AndreaInNC

I go every year .. I always get new pillows for the entire family on turkey day. And maybe a CD or 2.

since you've already asked your friend for the receipt and she didn't have it .. maybe she/he could go to Target with you and return the item with receipt lookup.

And on the Twilight series - the movie will be coming out mid-November - so I'm sure that the merchandising will be out in full force to tie in with that. So if you don't see something now, you will in November!

Don't forget girls like shaving sets too! I always get mine a new razor and their own can of shaving cream!

I have a corn casserole recipe with yellow rice. Is that the ones you use? Will he do a pasta salad? I hate cranberry - but I have a great cranberry jello salad recipe that my kids will even eat! Why does he not like them - is it the texture or the thought of something healthy going in his mouth? lol

Depending on how many people you will have over - you might want to invest in a turkey fryer. One reason is that it only takes about 45 minutes to cook your turkey! You can keep the other warm by covering it in foil while you cook the 2nd one. Normally you plan on like 1/2 pound of turkey per person. But I don't suggest frying anything larger than a 18 pound turkey. You would need to season your turkey the night before by using an injector and spices (easily found at the grocery store or even Target) and then doing a dry rub on the outside of the bird. You'll find yourself using your fryer at other times of the year too - great for bloomin onions! The key is to be organized with a list and know what you can prepare ahead of time. I always start to put together my dishes a few days before hand and keep them in the fridge until turkey day when I pop them in the oven. I miss cooking for alot of people!

oh good googlie mooglie - what a load of crap. I have 2 words for her WEDDING PLANNER

You can also pick up the kit at Hallmark .. it comes with the Elf and a book, I think! My grandmother had the exact same Elf when I was a small child! Great memories for me.

If you're buying a gaming system, it should be something they would keep in stock year round. You really have to be careful if you plan on buying a doorbuster item on BF that they don't normally stock - or one that is stocked just for that day. That's when you have a problem if it doesn't work.

It is one of my favorite stores to visit when I go and see my sister. We don't have one by us.

more than likely they won't. My brother and his family have never acknowledged a gift from anyone in my family for the past 20 years and I am not exagerating or kidding! Now my kids have always send thank you notes when we get his gifts. Except one year we went out of town right after the holidays and didn't come back until after New Year. My gifts were sent to his family to arrive by Christmas Eve. He had the nerve to call me up to see if we got our gifts because he hadn't heard from us! I just laughed it off. But I'd be appalled if someone gave my kids something that was used - unless it was something "vintage" that they had asked for. I like the idea of giving them the gifts that she had given your kids the year before. One of my co-worker's stepson worked for Volvo. Every year he would give them a gift that had the Volvo logo on it. She knew that more than likely he was just "regifting". So that following year anytime something came into our office with another company's logo on it - she put it in her drawer. Guess what the SIL got for Christmas from them that next year? The Volvo themed gifts have since stopped!

My mom always made "Pine Bark" for the holidays - it's like toffee bars. She passed away 2 1/2 years ago. The only 2 people that have the recipe are me and my DD13. DD13 has made it now for the past 2 Christmases. My sister asked her for the recipe and she said no. lol My mom would never give the recipe out because she told her friends that if they made it all the time, her gift wouldn't be special anymore. So DD has decided to carry on her gram's tradition and keep the receipe a secret too. I also make Reese Peanut Butter cup cookies only at Christmas. Everyone looks forward to those too! We also open one gift on Christmas Eve. The kids always look forward to that.

DD13 wanted some last year for Christmas, Walgreens had it onsale for like 1.99 BF weekend. I think she played with it once.

I second the Turducken. Last year I found premade ones at Harris Teeter. No one has to be the wiser as far as I'm concerned. Or a deep fried Turkey .. easy as it only cooks for less than one hour. And you season it the day before so not much to do that day. And hubby can stand outside over the fryer.

DD17 & DD14 absolutely looooove the game Apples to Apples. They are also hooked now on Mexican train dominoes. They are great games for them to play with their friends. DD17 is 1/2 finished reading the Twilight series which a friend loaned her. I'm thinking about getting her own copy for Christmas.

I also like the Holiday Tool book .. that's clever!

omg .. I poured over the wishbook when I was a kid!

our schools banned the rolling backpacks a few years ago. I know Jansport carries a lifetime warranty on their backpacks. My kids have been using their Jansport backpacks for about 6 years now.

I think this was a pricing error. It's being offered by Macy's and when I went to Macy's website, the price is 26.99.

code worked great! Thanks! Hope DD13 likes what I got!

it really depends on what you are looking for and what they have on sale. I always shopped TRU on line on Thanksgiving day and was able to get alot of their doorbusters that way.

We made race car candy bars one year. Too much fun. We took a small size candy bar, used Life Savers for the wheels and a M&M for the steering wheel (you cut a small section out for the dashboard). They were adorable!

I add a holiday letter and also sign the card. I don't send out school pics - I can't afford to buy them anymore! I normally take a nice shot of the 3 of us (me, DD17 and DD13) and print off a bunch of those and add it to the card and letter. For those that do a letter - how long is yours? Last year, I made the font larger because my friends are all over 40 and they can't read the smaller font. It turned out to be about 5 pages long (or 3 pages front and back). My niece made a snotty comment that my letter was too long. We do a lot of stuff and wanted to bring everyone up to speed on what we've been up to. And no, my letter is not a "my kids are brilliant" letter or a "brag on my kids" letter ... lol Not that there's anything wrong with letters like those - mine is more about ME .. lol

I have a cutoff date for lists ... I am mean. My kids know that I will get them most of what they ask for (drums - NO!) if they give me enough time to save for it. Being a single parent, I have to make the most of my money. After a certain date, they are not allowed to make any changes to their lists!

there are tons of websites out there with crafty ideas for kids. I like to turn their small class pictures into ornaments!