Reinholt1

Then I guess we will all have to sit here and stare with you! ::Staring until bug-eyed at present::

Fold them into origami and place them on/in the tree??

As promised Here are the pictures from my very generous Secret Santa! (I won't make anyone scroll back a few pages for the original email!) Thanks again to my Secret Santa! Unfortunately, I lost the holiday socks and 1/2 the chocolates to my mother...but she is very happy!!

Every year a new holiday video is made with family pets singing a holiday classic. Always fun for the family to watch. Last year's Holiday classic was "Jolly old St. Nicholas". They are collection submissions for this year's video right now. In the mean time enjoy the videos from other years Deck the Halls Jungle Bells 12 days of Christmas

::looking at my empty envelope at the top of my screen:: Awww nuts! You didn't pick me chief elf! How come I am always the last one to get picked for the team?? I'm never gonna get picked for sleigh duty at this rate........ :;putting elf ears back on the shelf::

The Disney Movie rewards site says they will be having a holiday open house on Friday Dec. 12th where you can win bonus points for showing up. Here is the blurb from their email. Might pick up your 200 points quick that way. The holidays are upon us and we want to spread the joy with the December issue of Lights! Camera! Action! Mark your calendars: You are invited to our Holiday Open House party on Dec. 12, 11am – 7pm PT, offering Bonus Points, digital goodies and discounted rewards.

Goofy as it sounds...I spend a little over $100 on chocolate on Thursday and Friday. Walgreens has those Russell Stovers gift chocolates 12 oz for $3.99 on Friday. Thursday -- Rite Aid had the 24 oz Russell Stover boxes for $6.99 with UP rewards. They also have Almond Rocher 2/$6 (And I had several $1 manufacturers coupons too!) plus Ferrer Roche 2/$6 etc. I just jumped from store to store. I hit 6 stores on Thanksgiving morning. and I hit 13 on Black Friday...including 1 stop at a Rite Aid where I bought more Almond Rocha et al and used my coupons and UP reward dollars from Thursday. Walked out of there with $36 of chocolate with nothing out of my pocket. Sad to say...it seems to be the little stuff that is worth going after on Black Friday now. (The 1 cent after rebate paper at Staples etc.) But I have a nice chocolate token gifts for my 15 wo-workers and enough chocolate to keep my 84 year old mother happy for the next few months.... (I am hoping it will last her through Easter.) I had most of my "big shopping" done before Black Friday. (I hit that Dillard's Jan 1st sale every year.) Thanks to the heads up on this site, I did use that Staples online coupon for $50 off and scored a Galaxy Tab 4 for $99 online in the wee hours of Thanksgiving morning. (A toy for ME!) but that is $1 under $100.

Hey Chief Elf...I have time on Tuesday to shop if you need another elf helper. Count me in as part of your back up. And to my Secret Santa! Your package arrived Friday! I picked it up Saturday (because I work overnights and sleep days). Thank you so very much! I received the biggest Reese's Peanut Butter cup i ever saw!! You gave me more chocolate then my mother got! And better yet...mom hates peanut butter! Which means it is all MINE!!! and I don't have to worry about it "disappearing!" I also received a cute Yankee Candle tea light Penguin luminary, some holiday slipper socks and a noodle bowl with linder choclates. Unfortunately, mom is eyeballing the slipper socks and the lindor truffles, and I think they may "disappear' very soon. Thank you so very much! What a nice surprise! I'll post pictures in a a couple of days when I am off work.

Mom got me started making Christmas ornaments when I was 5 years old. The sequined kind, where you load the push pin and dip it in glue and place it in styrofoam. I made them every year for both sets of grandparents, my mother (of course), my godmother and my teacher. Did it every year since (And I am now 53.) Of course each year the ornaments became more complicated as I grew. I gave them to my teachers all the way through High School too. I had many teachers, who I saw years later, tell me they still had my ornament hanging on their tree. I think the handmade card(s) or ornament(s) is the way to go. It's thoughtful, it's sparkle-ly. It'll keep the kid busy for a while at home, and it is something they can be proud of when they give the gift. Simple stryofoam ornaments can be made by 5 or 6 years old (and even children with disabilities) with items from the craft store. Pick up a styrofoam ball. Pick out either a package of multicolored 10mm sequins or pick 3 colors of 10mm sequins. (Such as green, red and gold). Pick out a bead to go on top of the sequin and then start pinning them into the ball. (Put the bead on the pin, then a sequin and then dip the end of the pin in glue before inserting it into the ball.) Cover the ball. Pin a piece of ribbon on top of the styrofoam ball as a hanger when the ball is full. (Note: You can use 8mm sequins as the child gets older. 10mm is easier for those tiny fingers.) When the child is older, you can get them an ornament kit for something more challenging. Cheap but sturdy ornaments can also be made from plastic beads. Icicles, angels, candlesticks etc. Directions can be found online, or holler and I can post the directions for which ever one you want. I have had kids as young as 3 make these. And they are very proud when they are done.. And the ornaments last many years too.

