tokanm

His Mom would spend it:confused: ,thats terrible IMHO I know most 17 yo boys love video games, how about a magazine subscription to a VG mag? OR a voucher for a day that you can take him out to the mall or movies or lunch. Or at 17 they are into smelling good, how about a basket of Axe or Tag or some cologne/after shave,throw in some razors etc? Good Luck

I usually get my DS the adidas cologne set every year. I love to go to WM after Christmas when these sets are marked down up to 75% off. I use them for the following year (well not the food ones)

one of my coworkers comes from a family of 12 kids. They now draw names as buying for 11 sibs, their spouses, their kids and plus the parents etc gets way out of hand. On Thanksgiving they pick names out of a hat and that is the person they buy for. They all buy for their parents or they chip in and buy them one big gift. Is that something you can do, in order to cut back? I would be in the poor house for sure. Good Luck

I went to a Holiday time wedding and the centerpieces were a bowl with green and red gravel and a red beta fish swimming in it. It sounds tacky but it was actually very pretty and interesting. There was even a small evergreen plastic tree in the bowl as decoration. It seemed like everyone wanted to take home those centerpieces as they were so unique.

OK calling all electronic experts out here in GottaDeal land:p Is this a good one to buy for my 19 yo DS? He is in college and they have a free music download site at his school. How many songs/photos will those hold? Sorry to be such an electronics dummy and need so much help:worried:

I work in Pediatrics...trust me LOTS of injuries...broken arms, broken legs and concussions and lacerations are not uncommon at all. Even with the ones with the netting, the problem is when the kids bang into each other while jumping/falling. I would suggest just a small one that is about 6" off the floor:gd_soapbo

only 3 here, me and the ds's:holiday14

My advice is put all your fragile ornaments on the bottom of the tree and further in on the branch. My cats (5) have a field day with them!! And people wonder why we take our tree down Christmas night:confused: Good Luck... PS also a spray bottle of water handy will deter them somewhat, of course if you have the lights on it wouldn't be too good. Ya know that movie Christmas Vacation?

Last year I got a set of 4 margarita glasses and inside the box was a nice GC to a local Mexican restaurant. Theres always a pound of coffee (Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks) with a GC taped to it. Magazine subscription gift certificate, car wash, Peapod (where you can order you groceries on line and then they are delivered right to your door) Good Luck

My dad is 83 and very active still. Every year I get him a magazine subscription to his favorite mags..National Geographic, Readers Digest and Yankee. He loves to read and gets 3 new "gifts" every month. This year I am also getting him a Netflix script so he can just watch soem DVD's w/o having to leave home. Hope this helps. Good Luck

Monkey Bread Recipe anyone:confused: Sounds good (although I hope it is not made with monkeys:sidesplit )

We open gifts as soon as everyone is up and then I make a big breakfast with all the fixings Then on Christmas night before bed we open our stockings. Has anyone else tried that Pepperidge Farm French Toast Casserole? It is sinful, made with the PF breakfast breads (french vanilla is my fav mmmmm I love it, def not health food:p

Hello neighbor, I am in Mansfield and grew up in Plainville, where are you? I am really psyched about BF:gdnum1: I hope to get an MP3 player for my 19 yr old and some DVD's etc. Where do you go up 495 to the Bellingham area or Wrentham Outlets? I was more thinking BB, CC and BJ's Walmart in the Walpole, Dedham area? Do you ever shop at Tuesday Morning? That place is great..how bout Building 19 stores...they are an adventure to say the least:p Except you need to take a shower once you leave there. Maybe I will run into you on BF:holiday16

thanks for the input...Netflix it is:p

What Christmas Eve traditions do you have or hope to start? Do you hang up stockings? Set out cookies and eggnog for Santa and a carrot/apple for the reindeer? Go to church, watch a special movie...inquiring minds want to know:p Here we must read 'Twas the night before Christmas...I have done it since my 19DS was 10 months old...he rolls his eyes now but I still think he enjoys it deep down:p My friend always has "reindeer poop" out in her driveway on Christmas morning to show that Santa was there. Santa also generally either leaves footprints in the snow or tears a little piece of his red furry jacket leaving the front door (no fireplace at their house). Do you do anything like this to show that Santa was there? PS "reindeer poop" is slightly dampened dog chow

