2017.

december 31 snuck up on me. hardcore. like i was preparing myself for the end of year, but somehow, well i say somehow, but it snuck up on me, yet again. it always done. i think its because i find myself in a christmas hangover for quite a few days after all the festivities have basically ended. does anyone else experience that christmas (holiday) hangover feeling?  it can be pretty gnarly. like i can easily stay inside like a social recluse & not feel the least bit bad about it. and then bam!, new year!

my gift guide: preschool edition

i woke up this week thinking, "december already?" i'm not complaining by any stretch, because december is one of my favorite months of the year, but it seriously feels like it was halloween yesterday.  anyone else feel that way?

life has been terribly hectic lately (maybe its just me), but that's why the blog has been on the back burner.  i've had things to say, but whenever i find myself with a free moment, i find myself sitting down to enjoy a nice quiet moment or tending to my farm on family farm. yes yes, i've been sucked into the farming game app.

with the holidays quickly arriving, i find myself ooohing and ahhing at all the sparkles & new items coming out, with the exception of that darn hatchimal. not happening in this house yall.  we had a chewbacca furby once & it drove me crazy, so maybe ben will never know about this hatching animal.

benjamin is the typical child who anything he sees quickly shouts "add that to my list mama!" so currently our christmas wishlist is about 10 miles long and growing as we speak.  but now that he finally understands the idea of christmas, it totally warms my heart everytime he sees christmas lights, hears his favorite christmas song (frosty the snowman) or sees the huge giant snowman inflatable at the car dealership.

this year we started straying for typical toys that he will forget about in a few weeks, and more towards the imagination items that allow for continuous enjoyment & creativity.

here some of the must have items that i've placed on the preschool christmas list this year:

magnaformers: seriously!! are these not the coolest building blocks ever. magnets hold them in place and you can basically build anything you can dream of. i think i may want a set of these for myself, but chances are they would end up in benjamin's possession anyway..

melissa & doug: my first magnetic calendar: this may not be at the top of his list, it is mine. we've been working on time (in terms of days) with benjamin and i think this calendar is so cute & perfect to allow him to understand tomorrow, today & yesterday. plus he's alwayyyys informing us what the weather is doing outside, so yeah, he needs this item stat...

                 
play doh ice cream castle: many people probably think HECK NO to play doh, but our house, i'm like whatever about it. its not my favorite, but with wood & tile floors, it easily vacuums up, so i don't mind it.. plus benjamin's imagination with play doh is so fun to watch.  he's always creating at least one ice cream item, so this item has been on his list for awhile. he may even watch countless youtube kid app videos about this item.  do you have the youtube kids app? we love it!

my first science kit: discover science & how things work with this introductory science kit.  geared towards children 4+, this kit focuses on STEM principles. let's start experimenting!

strider balance bike: get your little bike ready with a balance bike. practice balance on a bike with no wheels before jumping up to a 2 wheeler.  seat adjusts to multiple heights, so your child can grow with it until they are ready for a "big kid" bicycle.

you can find all of these items from our gift guide here (amazon affiliate):
magnaformers: https://goo.gl/cbhdgz
m&d: my first magnetic calendar: https://goo.gl/NHegdK
play doh ice cream castle: https://goo.gl/AIHheBmy 
my first science kit: https://goo.gl/fidPYT
strider balance bike: https://goo.gl/4uRmAj

only 21 shopping days left until christmas!

oh the places you'll go - my travel bucket list (so far)

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as far back as i can remember, which some days isn't very far, i always have had the list of places that i love traveling to & then places that are "must visit before i die" places. and some of them have fallen off that list over the years because i have either a.) visited them or b.) they just don't appeal to me anymore.  the latter happens very rarely, but i know it has happened a time or two.  

something about fall & changing colors, plus all the holidays coming up, stirs up those travel all over the world feelings inside & it has me adding and wishing and checking out all those travel sites, because well, who doesn't just because, in case there's a great deal out there.

here are some of the places on my travel bucket list currently:

montana/wyoming: this is on both husband's and i's travel lists. and i'm not partial to time of year to visit, but i'm pretty sure they get lots of snow (which is fine with me) but for airplane reasoning, maybe a late summer, spring travel time would be ideal. hubs wants to go on a hunt and all that manly stuff while there, but i'm totally ok driving the roads looking at trees and rivers & hanging out at the "lodge" enjoying all the scenery.

new england: can i just take a week long tour of this area? seriously, not even kidding. maybe even two weeks. in the fall. all the small towns, fall colors, leaves, b&bs.. like what i am waiting for. maybe this hasn't helped my situation any, but new england has always been at the top of my travel list. 

ireland: well europe in general has been on my list for quite some time, but with all the current political/war garbage happening, traveling overseas has been not a priority of mine. but ireland (and all that green!) has always given me the feels when i see images in movies & tv shows.  like that time that was it kaitlin (??) from the bachelorette went to ireland with her remaining men - that place is so dreamy. and all those small towns - i think is my main reason for europe. all the same towns and marketplaces and little cities of castles and homes and old buildings. days and days of wandering could happen here. easily. i'm a sucker for small towns. again its that gilmore thing i think.

japan: i've always been intrigued by the japanese culture. all the lights of their cities, their food (well most of it) & they have some pretty amazing scenery too. this one is so far down on my bucket list, but its always been there. maybe i'll just live through anyone who visits and enjoy looking at travel books.  this apply to asia in general. hong kong is on the list too, but its far fetched enough that i just enjoy seeing travel book photos. hah.

seattle: the fish market has always been on my list (well maybe since the year they did the real world in seattle, circa 1998) & the needle. plus right there by all the water of the pacific ocean. and whale watching has always been on my bucket lists. not many reasons to visit seattle particularly, but its there.

and a few more places on that list: alaska, georgia (savannah to be more specific), and the Caribbean (all those islands), plus hawaii (mainly because of this) 

while this list will take some time to complete, i'm determined to check most of these off.  what items are on your travel bucket list?