Thanks to those who posted codes. I picked up 55 more points from those tonight. Kardomr...did you try doing a survery? I discovered a new one available for me tonight and it netted me 100 points. If not 23 points isn't so bad. Just a few days of the 25 days of Christmas bouns points and you'll be there! Best wishes!

I just bought a Galaxy Tab 4 at Costco yesterday for $139 with my year end rebate coupon giving me $65 off. Forget that!!! I am returning it and spending my $65 on something else! A $50 off coupon is a much better deal! Thank you so much! The white 7 in Galaxy Tab is sold out. But the black one is still in stock. And I don't care about color. Great deal! $99 plus $6 in tax. And I still have $65 to spend at Costco.

We do kind of an "organized dig in". I start sorting everything while mom and dad dig in! Then I take pictures while we all look and keep opening. paper usually gets stacked on the side of each person, but my rotten little cat, Samantha, starts diving and hiding and playing in all the paper and then jumps out suddenly to attack someone who is de-ribboning their next package. This makes my mother laugh. It startles my father and makes him jump --- which makes my mother laugh all the harder.

Ye Shepherds, Arise (German carol - Ihr Hirten, Erwach)

"tradtions" are anything that you do consistanty...as long as it is something that you do for or with your child, it will become "a tradition". I am sorry for the accident your child was in. You did not say what, if any, residual injuries she is recovering from. (Can make a difference in what we suggest. ) Driving around to look at neighborhood decorations is always a fun activity. Getting ornament making kits and making Christmas ornaments is fun and can fill an afternoon or two. (They make a great handmade gift for grandma and grandpa too. Look online on Ebay for the old style sequined ornament kits. They are sparkley and nice looking, better than so much of the cheap, quick "done in 10 minutes" ornament kits that are out there today. I started on those when I was 5 years old. The simple ones are easy enough for a child to do. (I have done them with developmental disabled adults too.) I am sure your 8 year old can handle it. Make Christmas cookies together. Pick a new, kid fun type cookie to make together. (Like stained glass cookies) Make your own yard decorations. There are some really neat ideas for this online. The simplest?? A big hunk of card board and paint. Paint a Santa, a snowman, or a Baby Jesus etc. Poke some holes in the card board and insert some Christmas lights in through the back. Plug it in and set it up. Make a plastic cup ball (here is a no solder iron version.) They are pretty, fun and easy to do. Kids love them. Hang them up outside. All of these things are things that you can do with your child. That is what makes a "tradition". Wishing you both a wonderful holiday season!

Oy! L-O-N-G weekend at that hospital! Been offline for a week now! I too got a card from Chief Elf! Thank you! Thank you! Wishing all a very blessed Christmas! May much joy and love be yours on this Holy day!

Pepper_Mint_Tea...perhaps they tucked it away to be opened on Christmas. Several people did that. I am expecting we shall all hear a few more great stories in a few more days. I suspect we will hear about your gift then too. (Cheif Elf has been keeping good track of everyone packages.) Hang in there! i know it is fun to hear and see the reactions!

My turn! (I think I may be the last one) My Secret Santa gift arrived today! Yay! Thank you! It was perfect! But not in the way you might guess! And the timing actually worked out perfectly! (I always have preached that miracles are as simple as "God placing the right people (or things) in the right place at the right time". If you have the eyes of faith (doesn't matter which faith) you will see miracles right and left. Any way..here's the story. My poor 83 year old dad, slipped and fell outside the old people's home when he and my mother were returning from a doctor appointment. Off to the hospital they went. Being the dutiful daughter and DPOA I left my hospital (work) and went to theirs. Dad was shaken up and upset and chattering a mile a minute. Of course we had to go through all the CT scans, Xrays, blood work etc. and he was placed in observation. RN took one look and him and how he was acting (he has vascular dementia from his stroke 4 years ago.) and immediately said 'You are staying the night aren't you?" Of course. Well. Poor dad was up all afternoon/evening with tests et al. AND up all night for tests and just simple checks to make sure he was still alert and could squeeze hands etc. 83 year old men do not take well to being up 24 hours straight. So by 6am Dad is becoming more and more confused and very grumpy and fussy. This soon turned into an all out dementia temper tantrum which lasted 5 hours. We could not calm him down or redirect him. He was both physically and emotionally exhausted. I finally told the nurse, "I hate to do this, but can you give him something? We need to hit his reset button somehow." So poor dad got a wee bit of happy juice and was sound asleep quickly. He was rouse-able a few hours later and we were able to finish his tests and be discharged. (Yay! Nothing broken, no bleeding.) Got him home Wednesday night and spent the night at the old people's home as Dad was still very groggy and disoriented. Fast forward to Thursday afternoon, Dad is now awake and back to his old self after 13-14 hours of sleep. I had to leave mom and dad for a few hours because I had to lead the candlelight service at my hospital. When I returned home, my secret santa package had arrived! But I did not know it was my secret santa because it did not say "secret santa". I thought it was an Ebay purchase. I fed the cats and grabbed my package and headed back to the old people's home. I found a very contrite and embarrassed Dad who was trying to apologize right and left. Mom told him how he had been behaving. (He could not remember any of it.) I reassured Dad that I was not upset, that I knew it was his dementia and that everything was OK. But he was still upset. Then I opened my secret santa gift.... it was a snowman night light (a very glittery sparkly one.) And my dad has always had a thing for night lights. (He is afraid of tripping and falling,) His face immediately lit up and he asked "Is that for me??" and he began laughing when I plugged it in. (Totally forgetting how upset he was.) Needless to say, it is now in his bedroom and his guardian angel night light was moved to his bathroom hallway. (And a plain night light was "retired".) He is SO happy (and thus I am happy) with it. Every time I have assisted him with overnight bathroom runs tonight, he points and it and chuckles as I take him back to his bed. It is an absolutely perfect gift and more importantly, it came at just the time. Thank you so very much! Now as, promised.....Mom's Secret Santa gifts from Chief Elf! Two pretty leonx bird bowls for Mom's chocolate. (As you can see, she has already enjoyed almost all of her chocolate.) Sorry, thought the picture was clearer... Mom also got a beautiful pin. Mom has sent a thank you note to Chef Elf. She really enjoyed her Secret Santa surprise! And thank you to my Secret Santa! Because you brought a big smile to dad's face when he needed it!

