jbdinos
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Posts posted by jbdinos
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Our kids have a gift exchange where children who wish to participate bring a gift at 5.00 or less. Boys bring boy gifts and Girls bring girl gifts. Then they randomly get to pick a gift as long as it's not the one they brought in. Some years my kids have felt "cheated" because they think they took in something nicer than everyone else. Which may be true thanks to the good values we find on here..... but now that they are older (10 & 11) they know that it's the thought that counts and that they are lucky to give out "the" gift at the party because everyone fights over the one they bring... lol....
Usually we sign up at conferences to bring in plates, napkins, snacks, drinks, etc for the holiday parties so that is pretty much first come first serve. I am sure they will allow those that don't sign up to send something in if they want to though.
I have had kids in the past that have brought in the ornaments with the names on them for all the kids and I think it's cool but my boys won't let me, they say it's too "girly" to take them in. BOYS! lol
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We do either cookies or candy depending on what the kids have left because they refuse to leave him store bought anything so it's whatever is left after the family has been over. Usually leave milk out but once in while we have to leave chocolate milk.
For the reindeer, apples.... they eat them core and all and usually find a stem or a seed or two on the plate and that is it.
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Our youngest is the only child we have to share with my DH's ex. We have him on Christmas Eve/Day on alternating years so we alternate when Santa comes depending on which morning he will be with us. Only one year did it not work out (due to blizzard conditions) and he got all of his when we could get to him.
Last year was supposed to be Christmas Day but he came over on Christmas Eve and my oldest DD19 was on her own for the first time and had to juggle 3 dinners with our family along with 1 for her father and 1 for her in-laws so we had a special opening so that her and our granddaughter could all be here on Christmas Eve evening.
Since DS7 still believes he has just always been comfortable with Santa being able to do a few houses at a different time to make the good mommies and daddies happy when kids have 2 sets of parents. I always get a chuckle that his "other" mommy must be on the naughty list cause Santa only comes on Christmas Day at their house.
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All our gifts are from Santa also. One year DS10 (7 at the time) asked us where his present was from us. Apparently his friends got from their parents and Santa. I told him that good kids get so much from Santa that the parents don't have to help pay for them. But the naughty boys have to have their parents buy some or they wouldn't get very much. So he went to school all proud that he was the best kid out of all his friends......
But we don't really count money when buying gifts.... with the deals we find it would be totally out of line if we got things at 75% off for one kid and ended up at only 20-30 for another. So we just buy things starting with the after Xmas sales until we know that value wise at least one kid is done. We count that child's gifts and that is how many they each get that year. Usually between 5 and 8, depending on what kinds of deals we find. Stocking gifts are not always the same though. Only DS7 still believes so the others are cool with it but would still get their feelings hurt if someone had more than them.
Of course we do try to make sure they each have 3-4 good size (according to value) gifts but have never put a dollar figure on them. One year 5 gifts each was it (smallest number ever) but that year I did figure retail value and each kid had over 400 dollars in value of gifts and I spent between 30 and 60 on each kid.
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Nutcrackers!!!!! I just love them! :)
I have also started collecting Wizard of Oz ornaments. The last couple of years Hallmark has done some awesome ones. My collection is just beginning, but I'm hoping they keep that up for years to come! :)
I love both Nutcrackers and the Wizard of Oz. Both remind me of my DD19. This past Christmas was the first one that she wasn't living with us any longer and we also bought a house that was finally big enough for us. Twice the size of the last one. So I had room to decorate since we moved in the week of Thanksgiving. I bought a lot of Nutcrackers (I had a few ornament ones on the tree that had been DD's and I gave them to her for her tree, then cried when she left with them.) shhh... don't tell her....
Anyway, while strolling through walmart the day after Christmas, someone had either brought back or an employee found some stuff not put out earlier, I found the entire wizard of oz set in nutcrackers.... they are about 13 or 14 inches tall and cute as can be..... I can hardly wait to get those out again this year.
