My kids are huge fans of Lego. Lego is a great toy. It's creative and improves fine motor skills. It's socially acceptable for boys to play with Lego through high school. Actually, there are quite a few geeky men lurking around the stores when I've been there, so maybe there is no age limit.

Ian is begging for LEGO Pirates Brickbeard's Bounty
or LEGO SpongeBob SquarePants Krusty Krab Adventures. We recently got LEGO Brickmaster Pirates
for him to keep at school as a carrot for good behavior.

Ian has completely worn out the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book
and The Captain Underpants Extra-Crunchy Book o' Fun. It might be lame, but we might get fresh copies for him. Ooh, he doesn't have The All New Captain Underpants Extra-Crunchy Book o' Fun 2. The boys are big fans of both series of books. I can't give a review, because they've read these books on their own or with their father. I can say that the word "fart" appears frequently in the text.

Other books that have been read or are on deck around here include: Harry Potter Paperback Box Set (Books 1-7), The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1), The 39 Clues Book 1:The Maze of Bones and The Hunger Games. Jonah has a stack of books to read, so I might not get him more fiction.

Sometimes I like to pick out classic kiddie books to read to the boys. Even though they are supposedly baby books, the illustrations are so fantastic and the words are beautiful. Last week, we read The Story of Ferdinand, Mars Needs Moms!, and Thomas the Tank Engine Story Collection (The Railway Series). I'll be really sad when I can't read those books anymore.

There have been many requests for video games. A few of those requests may be granted by a grandparent. We'll see. They've asked for Drawn to Life The Next Chapter. Ian has Drawn to Life: Spongebob Squarepants Edition, which he plays endlessly. There's a creative component to the game, so it's not all evil.

I think Jonah wants Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky.

Grandparents are getting a Sony ICF-C318 Automatic Time Set Clock Radio with Dual Alarm (Black) for Jonah
and an Erector Multi Model Construction Set
for Ian.

Both boys will get new drawing paper and pencils, because there's always art supplies at Christmas.

I'm cleaning out the baby-ish toys from their closets. Almost everything is going, except for a few classic toys that are still working, are occasionally played with, and were seriously loved. Prime example are WEDGiTS Deluxe Set.

I had been thinking about getting a Lifetime 1221 Pro Court Height-Adjustable Portable Basketball System with 44-Inch Backboard, but we've already exceeded the money limits. Our backyard is too small anyway.

My in-laws have gotten subscriptions to the National Wildlife Federation magazines for the boys. They're excellent.