With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, I know people are looking for things to get their loved ones. Let me tell you a secret — the best kind of shopping is the online shopping. It looks like you put a ton of thought into your gift - yet you never got out of your chair. Plus, a lot of the things you can find online are better than what is in the stores. You can spend half the time and get a better gift online. One of the companies that I use for stuff like this is 1-800-Flowers. I highly recommend them. I have used their company several times to send gifts (since I live in another state than most of my family and friends this makes my life so much easier) such as organic fruit gift baskets, balloons, flowers, etc. My items have always been delivered when said and the quality was great! The arriving item always has looked like what it did online. I have yet to be disappointed with their products. You get what you pay for, and with 1-800-flowers you do get quality.

We gave Madison the Learning Resources - Gears! Gears! Gears! Lights and Action Building Set for her birthday, and it has been a huge hit in my house. I say in my house, since I think my husband has had as much fun as Madison playing with it. The age is 5 and up on it. However, Madison was able to play with it, and she just turned four. She didn’t have quite the attention span to play with it like my husband who spent an hour last night building the picture that is on the front of the packaging. It somewhat complicated (not as complicated as say business performance management software) because they have to understand how to make multiple gears move at the same time. I like that this comes in its own container, so that you are able to put the pieces back in there. Also, there are very few little pieces, so I don’t have to worry about Will so much. This is still something she’ll have to play at the table with. However, since it is motorized, she absolutely loves to sit there and make everything turn. That alone makes it worth purchasing. There are also several different sets. I think we may get the Learning Resources Gears! Gears! Gears! Safari Express Motorized Set next.

I love products that made just for the busy mom. SpaSensials* Hand and Foot Treatment is definitely one of those products. In one package, you get a treatment for both your feet and your hands. I have been trying these out for a couple of days, and if you have dry skin, I would definitely recommend these. Personally, I have really dry cracked feet. You put on a sock (or a glove if you are working on your hands) that is infused with aloe, jojoba and vitamins A, B5 and E. Now, the first time I used these, I did not notice much of change. However, there was some. The parts of my feet that were not as dry as my heels no longer were dry. I also noticed a small change with my heels (which are the most dry part).  The other added benefit is that your feet smell really nice when you take the socks off too!

The part I love the most about these is that all I have to do is slip them on my feet and away you go. It takes about 3 seconds to put them on. It is great for the busy mom who doesn’t want spend time to pamper herself. You can have great looking hands and feet without even trying!  You just leave the socks or gloves on for a minimum of 15 minutes.  The only thing I would change with these is that I wouldn’t package the gloves and socks together.  To try them out, this packaging makes sense.  However, now that I know which product I really want to use, I don’t need the other.

This is product that I would definitely recommend to try if you have dry feet and/or hands.

I have a couple little treats to show you that Madison will be getting for Christmas. I love getting her educational toys that she can learn while playing with. Here are a couple of toys that I got from Learning Resources:

Bill is a little worried about the number of pieces in this one. However, I told him that we can take some of the pieces and put them up. Here is the second thing I ordered:

I actually can’t wait to play with this one. It looks so cute and so much fun. Lastly, (and probably the most messy):

This gear set said 5 and up, but it looks like something right up Madison’s alley. She likes building. I could have easily gotten the whole catalog. I loved all the product choices! I loved that it told me what age it was appropriate for, and then I could make the decision from there. After Christmas, I am going to write up a product review on each toy and let you know what I (and Madison) think of them.