If you love both Nutcrackers and Wizard of Oz, you seriously need to look for these if Walmart has them again.
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In the past I have given gift baskets of homemade goodies but frankly the amount of appreciation given isn't worth the amount of work that goes into it. (Ditto for the family members that received the same baskets)
Last year I gave big cookies in tins that I picked up at WalMart. Same thing I gave to regular co-workers. I am not even sure that anyone of my multiple managers even thanked me and of the co-workers it was minimal. Some co-workers that I am closer to got bottles of wine but again unless I handed it directly to them they did not even say thanks. This year I am swearing off gifts in the workplace but will probably break down at the last minute (I always do).
I know what you mean about the thanks. I work in a small company. I am one of two managers and we have 7 staff. The head manager gives all of us a 20 dollar gc to walmart every year and I use my Gotta deal skills and tricks to get each staff and the other manager a valuable gift at a fraction of the cost. I did the homemade goodies to hear them picking it apart like "she knows I don't like this and she knows my kids don't like that" type thing. So that is when I started doing small gifts. They know that I do this for the other manager as well.
Well the lady that takes charge of the staff always has each staff member donate 10 dollars for each of us. (I guess this is where you learn that although he is head manager of the plant, I have direct supervision of most of the staff by myself but they hate me because I won't take any crap and he plays favorites.). Anyway, they always come to me to beg 10 dollars from me as well. But they never go to him to beg money for my gift, because he has already given me one? Go figure. any way.... I don't care if they give me a darn thing because I know it's a show for the other manager to think they are so wonderful... but they collect $80 total for him and $70 for me. But he gets a gift card for $100 and I get a gift card for $50. It's not the amount, but it's the fact that the lady that does it probably doesn't tell the other ones what she is doing. And to top it off he left the card out last year where I saw it and it had everyone's name signed to it except mine. pfffftt.....
I am considering this year telling them that after buying the staff gifts I don't have the extra $10. I am sure he can still get 100 and I can just get 40... lol..... Then they can feel crappy when they think I spent a fortune on them all.. I got them the electronic organizers that were on sale at office depot a couple months ago for 99 cents each... jokes on them... lol....
But again, I wouldn't care but I get no thank yous or anything but I hear them just gushing thanking him for their gc's. I want to say "wake up people, he figures raises and he probably gives himself enough extra each year to cover that... "
I think I sound bitter.. I need a new job. ...
Dear Santa......
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I love "Mary Did You Know"!! QUOTE]
So many that I love to hear, but I think one of my other faves is I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
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I read the "no other coupon" restriction as not being able to stack other HH coupons on top for the same boxes.... IMO it appears you could do the 10 box deal and use 3 of these because it would be on different boxes. But of course it will only let us print 2 so I think I may try the 2 to see.... that is a good deal either way... thanks op
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My sister... it's our annual "date" and we make the plan via phone on Thanksgiving solely because we each go to our DHs' families so we have to call and plan out a route that is satisfactory. Inside each store we have went separate ways if we need to in order to get everything we need.
A couple of times my DD went with us, but this year she will be 8 1/2 mo pregnant with a 3 1/2 year old so I think that she won't feel like it.... I will bring back any goodies she wants though!
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FYI, The $9.99 ones are the $2.00!!! Of the 3 stores I've been too, they are all hanging on the peg that says $9.99 and none of them have been marked $2. When I got mine, I had the cashier check the price first and sure enough that was it.
Finally got the Free Venus Breeze's though:D
Well they didn't ring up at 2.00, they rang up at 9.99. The difference is that the ones that are supposed to be 9.99 have 2 cartridges, the handle and the little storage box. The 2.00 ones are just the handle and one cartridge. I am going to stop at a different CVS tonight to see if I can find two more since I have two more coupons though.
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Even the shift manager couldn't find them at my store. So she sold me the 9.99 one for 2.00
Too bad it was the last one, I had 3 coupons!
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But my best find was a Little Tikes sand and water table with castle for $9.xx
Anyone have the number for this table so I can see if one is available anywhere close to me?
