• Cowboy boots, hat, spurs, leather vest and chaps, work gloves, lariat, whip, rifle, cavalry horn, oil lantern, guitar, harmonica, marshall badge, silver belt buckle
• Musket, powder horn, leather knife sheath, knives, coonskin cap, leather canteen, compass, flint firestarter, animal pelts, deerskin, leather wallet, leather belt, leather pouches, leather tooling kit
• Indian headdress, drum, arrowheads, bow, arrows, quiver, moccasins
• Historical documents, leather satchel, caps (Civil War, Colonial …), journal
• Winter coveralls, rubber boots, insulated hiking boots, work boots, rabbit fur gloves, rabbit fur hat, sled, Iron Will video
• Fishing pole, tackle box, lures
• Tent, sleeping bag, flashlights
• Slingshot
• Camouflage, wooden hand grenade utility box, army surplus cooking utensils, spyglass
• Ropes of all sizes and lengths, knot book
• Toolbox, tools, scrap lumber, construction books, wood burner
• Rock tumbler
• Boxing gloves, punching bag, golf set, basketball and hoop, fencing equipment, rollerblades
• Playmobils, Legos
• Binoculars, bird call, tape of bird calls, bird identification book
• Sandbox, trucks, shovels, scoops
• Sketch pad, sketching pencils, inks, paints, clay
• Tree house
• Yonie Wondernose book
• Nature’s Workshop Plus! offers fun, easy to assemble woodworking craft kits that make adorable gifts. We purchased Let’s Make a Roadster for Jedidiah. With just a small hammer, a Phillips screwdriver, and Elmer’s glue, Jedidiah put together a sharp-looking, durable hardwood car in less than thirty minutes. He loved being able to accomplish such a fine-looking project in such a short time period.
• For Josiah we purchased an Old Time Stagecoach, which he loved assembling with Dad’s help. Not only do these kits make great gifts, but they also introduce boys to woodworking, which can become a wonderful lifelong hobby. For a catalog, call 888-393-5663.
• One evening while at Steak ‘n Shake, homeschooling mom Donna Marxkors pulled the tiniest, cutest little cars and trucks out of her purse for Josiah. So for Christmas, I purchased several Micro Machine sets for Josiah and myself. Just the right size for carrying in a purse makes them an ideal pastime for keeping little hands busy.
• Another ideal carry-along wherever you go are the little plastic reptiles and amphibians available at dime stores. Jedidiah especially likes the lizards, while Josiah loves lining up his set of 5 baby turtles behind the mama turtle.
• Shape by Shape from Binary Arts (http://www.puzzles.com) is based on tangrams. Under its frame in a slide-out drawer are 60 puzzle challenges with hints to the solution on the opposite side of each card. After conquering all 60 challenges, there are still 27,268 ways to rearrange the 14 puzzle pieces. I purchased this for Jedidiah to work on while traveling in our van.
• Have you seen Parker Brothers’ adorable Winnie-the-Pooh games? Josiah and I love collecting honey pots in Winnie-the-Pooh’s Honey Pot Hunt Game (try saying that fast), and matching Pooh characters in Winnie-the-Pooh’s Memory Game.
• Jedidiah loves leather tooling and woodcarving, so we gave him a Mallard Duck Decoy Carving Kit, a Leather Tooling Knife Pouch Kit, Fancy Letter Tooling Set, and a horse stamp from Keepers of the Faith (906-663-6881). I was very pleased with their products. From Tobin’s Lab (800-522-4776), we ordered Wood Carving and Rifle Shooting Merit Badge Handbooks. They carry these handbooks on a variety of subjects.
• On Jedidiah’s twelfth birthday, he received his first real gun—a Henry .22 lever action carbine. The rifle is beautiful, lightweight, and easy to use. Even Josiah loves shooting it. It’s actually the nicest rifle I’ve ever shot myself and is a great gun for young boys and girls.
• I found the cutest decks of cards for Josiah at Wal-Mart. They are Winnie-the-Pooh; still my favorite characters after all these years. They come in a cute, keepsake tin box. Each card depicts a different scene of Pooh and friends, so there are a lot of adorable pictures. Our card games have never been quite so much fun.
• While I was finishing up the newsletter, I happened to glance up at the garland that graces the doorway into our dining room, and there among my delicate gold angels were rubber bands left from the last rubber band battle. Do your kids have rubber band guns? If not, they are really missing out on a lot of fun. Jedidiah makes his own from pieces of wood on which he attaches a clothespin for firing the rubber bands. The boys must wear goggles while in battle while they shoot at each other from behind sofas, tables, and chairs. When I see rubber bands amongst my angels, I think of how blessed I am to have boys.
• My sister-in-law gave Jedidiah a Putting Pal electric Putting Cup, and I purchased golf clubs at an estate sale for the boys. Now all the boys in the neighborhood come to play. The Putting Pal is really great for putting indoors. It saves steps because for every ball you make in the hole, it shoots it back to you. This would make a great gift for a birthday, Christmas, or “just because I love you” gift during the winter when he can’t get out to exercise.
• For Josiah’s birthday, we gave him a lovely Giant Print New American Standard Bible, which we purchased at Family Bookstore for just $29.99. It has a beautiful burgundy leather cover with gold-edged pages. In the front, it contains a lovely page for the presenter to fill in and pages for entering marriages, births, deaths, the family tree, and occasions to remember. The giant print is perfect for young readers, but also for adults, like us, whose eyesight is not what it used to be.
• The Backyard Bugs Giant Floor Puzzle (5 feet long) is a great display of numerous insects in the garden (Zany Brainy).
• Have you seen MAGZ Magnetic Construction Toy? Our kids love it! Our set contains 56 colorful pieces of 36 magnetic bars and 20 magnetic balls. With these our children have enjoyed constructing balls, Ferris wheels, houses, pyramids, people, and more (Imagination Toys).
• Josiah also loved his Matchbox Mega-Rig, which can be transformed into 20 different rescue vehicles (Imagination Toys).
• For Christmas Jedidiah received a really neat gift—a White River Classic Fly Tying Kit from the Bass Pro Shop. It came with vise, tools, hooks, materials, and an instructional video on how to tie flies. Jedidiah loves his kit and has created great looking flies in preparation for our upcoming trout fishing trip in the spring. I highly recommend this kit, not only because I think it’s a great gift, but because Jon and Jedidiah have derived so much pleasure from tying flies together.
• For Jedidiah’s thirteenth birthday, he asked for a tall (about 4½ foot) tool chest on wheels, an open-end combination wrench set, and a ratchet/socket set. The extended family knows how he loves tools, so they gave him money towards these. Jon and Jedidiah had so much fun selecting these gifts and using them that it’s been a gift to me just watching their enthusiasm and enjoyment.
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