It amazes me sometimes when my children make their lists for their birthdays that they can often end up with some pretty crazy items on their list.  But quite often, they also have reasonable requests as well and I do my best to buy them those things that they want for their birthday.

With my son’s birthday coming up, I made sure to ask him what he wanted.  I had to cross off the horse and race car, but there were some reasonable requests.

I thought that his idea of getting Thomas the train and brio train tracks was a perfect idea as we would have the room in the new house that we were moving to to have room for him to play.  Price wise, it fit well into the budget while also leaving some money left over for some clothes as well.

I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he gets the Thomas the Tank Engine gifts he asked for - I bet he will be really excited!

One of the things that we get to pass on to our children is teaching them how to shop for things.  Some good examples would be how to pick out the best produce, what type of hamburger to buy (extra lean of course), and what stores have which items.

My wife thought that it would also be a great opportunity for us to teach our kids about using coupons.  You see, she is a bit of a thrifty shopper, and she seems to find coupons for just about everything including grocery coupons.

She started them off with something simple that they could relate to - she showed them where they could find toys coupons and what stores accepted them.

We still have a number of years to teach them before they move out of the house, but so far, it looks like they love learning how to spend money - I wonder if that will change once they are spending their own.

I lost my son in the Home Depot today. It was the scariest thing that I had ever gone through in my life. I was looking at the electric showers and he was standing right beside me. I had stopped to ask one of the clerks a question and when I turned around, he was gone.

I called for him and when he didn’t answer, I panicked. I was searching all of the shower cubicles, calling his name. The employees were looking for him as well and I was almost ready to call the police. I was not thinking clearly and I was being irrational.

I ran past the showers and that is when I saw him. He was sitting on a toilet doing his business. I was mortified. The toilet was a display and by the look on his face, I knew that it was not going to be a pleasant mess to clean up.

I was so relieved to see him and know that he was alright, but I do not think I will ever be able to show my face in the store again.

My sons’ school recently ran a contest, seeing who could sell the most magazine subscriptions. My son has never really been into these fundraisers and usually just sells to us and Grandma. This one was a little bit different, as the student who sold the most got a free PSP.

I have never seen him work so hard at anything in my life. He went to everyone we knew and when that was done, he started going door to door. He ended up selling over seventy subscriptions and I was very proud of him. I was sure he would have way more than any other kid in the school.

I forgot to take into consideration that there were other boys his age who wanted it just as badly as he did and he ended up losing by only three subscriptions. I decided that I would get him one myself, as it had been a good learning experience for him and I was happy to see him put so much effort into something.

In our family, we usually get and give pretty big gifts for the first baby. Our thinking is that is when they are needed most and that things such as cribs, strollers and swings, will be reused for any subsequent babies that are born into the same family.

We, on the other hand, were a little bit different. We had our first two only a year apart, necessitating for a second crib and a double stroller. Our family gladly bought us these as baby gifts and helped us out when we needed it.

I am thankful to them and their generosity, as I don’t think it would have been as easy as it has been without them. We love our girls and we actually love that they are so close in age. We hope that they will be the best of friends and are glad that they have such a wonderful and loving family.

My twelve year old son is a big fan of the UFC. He watches it every chance he can get and he pretty much lives and breathes for UFC. He saves all of his money so that he can buy the fights on pay per view and gets really excited whenever he sees any paraphernalia that has anything to do with it.

I was trying to figure out what to get him for Christmas this year when my husband suggested that we buy him some mma clothing. I thought that this was a great idea and I knew that Bryan would absolutely love it. It was something that he would never expect as it is something that he had never asked for before.

I could not wait for him to open his Christmas presents, so that I could forever capture the look on his face in my memory. I was not disappointed, as his reaction was more than I could have imagined or asked for. He told me that it was the greatest gift that he had ever gotten.

It seems to me that my son has done a complete Jekyll and Hyde change overnight. He was always my bright eyed morning person and I am not sure what happened to him. I guess the fact that his teenage years are approaching may be the answer to some of my questions.

He used to awaken on his own very early in the morning and was like al little ray of sunshine. Now, it is nearly impossible to get him out of bed and when I do manage to get him up, he is as grouchy as a bear being pulled out of hibernation.

Though I can’t help mourning the little boy of the past, I am relieved to know that I am not the first mother to experience the metamorphosis of a little boy into a teenager. It makes me savor the odd moment that he is still the happy go lucky little boy, all that much more.

One thing that I really like about baby bedding more now, than when I had my first child six years ago, is that it is much more versatile and there is a better selection than I had with my first child.  I really like the set that I got my daughter much more than the one I had for my son.

Another thing I learned, is that it is a lot more fun to shop for a little girl clothes than it was to shop for little boy clothes.  I don’t know why they can’t make nice little boy clothes, and I was so excited to be able to buy the frilly pink dresses finally.

It was also exciting for me to be able to buy the little girl toys as I was a little tired of trucks and airplanes.  I am a very girly girl myself and was excited to be able to buy dollies, strollers and anything in pink - it will be nice to play with girl toys again.

My brother and I have had an ongoing feud since we were kids. We played pranks on each other constantly and drove my mother crazy. We had such different personalities that she said if she had not given birth to each of us, she would have questioned whether we were really related.

The best prank I pulled on him was the time that I sat in the attic window with a paintball gun. He sure never saw that coming, which was great because I usually got caught in the act before I could perform my stunt. Seeing him standing there with blue splatters all over his clothes was a victorious thing for me.

The prank got me into loads of trouble and I had to use my own money to replace the jacket that I had destroyed with my Tippmann, but it was still so great to have caught him so totally off guard. We still talk about this as being one of the best stunts I have ever pulled and I am still so proud of myself.

My five year old son is growing up a little too fast for his mothers liking. One thing that I have noticed lately is that he is far more interested I real life movies than he is in animation anymore. For as long as I can remember, his favorite movie was The Fox and The Hound.

We were talking about movies last night when I was tucking him into bed and I felt a little bit sad knowing that Todd and Copper had been replaced with a whale named Willy. It is not that I have anything against my son watching Free Willy, but it just seems so grown up for a little guy.

He wants his bedroom to be all Orcas and though I think that would be fairly cool, I am a bit concerned that next month he will want space aliens or Transformers. I do agree, with sadness I my eyes I am sure, that the Precious Moments has to go. But, part of me feels that if I let his nursery go, I am also letting my baby go, and maybe it is time for me to do this.