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I got so lucky with our new house. The old one I had to put everything into my closet and it would spill out into the bedroom by October and the 4 youngest kids are the perfect age to snoop... 7, 10,11, 13..... well my new house has a huge walk in closet (12' x 10')... so I can store all of our clothes, etc in there. It's an older house so it has an old closet in the bedroom that is very small. We just have coats and luggage in it, but up above it from the top of the door to the ceiling is a large empty space with a door on it. PERFECT.... even DH has to get a stepstool to get anything into or out of it. And the stepstool that stays in the house is not tall enough for them to see inside the closet as if I use it I can't see and they are all shorter than me !!! Yeah for those short genes... lol...
Anyway, that thing is stuffed full and along the front edge where I can barely reach it is a notebook with THE list on it. They don't know the list exists but they do know I shop. Sad for them that even if they see something they have so many young aunts, uncles, cousins that they don't know who the stuff is for. The only thing is I filled up the cavern and have had to resort to boxes in the bottom... but I just put gifts for others on the bottom. Only DS7 still believes in Santa so that is a relief...... And the only thing that is kind of sitting out in the open is for DS11... he wants to join the middle school golf team so DH found a deal on a new set of clubs for him. 160 dollar set on sale for 25... so it is just sitting in the middle of my big closet. DS has seen it. BUT he knows that if DH gets a good deal on sporting equipment he will buy it to try to trade for other stuff from a softball board he frequents so he has absolutely no idea they are his... I will make them disappear around the beginning of Nov (not sure where) and then he will not have a clue once I find a box and wrap them in December.
Long story for a short answer.... other ideas I have heard are the garage because kids assume that moms won't hide things out there and they really don't want to have to clean it anyway. I also know people that swap storage... like take your things to a relatives closet and bring their things to your closet....
Now I do LOVE the luggage idea.... cause I can never hide anything from DH.. he's onto me... that might just work this year!!!!
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I like the plus size in girls at JCpenney. Stylish, but cut bigger in waist, hips, and thighs.
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We are finally getting one!!! It is supposed to open soon, my SIL was hired as assistant manager and she starts in August.
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Thanks Braggsalot! That info will come in handy!
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what is a criss cross shoe? What age are these popular for? DD13 has a bday coming up and she won't tell us what she wants and we know she loves shoes but when we try to surprise her they are always the "wrong" style.... maybe if criss cross are popular and you tell me what I am looking for I could try that...
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Thank you Thank you Thank you I got the football cleats we were looking for before practice starts in 2 weeks for DS10 and a pair of running shoes for myself for the gym and after discounts it was 47.xx for both pair.... I was looking to pay that for just the cleats so I am extremely impressed with this find... thanks for posting it!
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i thought about this the other day. i was actually sitting here wondering if anyone is ready for BF and xmas and if anyone else shops for xmas all year round, lol.
I'm with you on the shopping year round. We have 5 children and 1 grandchild (2 by Christmas this year). It all started when they were little because it was the only way to make sure they got nice gifts like their friends but on our budget. Now I Christmas and birthday shop year round. We do draw names at Christmas with DH family but that still leaves us with 4 kids gifts to buy and then we do go to all of our neices and nephews birthday parties so if we buy it for Christmas and don't draw their name, there is always a birthday coming from someone.
I have one closet dedicated to good deals and nothing else is allowed in there except wrapping paper and gift bags! Glad it's not just me!!!!
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Went to Target yesterday and got 2 jumbo packs of Pampers Easy Ups and 2 Pampers wipes for a total of 6.26. I had 2 coupons each for 3.00 off pampers, 1.00 off wipes, and 5.00 off at target to buy wipes/pampers together.
I also got a swiffer carpet flick on sale for 3.24 and the refills for 1.84. Had Swiffer coupons on those also so they were .50 off each of those prices.
A few weeks ago I got the Dora Castle for 19.99. Went to the regular aisle and got the people to go with it for 2.48 each and the living room for 3.99. All the other furniture sets were still 12.99.
