I Need Ideas!

Thanks everyone for the comments on the last post. I feel a lot more confident about what I am going to say and actually, I am kind of excited about it now. Thanks!

This is totally off the running topic but I really need some ideas...to finish up my Christmas shopping. My own kids are done as is my husband and both set of parents. We don't buy for aunts, uncles, cousins etc.. We do a draw among the 25 or so extended family members and then make a game out of it on Christmas. It is really fun and a lot more economical! However, I still have three more to buy and I am TOTALLY stumped.

First, my 14 year old nephew. He is my sister-in-law's son and he is a great kid. He likes what all boys his ages likes - HELP! Who knows what he likes - he is 14??? From what his mom tells me, he mixes between little boy and grown up man every hour so his interests change by the minute. In one sentence he is excited about heading out to snowboard and in another sentence he is talking about all his cool friends (of which some are possibly female??). He wears his pants too low and his hair too long but he is a really good natured kid - even for a quasi adolescent. :) I am at a loss on this one.

Second is his sister. This is a real stumper because she is 18, wears various assortments of black and her hair is all different lengths and about 4 different colours including pink, blue, purple - really just depends on her mood (which by the way is equally as unpredictable). She is a very beautiful girl who wears WAY too much make-up and paints bizarre things on her face and hands. I couldn't not even begin to guess what her interests are. When I was 18, I wore boot cut jeans, button up polo shirts and had white blond hair halfway down my back. I am confident she would have found me appalling! She doesn't play any sports and abhors any kind of sweating. She struggles in school despite being genius level of intelligence and rallies against her parents and their rules at every opportunity. Depite all this, she adores my children and gets down and dirty whenever she plays with them! They really love her which is a wonderful statement on the fact that children don't judge in appearance. Underneath all that junk on her, she is a nice kid just looking for her path. She is also an excellent artist but my attemps to buy her art supplies in the past have been somewhat poor as I apparently know nothing about it (that is true).

Finally, my babysitter. She is a wonderful woman who watches my children three days a week. She is also my son's Cub Scout leader and she is the assistant coach on his hockey team. She takes my daughter to swimming lessons and remembers when it is "needle day" so to make sure she gets an extra surprise on those days. Usually a new package of hair pony's or a toy hockey stick (yes, my daughter would rather play with hockey sticks than babies). She and her husband both give up a lot of their time to their own kids activities as well. She is the president of the Parent and Teacher Association and quite often does little extra's for me like picking up my son from school even on days that are not hers. I know the obvious chloice is a bonus ($$) and she would probably like that best but I would like to get her something personal and more thoughtful. She really cares for my kids a lot and want them to give her something!

So there it is...I am stumped on these three things. I hope no one minds that I have hijacked my blog for this purpose but I am desperate! On the other hand, this week's long run is another 30k+ run as I countdown to Disney!