Thank you all for your replies. I would rather have waited till tomorrow and see what else y'all might think of, but Bob wanted to get on with the program and not wait until the last minute. You know the routine ... So I stopped in at Big Lots first since it is closest to my house and they had some very nice wood and iron benches, sturdy, and with a nice design on the back for $50. It looks like it's worth much more than that. Bob is putting it together now. So that's going to be it ... Thanks again for the good suggestions.

"One rule of thumb is never try to decorate someone else's home. Chances are you won't get it right. Lamps, pictures, indoor plants, ugly cookie jars are out." And speaking of ugly cookie jars, make sure you remember that your idea of a truly adorable cookie jar may well make your recipient want to ralph. (The THS chicken fetish comes to mind... LOL Teasing!) It all boils down to one thing: Know thine recipient! Best housewarming gifts I've gotten were gift cards to the closest hardware store, because there's invariably the "oh drat I need picture hangers/batteries for the smoke detectors/light bulbs/extra keys cut!" When the giver's cash was short, help with the manual-labor part of unpacking and getting settled in has always been MOST appreciated. bumblebeez, if you're sick of gift cards you can send 'em right on over to me anytime. ;-)

Is she moving to the Eastside (you mentioned Bellvue)? Molbak's is a large Nursery in Woodinville, a town near Bellvue. A GC to there might be nice to get her out and about visiting different areas. Another idea mught be a GC for a Citypass (http://www.citypass.com/city/seattle/next.html?id=jKNb67cS). Its a nice way to get her to see some of the areas attractions that people living here don't always take the time to go to. Also, there is a "Made in Washington" store that has a number of locations. http://www.madeinwashington.com/ This is a nice shop in Pikes market: http://www.delaurenti.com/giftcards/index.html We moved here from NJ 3 years ago and LOVE it here. This area has tons to love. An hour to great skiing, great mountin views on clear days (Cascades, Olympics, Mt Rainer...), tons of water activities, a beautiful city...... And gardening year round!! Good luck in what you pick! Cathie Here is a link that might be useful: Molbaks

I don't know if I sold out of not, but I let DS go to the Rainforest Cafe yesterday. I went with, to see for myself. If I couldn't have gone, I would not have let him go. Four classes of 4th graders went - 80 nine-year olds! Oh my! It would have been better with just one class, it was hard to hear the "docent." But she was good, the tour was informative. Just very short, I think they did well, but could have done better. Talked about the elephants and the gorillas (they have animated animals), poaching and other threats, conservation... but didn't talk at all about the many aquariums. Then the kids descended on the gift shop - and materialism is what is came down to at the end. :o( And the restaurant was opening for regular lunch business as we were wrapping up. DS was mad at me because I wouldn't give him money to buy some junk. But he was over it by the time he got home, hehe. On the up side, I enjoyed the day with my son. With him being the oldest, and two of the four still at home with me all day, I don't get to do his school stuff much. It takes a lot of effort and coordination for me to get to the school. I had a very generous friend watch the little ones for 5 hours! She's so good to me. I really appreciated the chance to see him with his friends and to eat lunch with him. And, when they fed the kids lunch, they served the adults the same thing at no charge. So I went expecting to have to pay big $$ for my meal, and it ended up free (even if it was pizza, chicken nuggets and fries). I give the day a solid 'B.' However, on the movie for the K-er, he's not going. I sent the note to the teacher Monday saying "it is our opinion that a class trip to a popular movie is an inappropriate use of school time and resources. We would prefer to have field trips that are educational and interactive." Signed both DH and my names. I will keep DS home in the morning, and take him in when they return for the activities. I will also stay and help out. (Thankful that I have a couple friends to swap kids for these kinds of things.) I want to send a similar note to the principal as well. Just so they know at least some parents are watching. And that is the scoop. Oh, and I think I'll take all the kids to Rainforest for lunch while they are on winter break. It really was cute.