Christmas gifts

In which I list the amazing Christmas gifts I've gotten for my family in lieu of a post which requires actual creativity. I'm pretty sure no one in the fam reads this, but I won't be listing what I got for my husband or some of the tech-savier members of the family, just in case.

For the boy:

• socks. I know, but he keeps losing his socks, and I figured they'd fill up some room in the stocking. 
• a small wooden shuttle. He's been OBSESSED with the Mater's Tall Tales, and one of his favorites is Moon Mater. He loves that space shuttle so much, and this was only a dollar at Target.
• Butterfly Land: This was actually a two-for at Costco. It includes a butterfly cage AND a ladybug habitat, along with coupons for the critters themselves. Sam adores "buddyflies" and I'm so excited about getting to show him the whole metamorphosis process and then letting him release the butterflies. Easily my favorite gift for him.
• Sundry toys, including some cars, a Mickey Mouse doll, some playing cards, and a set of keys. Nothing very big or expensive. 

For the grandparents:

• photobooks. This is such a great way of sharing Sam's year with grandparents who live across the country. It's especially nice that Sam managed to spend some time with both families this year, including all his cousins. 

For the nieces:

• One of the six-year-olds is getting a Disney princess watch with three different faces covers. The covers also convert to necklaces. 
• The other six-year-old is getting some earrings, since she got her ears pierced over the summer
• the littlest one is getting a pillow pet! Her big sister got one a few months ago and I'm sure she's been dying for one as well.

For the nephews:

• The younger one is getting The Book of Three, which is the start of Lloyd Alexander's Prydian Chronicles (The Black Cauldron books). This was one of my all-time favorite series when I was a kid. I hope he loves it as much as I do.
• The older one is getting Stephen Ambrose's book Band of Brothers. He's very into military things, and I thought this would appeal to him. 

Um, this post took 3 DAYS to complete. My world has narrowed to wiping a toddler nose and trying vainly to get fluids and food into the sick child. Now the mister and I are getting sick too. He's upstairs with a migraine and I'm stuck on child duty, and it is all I can do to drag up the last dregs of patience to deal with sick toddler demands. Add in the fact that I think I'm getting sick too, which always results in a bad asthma flare at this time of year. I suppose the thing to do is to grit my teeth and make sure the house is cleaned today and get some grocery supplies in, and then just hunker down for the next few days. Thank god all my Christmas shopping is done.