chilimak

I only went to wal mart BF morning, but went to the mall and TRU that afternoon/evening. Everything went great. Got what I wanted at wal mart, the portable DVD player and accessory kit, and the digital picture frames. Also got cheap games for the kids and cheap dvd's. At TRU, I returned 2 items for a $57. store credit. With all the coupons/certificates I had, I got $116. worth of stuff for only $33. in real money. Not bad I thought. I also am almost done shopping for my kids. I only need a couple more things and I will be done. I am happy. Today I went to wal mart for more wrapping paper, bows, and gift boxes, so now I am all ready to start wrapping. I can't wait. I love wrapping gifts. Elena

I would say it would be worth it to go out shopping today. Our paper had sale ads for JC Penney and some other stores for today and tomorrow. I agree, if you hit the right wal mart, you can find some BF deals at BF prices a few days after BF if you are lucky. We went out shopping BF afternoon and evening at the mall and TRU and neither was that busy. It was nice. Lots of sales still going on too. Go for it. Elena

I love snow, especially in Nov. and Dec. We just got our first snow of the season today. They are calling for up to 6-8" total by tomorrow, but it hasn't snowed here much tonight so I am disappointed we aren't getting as much as they said. But then, its another 6 hours till I get up in the morning, so it still might snow overnight. I'm hoping it does. Elena

We usually get close to a 20 lb. turkey every year for 9 of us. We love the leftovers, lol. Elena

One year a family friend gave my family a waffle maker, pancake mix, and syrup and it was a big hit. Another friend gave my bil's family an ice cream maker ball and some stuff to go with it. I guess it is a plastic ball (reminds me of the kind you put a hamster in), you add the ice cream ingredients, throw the ball around awhile, and then you have homemade ice cream. Made a fun family gift imo. I always love the idea of theme gift baskets. There is so much you can do with them if you are creative and use your imagination. Have fun. Elena

Wow, I do admire those of you who are finished shopping and even wrapping already. I have just barely started shopping and just bought some wrapping paper at Hallmark today. We got our first snowfall of the year today and its looking very Christmasy outside now. I am in a shopping mood, but won't have money to shop till Friday. So, I bought some wrapping paper with good intentions, lol. I have to admit, I don't usually start wrapping until we have the tree up. There's just something about sitting on the living room floor near the tree, surrounded by gifts to wrap, wrapping paper, and Christmas music on the stereo. Really gets me in the mood for wrapping. I do plan on getting the stocking stuffers out of the way this weekend though. Every year I wait till the last minute to buy them and am never really thrilled with what I end up buying. This year, I am putting more thought into them and plan on getting most of the stuff this weekend, as well as the traditional pajamas and ornaments I give my kids on Christmas eve every year. Again, I want to get them early for better selection. That, and I won't have a whole lot of money to work with, only about $100. But, that should cover the pjs, ornaments and stocking stuffers, maybe even a gift or two if I'm lucky. Elena

Dh puts in a week straight of work, and all the overtime takes care of Christmas. We also have 3 December birthdays in our family, so that gets taken care of w/ overtime too. Also, I sell stuff on ebay and use the money from that towards Chrstmas too. We usually budget about $100. per person in our family, but I admit, we spend more than that when I factor in the stuff I buy with my money too. More like $150. per person. Elena

I sort of hide stuff in plain sight. I hide stuff in totes in the basement. We have a huge shelf down their filled w/totes and boxes, and the kids have no clue that their Christmas gifts are in among the other totes on the shelves there. hee hee. Elena

Snowmen and polar bears. Even my kids know I love these things, lol. When they see them, they say I would like them. Do they know me or what? Elena

I love reading Christmas books this time of year too. But I like non fiction. I like to read books about the history of Christmas traditions and Christmas carol origins, stuff like that. I know, I'm weird. I also like some craft type books w/ great pictures just to look at the pictures. I'm not very crafty. Elena

Well, we always go out last minute Christmas shopping on Christmas eve day. Yes, we are a gluton for punishment, lol. Don't ask why, its just become a tradition. Christmas eve, we have an simple, quick dinner of sandwiches and salad or something. We open a few gifts, usually their gift from grandma, pajamas from us, and their annual ornament. They put the ornaments on the tree and wear their new pj's to bed. We read The Night Before Christmas, put the reindeer food out in the yard, and hang the stockings. I love it. I don't know what I will do when my little ones are too old to do the reindeer food and stocking thing, lol. Considering my youngest is only 5 and my 8 yr. old is a strong believer in Santa, I think we have a few more years yet. After the kids are in bed, I sit on the family room floor wrapping last minute presents and putting ribbons and bows on the ones already wrapped while watching A Christmas Story movie on tv. Then, I haul all the goodies out and put them around the tree. Gosh, I'm not looking forward to the kids growing up and wanting video games and other small gifts. Just not as much fun to place around the tree as those nice big boxes containing Geo Trax, Cabbage Patch kids, and race tracks. sigh. Elena

Wow, I commend all of you who are done or nearly done. I just barely started. I have a few things bought, but not much. I will be doing a lot of shopping the week of Thanksgiving. Dh is doing overtime all next week so we will have a big paycheck over Thanksgiving to work with. I know what I will be getting everyone, I just have to actually buy it, lol. Elena

Does he have any favorite shows or characters? My 5 yr. old love Go Diego Go and anything Cars, as in the Disney movie Cars. Anything related to those are hits with him. He has a Shake and Go racetrack too and loves it. So do my 8 and 10 yr. olds, lol. I plan on getting him more cars for his track this year. They also have a new Shake and Go track that the cars can crash on. Looks cool. I agree with the person who said take him to a toy store and see what he likes and doesn't like. We just did this with my kids last weekend. It helps a lot. Do you have the Toys R Us big book? My kids alway find stuff in there that they want and make their wish list from it. Hope this helps. Elena

