jbdinos

Girls: Makeup Lip Gloss Hair things Stickers Gel Pens Notepads Boys: Markers Art stuff Notepads Both: Socks panties or boxers wallets glow sticks cards or card games deodorant toothbrush cologne/perfume For my DD19 and SIL19, we got some of the above and also went to restaurant.com and got the one restaurant in their area that had 25.00 gift certs that had no minimum purchase required to use them. Got them for 3.00 each and got 2 for each of them as money is tight and that may be the only 4 times of the year they will get to go out to eat. Since I bought and printed 2 weeks ago, they changed it to a minimum of 50.00 purchase but I think they are a small mom and pop place and will honor them without minimum purchase since I bought them that way!

YMMV... but at our Walmart last night they had fall, harvest, and Thanksgiving scrapbooking stickers, normally 1.44 each for 10 cents. They were in the craft/fabric section and our walmart moved them onto the aisle with the sewing machines for some reason. Just totally out of place for clearance and for scrapbooking and not in an easy to be seen area either.

I think this sounds great. I am one of those that hate to give gift cards too and only do as a last resort. However my kids always get tons of them from people that don't know what to buy. I also don't like having to take them shopping and they have to spend a certain amount in each store, etc. They prefer gifts. I think the stockings full of candy etc sound great... don't forget cutsie pencils, etc. Sports are good for any age boys, holiday or whatever for girl. Walgreens has Christmas ones on sale 8/$1.00 this week. And perhaps you can luck into some leftover halloween candy at 75-90% off? Maybe even old enough if you find keychains on sale? Almost every kid has a house key or something... if not, can use it as a pull tab for a backpack, etc. My kids are girls: 19 & 13 boys: 8, 10,11... and everyone of them would LOVE to get something like this....

What about little "baskets" of things you can put together... perhaps a movie rental cert/micro pop corn/a movie box of candy/a soda in a little basket or something? Esp for the boys. Or the movie rental could be for a movie OR video game rental at a local store. For the girl you could do a little girly basket. Maybe some BBW when it's on sale BF. Even some little samples that you can order and get for free. Gel pens, paper, etc. Girls are easier when you don't know them. I have a neice that is getting a tote bag I got as a freebie filled with all kinds of things like a nice razor, lotions, etc .. .all things I got free.. .I got a scrapbooking kit that was on sale from 10 to 2 bucks and a clock/mirror from 10 to 1.50 and added those in... and it is chock full of goodies for her and she is 12... and only spent 4.50 total. Her mom said she will LOVE it!!!!!

Another question... our two sons... two different schools have a husband/wife as their two math teachers.... anyone else have this happen? We totally LOVE both of them and had considered giving the male a GC to a restaurant for both of them and her just the candle and she would know it was more when she got home... these two have taught BOTH of our math hating boys to love it and get A's too!!!!

DS11 went to middle school this year... he has EIGHT teachers.... and DS10 has three in 5th grade. DS8 has 2. We only have 3 of them that are men. Personally we get gifts for the teachers that are good and that are trying to be helpful to all. Very rare that we have one that is just not nice, but you know they are out there. It's not based on whether our kids like them or not, but on how they teach or don't teach. We had a teacher one year that did everything on computer and never actually used any live instruction. She had a "program" to teach everything. She didn't even have to grade anything. It was weird and when asked for assistance when our daughter didn't understand she flat told us she didn't have "time" that our DD should have paid more attention when she played the video. She was in 4th grade. That teacher didn't get a gift. We felt she just didn't care as long as she could sit at her desk and read magazines/drink coffee. She also used a lot of mean put downs to the kids as well as some parents. Other teachers complained also. But this year we again have 13 wonderful teachers. Love every one of them. But that is a lot of gifts too... so I went to DG the other day and they had spring votive holders for 90% off. Two holders with cute little spring flowers in pink, burnt orange, and blue. YOu got two holders for 10cents.... then I got the little votive candles to match, only in pumpkin pie, mulled apple cider, etc. Holiday, but not totally Christmas scents.... these were 6 candles for 1.50. Used christmas tissue and ribbon to "wrap" each one. I think I figured like 30-40 cents each but they are really cute and not limited to CHristmas decorating. That covers the women, but I have no clue what I am doing for the 3 men. They teach English, Math, and PE. Math teacher's room is plastered in Colts memorbilia so might be able to do something along that line for him. PE teacher probably enjoys sports as well. English teacher, will like anything... he is a semi-permanent sub for most of this year as the other teacher had to be out from an injury he suffered and needs major surgery/rehab and only was there on the very first day. So since it's his first teaching job for the sub he should be easy... plus our son has him twice a day anyway. I honestly feel like cheap is okay as teachers know it's the thought that counts anyway. I think that ornaments are a good idea and were my original idea until I happened upon the votive deal at DG. Anyone that shops at Collections etc... they have a 6 piece set of candy shelf sitters for just under 5 bucks... I got some a while back for my mantle and had thought about ordering more for the teachers... they light up and are fairly big and 1 or 2 per teacher would be cute too. Especially for those that are doing a gift card and a small thing... maybe one of them and a card together.... that is what I plan on for my mail lady!

