I can't believe Andy is old enough to be in college.

The first time you saw an ad for Toy Story 3, I'm guessing many of you said the same thing I did.  "Andy's old enough to go to college?!!!"  I did the math - he IS that old, and now a whole new generation of kids will fall in love with Buzz, Woody and gang - and the marketing that goes along with them.

On Saturday, my daughter is going to a birthday party for a boy who is turning 5.  This gave me an opportunity to do two things I really enjoy...  1. Coordinating a gift.  2. Shopping for a good deal.

I am ALL about making sure things coordinate well together, and paying attention to the small details.  Even if it's something as routine as putting a gift together for a child's birthday.  I do everything I can to make sure each piece goes together - gift, wrapping, bow and card.  I love doing that, with the child in mind, thinking about how much they will enjoy seeing their favorite character or theme selected just for them.

Here is what the birthday boy will be getting on Saturday.  I hope he will have a lot of fun with his Toy Story Alien Fishing Game, and Parachuting Army Men.  The wrapping paper matches perfectly and has the whole gang on it.  I did run into a bit of a situation with the card...  The store I was shopping in did not have a single Toy Story card!  I had the store manager looking for one, and when she said they didn't have one, I said, "That's OK, I'll just make one." (Which I would have - to avoid going to another store and to make sure the card matched.) However, the manager was able to find the Toy Story bow/gift tag, so I'm all set!

Here's where the good deal comes in...
My daughter is also a huge Toy Story fan, and Buzz and Woody sit, proudly, on her bedroom dresser.  Lately she has been talking a lot about Jessie, so I've been thinking about getting her a Jessie doll to add to her collection. (Woody will probably appreciate that too.)

The store I was in is having a promotion where if you buy a certain dollar amount in Toy Story merchandise, you get a free ticket to the new movie.  The Jessie doll was on sale and added to my gift purchase brought me to just one dollar over the amount I needed for the free ticket.

So - the NEXT thing to coordinate is a special "Toy Story Day" for my little princess.  A special day, with just me and her daddy.  I'll dress her up in a Jessie t-shirt and cowgirl hat (If anyone sees them on sale anywhere, let me know).  We'll take her out for pizza (I have to find somewhere in town I can convince her is "Pizza Planet"), give her the Jessie doll and then take her to see the new movie.  If anyone has any suggestions of other things to do with the theme - please tell me!

I really hope the time between now and when my daughter leaves for college goes a LOT slower than what it has for Andy!