Other than that our Target clearance endcaps were bare or in some areas not even there.
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I would say an extra controller and you should be all set. We love our Wii from adult down to our 7 year old son. When you get the extra controller they are about 40.00.... or you can get Wii Play which is a disc with 8 or 9 more games plus the extra controller for 50.00.... worth it I say even though the games aren't as good as the ones that come with it.
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What a find! I'll be hitting my walmart tonight! Was it marked on the shelves or did you just scan the packages? I would love to find these but I won't have enough time to scan each package. Oh, and are the pizzas the ones in the multipack with differnt flavors or are they individual? My husband and I love taking pizzas to work and that would make one heck of a cheap lunch!
Sorry for the late reply, I am unsure. A co-worker told me and I called home and had my husband go get them. So I am 90% sure they were marked because he wouldn't have scanned everything looking for them like I would have.
They are the individual pizzas .. kind of like Totinos only a bit smaller... I told him to get a bunch for the kids for lunch this summer.. he came home with FIFTY-TWO pizzas and 17 bags of fries.... I have trained him a little too well...
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I don't know if it's a local Walmart thing or something that is everywhere, but our walmart had the great value brand personal pizzas and the 13 oz ore ida french fries for .25 each today.
They also had Weight watcher's smart ones chicken parmesan for 1.00 and Healthy Choice pizzas for .75 and 1.00 depending on flavor.
Good way to stock the freezer for the kids for the summer!
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Do you find yourself in the end, when wrapping, that you have too many gifts for some people? I do that! And I don't have any blood relatives to buy for it's my two friends and their kids and I always walk in like Santa and a big red bag! No, not dressed like Santa lol. But sometimes I feel bad like I've outshined others or that they think I'm trying to. But really it's that they have to afford these kids everyday of the year and I don't! To top that off, I am finding these otherwise possibly expensive gifts for a steal so where it may look like I spent 100, I may have only spent $15. at that and they know about the bargains I get!
Tomorrow, I have my nephew's 8th birthday and I have too much for him. I have never been able to just take one gift. But I wonder if others that don't know how little I'm spending think I'm trying to make a show? Went to a wedding last weekend and had gotten a set of glasses and a clearance photo album. Maybe spent $15. including card but some of my other friends couldn't afford to get anything or put $20, in a card and felt bad.
But my great deals are from Target. I'm seriously addicted! Don't even have kids and I'm buying up diapers but for my friends, they buy them from me instead of the store lol....
Hey, I used to have too much for one kid and not enough for the next due to my shopping. Now I have a little notebook I carry with me and on each page I have a child's name and I list things as I buy them. Then as it gets closer adn closer I will know who is not "done" and who is so I know what I am looking for. After the pages of my kids names I have a list of every one in the family that we buy gifts for and two columns, one for chistmas and one for birthdays. Then I write in what we got as I buy it. Then I am not at a loss for what goes where. The thigns that will make "someone" a gift if we are invited to a party or wedding goes on the "extras" page so I always know what is in the top of the closet without pulling it all down..... only takes a few minutes and keeps me even on what I get the kids value wise, as I don't worry about the money since I spend so little.
For instance DD13 wants a camera or a small stereo this year for Christmas.... thanks to a deal at work and one on here she is getting both of them and I paid a total of six bucks.... I find that as long as they appear the same in value total of the other kids they are all happy. This also is handy so if I buy our nephew something I know the approximate value and make sure to get something of the same approximate new value for each of his sisters since they are all 3 in the same house. And the whole family knows I do this clearance thing as a hobby and so my kids get nice things. And they are all thrilled as long as one kid doesn't get 10 bucks in a card while little brother gets a 40.00 toy I spent 5.00 on.
Too bad it was the last one, I had 3 coupons!
Perimeter Perusing at Target (Target Clearance Deals) - 2007
in Offline Hot Deals
Posted
do you have the DCPI number on this one?