For "favors" check out any Babies R Us store or Card Party outlets. When there just ask the clerks for ideas. You'll love the book, Love You Forever. My kids had it read to them in pre-school and when I heard about it I had to have it. We've still got it. Dr. Seuss books are my favorites too, all of them! Good luck, you're on your way. You will be really appreciated Grandma!

Any other book ideas anyone? I really don't like "magic" type reads, but more moral and traditional kind of stuff.

thanks for all ideas!

[ November 27, 2005, 01:37 PM: Message edited by: Di ]

Eagle, great idea! Why not throw it yourself? I'll send a gift for a little guy in Cuba! When is your trip?

People, by Peter Spier. One of my all time favorites. Two fo our children are adopted from Korea. This is an awesoem book because it speaks about how different everyone is, and what a boring world this would be if we were all the same. The illustrations are remarkable.

For a favoe, how about some kind of Christmas tree ornament that would remind all of you of the shower for years to come?

Eagle, count me in for a gift as well.
chick

Thanks Dotsie and Chick for your gift offers. Smile recently threw me/us an awesom cyber-shower at http://www.boomerwomenspeak.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=33;t=000059;p=1
which was wonderfully thoughtful and really lifted my spirit.

As for gifts for Cuba, many thanks, but our cup...er, suitcases are already overflowing for our next trip (we leave Feb 16th for 4 weeks). We can't take any more stuff for this trip...we don't have enough room for everything we've already collected thus far...2 fishing rods, several dictionaries, 3 Spanish Bibles (a gift from my aunt), a portable CD player, snorkeling gear, lots of watches, and a huge assortment of clothes, toys, toiletries and jewellery.

We have a lot of fun hunting for deals all year round, but not so much fun trying to fit it all into our alloted weight restrictions! But we're flying with a different airline this year, and they have a more generous weight limit, so we might get most of it there. We finally realized that if we buy 4 large soft-sided hockey bags (with no wheels), we can fit a lot more stuff in and still stay within the weight limits. (And they're so cheap that we can probably leave one bag behind for someone there to use and buy a new one next year.) The big suitcases with wheels are already very close to being too heavy for the charter airlines, even before you fill them!

[ November 28, 2005, 03:27 PM: Message edited by: Eagle Heart ]

Maybe next year. Let us know.
chick

One of the best baby shower gifts I ever received was from an Aunt who had a woman there with a camera that took tons of pictures and they were presented to me when developed with a beautiful photo album to put them in. I still have it and love looking at it even today with my son (the baby expected) and his wife and his children.

Chatty, great idea.

Eagle, waht are we going to do without you for four weeks. Have you check to see if you have internet access?

Thanks Dotsie! There are public computers with Internet access at the resort we stay at, but it's expensive and very slow. Up until this year, I haven't had any reason to need Internet access while away. Now I don't know what I'm going to do without BWS for four weeks! I might have to get online once a week just to keep in touch.

Once we're in the hot sun and gazing at the ocean from those warm sandy beaches, we tend to crash headlong into long, lazy, hazy days. We lose all track of time (except when it's suppertime!) Everything else just slips into the back of our minds, not to reappear again until we're on the airplane putting our longjohns and heavy sweaters back on over our tank tops and shorts! That used to be a real problem when I was working full-time as the computer network administrator, because my brain would still be so lazy and sun-fried, it would take me a few days to reacclimatize and be able to think again!

My ex-boss hated it when I went to Cuba for vacation...partly because he couldn't phone me there or call me back from vacation (because you can't just up and leave Cuba anytime you want to) (which was a huge part of why we went there in the first place) and partly because it took me a few days to get myself back into the job.

Know that you will be missed but always in our thoughts, you are a Santa of sorts to so many who really need it and thats commendable and something to be proud of....Enjoy the sunshine and the happy faces of those you bring such joy to...