In 6 weeks, he'll be 6!

Well, the end of kindergarten is rapidly approaching-- seems like 5 Year Old Mugger has been a blur. He's grown so much in the past year, and not just physically. His thirst for knowledge astounds us daily.

That being said here is the link to his birthday wishlist on Amazon for any of you far-flung family members who might want it (since Nonnie has asked.) You'll notice there are no toys on it-- he doesn't play with them! When he's inside due to the weather (pretty much the only time he is inside) he plays games, makes things, or we spend a lot of time with books as a family-- often 10 to 20 checked out per week at the library. Hence his list is games, story books, some art books, and some CDs. You don't have to shop through Amazon, though if you buy someting on the list elsewhere, give me a heads up so I can remove it and avoid duplicates (like last year.)

When our boy is outside, he's playing any sport he can (usually basketball, soccer, baseball, tracball, or biking) or playing in the dirt or the garden. There isn't really much wishlist fodder in those activities, so it's pretty much all inside stuff on the list. However, the one thing not on his list that he would love would be a gift card to Home Depot-- he really wants to build a fort with Papa this summer and he'd get a kick, too, out of picking out more tools for his tool box or gardening things.

So that's our boy in a nutshell: he doesn't seem to have much need for things and he'd rather be out "doing". I jokingly told him his 6th birthday present from us would be a pile of dirt, but you can bet the party will be outside! If you just made him a card, he'd be thrilled-- he's quite the paper hoarder and still has his classmates' valentines up in his room...

Only 25 Days till Christmas!

In case you wanted them and missed this post, here are Mugger and Bug's wishlists for Christmas-- just click on their names for the Amazon link...

Yes, many of Bug's items are off of Etsy-- we're going for more handmade holidays in our house, hence Bug's gift of a flannel board for her birthday. If you need a little sampling of why Etsy is so awesome, check out some of the links in this post from Rocks in My Dryer!

If you're new to Etsy, you'll have to sign up for a user name, but you can check out with Paypal without a Paypal account by just clicking to pay by credit card. One of these days I'll get my Ladybug Limited hair accessories in my empty store there!

Bug's Birthday...

... will be here in 3 weeks! And since Grandma asked for it, here is her wishlist. (Just click on the word "here.") I used the universal wishlist from Amazon for the first time, so it has things from Etsy (my new favorite site-- it's the handmade version of eBay, more or less) as well as some gear from Lands' End. I'll keep updating it for Christmas, too, so this will be her all-occasion list. (I'll get Mugger's updated and posted soon for you early shoppers...) Let me know if you need help with Etsy-- if you have a PayPal account, you only need to register your e-mail to create an ID.

If you get her something that is similar to something on the list, you could leave a comment on this post so she doesn't get duplicate items. I don't know if the list will show purchases from Etsy or Lands' End-- I think it will if you click through from the list.

And in other news, today is her first day in Big Girl underwear-- hooray!

UPDATE: I haven't added the winter gear Mugger needs yet, but here is his list, too...