Great post! I'll keep coming back for more ideas throughout the year just as soon as the birthday season starts...in January!

I sure hope they do develop a "self-leveling" type skill. Twins have the double whammy though - not only sibling rivalary as in most families, but then his/her sibling is the same age in the same sport at the same time. I think it's gotta hurt to have one recognized and not the other. As mine said, "it's not fair." *heavy sigh*

Thanks for the comment! Yes, I've heard that as well and it makes total sense. The only problem is the timing. I have to treat each uniquely - at the same time - or I'll never hear the end of it. ;-)

Oh yea, tell me about it. And puberty is only a few years away. So much heartache yet to come. *heavy sigh* Thanks for the comment!

Thanks for the comment - it's a wonderful place! Such a creative activity for kids - and they learn a few things while they're learning to "cook."

Thanks for the comment - such a practical idea for the party. Thanks for sharing and one day, when my house is in order, a make your own pizza & sundae party sounds like fun!

Thanks for the comment and I LOVE that idea of filling the pinata with pencils or cards or something. Maybe that one-item goody bag idea will be a good transition to the no-goody-bag party someday. ;-)

Thanks for the comment and what a great idea!Yea, what would I have done without the local dollar store! Or Affordable Treasures, for that matter. LOVE the one-item idea. Will have to do that next time...assuming it's still something we do. ;-)

Thanks for the comment and I *know* what you mean. I feel that if we're going to give out goody bags, senseless plastic toys and candy are banned. They must be something useful. For this last birthday party, which happened to be all girls, we gave our diaries, pencils, pens, stickers, mini paint set & door hangar - a craft and writing tools - a party with just girls really simplifies the choices. :-)

Thanks for the comment! I LOVE this place, particularly because it's not just ceramics but mixed media - wood, clay, etc. It was our sanctuary on a rainy day when I was desperately looking for something to do with my girls. We all had so much fun, we did their birthday party there. I think that giving out goody bags will soon lose their appeal here as well...at least, I hope so. :-)

hahaha...I'm totally with you. Function over form. Comfort over glitz & glitter. The amount of time spent on my feet became inversely proportional to the height of my heels during my hi-tech days...to the point where now, zero is the norm - particularly with children. My husband never liked the look of Crocs on anyone and banned them from our girls. In retaliation, I bought my own pair of Crocs for hangin' out. But now, I must agree that comfort should not completely overrule any sense of style...so my Crocs lay unused in a dark corner of my closet.

I so empathize with you. I would have felt exactly the same way and in fact, I have...though for a different incident. I do believe though, that anything I have done thus far will not send them into therapy someday, and neither, I'm certain, have you. ;-) So, don't beat up yourself too much. :-)

D.C. is one of those cities I love being a tourist in. Looking forward to bringing our girls there someday. So much to see and learn about our own country. I could spend days in the Smithsonian, for one. Your son will truly appreciate it when he studies it in school.

Litigious CA is a real worry wrt trampolines but gosh, we did so many dangerous things when we were kids - like riding bikes w/o helmets. In Norway, it seems that every household has a trampoline...then again, it's prob'ly more like New Zealand in that "freer" sense. But who knows? We may consider it when our girls get older.

I've been living the "ignorance is bliss" way for a while now & it's worked pretty well. Hahaha But now I'm heading to that need to know phase or I should say, I better know phase. France? Let's pick a date & I'll see u there! ;-)

Tv addicts unite! ;-) loooove the csi shows, 24, supernatural, leverage, top chef, etc. I figure it might b a Filipino thing. I'm following in my parents' footsteps. Ugh.

Thanks for the comment, Ellie. I should have added that my husband has been in charge of bedtime since the girls were infants. So, bedtime is when he reads books and sings songs in Norwegian to them. It's his special time alone with them everyday (when he's not travelling). Likewise, we have amassed quite a collection of DVDs and CDs in Norwegian. Our girls are quite proud of the fact that they understand/speak another language. The greatest advantage, though, has been our trips to Norway since they were babies. They've been able to play quite easily with their cousins because they speak the language. Kids don't usually learn English until the 2nd/3rd grade. Anyway, I highly recommend that your husband speak French to your kids (someday) from day one. Whether he actually gets any French back or not isn't what's important (IMHO), it's the fact that they understand the language that's a HUGE advantage. The speaking part will come easily after that. Good luck!