<p>I hope you have a Mac. I don’t think they make this particular program for Windows. It looks like a lot of fun. Have a wonderful holiday!</p>
<p>how about an itty bitty booklight? Allows him to read anywhere with a light that clips onto the book…</p>
<p>Yes, we have Macs! And thanks; you, too, all of you – happy holidays!!</p>
<p>And please, stop the temptations!!! 
I’ve already ordered Blokus (quantity, 2; will give one to another family) and Settlers of Catan, and sent H (S’s stepdad) the link to Comic Life, since H’s monitor is with Apple at the moment being repaired and he’ll have to pick it up next week so will be in an Apple store. Very convenient!</p>
<p>You can get a Windows version of Comic Life as well - D and her friends are working on a senior year project using this that is simply hilarious!</p>
<p>[plasq.com</a> - Comic Life for Windows](<a href=“http://plasq.com/comiclife-win]plasq.com”>http://plasq.com/comiclife-win)</p>
<p>Set is another great (card) game. It’s “a family game of visual perception”. I’ve been playing it with my kids since they were wee bairns, and I’ve never had to hold back. They are now wiping the floor with me as my brain slows down and theirs speeds up. A nice cheap stocking stuffer. [SET®</a> Card Game](<a href=“http://www.setgame.com/set/]SET®”>http://www.setgame.com/set/)</p>
<p>Settlers of Catan is $20 at amazon. I’ve wanted a copy for a long time, balked a little at the sticker price, saw that deal, realized that one of my siblings would probably really like it as a birthday present, and got two for the price of one :)</p>
<p>We love Blokus. The great thing is it has simple directions. It can be played and enjoyed by all ages. At Thanksgiving we had a 9 yr old playing along with a 78 yr old. The parent of the 9 yr old was adding it to her shopping list for her kids.
I also have had a problem with finding gifts for my 19 yr old. He is getting boxers which he needs, a few books and a flannel shirt. I think his big gift will be a credit from us to use when we are eligible for new cell phones in Feb. He presently is using the cheapest and simplest old Motorola phone that does not have bluetooth. When asked what he would like he could come up with nothing. I don’t do gift cards for this particular kid because he rarely uses them, the exception is Chipoltle.</p>
<p>Settlers of Catan is a great game, but it requires three players. Ticket to Ride is a very good board game that can be played with two or more people. Having both is nice :-).</p>
<p>My 15-year-old is getting some graphic novels because he has been enjoying this genre a lot in the last year or two. In case anyone else is still looking for ideas - consider the Watchmen, Sandman, Dark Knight, Ronin. He’s also getting some classic martial arts movies this year - young Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Sammo Hung. My kid is a purist and likes the versions that have subtitles rather than dubbing, which you can find on Amazon.</p>
<p>He got a skateboard for his 15th birthday and likes it. I thought it would work best if he could go to the skateboard shop and choose his own deck and other parts, since I figured I would have a hard time knowing what he would like best. We did that a week ahead and then wrapped it up.</p>
<p>Book lights: we have a LightWedge and LOVE it. Instead of being clipped onto a book, the wedge is laid directly onto the page. There’s no stray light, so it’s great if you’re in a situation where you want to read in the dark but not disturb others.</p>
<p>Oh, when I saw that the most recent post was from SlithyTove, I had to hide my wallet before opening the thread again; SlithyTove is responsible for quite a number of the books S is getting. (Thanks from me! My budget wants to have a few words with you, however. 
)</p>
<p>Thank goodness we already have SET and booklights!!</p>
<p>:: not looking at a LightWedge, not looking at a LightWedge, no no no, not looking ::</p>
<p>:: trying hard to resist temptation ::</p>
<p>The movie of *Watchmen *is coming out - someone is getting the book for Christmas this year.</p>
<p>LOL owlice. I make you spend money, I make you eat sinfully evil cookies, what mischief can I cause next? ;)</p>
<p>mom60, I love Blokus! It is one of the few games I have a fighting chance at. It is a really fun game. Owlice, I think as children get older it’s harder to find things for them. Nothing real exciting at our house for gifts either- although I did buy my husband a new 3-in-1 North Face that I am just praying he will like. Son is receiving payment of a speeding ticket for one of his gifts- don’t ask.</p>
<p>One present for each kid…a $300 GPS we got for $149 for DS and a plane ticket for DD to a family wedding. Other than that, it will be things like gift cards to the grocery stores where they go to college, and a full stocking of candy and fruit.</p>
<p>Since they will both be here for a week, we’ll probably take each out for dinner and to do something special…but we would do that anyway. This year…it’s part of their holiday gift.</p>
<p>When my kids were a hard-to-buy-for 16/17, I bought leather passport covers and included a note that we’d apply for their passports soon after the holidays. Both kids loved this… it made them feel they were ready for life adventures. We had traveled a lot in the US, Canada, and Mexico (before passports were a requirement) but hadn’t taken them overseas.</p>
<p>Passport application fess are a bit pricey, but we knew we would be paying for this for them at some point, making this a pretty inexpensive present They are a freshman and sophomore in college now, and both have stamps from countries I am still only dreaming about!</p>
<p>Hangs head 
Ss have gotten books and clothes for Xmas these many years (and so has mom!) Other presents for S have included Rubik’s cubes (the more difficult ones). Now that he is earning his own money, it’s become even more difficult to buy Xmas presents!</p>
<p>SliveyTove, I guess we’ll see, won’t we? :)</p>
<p>sabaray, that’s what I need for Christmas… my speeding tickets paid! (Yes, plural…)</p>
<p>marite, no need to hang head! Except for last year, when S got just about everything except books from me (don’t know what happened!), he’s always gotten books and clothes, too. It’s just that I’ve had other things for him in previous years, things that were more “fun.” I think he’ll really like having a lot of new books to read (and I won’t have to listen to him complain for a bit about how there’s “nothing to read” in the house; yeah, right!), and the clothes… well, he needs them and knows it.</p>
<p>That’s where I am with S4. But he doesn’t have books he wants and he has clothes up the whazooie because he is the smallest in my family and among friends whose moms give me their clothes. He isn’t even interested in clothes.</p>
<p>[Banjoko</a> Wildlife Preserve](<a href=“http://www.banjoko.org%5DBanjoko”>http://www.banjoko.org)</p>
<p>My girlfriend got her three boys a month long animal sponsorship for snakes and lizards (exotic birds & giraffes available too) and my friend is very excited to see her boys see the 8x10 photos.</p>
<p>I always like to get one “big” thing per kid. Each of the others have that with their messenger bag full of stuff. I then have books, games, fun things that I pick up on sale over the year, and clothes too. The older ones each have a messenger bag, toiletries bucket, apartment box as their big gifts. My little guy has his computer game that he has been wanting since it came out. It’ll be his first and is an exception to the no computer games rule I have. Getting soft in my old age. But he has so wanted this game. He also has a lego set and some fun little things. But his brothers tend to go over board for him so I don’t. They are conservative with each other, but they spoil the baby, always have.</p>