What are the hottest toys for big kids this holiday season?
We’re talking kids over 4 years old! We’ve already covered the top 20 toys for little ones.
From the LeapPad to Lego Ninjago, Monster High dolls to Angry Birds, these toys made the list of “hot toys” this Christmas.
We have listed the top 10 gifts for big kids this Christmas 2011. Take a look!
[imagebrowser id=14]
Michelle Duggar of TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting has suffered a miscarriage in her second trimester.
She and her husband Jim Bob were expecting their 20th child in April.
“Earlier today at a routine doctor’s appointment, Michelle and I received the sad news that we lost the baby,” Jim Bob told Us Weekly.
Michelle is resting comfortably at home with the support of the entire family. We are grateful for all the thoughts and prayers, but ask for privacy during this difficult time.”
Michelle, 45, spoke to People magazine, saying: “After the appointment, we came back home and told the children… We had just been talking about baby names last night and they were getting excited about naming a boy or a girl. It has been a real sad disappointment.”
Michelle also suffered complications with her last child, daughter Josie, born in December 2009.
After suffering a previous miscarriage and believing birth control had caused it, Michelle stopped taking the pill, deciding “to allow God to determine the number of children” she would have.
The Tontitown, Arkansas parents are famous for their large family, ranging from 23-year-old son Joshua, who is married with two kids of his own, to Josie who is almost 2 years old.
“I feel like my heart broke telling my children,” says Michelle. “They have all been so excited about this baby and looking forward to April coming around and having a new little one in our arms. That was the most difficult. The Lord is the giver of life and he can choose when that life is ready to go on and be with Him.”
Wondering what the hot toy of the season is?
When I first heard about HEXBUG Nano, I thought…hmm this is an interesting toy for kids!
But when I had a chance to review a bunch of these awesome little bugs and their habitats along with my two boys, I was so impressed.
How unique, innovative and quirky!
The HEXBUG Nano is a tiny 1.75-inch energetic micro robotic bug that uses the physics of vibration to skitter along and explore its environment on smooth surfaces. HEXBUG was designed to give children a positive experience with robotics at a young age.
The boys immediately fell in love with HEXBUG and quickly built the habitat sets and set those little bugs off to play. Rather than keep the habitats separate, the boys put all the sets together to create one large habitat. And they can be easily changed and re-built to different configurations.
My boys are older and can build and play independently, which mama loves of course! My little one who is almost five (sniff, sniff) loves to build stuff and enjoys mixing it up.
They could easily spend an hour building and watching these robotic bugs buzzing around, moving along the paths and up and down ramps.
The funniest part was when the boys sneakily threw a Hexbug down the back of my shirt!
Although the age says 3+, I would say that for younger ones, adult supervision to help with the building of the sets and making sure little ones don’t put bugs in mouths, is probably a good idea.
Seriously one of the best toys this season, HEXBUG Nano is one of the best toys for Christmas 2011!
The amazing thing about all of this is that I get to give away a HUGE package $250 worth of HEXBUG items!
What you’ll get:
HEXBUG Nano Spiral Starter Set
HEXBUG Nano Bridge Battle Habitat Set
HEXBUG Nano Elevation Habitat Set
HEXBUG Nano 5-Pack
HEXBUG Nano Glow in the Dark Habitat Set
HEXBUG Nano Glows in the Dark bugs
Carton of “Bug Food” (batteries)
Mini Screwdriver
More details on the products are here.
Mandatory Entry:
Leave a comment below telling me who you would love to give the HEXBUG Nano Prize Pack to!
Please leave a comment for each entry. All entries will be verified. The winner will be chosen by random.org and will have 24 hours to respond before another entry is drawn. Note: winner may not receive before Christmas.
