[Sharing our Christmas card and pictures of our decorated home!]

Your home looks lovely for the holidays and I love both trees and your card with your kids is gorgeous! You have 3 beautiful kids.

 

Thanks for sharing your home decorated for the holidays with us.

[3 weeks until Christmas... what will you do this week to get ready?]

We will be doing extra school work this week again like we did last week because my daughter wants to school all day instead of to noon each day so she can get out and have a longer Christmas vacation. So after this week we will be finished with our 1st semester of schooling and have the rest of the month off and start back in January.

[Would you Do this?]

No your not nuts! I get a lot of things to put up for later at the after Christmas sales and during the year. Always plan ahead because you never know what you might be facing next year when Christmas comes around and you will be ahead if you happen to get in a financial bind or something else happens.

[I would like to share my house with every one,Pictures of all 4 kids]

Your home is beautiful! Love the archway leading into your home. And I love all the snowmen you have! I collect snowmen. My MIL gives me one to add to my collection every year for Christmas! The bathroom is so cute! I've never thought about decorating the bathroom before. But I don't know if I could get mine to look festive enough for the holidays since mine is so tropical looking with sour apple walls and mandarin orange trim.

 

I just love looking at others homes and how they decorate for the Holidays it really gets me in the spirit a lot! Looking forward to seeing the rest of your home decorated when you get the other finished!

[I went to Lowes yesterday, they had a ceramic fiber optic train that I just had to]

Sounds like it was your lucky shopping day! Hope you enjoy the train!

[What do you give your mail lady or man?]

Nothing because our mail always goes to everybody else except us! She does a lousy job!

[Is anyone ready for Christmas???]

I'm finished with everything but wrapping! I hate to wrap so I save it for the last minute which means Christmas Eve.

[Is it fair for small children to open Santa gifts Christmas]

We usually are up by 7am. I make coffee then turn the lights on. Get the camera ready. Then the kids are allowed to come down. They open gifts and look in their stockings. Then we have a nice christmas breakfast. We don't go to my parents house till noon.

How in the world do you keep them in their rooms until 7? LOL

 

When my 2 were small it's the only day of the year they were up before 5 waking us up! LOL

[My Home for the Holidays **Updated**]

Wow thanks for sharing! You have a beautiful decorated home for Christmas. It's one of those homes that looks like you see in magazines. And speaking of that yours should be layed out in a magazine for EVERYBODY to see and enjoy!

 

I just love looking at how everyone decorates their homes during the holidays.

[Is it fair for small children to open Santa gifts Christmas]

When I was small we always had to leave our toys and stuff to go some where else on Christmas Day and I always hated having to leave because I wanted to play with my new toys. I swore when I got married that my kids would never have to leave home on Christmas Day so they could enjoy their toys and play all day and have fun with their toys and that's the way it's always been for 19 years now.

 

We always did Christmas with my family on Chirstmas Eve and on Christmas Day my mom and dad would make the rounds to me and my sisters house to visit with our kids to see what they got and enjoyed them showing off what they received. We have always lived next door to my inlaws so we usually eat lunch there every year so it's still like the kids were at home.

 

Also the inlaws come over every year on Christmas morning to watch the kids open their gifts it's just tradition.

 

Now on Christmas Eve since both my parents have passed away my husband always takes me out for lunch because Christmas Eve makes me sad and I usually end up crying a lot since that day was usually spent with mom and dad because I miss them so much. Plus my husband knows that I get really down during the month of December because my mom passed away 2 weeks before Christmas in 2001.

[What did you do when your kids snooped in their gifts???]

well I guess I am a softy, they have never done anything I have not done, I still would never take back a gift or hold it out, But hey thats me, They know and I do not put hardly anything under the tree or where they can find it till Christmas eve. Its just nature to be courouis (sp)

Same here because I wouldn't take anything back and plus I remember when I was a kid I snooped all the time! It's just nature to want to find what we aren't suppose to know we are getting.

 

I also keep everything hidden in different locations every year and it's usually right under their nose and the last place they tend to look.

[Anyone wrapping presents today?]

I hate wrapping and always wait until the last minute to get it done.

[How many lights are on your Christmas tree?]

I love lots of lights on a tree. To me the lights make the tree. I have probally close to 1000 lights on mine this year and it's a 6 footer. I also think it needs more lights but my family says I'm light crazy. LOL

[About how much did you spend on BF?]