OK folks I admit it, I am a Black Friday Virgin:p (meaning I have never shopped on BF before) What should I plan for, what stores will be the best and how do I prepare? I am getting so excited:gdthums: We finally have BF off from work this year, my boss came in and said maybe he'd be open that day to see some sick kids as we are closed on T-day. I told him "count me out,forget it, I've got big plans for that day which don't include seeing sick kids" He said "are you gonna be one of those nuts out shopping in the middle of the night?" and I said YES I AM!!! So i put the kaibosh on his idea for me coming in that day:holiday16 I think I am more excited about BF and the bargains than I am Christmas itself!! I think I want to be everywhere all at once and grab up all the deals I can:gdclap: A girl can dream can't she?

I FOUND THE SNOWBALL CAKE RECIPE!!!! I wish I knew how to link something but I am hopelessly lost in using the computer. Anyways I googled it and lo and behold there it was. I can now make my Moms recipe for my family for Christmas this year. There were several recipes for Snowball cake but now I remember that it has already made angel cake in it and jello water and it is no bake. It is absolutely delicious:giggle:

The kids and the cats (and the bunnies and guinea pigs always get a special food treat for Christmas or a chew toy) Hey afterall it is Christmas:gdthums: When do you open your stockings? We have a tradition not to open them until bedtime on Christmas night. I found that "Christmas" was over so quickly and everyone seems a little sad that 'its over already" so saving them until that night gives them something to look forward to. My friend has Santa put them on the kids beds so when they wake up way too early on Christmas morning they must stay in bed but can open the stocking and play with whats in their. That Santa thinks of everything though, he always puts in something to eat for breakfast like honey buns or breakfast bars:giggle:

The day after Christmas our local Crackerbarrell has ALL their christmas stuff 50-75% off and I got a giant stuffed snowman last year. Every year since they were born I buy my kids a special ornament and write the year on it. So when they move out on their own they will have special ornaments of their very own.

Does anyone else buy gifts and hide them, only to either not be able to remember where you put them or even worse find them after Christmas? Almost every year I find a gift I "forgot" and it is getting to be a joke now, "OK who is going to get the gift Mom lost this year?" I hide most of my gifts in the trunk of my car or at work. I just wrap them on my lunch break or stay later to wrap. Last year I had had a heart attack on Nov 11th and right before Christmas my presents I was hiding at work appeared here (plus several new ones) and they were wrapped and stockings were filled and even included a generous gift card from my co-workers for a local grocery store. I am a single Mom and they knew I had no income during this time and things were bad here. The old saying is true "You know who your true friends are in times of need" I was lucky to have such great coworkers and boss:gdclap:

I would rather go out and shop at midnight and be home by early morning with lots of shopping done:giggle: BTW what do the 24 hr Walmarts do for BF? Do they close and then re-open for 5:00am?

I was trying to figure out what to get my Dad (83) and his wife for Christmas. I am thinking about buying a membership/subscription from either Netflix or BB. Has anybody ever done this and if yes how did it work out? They live in Venice, Florida and I think having the movies delivered to them would be easy and they do have internet so they can browse and order. I got this idea as my Dad told me last night that they just had a home cinema system installed in their house (big tv, surround sound etc) Does anyone else find it so hard to buy for your parents:confused: thanks

Pumpkin or Gingerbread I am not a big fan of pine personally

In the next town to me we have a large religious center that has an amazing light and holiday display, including a live manger. It is so beautiful there and it opens on Thanksgiving night and stays open until January 1st. People come from all over in buses etc. It is a catholic center but I think it stays mostly with just a Christian theme. There is a cafeteria and gift shop and we always buy a mug of hot chocolate as LaSalette seems to be the coldest place in New England:p You cannot really appreciate it until dark (obviously for the light displays) www.lasalette-shrine.org:

My Mom used to make her "snowball cake" for our Christmas Eve open house every year. She has been gone for many years now and I would love to have this recipe. I remember it was made in a large mixing bowl and I believe it had lemon flavor in it, you then tipped the bowl upside down onto a tray and it was covered in maybe dream whip? It did not have coconut and it was very moist almost wet cake. It was very yummy! Does anybody else have Snowball Cake recipe, it would bring back some great holiday memories:holiday14