minute” type scenario for getting gifts shipped in time. 

I wanted to let you know about another great contest going on over at 5 Minutes for Mom!  Just post a blog entry (like this one) and leave a comment to be entered to win an Insignia Shelf System!   Want it now? Well, you’re in luck, this system is available to purchase through Best Buy (I love this store!) and you still have time to get it by Christmas!

Happy Shopping!

I have two ideas for you today. Once again on a search for toy alternatives and creative children’s gifts! I will go into more detail below, but I found the Tessy and Tab Reading Club and KraftyKid.com both super fun ideas. What I love about these is that they are a gift that keeps on giving and they are perfect for any gift giver . . . even one that lives thousand of miles away!

I hope you enjoy these ideas and there are plenty more to come, not all for children either!

At KraftyKid.com you can find all sorts of fun and entertaining crafts, even Fun Craft of the Month Clubs. Clubs start as low as $2.99 per month, and there are trial kits for you to try out to be sure you love them!

They offer a craft club for Kids, one for Preschoolers and even one for Adults! And how about a Build Your Own Craft Club, Bible Craft Subscription, Surprise Craft Club and Sticker Scene of the Month Craft Club. Obviously you pick the perfect gift for your child or grandchild and away you go!

I love the fun and creative kits they offer as well as the flexibility to pay monthly until you choose to cancel – sometimes a yearly subscription is not what I am looking for. So be sure to hop on over there to see for yourself all the fun your child can begin having at KraftyKid.com

Once again I am searching for fun and creative gift giving and maybe even a toy alternative or two and today I have found the PERFECT GIFT FOR PRESCHOOLERS – the gift of reading!

At TessyandTab.com you can join the reading club and develop early literacy skills with a fun magazine. Issues arrive twice a month and are just $2/issue! A full year of reading for $48. At their website you can view a sample magazine, get more information about all the perks included in the subscription . . . things like their Grown Up Guide emails for parents (and gift giver) emails, Parent’s Guide and more.

The Tessy and Tab Reading Club is specifically for children ages 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . . 5+! Let grandma know about this fabulous idea.

The recent announcements of mass toy issues has made me a little wary during my gift shopping this year! Especially when it comes to toys. I think this year I am going for simpler and more creative gifts. Because of the ages of the children I’m shopping for there will be toy purchases involved and I’m happy to share a few simple store ideas with you that I think you will like!

I love the simplicity of many traditional wooden toys and I absolutely adore the idea of offering children gifts that will inspire creativity and imagination! So I was very happy when I discovered a family of websites that offer the very products that I can feel great about giving!!!

For the kiddos on your list there’s Magic Cabin and HearthSong! Each of these shops is dedicated to inspiring children and their love of simple and fun things! And for the adults on your list who enjoy gardening and homelife I recommend Plow & Hearth products for Hearth, Yard & Garden truly the green thumb’s (or wannabe’s) favorite stop!

HearthSong – Toys You’ll Feel Good About Giving. Offering a gift center, an entire section dedicated to the Parent’s Choice Award Winning products they carry as well as products for outdoor play, classic toys, dollhouses, crafts and much more!

Magic Cabin – Childhood’s Purest Treasures Here you can shop by department, collection or even by age. They offer categories of products such as . . . toys and games, doll play, arts and crafts, books and household items as well as an entire section dedicated to sale items.

Plow & Hearth products for Home, Hearth, Yard & Garden offers just that! I personally love their yard and garden area as well as their great gift ideas!

Well, that’s about it for today’s suggestion! Hop on over to those sites and enjoy your look around, you won’t be disappointed . . . quite the opposite, I’m sure you’ll be inspired!

As the Holiday season quickly approaches I want to offer all of you some great ideas for Christmas shopping! We are always on a pretty tight budget with 6 guys to shop for, but either way I think you’ll find these great shops inviting!

I will be sharing ideas, shops and specials with you often throughout the next few weeks, so look for the button to the left that let’s you know the post is part of our Christmas Shopping List!

If you are a blogger who plans to share some fun things you have found for Christmas shopping this year I would like to invite you to be a Shopping List participant! Email me letting me know when you plan to post or with a link to your post and once a week I will publish a post sending people to your great ideas! You are also welcome to use the button on your blog and in your post if you’d like!

Have a great idea but don’t want to blog about it? Great, feel free to email us we could always use more ideas! We would be thrilled if you’d like to send others my way to see all our ideas, feel free to link up using the code in the box below!