Well, my dh is sacrificing shoulder surgery, lol. He will probably need shoulder surgery soon, but he is going out of town from Nov. 14-19, then its Thanksgiving, then BF shopping and the holiday weekend. So, he is not having his surgery til the week after Thanksgiving. I sacrifice sleep. Last year we went to our nearby outlet mall which opened at midnight. Shopped there, then made it to wal mart in time for their sale. I think I got an hour or 2 of sleep before I got up with the kids and was up for the day. It was worth it though. I had a lot of fun and got some great bargains. Elena

You can probably just call stores and ask if they price match. Anymore, I think just about all stores price match. They don't price match % off sales, but most stores will price match actual sale prices in a sale flyer. This goes for all year round too, not just at Christmas. Hope this helps. I agree, sometimes it is fun to just relax and enjoy the craziness of the experience. Its not the end of the world if you don't get what you want for the absolute lowest price. Most of the popular items will be on sale again for a little bit more. Have fun. Elena

This tells you just how weird I am. It isn't the holiday season until I hear The Hannaka Song by Adam Sandler. That song is still sooooo funny!!! Love it. Elena

Like a pp, my holiday mishap involves New Years Eve. One year, dh and I were spending New Year's eve with another couple. We met at their house and planned on going out for dinner, then returning to their house to drink and celebrate New Year's eve. As we were leaving to go to dinner, I fell on the bottom step and sprained my ankle badly. I hadn't even had 1 drink yet, lol. So, off we go to the ER. Of course we were there for hours and we were all starving by the time we were done there, so we went out to dinner hours later. We rang in New Year's in Perkins restaurant while eating dinner. To top it off, my family was coming over to our house New Years Day to celebrate Christmas and exchange gifts, so dh had to do a lot more of the preparations for that then he normally would have. Elena

I'm the same way. I have a notebook where I write down what I plan on getting everyone and check it off when I have bought it. Of course, I revise that list all the time, lol. Especially the kids. Of course, if I happen upon a great gift for someone at a great price, I get that too. Dh is more of an impulse shopper than I am, lol. Last year on bf we went to wal mart. I had about only 4 items I was after, dh was the one filling up the cart, lol. And he complains that I shop too much, lol. He is worse than me sometimes. Elena

On Christmas eve the kids open a few presnts, but there is tradition involved. Every year the Christmas eve presents opened are pj's from us (to wear to bed that night of course), their annual ornament from me (gets hung on the tree immediately), a present from Grandma who is 1200 miles away, and 1 toy from us. Grandma usually sends us a family dvd and a gift card to wal mart. We usually use it to buy each of the kids a board game and wrap them from grandma. This year however I think I will buy 1 game they can all play from grandma and a small gift each from grandma. The kids are all old enough now to play most games together. Nathaniel is only 5, but he loves to play Life and Monopoly with us. We just read for him and tell him how much money to give people. He does pretty well. Then, Christmas morning we make the kids wait till 8:00 am to wake us up. Mean, I know, lol. They get their stockings first, then we start with the pile under the tree. However, we don't just tear into the stuff. We open gifts 1 at a time and actually watch each person open every present. We go around from youngest to oldest until all gifts are opened. This is a tradition I grew up on and I enjoy doing it with my kids. It makes the gift opening last longer and we get to watch the person's reaction to the gifts. I love it. Elena

Its the same way at our house. Dss is almost 8yrs.older than the 3 little kids. He usually wants video games and stuff that is pricey, whereas the little kids are happy with a bunch of $20. or so gifts. He is old enough to understand the concept. Luckily, we have 2 kids w/ birthdays a few days before and after Christmas, so if they want a expensive gift, they get it for birthday when it isn't so bad to only get 1 or 2 gifts. We also try to get little gifts for our oldest just to make it more even when opening presents, but it can be hard to do. Elena

LOL, me too. My all time favorite is National Lampoon Christmas Vacation. Other faves are A Christmas Story, The Homecoming (the very first Waltons. I bought the dvd of this too), Eloise At Christmastime, Prancer, The Polar Express, and all the Little House Christmas episodes. Does anyone know if they actually sell a set of just the Little House Christmas episodes? If they did, I think it would sell well. Elena

I love the smell of a real tree, but I hate the mess, the constant watering, etc. I grew up with fake trees and dh and I had fake trees most of our Christmas' together. We have a fake prelit tree and it is still very pretty and much less hassle. Elena

He hasn't missed a year in the past 44 yet. Elena

I love wrapping presents and have been doing it since I was 12. Once my mom discovered my love of gift wrapping, she let me wrap all the gifts except my own. I love doing the pretting bows and ribbons, everything. Dh thinks its pointless to put ribbon on gifts as it makes it harder for the kids to unwrap, but it looks so pretty. I try to use Santa paper for the gifts from Santa, and other pretty, cute paper for everything else. I love snowmen, so I tend to get lots of snowman paper. I have 2 kids w/ birthdays Dec. 21 and 28, so I am wrapping birthday gifts too. The last couple of years I have gotten character themed Christmas paper that makes great Dec. birthday paper. Nathaniel has gotten Blues Clues the last 2 years, and Makayla has gotten Care Bears and Princesses. The great thing is, they are usually just winter themed paper, not overly Christmasy, so it works great as birthday paper. Maybe in a couple years when they get older and outgrow character stuff I will get them actual birthday paper, but for now this seems to work. Elena

Usually over the weekend after Thanksgiving. No particular day, just whenever it fits into our schedule. Also, it can sometimes be an ongoing thing. We might start decorating on Saturday, but not finish till Monday. Depends on how busy we are, etc. Elena