Pizza Party is one of Madison’s favorite gifts she got for her birthday. It is a pizza that you can put the toppings on yourself, cut a piece, and serve! The pieces are held together with velcro, so it is easy for kids to cut and serve. You don’t need a safety utility knife to get the pieces apart — you just need to use the included pizza cutter. Everything is just held together with Velcro. You also get the pizza toppings which include mushrooms, peppers, and pepperoni. They also attach with Velcro. Madison can play with this for hours!

This is another classic children’s book to have in your library. My Little Word Book is great for both babies and toddlers. Each page is about a subject such as your body parts, toys and games, food and drink, etc. On the page, they have colorful pictures of the different items that fall under the pages title. For example, on the page titled Things That Go, there is a car, train, bus, and a truck (which doesn’t have a truck bed liner) just to name a few items on there. All the items are brightly colored. The pages are the thick cardboard type, so they are almost indestructible. Madison (my 4 year old) loves to go through the book and read it to me!

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 don’t even have dogs, and I want one of these plush chew toys. Now, these aren’t made by the company that you may have heard about that is having all the problems (shipping, merchandise not being quite what people thoughts, etc.). For $14.95, you get a 13 inch plush toy for your dog to enjoy and chew on. Part of the proceeds from the sale of these will go towards helping dogs who have been abused.

I had to write about this product just because it is one of the funniest things I think I have even seen. This is worth buying just for the humor value alone.

We definitely need some area rugs in my living room. You may have seen what we are currently using:

Yes, that is a foam alphabet that I bought at Toys R Us. That is my new living room floor. It is quite attractive.

Abingdon Rug is definitely a place you should check out if you are in the market for an area rug like me. They have a ton of choices to pick from that will meet everyone’s tastes. Personally, I wouldn’t mind either any of these:

I saw several namebrands like Kathy Ireland and Mary Kate and Ashley. I was surprised since I no idea they even were into decorating (none of these styles are theirs). They have live help if you have any questions about the rugs too. The part I love the best: All rugs sized 8′ by 11′ or smaller are SHIPPED FREE within the continental United States! I love anything that’s free even it is only shipping! That alone can save you a bundle!

I know that I will be slipping this website to Bill while he looks for my Christmas present. If you are in the market for an area rug, I would check them out.

A Light in the Attic is one of those books from my childhood that my kids had to have. I actually bought the book before I even had kids — that’s how much I love this book. Shel Silverstein is one of those authors that is able to speak to both kids and adults alike. His poems are cute and definitely make a picture in your mind. I remember being a little kid at school and having the teacher read this to us. I am hoping my daughter and son are able to have such great memories of this book too. The 20th anniversary edition (which is the one I own) actually has a CD included with Shel Silverstein reading his own work. One the poems that still makes me laugh is “Prayer of The Selfish Child”:

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
and if I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my toys to break.
So none of the other kids can use ‘em . . .
Amen.

I was giggling as I was typing that. I guess what I really love about Shel Silverstein is that he is able to get into the hearts and minds of children and tell us what they really are thinking.

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.