Holiday Cheer - Pillow Pet Style

It's nearly New Year's Eve and I haven't managed to go through all the Christmas photos. On Christmas Day, we celebrated with our three children, eight grandchildren and some family friends. On Thanksgiving Day, I went through the Black Friday ads with a few of the children. Along with an assortment of Barbies and remote control toys, pillow pets were high on the list of coveted toys. My plan was to get some for the youngest grandchildren. I knew Oriana wanted the unicorn even before she said it. I wanted a bumble bee and a lady bug for the youngest, Caliyana and Dulcea, and Leticia suggested a dog or monkey for Esteban Junior.

After spending a little more money than we had planned on spending, I was going to throw out the pillow pet idea. When I told Candace, however, she mentioned her boys seeing the ad on TV and voicing that they wanted pillow pets too. She said she had been surprised because the desire showed her a side of her boys she hadn't seen for a while. Jurrien had his eye on the panda bear, while Keith wanted the dog. I decided that each child should have a pillow pet to go with his or her other presents.  It sounded like some of the children would want the same one, but I wanted them all to be different, so I assigned a pet to each child. I had been excited when I saw a frog at Walgreens, and I picked it up, although I now had nine pets and only needed eight. I decided that I would sit the frog out and offer an "exchange program," in case a grandchild wasn't happy with his pet.

For the most part, Leticia, Candace, John and I did a good job pairing the kids to the pets. As soon as Evita heard that she could exchange, however, she tossed her penguin aside, grabbed the frog, tore off his tag and carried him around all night. Junior then exchanged his ape for the penguin, and everyone was happy. It was touching to see grandchildren from 5 years old to 11 carrying around their pets all evening, hugging them and using them as pillows later on. One of the grandchildren decided that it was a good thing that I ended up with the ape, because it suited me. I'm not sure that's the case, but he has his own place in the living room, now, and each time I see him, I smile, thinking about another wonderful Christmas and new memories.

Each year, my friend Karleen and I meet somewhere for Christmas lunch. This year, we chose to meet near one of Denver's newest shopping centers, Southlands. Karleen had told me about a boutique there named Charming Charlie. She said that the store had so much jewelry it was overwhelming. One of the great things about Charming Charlie is that the earrings, necklaces, bracelets handbags, scarves, belts and other items are grouped together by color and theme. For example, one area is devoted to purple items, another to animal print and another to items decorated with crosses. Charming Charlie also had miscellaneous items, such as floral embossed measuring spoons I spotted near the cross section. After leaving Charming Charlie, we went across the street to Francesca's Collections. This boutique was smaller so it took a lot less time to go through it. They also had the embossed measuring spoons and an adorable cork bottle stopper with upside down wiggly legs hooked to the cork with springs. I resisted buying anything that day, but the next week, although Southlands is a bit of a drive, John and I went back to the mall and he bought me the measuring spoons and bottle stopper for my anniversary gift. I used them both during holiday festivities. After I've recovered from Christmas expenses, I'll have to check out the Charming Charlie north of us, which is a little closer, and Francesca's in Boulder.

Posh Maids: Service with a Smile -- and Flowers and Chocolates

Cleaning house isn't one of my favorite things. Because of that, I was interested when I got an email showing a Living Social deal for maid service through Posh Maids a few months ago. The deal was for three hours of maid service for $49. I thought it would be great to get someone else to clean my house before the holidays, to give me a head start. Also, Posh Maids offered a little something extra than other local maid services--flowers and chocolates. I figured it would be something like a few Hershey's kisses and a flower, but it was a nice thought, so I set it up. My "Posh Maid" was friendly and did a good job. I was right; she left one flower, but it was a Christmassy flower in a vase, and the chocolates were two Ghirardelli squares. The company also uses green, organic products, which is another plus. Overall, I think Emily and Miranda have a great idea with Posh Maids (www.PoshMaids.com).

Hello Kitty and Moxie Girls

We had another fun-filled evening Saturday. First, while I looked at toys online with the youngest grandchildren, John and Leticia prepared pizza with the Rustic Crust pizza kit I bought at Sunflower Market last week. A cheese, pepperoni and veggie and meat pizza disappeared quickly. Next, we got out the bingo game acquired from the Dollar Tree last week. We usually end up spoiling the children with candy and small items that I keep on hand, but this time we decided to put them in a jar and use them as prizes. The "world's largest candy necklaces" were the first prizes pulled out of the jar by eager hands, followed by miniature gel pens, a candy filled Happy Van and a Hello Kitty lipgloss/snow globe.

Our three youngest grandchildren--Junior, Evita and Dulcea--spent the night. The five of us snuggled together on the sofa to watch Max Lucado's "Christmas Child" and "Jack Frost." I couldn't resist giving Evita and Dulcea an early Christmas present: Moxie Girlz Twins. Along with the dolls, I told them that I wanted them to learn how to share through them. Several times over the evening I heard them exchanging outfit pieces, and exclaiming, "We're sharing." I also explained to them the meaning of "moxie." I was happy that they loved the dolls and that we could use them as teaching tools.

Too Many Barbies to Choose

I had a few Barbies when I was little. Actually, I had a Ken, a Barbie and a Midge. I liked Midge best, because, like me, she had brown hair. I don't know what happened to Ken, but I saved Barbie and Midge, and, amazingly, still have them, although I have very few other keepsakes from my childhood. I added a few other Barbies to my collection years ago when I visited my sister in Omaha and saw international Barbies in one of the local stores. I bought a Canadian Barbie and a Russian Barbie. I refrained from buying a United Colors of Benetton Barbie, but always wished I had. My Barbies stayed in a box in the back of a closet until my grandchildren started spending time with us. Rema was a little too old to play with them, but Oriana picked them up now and then. Evita and Dulcea, however, started playing with the Barbies every time they came over. Their long beautiful hair is usually now tied up in fluffy fashion scrunchies. I never had an extensive doll clothes collection, but I have one animal print jacket my mom made, and it makes its rounds among the dolls, although Midge usually wears it. I decided for Christmas this year that I would buy more Barbies for them to play with here, but also some to send home. I fell in love with Barbie with Glam Bike, since her bike is a beach cruiser, like mine--only it's pink, and my Electra "Boney Finger" is predominately orange. That Barbie will probably stay here for the girls to play with, but one of them will be going home with Tattoo Barbie. That Barbie came in the mail from Mattel this week.