Satine, I'll be happy to share about Chanukah later today when I have time. I'll start a new thread. I like giving gifts. Getting them too, but that's the least of it, for me. I know a guy who does the guy Christmas Eve Christmas shopping because he just can't be bothered having to think of nice presents, so he goes to Walgreens and buys random stuff. A lot of As Seen On TV items. :) Some of them can be funny, and sort of the comic relief in a sea of presents, but he totally doesn't get the heartfelt part. I started buying the same thing (different colors/styles but same) for all those girls once they'd outgrown individually chosen toys and things. They're happy to have nice wrapped packages to open. I sent WrapSacks one year, cloth bags for presents, and they were disappointed not to have paper and ribbons. In the scheme of wasted packaging, a few wrapped presents aren't that big a deal and I save my eco-efforts for the poor sufferers at home. :) We always have a book and a toy for all the kids, and a book and something more grown up for the teens. At a certain point, the local kids drift into adulthood and get whatever little something the adults get. We make a big donation to the food bank or somewhere similar in honor of our family's get together, and just have a token beyond that for the adults. Last year, everyone got a Seed Gem in a little organza pouch. Pretty. Fun to open. Reusable. :) Each pretty hexagon box comes with a few seeds and a growing medium in a little plastic bag. You put the seeds in the medium, in the bag in the box, and water it as directed until you have a good start, then pull out the plastic and plant the whole thing, including the box. They have flowering plants and herbs. We do personal presents among the adults in the immediate family, and often draw names for one adult in the larger family. Nice things that we've chosen specifically to please someone. It's not about what someone can afford, but taking the time and interest to get or make them something nice. There's a price limit on the exchange, but I can always find something cool. I'm not expressing this well, on how to do it or anything, but one of my great joys is finding gifts for people that are intriguing and enriching.

I just have one more thing to get for my daughter in law and my son today and I'm done. It gets harder and harder every year to pick out gifts I know everyone will like. I don't buy what I like for them, I go out of my way to make sure what I buy they'll use. That way nobody gives me the gifts back. I've thought about drawing names for Christmas but everyone said, "NO!" so we do the whole 9 yards every year. I really don't mind but as the kids get older and they buy whatever they want throughout the year, it makes it a little hard to find something special. I understand how you feel about your first Christmas without your husband. I felt the same way the first Christmas after my son died. But I did my best not to let my feelings affect how everyone else felt. Let them pamper you. Put on that brave happy face. Your husband wouldn't want you to live out the rest of your life being sad on special holidays without him. Would he?

Thank you all Louise: She has lego galore and we are running out of room to display all the sets. She enjoys her legos very much. arcy: What I am looking at is no screens Oakley: I hear you, she loves her dolls, horses and calico critters. she also made a fairy garden which is hanging in the garden. amj: I will look into the Kano, thanks. Mtn: I am looking at these with no screen activity. I think that is why I need advice on the different models. See my link to follow. JTerr: I also will look into your suggestions, they all sound great. Here is my link, if I can get this to work for my idea on coding for her. No screen time. https://www.amazon.com/Learning-Resources-Botley-Coding-Activity/dp/B077MRB975/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1538572433&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=botley+coding+robot&psc=1

Have one. I didn't find it to be as intuitive as the hype. Kind of a pain to get it to do the things I might want it to do with an online interface. And it does listen to you and sync. ads with your other devices and Amazon's Web site. Pft. Enough is enough when it comes to advertising. On the plus side, radio reception is really lousy where I live and I can stream great public radio programs using it. There's not a person monitoring you, (I'm sure you all know that) but what would happen to Penny based on her conversation is she would get ads for dog training books and web sites and devices on your phone when using various apps with ads, Thanksgiving dessert ideas and products, and high end bedding. Computers are already monitoring everything you type and sharing that info. with each other. Hard to say how skillful or ethical the real person is who is responsible for all this data collection. That's the issue of our times, it can be easily used for nefarious reasons. Like you might get political ads suggesting a certain candidate doesn't believe in celebrating Thanksgiving, or kills puppies or some other such nonsense.