Christmas Gifts

A roundup and ranking of Christmas Gifts:

• Ball Pit for Samuel (18 months): I'm a big believer in the "Wow" factor of Christmas morning, meaning when the kids enter the family room, there is that magical "Willy Wonka"-esque feeling of "This is the best day of the year". (I'm also a big believer in presents that are "things you can do/enjoy on Christmas day" - even if they get tossed out afterward.)

So it is with that principle we agreed to let Santa bring a $19.99 ball pit for Sammy, knowing it wouldn't last long. It didn't...the seams popped within a couple of hours. But during those first few hours, it was big, bright, colorful, full of wonder and adventure, so it did its job. Plus....bonus! 20-some odd plastic balls for Sam (who is a ball lover) to still play with.

RANK: 3 Christmas Trees out of 4

• Indoor Trampoline that incorporates electronic game component for Matty (nearly 4): Great idea in theory....still sitting unassembled in the garage in practice. We literally had 5 adults trying to assemble it on Christmas night before we gave up at 1 a.m. in fear that we'd bump into Santa's arrival (or Josh's traditional awaking at 3 a.m....which happened at 3:20 a.m. this year). It actually made me yearn for assembling an IKEA item...or at least to have their instruction booklet. We made it through the first 18 steps, and hope to do the last 12 (for a total of 30....no kidding) before next week. Next time, just get a pre-assembled jogging tramp.

Rank: 1.5 Christmas Trees out of 4 (which should change to 3.5 out of 4 when assembled)

• TV Show Newhart on DVD. This 80s TV show represented our family's family home evening as we'd all gather on Monday night to watch it. While it's not officially out on DVD yet, there are some companies that sell complete copies of TV series for a very reasonable price. Not sure how they pull it off...sort of the military "don't ask, don't tell", I'm guessing. Seemed to be taped off of Canadian TV. (If you want the web site, let me know and then you can check out all the series that are available) At any rate, MAJOR hit for my Dad.

Rank: 4.5 Christmas Trees out of 4.

• Headphones: I thought I'd get some nice but inexpensive headphones for Kathryn for use at the gym. Didn't realize I ordered high tech ones used in studios with fancy equipment. The plug is long and not standard for music players, gym equipment, etc. Can't return it as I ordered online and opened it. (Anyone want them?)

Rank: 0 Christmas Trees out of 4.

• PlayStation Portable with MLB game for Josh (age 8). We relented and allowed Santa to bring one for Josh. It's awesome, but hard to master. In the end, Josh was back online playing the more simple "MiniClip" games by Christmas night. I think he was a tad disappointed that it's harder to play than he imagined. But in the long run, this will be a good gift.

Rank: 3 Christmas Trees out of 4.


• Jam Pack Jam: This is the new Cranium game for the season. I had read about it in a magazine gift guide (as I spend so much time trying to get toys/games into gift guides, it's nice to see from a consumer point of view that it works!). The idea is you have 14 objects and must try to get 4 or 5 of them into the trunk of an SUV AND close the trunk. If you don't, they all pop out like in Perfection. Simple concept, but it has enthralled all of our kids, plus our cousins, and grandparents who were visiting. The sign of a great game: the "game" mechanic doesn't really matter as they're as happy to just play the 'toy' component....meaning, they're just happy to take turns cramming as much into the car as possible. Highly recommend! It's only about $20.

Rank: 4.5 Christmas Trees out of 4.


• Jigsaw puzzle of NYC subway: I bought this as a gift to myself at the Museum of Natural History on Friday. We finished the 500 piece puzzle in two days. It's relatively easy for New Yorkers as you can quickly determine where each piece will fit in the puzzle ("Oh, that's a Queens subway stop"...."that road is in the Bronx"). I've never seen Caroline and Josh work together so well on a project. In the end, we had 7 people ranging from 3 years old to grandparents racing to assemble it. Who knew? This can be ordered online...I can share the website for anyone wanting it. It's $15 online (shipping extra), and $18 in store

Rank: 4 Christmas Trees out of 4.

Christmas Newsletter - Cutting Room Floor

Holiday greetings to the 6 or 7 of you who visit this site (and welcome to any newcomers resulting from the holiday mailing):

When I started the blog, the goal was to provide a place to create a weekly version of my Christmas newsletter -- as well as to have a type of "director's cut" of the newsletter in December since it can't all fit into the two printed pages of the mailed out newsletter.

Below, you'll find some things that didn't make the letter -- either because I just thought of them after mailing out the letter (which always happens) or due to space restrictions. As with most director's cuts, you'll soon realize that what got left out initially wasn't all that great...hence why it got cut! But to remain true to the objective of the blog, I figured I needed to list them:

• When asked how many children we have, Mark likes to apply the same scientific principle that allows weathermen to declare the "Real Feel" temperature is colder than what the mercury reads, so he'll say "We have four children, but as they are all under the age of 9, the "Real Feel" is like having 8 children!"

• We are constantly disarming Sammy of pens, pencils, etc. otherwise known as "Sammy Weapons"

• One of Mark's greatest accomplishments was to learn self-restraint and not look ahead on his daily Dilbert calendar

• Matthew drinks apple juice like it grows on trees

• Kathryn has figured out the next big LDS commercial venture: General Authority trading cards! Collect the whole set! Learn amazing General Conference facts. Get an Apostle's coveted Rookie card from the first year he served as a General Authority

• Samuel is our Kung-Fu Grip baby as he always has to grasp a toy, stick, or something else in his fists at all times

• All Caroline wants for Christmas are her two front teeth

• In the new house, Mark can no longer play his favorite game of "Find the freezing draft coming into the house"

• Mark fears that all the kids will finally sleep through the night about one week before Josh starts going to early morning seminary.