I am done shopping for the kids, just need 3 adult gifts and one of them I know what I am getting for 2 of them. I almost started wrapping yesterday... got the paper out, and the notebook with "the list", got out two boxes to wrap.. and.. well the paper and gifts are still in my bedroom in the middle of the floor.... However, I hope to get most if not all wrapped over the weekend. Then I can sit back, relax, etc.. plus good way to double check my list to make sure if I got anything I forgot to write down and make sure I didn't write something down that I changed my mind about.... I will number the gifts and put a number next to each thing on my list so no nosy children can figure out what gifts are theirs.... I am a bit of a meany weenie that way!

do you know how long it takes for them to come in?

Mine was at 90% early this morning, but nothing was ringing up correct so they had to price override almost all of it as it wasn't in the system yet.

the FAQ's on the M&M's custom site says "please do not refrigerate". To store in sealed container between 65 and 75 degrees F. I agree with a PP that if you store them unopened they should last a very long time. If I were going to store them I would also put the sealed new bags in an airtight container to doubly insure their freshness. My children would not care if they were stored, refrigerated, frozen, or even stale... should they find them they will eat them.... but maybe that is just how growing boys are.

I'd say get there as early as you can.... they are trying to use the space to set Christmas and CVS and Walgreens try to follow the same corporate schedules due to competition with each other. A friend at CVS and a relative at Walgreens both said that corporate demands Christmas to be set and ready to go by tomorrow early afternoon. So once word gets out that it's at 90 it won't take long ... if it's 90 where you are. :-)

I went in this morning (looking for spongebob full of Krabby Patties) and I was hoping we went from 50% to 75% off today. SURPRISE... jumped to 90% off here in Southeastern Indiana. So I got all 5 of the 9.99 spongebob's for .99 each. that is only a little over 1 cent per pattie since there are 88 in the box. My DGD3 is going to be so happy as I plan on wrapping it for Christmas. The only thing Halloween about these is a sticker that can be peeled off the front if there is anyone else out there with a spongebob lover.

still 50% in my part of Indiana

I have been one of those people in the self checkout with 30 items.. why? Because the cashiers are RUDE and incompetent at our walmart. You know it's bad when you know more about running the machine than they do. My prob with the self checkout is that skip bagging thing when it won't pick up the weight of a pack of taco seasoning, etc. It's horribly slow on those days. One day I had a half full cart of groceries. Free coupons are horrible at self checkout so I went to the lane with a real live person to check me out. All my groceries fit on the belt at one time so it wasn't "that" bad.... The cashier was VERY VERY careful how she packed my groceries by putting stuff together that goes together, (cold with cold, frozen only in bags, boxes together, etc.... )... that is wonderful, just the way I do it at self checkout... BUT... It took her 25 minutes to scan everything and bag it. She would put something in a bag and rather than use multiple bags, she would search through the groceries to find other stuff to go with the bag she was working on... the cashier behind her finished the one she was on when my first item was scanned, and then she checked out three completely full carts of groceries (two being those nice elderly ladies that take forever digging out the correct change/writing the check).... I was afraid I would fall asleep waiting on her to do them... so in the future, if my choices are her or self checkout... I will take 50 or 60 items to self checkout....

What about those little minature remote control cars? If he does well with video games it will be easy for him to learn to operate and they are the size of hotwheels so you don't have to worry about bumping into walls and nicking them or anything. If you have room for him to play with it, they have larger remote control cars that you can plug your MP3 player into so you could do both and get his favorite music so he can play it and drive? I totally agree on legos/magnetix. All three of our DS love them. Maybe start with a small set that can make something with the instructions... then if he loves them move to a bigger set next year.

