Good morning, sunshine! I started Christmas shopping this week for my four boys. A big thing on my list is MP3 players.

First, a quick back story for you. My oldest two sons have iPods that we picked up as “refurbished,” basically they were as is with no warranty. I won’t make that mistake ever again. They are both pretty much dead in the water and if I send them back to Apple to get fixed they’ll charge me the cost of a new iPod, so what’s the point in repair, right?

It left me with a bit of a predicament. They really enjoyed having them while they lasted, but they were more hassle than they were worth. My husband’s iPod, which I bought straight from Apple brand new doesn’t have any problems, but these refurbished 2nd generation models just don’t cut it. They freeze, they erase themselves, and one of them refuses to be turned off, it’s just on 24 hours a day, so of course needs charged constantly.

So, my shopping spree to replace these lovely little things began. I figured I would pick up iPod shuffles to replace them. Then my 10 year old said magical words to me, “Mom, I don’t care if it’s an iPod or not, I just want music.” Dang, I love that kid.

His biggest complaint about his iPod, other than freezing screen, was that it didn’t have an FM radio to listen to. I thought about getting him just a small am/fm radio that he could stick in his backpack and listen to, but that just wouldn’t be as much fun if he couldn’t add his own music to it as well. After all, I’ve grown pretty fond of him cleaning his room and singing Kidz Bop songs on the weekends.

The Active Range Sport MP3 Player from Phillips solves a lot of that problem for me. And it comes in orange, which just happens to be Luke’s favorite color on the planet. It’s only 1GB, which is still a lot of songs. Who needs 8GB anyway? I’ll admit here that I’d like to see it be at least 2GB, because the boys do like to put audio books on their players, and the Harry Potter books are pretty big files. I don’t think those would fit onto 1GB. But, in defense of the player it does have a mini SD card slot for memory expansion, which is quite helpful.

I found the shape of this player quite intriguing, it’s round unlike the usual MP3 players that are square, rectangular, and pretty much any shape except for round. It also has a built in stop watch for those early morning runs, making it a little more sport than usual as well. So far there are some interesting features on this little wonder.

My favorite feature is still the FM tuner that’s built into the player. Digital files and a radio all in one little round piece of orange technology. However, with all this great stuff happening I found it odd that it runs on 1 AAA battery. I don’t know if that’s because of the FM tuner being part of it, or if there’s some other reason for it. I’m not sure how that all works inside, but it definitely has my attention.

Pharos made this GPS system both easy to use and helped ensure that your boyfriend won’t snag it and toss it in his own car for the weekend. It’s nice to see gadget makers realize that girls use just as much, if not more technology than guys in our daily lives. Not everything has to be boring black and white all the time. It doesn’t hurt to add a splash of color to your latest technology fueled creation.

I used a bigger picture than usual for this GPS system, because I wanted you to see one of the menu screens and how easy to use the product really is. Voice prompts and turn-by-turn audio directions that include name of the street or highway make getting there a breeze, (even if you’re like me with no sense of direction.) The large 3.5″ color touch screen LCD clearly displays the preloaded U.S. street level maps and navigation routing so you can see and hear where you’re going.

Buying gifts for Father’s Day can be tough, and if you’re like me and forgot until just now then you might be wondering what to look for when you go rushing about shopping like a mad woman.

I came across these Nascar Laptop skins and thought they were just perfect for my husband for Dad’s big day! You can tell by my choice that hub’s is a Kurt Busch fan, and the little men in the household follow suit so everyone agreed that this would be a great gift for dad this year. Whew, crisis averted.

There are other drivers and cool Nascar gadget gear to be had too. The sport has really come along in the past few years and the marketing department has their thinking caps on for sure.

Whatever you get dad this year, have a great Father’s Day weekend.

Homedics makes some of my favorite gizmos and gadgets. The SelectSPA Complete Therapy System for Hands & Feet is just another wonderful solution from Homedics to add to that favorite list. A Manicure & Pedicure System and Paraffin Bath are included to provide all the tools needed for a complete manicure and pedicure. Buying all these tools separately at a spa could cost you a small fortune. Homedics makes them affordable for everyday use to keep your hands and feet looking great all summer.

Using the parrafin bath will not only get your skin smoother than ever, it also soothes your overworked muscles, and improves your circulation. It might take a little while to melt the wax, but it’s worth the wait. Your friends are going to think you’ve been spending your weekends at the nail salon, when you’ve got this little secret at home.

Laptops are becoming more and more the norm for people to have. Being able to take your computer with you does have it’s benefits. But, who wants to carry that boring standard black bag that often comes along with a “package” deal. I know I sure don’t. There are truly a lot of different laptop bag styles out there. I was honestly surprised how many when I started looking for one.

Messenger style laptop bags seem to be very popular right now, and there are a lot of those to choose from. (Gift buying tip: If mom carries a laptop to and from work these might make for a nice Mother’s Day gift too!) Messenger style bags generally feature a long shoulder strap to throw over your shoulder and go, like a bike messenger would of course. They range in style from sporty, to leather, to canvas. There’s a messenger style bag out there with your name on it somewhere. This one is my favorite at the moment.

Some laptop bags don’t even look like laptop bags! This striped canvas bag from Mango Tango is very purse like in style and has fun, bold use of color on it. It includes an outside pocket for tickets, passport holders and paperwork, a zippered inside pocket, as well as a cell phone, pen and business card holder. So carrying this lovely bag you might not even need an additional purse, everything fits!

I’m not the flowers and candy of gal, obviously. So, here I am hoping to bring you some insight on what to get for other mom’s like me. I’d rather have a gizmo or gadget than a flower any day of the week. My most recent favorite gift from my husband and boys? My camera.

Now, I know a camera sounds like a boring Mother’s day gift at first. But, hear me out on this. With a great camera Mom can take beautiful pictures of the kids instead of spending a fortune at a photo studio in the local shopping mall. I don’t think I’ve ever met a mom who didn’t like to save money in some way, and that’s definitely a saver. For the cost of just one or two trips to those photo places you can buy a really great camera.

I can’t really recommend anything to specific camera wise, I’m a photography newbie myself. It depends on what you’re looking for. My camera is the Canon S5, and I do love it. I think the S5 is as close to the line as you can get without crossing it from a point and shoot camera to a digital SLR camera. It’s loaded up with features, but it’s still a point a shoot. 8 megapixels of beauty! Okay, I will fess up, I don’t know what half the features even do yet, but I’m enjoying learning.

Of course you don’t have to go quite that far. The Canon Powershot SD750 is a popular camera choice this year. It is a lot smaller, so you can put it in your pocket or purse. The pictures are still awesome, and the price tag is a little smaller too. And it’s one of those cameras that comes in pretty colors like pink and blue.

No matter what you buy your mom for mother’s day, give it with love and it will be a great gift!