I ended up not spending anything because I didn't go. Nothing attracted me to run out this year to purchase anything. Oh well it's always next year and hope it's better.

[so do have the special things you do]

I wear my Christmas shirts and socks and I also have a santa hat that I wear once in a while. I also love to start listening to Christmas music as much as I can. And I love burning candles more during this time of year.

[What is your least favortie part of the holidays?]

I hate the fact that my Mother and Brother are no longer with us, I hate the fact the rest of my family is do far away that we can not spend the holiday's with them

Same here except it's the fact that my mom and dad are no longer here and my family is also 4 hours away from me.

 

I also hate and detest standing in long lines to be checked out during this time of year and to see plenty of lines that are closed. Every check out line should be open this time of year.

 

And I hate to see rude customers be ugly towards the cashier once they get to be checked out. I really feel for the cashier this time of year because they have to deal with so many people and so many being rude towards them.

[What age for a cell phone]

NEVER get a kid a cell phone that has a per call rate for text messages. My step-daughter taught us a big lesson in that regard. I hope someday that all parts of the country will have multiple carrier choices with no roaming & long distance. Right now the same monopoly exists that used to exist in the local telephone, ISP, etc.

Yep this is why we didn't go with Cingular they charge for each text you send. Cellular South is $5.99 a month for unlimited texting. We also have her phone set where it doesn't roam.

[What age for a cell phone]

I can tell you my two daughters 9 & 19 and my son 16 nor my husband or I use text at all. So I cant see how the only reason they want it if for that feature they all know that costs and we all share minutes

 

My husband I don't use text messaging neither but all the teens here where we live that is all they use. Most only have text on their phones and no out going calls at all.

 

My daughter has both she can call and we can call her and text because I told her I wasn't texting anybody. LOL

[What age for a cell phone]

Did you get it from Immix?? they have free text meesaging..YEAH

No we are with Cellular South and that's pretty much what everyone else has around here also. It's 5.99 a month for text messaging.

[What are you thankful for.]

I am thankful for........

 

God because He is MY reason I make it thru everyday

My family & friends (which includes my online friends)

Having a home

Food

My church

My freedom

For prayers being answered

My memories

 

This list could go on and on and on because I have so much to be thankful for and consider myself blessed beyond measure. I always look for the positive things when I go thru hard and stressful times and I know that someone out there has it way worse than I do when going thru trying times.

 

May each and everyone of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday and may you all be a blessing to somebody every day.

[What age for a cell phone]

Well we just got our daughter one for her 17th birthday next week.

 

And I can tell you right now the only reason they want a cell is for TEXT messaging and nothing else. She never calls anybody on the phone but her fingers are so busy texting it's unreal.

[Do you buy each kid the same # of gifts or spend the same $ on each?]

I only have one at home to buy for so that makes it easy! And I go way over board on gifts for her. Her brother also spends a lot on her at Christmas. She will be 17 next week.

 

When they were small we spent about the same amount of money on each one so their amount of gifts ranged on what they had asked for according to price. Most of the time our daughter got more gifts because she asked for smaller dollar amount gifts as to where our son asked for more expensive items. But money wise we spent the same on each one.

[On top of the tree: Star or Angel?]

Just depends on what theme I am going with on my tree. Last year I used a star. This year I'm using an angel. I've also used a bow before.

[How to keep pets from chewing decorations.]

Welcome to the world of having a Lab! LOL

 

Last year I got my husband a Lab for Christmas and he kept eating the bows off my tree. Didn't take anything else off the tree but the red bows. Guess the bright red was inviting to him. LOL

[giving a pet (dog/cat) as a gift?]

My daughters grandparents gave her a Registered Pom a few years ago for Christmas. They took her to the breeder who had lots of different dogs and let her pick out what she wanted. The owner of the Pom watched her play and interact with the dog and watched how the Pom interacted with her before letting her purhcase the dog which IMO was a good thing.

 

After about 30 minutes of watching the 2 together she was satisfied that her and the Pom would be good together and that she would take care of him. Needless to say once she got home the Pom took up with my husband more than our daughter. He babies that dog about as much as I baby mine. But she has been wonderful with the dog and the dog has been wonderful with her.

 

My son got his girlfriend a dog from a local shelter one time when her dog was trapped inside their home that burned. A shelter is a wonderful place to get a pet from also. Just make sure the whole family can go to see how the pet will will do around each other.