Extra Entries:
Follow @amotherworld on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway once a day:
I want to #win $250 worth of HEXBUG at @amotherworld ~ you #canwin too! http://su.pr/1TzUoL #AMWContest
Follow amotherworld via Google Friend Connect (see home page footer)
Subscribe to amotherworld’s RSS
Subscribe to amotherworld’s Newsletter
Add our button to your blog (see home page footer)
Contest open to Canada only (sorry!) and closes midnight EST December 22, 2011.
Good luck!
@OKtobeWEIRD! Congratulations!!!Sitting at our local coffee shop, I overhear my friend on the phone with her husband trying to map out their travel for Christmas Day. It reminds me of when I had similar talks with my husband.
For years we ran back and forth on the holiday to see everyone from both sides of the family. We didn’t want anyone’s feeling hurt.
Then, I had enough.
I worked in retail before kids and Christmas Day was my only day off. Christmas became an obligation and not a celebration.
We changed our ways and I loved it. Feelings were miffed at first, until all sides of our family realized they didn’t have a vote.
We would visit one house Christmas Eve. For years we would alternate whose house we would go to on Christmas Day, just one house. The pressure-off made the two of us relax and enjoy the family branch we were visiting. We could actually slow down and visit. The next year we would reverse and enjoy just the same.
Since being parents, our extensive branches have moved away or passed. We remain at home most of the day, if not all.
No packing up to race into another town. No chasing after my kids to make sure they didn’t break anything.
Now we have one family member nearby and we take turns hosting. It may seem lonely, but it is not. We can let our girls enjoy the day with their new toys and remain in their pajamas all day if they wished. We would make the phone calls to those afar.
While I do miss not getting someone else to cook, I appreciate Christmas for the magic that it is. Giving thanks and being relaxed is what it is about for us.
My friend gets off the phone looking rather frazzled. I remain an ear as I hear her complaints about the madness to juggle it all.
She tells me I am lucky to not have that. I think she is right.
How do you balance family time during holidays?
Danielle Christopher is a stay-at-home mom of two daughters, ages one and three. She blogs for The Momoir Project and writes book reviews for Women’s Post. Her teen story is in the collection “Parent/Teen Stories: Without Judgement”. She lives with her husband of seventeen years and her girls in Langley, B.C.. Follow her on Twitter.
When the dust finally settles after the separation, and you think that you are quite content spending another Friday in with your two favorite guys Ben and Jerry, you discover that the cupcake-patterned flannel PJs you wore last Friday night are stained from the Cherries Garcia that comforted you through yet another depressing chick flick. It’s moments like these that make you get up, take the covers off the mirrors and decide – “tonight’s the night I shave my legs!” You don’t know where you’re going or what you’re gonna do but by golly, you are not going to do it with stubble!
For some it takes months or years to get back into the game after a divorce or the end of a long term relationship. But whenever you do, those dreaded three little words just haunt you, “on the market”!
I had raised three kids so when I heard those words, all I could think about was the nursery rhyme “to market to market to buy a fat pig, home again home again jigity jig”. Was I ready to be put out there like a prime piece of peameal bacon??
When you’re married, your partner knows your quirks, has seen the stretch marks and has heard you snore. So now you have to find that one other “special” person that is willing to accept your imperfections all while trying to give the illusion that you are indeed perfect? Who is this person and where do I find him?
What is the best way to let the guys know your “available” without wearing a sandwich board everywhere you go? Do you sign up for one of those online shark tanks, do you wonder aimlessly around the grocery store hoping that some nice single dad asks you where to find the J cloths?? The worst has to be the idea of Speed Dating, it has been so long since you’ve had a date…why do you have to rush it?
Now that you decide that it is time to date, what do you wear? The mom jeans and a hoodie only say “leftovers”. It’ time to go shopping!!!
The first stop…is the SPANX Kiosk! Is there anything worse than holding up a piece of builder’s beige spandex sausage casing in front of you in the middle of the mall? Nothing on your body is where it used to be, so now you need to create that optical illusion that your still all that of a 25 year old.
