Blokus – Believe it or not, I think this is 
my favorite gift this year. I bought it for Aliya. This is a great game!!! Aliya has become very strategic and can give me a run for my money. Ben and I have been playing for chores…he had to give us foot massages the other night and he has to clean the basement today! Blokus could be my vehicle for getting some stuff done around here! Yay!! If you just can’t wait to play Blokus yourself, go to http://www.blokus.com/ and try the online version.
Footsoother – I was at Brady’s house the day after Christmas, complaining (again) about the pain in my feet due to Plantar Fasciitis. My feet ache all the time and the pain first thing in the morning is excruciating. So Brady whips out from under the futon what has become one of my favorite Christmas gifts – the Footsoother. I can’t tell you how long I stared longingly at the stacks of massaging products at Kohl’s during the holiday shopping season, hoping that someone would put one under the tree for me. It’s like Ping on steroids. Ahhhhhhh…
Canon SD750 – My trusty Canon S230 started giving me what looked like overexposed pictures, so Ben bought me a new camera for Christmas. Just a few years ago I bought my camera for about $400 and a Canon photo printer for another $400. For $220 (after rebates), Ben bought a camera with more than twice the megapixels, a photo printer, AND a 1 GB SD card. Wow!
Sansa Shaker MP3 – Aliya and Adlani each got one of these from Grandma Ginny and Grampa B. Oth
er than the fact that it’s a pain to transfer music from iTunes onto them, they’re GREAT! They have a built-in speaker as well as 2 headphone jacks. The controls are easy to use, so Adlani can listen to “I’m in the Hallway” (Life is a Highway) over and over again.
2007 Toyota Camry – Ben’s Saab has been experiencing technical difficulties so even though he was convinced that he could 
make it to 200,000 miles I had to put my foot down. While I was arranging for delivery of his almost-new car, he was bugging me to go to KFC (yuck!) and during the brief altercation that ensued he left me speechless by saying “It’s all about you, Lori.” Needless to say, he almost got a big lump of coal (to the side of the head) for Christmas. I’m still trying to figure out which part of my life is about me.
Tickets – This is the answer to what to buy for the people who have everything. If you don’t believe we have everything, just look in our basement and garage. We bought Mom and Keith tickets to go see Wicked in Orlando. I’m so jealous. Adlani got tickets to Nemo on Ice in his stocking (we’re going today with Karen and Shane), and Aliya got tickets to Princesses on Ice.
Gift Cards – Another great option for those who have everything. Ben and I got a gift card for the Melting Pot, the kids got gift cards for Disney when we go to Florida 
in June, and Mom and Keith bought us a “Do-It-Yourself-Christmas” gift card so we can buy whatever we want. Yay!
Julie Doll – Aliya saw this doll on Oprah and just had to have her. She’s from the 70’s, when I was in elementary school (No Aliya, there weren’t dinosaurs back then.).
Geotrax Trains – Adlani has been begging for these and when I mentioned this at the office my coworker and friend Michele got “the look”…the look you get when you find a home for something that you want to get out of your house. Her son Cullen had outgrown them so she gave me a giant box of Geotrax trains, tracks, and buildings. Santa brought Adlani some additional pieces for Christmas so when Ben finishes cleaning the basement we’ll have a whole Geotrax town down there.
Fisher Price Bounce and Spin Zebra – When Norah was a baby Aliya said she thought Norah would be a bull rider when she grew up because she was always flailing one arm around. Her love for this toy could be further evidence of that. It’s like a self-powered mechanical bull for toddlers. She loves it!
Worst Toy of 2007 – Moon Sand 
Kelli, if you’re reading this, I’m sorry. I think I bought this for Isabel for her birthday. I meant well, I really did. It looks so cool on TV. It’s squishable, squashable, moldable, and never dries out. What could be better? Well, Santa put a Moon Sand kit under our tree and Aliya bugged me constantly for 48 hours until I opened it. She was a little disappointed that it only contained the “sand color” Moon Sand, but I’m counting my blessings now. The stuff was everywhere!!! Seriously, there was no difference between bringing a bucket of sand in from the sand box and letting them play with it in the house, except that Moon Sand sticks to everything. Somehow it got tracked through the entire downstairs, Norah and Annie kept trying to eat it and I never saw anything remotely resembling a sand castle. When they started making snowballs out of it, the party was over.