stacyk9

Very neat. Thanks for posting!

I would say go ahead and do it. My DS was two last year and he was so excited to see all the gifts under the tree waiting for him on Christmas morning. Even though I don't think he got the whole idea of Christmas, it was still exciting for him. Also, I decorated most of the house while he was taking a nap one afternoon, and when he woke up he was in shock. He stopped in his tracks and his eyes got real wide and he said, "this looks pretty, Mom".

I was talking with my hair dresser last night and they are also doing a late Thanksgiving and she is doing a "picnic" theme. Fried chicken, baked beans, potato salad, etc. She's also doing a ham on the side. And the good thing is, all of that can be bought, pre-made!

Every year we take a picture in front of our Christmas trees. It's nice to see how we have changed over the years.

I work in a small department at a university, but all the faculty members get together and pitch in their own money to get myself and the other admin. a Christmas bonus. It's never more than $60 bucks or so, but it's so thoughtful that they give their own money to make sure we get a little extra!

This will be the first year to leave something for Santa since our DS was too young to do it before. We will probably leave him cookies and milk and some carrots for the reindeer.

I have got two blow-ups out, but that's it. Hopefully DH can get the lights up this weekend. I will start decorating the inside this weekend, too!

Thanks! Bookmarked it. I see Mr. St. Nick is going to be on again this year. I love that movie. I have it saved on my DVR and watched it just the other day.

I'm definitely a Cool Whip kinda gal. I can eat it right out of the container!! But if I have the time, I make it from scratch. That is definitely the best.

On Christmas Eve, we go to my parents' house (1 1/2 hrs. away) and both sides of the family get together. It is such a great time! Mom cooks the main course and everyone else brings along a dish. We all just gather to talk and catch up with each other. We drive home that evening so we can open presents Christmas morning at our house. After all the presents have been opened, we eat a nice breakfast which will be a Denver Omelete Casserole this year and pop in a Christmas movie while we open all of DS's gifts so he can play with them. Afterwards, we pile back in the car to drive to DH's sister's house (2 hrs. away). Some years his parents come into town and some years they don't. We spend a couple hours there opening presents and eating lunch, then it's back to my parents' house to eat dinner and open presents there with just the immediate family, i.e. mom, dad, grandma, brother's family and us. Once everything is opened we try to jam everything into our car for the drive back home. It is a very busy couple of days for us! Thankfully, everyone lives in the same direction or there's no way we could do all of it. Despite all of the traveling and the inevitable fight we have every year because we're just so darn tired, it's still the best time of the year!!! Stacy

This site is great for keeping up with the holiday tv schedule. Shows and movies are added almost daily. Please note that all times are Eastern Standard. http://holidaypages4u.tripod.com/christmas_movies_tv.htm

I like that idea. Sneaky yet tactful!!

I usually get travel-sized items that my DH can keep at his office with some other things like: Lotion Toothpaste Toothbrush Tide Stain Wipes Lint Roller Hand Sanitizer Socks DVD Lottery Tickets Candy

I think all Brad was trying to say, and Brad can correct me if I'm wrong, that he's expecting ads to start coming in very quickly now and will probably get crazy, especially for him, in trying to expeditiously get them onto the site.

I think lights and garland would be very pretty! My Mom does her fence like that and it lights up the yard in the evening. Very pretty!

Thanks! That train set looks really cute. I think my DS3 would like to have that under the tree, although I'd like to see the actual size in person because in the picture it looks like it's a small track. Not sure it would fit around a big tree.

1. No 2. Mexico 3. John Payne 4. O Come, O Come Emmanuel 5. A Christmas Story

We have three different mail carriers and I've never met any of them, so no gifts here.

Decorate this virtual tree! It'll get you in the mood to put your own tree up!! http://www.growley.com/cmas/

THANKS! I will add these shows to my calendar!!

We've never really discussed a spending limit, but we spend around $100.00 on each other.

I'm getting ready to head out to Wal-Mart in a few minutes. I hope that Christmas tree will be waiting for me!! Added: Nope. No Christmas out in the main store area yet. It's all still back in the garden center.

We do buffet-style. Keeps alot of extra stuff off the table while we're trying to eat.

I did mark one thing from the ad. They have the B1G1 deal on the 4' outdoor potted pre-lit trees. It's a better deal than the one in the Ace Hardware ad.

My Mom used to always have a real tree and when I got married we had a real tree for our first Christmas together, but the real trees always make my allergies (mold) go crazy, so it's the fake one for me. Although, with the fake one, my allergies still kick into high gear unless I air it out on the front porch for a few days before setting it up inside.