I would say that $59.95 can buy you a lot of confidence… until that dastardly thing rolls up on you while you’re sitting down to dinner. Then you have that awkward panic overwhelm you as you think to yourself, “how am I going to adjust this and not have him see my muffin top at the same time”?
You suddenly feel like a bad scene from a sitcom, hoping that if you point at something in another direction you can create a diversion as you quickly tackle your undergarments as though you’re kid with a fruit roll-up at recess.
Ahhh the painful thought of putting yourself out there, the judgment the scrutiny, the giggling… and that’s just from your own kids. I remember asking my teenage son if he could see my underwear lines, he replied “guys dig them”. Why did my daughter have to be away at university just when I needed her keen sense of fashion that wasn’t that of a 16 year old boy?
Like everything else in life, it is the process that you must endure. I’m glad that I put myself out there. I have dated the good, the bad and the ugly to find out that there is that special someone out there for me. Now I am very proud to say that I am officially “off the market.”
Stacey Farrant is the single mother of 3 teenagers, a career woman by day and a self-proclaimed DIVA whenever fighting grime, cooking dinner and running the car pool allows…. all while wearing a 6″ pair of stilettos. Follow her on Twitter.
Teenager Jonah Mowry posted this emotional and touching video, which went completely viral in a matter of a day.
Thankfully, the video ends well – Mowry, who is 14 years old, ends off by saying that it does get better and he is stronger.
Perez Hilton reports that 14-year-old Jonah Mowry is “doing very well and happy.” Hilton contacted the teen and the two communicated via Twitter DMs. Mowry tells Hilton that he is truly in a much better place. Happier and with friends that care! Plus, he is also getting some counseling.
Mowry has a Twitter account and his bio reads, “hi im jonah mowry i made the video. im 14 and gay and i used to get made fun of day in and day out and im so thankful for what is happening to me 3”
Stand up to bullying. Period. #NoMoreBullies
I feel like I would not stand alone when I say that the mass majority of television shows these days are generally stupid, slow and/or over-all boring (see also, lame). Most television isn’t out there to test you, the viewer, but rather prefers to think of their viewers as being too stupid to get what’s happening when it comes to complex plots, characters and problem solving.
These opinions are what makes Dexter one of the best television shows right now. Why Dexter is my favourite TV show? I barely watched two hours of television a week before Dexter happened. If the above facts aren’t enough for you, then let me explain why I love Dexter.
Dexter looks at what we find so dear in life and breaks it down into the pure essentials. At times the show seems to be mocking us for how simple our lives are yet how difficult we always make them to be. Dexter has a simple set of rules to follow, something that a lot of us wish we could have, and for that you start to envy him. It makes us wonder what our lives would be like if we had such a straight forward mission and concrete day to day goals. In a way, he knows himself more than most of the average population and yet he’s a serial killer.
Wait, what? A serial killer? Yes, a serial killer. And a cop, but not just any cop, a blood splatter analyst who helps bring criminals to justice. He’s a brother, a father, a friend to many and a genius amongst his colleagues. He shows us that everyone has a darkness in them but they too can find a way to use it to do good. It’s the little things that make Dexter who he is that make this show so interesting, engaging and strangely thought provoking.
Basically, when it comes down to it, Dexter forces you to question what you believe to be right and wrong. The show specifically hones in on how thin the line between good and evil is in society and morally for each individual. Dexter is a serial killer and yet you grow to like him and even to root him on as he takes down one evil doer after another. In the back of your mind you know this is not right, and the law says it’s not right, but morally our conscience battles us to tell us that what he is doing is right.
I really like watching this show for the other characters too. You can actually see each character evolving and changing through their experiences each and every season. If you go back to the first season and compare it to the newest season most of the main characters are almost completely different people because, just like in real life, six years can really change someone. Every character reacts to one another naturally and their relationships progress realistically rather than drama being thrown in just for the sake of drama. There is such an intricate web of relationships which helps make each character feel more real and their personal problems relatable to a wide audience.