Count me on the list of folks with stuff to do. I am about 60% wrapped. (Spent 6 hours this morning wrapping and ribbon-ing. Those ribbons eat up most of the time!) Dragged the tree and decorations out of my basement today and took it over to my parent's apartment and got their tree put up. Chased dad out of the presents 2x. (Boy it's going to be a long 2 weeks!!) Had to keep chasing mom out of the decorations...."Mom what are you doing?!?!". Turns out that they are having a holiday decoration contest at the old people's home. And mom just decided that moment, since I brought all the decorations over, that she was not only going to decorate her doorway...but she also wanted to win that contest! Still have all the cookies to bake too. All the items... including my softened butter.... has been sitting on my counter all week.

Mom received her package today. And heck no! She was NOT waiting! She received two small lenox bowls with winter decorations and pretty birds inside. Two packages of Hersey's Bliss (one milk chocolate and one dark Chocolate. " FANTASTIC! MY FAVORITE! I LOVE IT!" ) and a pretty antique silver/pewter flower pin with iridescent blue-ish stones in the petals. ("Is that blue? It's lovely! How did Chef Elf know I like blue??") She is very, very happy! Thank you so much Chef Elf for letting her participate! It made her day! The very first thing mom did was open her chocolates....."I have to one of these NOW!" (Yeah right mom!...More like 6 or 7! Those little lenox birdie bowls will see no chocolate in them!!) About an hour after she opened her box, (while I was putting up mom and dad's Christmas tree, I caught mom going through the garbage. 5 minutes later she was still going through the garbage and now it was all over the kitchen floor! "What are you looking for mom???"......."I lost Chief Elf's address! I need it! I have to write a thank you card!". She wasn't satisfied until we had found the shipping box. ("Oh my! Did you see how much it cost to ship my presents from ________ ??" LOL If mom only knew how much it cost to ship to Chief Elf mom's favorite chocolate cheese!) Dad saw the chocolate spilled in a pile on the dining room table when we got back from dinner at their senior apartments and he dared to reach for one or two and he quickly got chewed out! "Get out of there!! That's my chocolate! You don't like dark chocolate anyways!...Here you can eat this!" And she tossed dad the kit-kat's they gave us after dinner. Trust me...dad knows better than to argue with mom over her chocolate!! Sorry, I didn't have my camera with me today so I did not get pictures. I'll try to get pictures of the birdie bowls and the pin later, but I suspect the chocolates will be long gone by then.

Must have missed that post. Thanks.

OK, Black Friday is over.....so is Cyber Monday. Those of us in the Holiday Secret Santa, Ornament and Christmas Card exchanges have or should be sending everything out by today..... So where is our annual fuss over which holiday movie beats out all the others?!?!

To Gatorpam et al....I won't worry about the wrapping...especially if you ordered something online that is perfect and had it sent as a gift. I had that dilema too...somethings aren't really wrappable. I sent one packed off with everything wrapped and the other with everything unwrapped. I suppose we could always email the Chef Elf and ask her to relay the message that a "package is coming unwrapped and to not open the box if you want to save the package for Christmas".

Mailed my SS gifts off this morning. Counting on that wonderful winter weather to keep everything snowy and cold and put everyone in the holiday spirit! (As the poor mail person says..."Neither Rain nor Sleet nor Snow!.......")

It's 50% off of EVERYTHING...including clearance.....which makes the holiday stuff 75% (50% off 50% = 75%). But if you stick to just clearance stuff, you get really great deals on good quality stuff. And you can get regular stuff at a good price, especially if if rarely goes on sale. It's their best sale day. Dillard's will do 30% off during the year. Once a year late summer/fall, they go 40% off but Jan1st. is the one day it's 50%. I already put in for Dec 31st overnight off of work so I can hit the sale. (My boss just shakes her head.) Mom's birthday was this week, she opened her $11.25 Dillard's Christmas sweaters I bought last Jan 1st. She is thrilled. And my pocket book is happy. Can't beat it!

Oh wow! Look at that! It really is a song! Thanks!