You must have nicer shoppers at your Kohl's.. it is not safe at all around here.... they are horrible and seem to camp out there very very early, of course we don't have a BB so that might be why they all go to Kohls. As for me, I only lose sleep which I don't get a lot of anyway so maybe just lose a few hours, I don't consider that a sacrifice really. And since I enjoy it, if I had to use vacation time to go as I did before I became a salary employee, that is not really a sacrifice either.... So I guess I don't really consider much that I do sacrificing for it. I would never give up Thanksgiving with the family and if my DD19 goes into labor I won't give up being at the hospital... but I have asked very very nicely if she can hold off until at least the afternoon on that day if she insists.... :-)

I used to get all of them and haven't gotten the last two.. and my DH needs a new pair of jeans from there too.

This fragrance is recommended for daytime wears. I wonder if that means it attracts bugs/mosquitos at night?

Pumpkin Crunch This is absolutely devine!! This is so easy to make and almost fool proof. It is the most asked for dessert in my family. 1 package yellow cake mix 1 can (16oz) solid pack pack pumpkin 1 can (12oz) evaporated milk 3 eggs 1-1/2 cups sugar 4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup chopped pecans 1 cup melted butter whipped topping Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom of 9x13 pan. Combine pumpkin, eggs, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in large bowl. Pour into pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix evenly over pumpkin mixture. Top with pecans. Drizzle with melted butter. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until golden. Cool completely. Serve with whipped topping.

My walmart had the peelies on a bunch of them today as well.

DH grew up all santa, I grew up with one present from parents only, no santa... we had to make a decision so .... We did all santa too. Now only the youngest (DS8) still believes. We only had one kid out of the 4 oldest that ever asked "why didn't you get us something". We simply told him that money is hard to come by and the spirit of Christmas is giving, not receiving. So we explained that as a family we bought gifts for those outside of our home, grandma, aunt, etc. because that is what Jesus would have us do. He was totally okay with that and we followed it up with that because we were doing the right thing Santa brings him more than he brings kids from families that mommy and daddy buy gifts for the kids. And that because he was so generous with others without thinking of himself that others were generous with him and it worked out well because grandpa later that Christmas day gave him his "must have" gift. He believed for 2 more years and never was unhappy or asked again. None of the tags that are within our home have a "from" on them, just a name written on the tag for who it is to. For those that want the "credit"... that is great and I understand, yet one day they won't believe but they'll have those memories and they will know it was you.... don't worry, they don't forget and we've had two (DD13, DS11) come to us after they announced not believing and telling us that if we couldn't really afford the nice gifts anymore that they would understand..... to which I act shocked and tell them I never bought them a thing, that santa brings it.... they roll their eyes, but they know....

For anyone in the Louisville KY area, there is one Target still showing limited availability on the HP legos... Jefferson Pavilion. I am close to Louisville but never driven there and I have not the best sense of direction to new places so I won't be trying to find it myself. My son will have to live with the legos in his closet for a while longer. :) Everything else even semi close to me is out of stock.... Greenwood IN showed available yesterday, I sent a friend to look and they couldn't find any and today they show out of stock. I have to find friends that get off work earlier I suppose.!

Any chance you have found the correct DCPI # yet. I looked up this and the other white mixer that were mentioned and neither must be clearanced around me because every store within a 2 hr driving distance has both as available. I would LOVE to have a new mixer, I just have a cheapie from walmart and I don't care too much for it.

We do this on DH's father's side. But the adults all draw an adult name and cannot have their spouse or they have to put it back. The kids all draw a kids name and cannot get their sibling. Of course that isn't going to be possible for you all with a 4/3 split. We have 4 kids, my oldest DD has 2 (well there will be 2 at Christmas), SIL has 2, BIL has 3, and FIL still has 2 under age 16 at home as well so it's easy to not get a sibling for us and way too expensive to buy for all of them as well. We do a $10.00 on kid limit and a $20.00 on adult limit. The kids might actually enjoy it too.... you can always agree to try it one year and if it doesn't work out give it up next year. Another idea might be that they each draw a name and say you want the limit to be 15.00. Well maybe they buy the person they drew a 10.00-12.00 gift and then they have to buy a universal gift of some sort for 3-5 dollars and do the white elephant gift exchange or some other fun game if they are all the right age so they have a good time and maybe all the kids will get to know each other a little bit better too?

Isn't it funny how so many of us have the dishes we are "expected" to bring to all family dinners? Mine is cauliflower salad at DH's dad's family. Yet it is my ramen slaw to my sister's (because of my neice). And with all my kids' birthdays and any pitch in birthdays we go to I am expected to bring my homemade mac/cheese. I think Thanksgiving this year I will leave the cauliflower salad in the van until I see how many people ask me where it's at... lol