If all of this wasn’t clever enough and hard to keep balanced and strong for six glorious seasons, than the fact that Dexter is a good person who wants to change, help people and at the same time find himself, makes him the unsung hero and leader to those who are lost or helpless.
Some people find the show gory and may call us Dexter fans sick and demoralized. At times in the show you have to sort of agree with them. Yet, at the same time, if we cannot test and re-think our own beliefs than how are we to grow as individuals in such a thin and malleable society and time of life? Dexter, although just a simple television show, allows each viewer an hour out of their day to ask themselves “what would you do?”
In this time of bad television, it’s hard to put your trust in a show that wont let you down, but I promise you that Dexter will quickly become your new addiction (if it wasn’t already). A show that makes you question yourself yet allows you to grow along side its characters as they face their own demons and struggle between right and wrong is why this show has stuck around. Dexter keeps growing in fandom and, in my not so humble opinion, will be around for many more seasons.
Shannon Lintott works in production at a professional theatre company in Toronto. A recent graduate of the Ryerson Performance Production BFA program, she spends her free time exploring the internet, taking photographs, reading or writing on one of her numerous and addictive websites. The majority of her time is spent watching movies and reviewing them on her movie review blog I Like (good) Movies. Follow Shannon on Twitter.
What are some of the top holiday sellers this year for boys and girls of the precious toddler age group?
Here are our top 20 Christmas gifts for little ones 2011:
Sock Monkey. The traditional sock monkey which is brown, with red lips and a cute hat.
N.E.T.S. Star Gold Winner. NeighbourhoodToyStores.ca $19.99
Chunky Alphabet Puzzle by EverEarth. NET Toy Stores. $24.95
B. Fish and Splish Boat. NeighbourhoodToyStores.ca $39.99
Breakfast Menu by PlanToys. NeighbourhoodToyStores.ca. $26.95
Dress Up Maggie Magnetic Puzzle by Melissa & Doug. NeighbourhoodToyStores.ca. $14.99
I read. A lot. I’m willing to read just about anything, but have a particular love of dramatic fiction and memoir.
I also spend a lot of time reading parenting books. But, as I’ve become more and more comfortable as a mother, and found my personal groove, I’ve moved away from the traditional style of parenting books that I was drawn to in the beginning—the ones that write about what I should do as a parent and how to do it, that are very prescriptive and focused on the needs of my children as opposed to my needs as a mother. There is only so much of that you can take before you realize that parenting is usually about about doing what just feels right.
So now I look for a different kind of “parenting book.” I look for books that empower me, that recognize my struggles and offer honest and practical solutions and inspiration.
The following is a list of five parenting and non-parenting books that I think do this very well, and I think every mother should read them. Each offers an important and unique perspective on how to approach life, including parenting, but at the same time they really address the issue of motherhood and what it means to be deep in the trenches of life, and motherhood day in and day out.
Here are my top five best books every mom should read:
When I started Raising Happiness by Christine Carter early in 2010 I was ripe for a better understanding of the issues and pressures that face children today, and how to raise happy, well-adjusted kids. In this book, Carter offers helpful guidance on how to parent while at the same time offering opportunities to discover powerful self awareness.
The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers: Reclaiming our Passion, Purpose and Sanity by Dr. Meg Meeker ispractical, helpful and meaningful. I especially appreciate how she illustrates each habit with specific examples, and the tips she offers to help make each habit stick. Not only is her advice helpful, but highly intuitive to the real stresses that mothers face today.
I’m not for or against women who get plastic surgery. It’s such a personal choice.
I do understand (first hand unfortunately) that after having kids, the female body goes through changes and will never quite be the way it once was.
There are those who embrace their new figures but many who feel they want to improve the way they look by having plastic surgery.
But imagine undergoing plastic surgery only to have regrets!
See which celebrity moms got plastic surgery and regretted it.
Photos: Twitter/Wikipedia
