pastasalad

Got cards from caitlinn,jarerice,crybev & gagnon-Thanks so much. Glad you got the card ms mckenna.

Just got cards from dramaqueenlucy & chris both were equally beautiful Thank you both!

Glad you liked it.

all my cards are in the mail and my SS & Ornament gifts will be sent by Dec 3rd. I will not contact my exchange partners as thats part of the surprise, trying to figure who sent you what and I ask PLEASE if you got my name let me try and figure it out(and IF I dont then Eve will let us all know who had who)-I know it is sooooo exciting and fun shopping for other's that sometimes we want to tell the person IT WAS ME! I took great care in concealing my identity from my exchage partners . What I will do is post pics of my ornament and SS gifts-thats always fun to see what others got/get. I just really like the surprise element of this whole exchange and if others want to know who sent them their items then please know I am NOT speaking for the group-just myself.

This may sound crazy but we hang our cards on our front door-when the door is open we see them from the inside and when it's closed it makes a very pretty decoration to go with our outside stuff/decorations, once mine gets fuller I will take a pic and post it

got a card from carheel today TY Karen! My dd's are having so much fun waiting for the mailman each day to see who & where the next card comes from...

We are a training route which means we may have a new mail carrier every 2 weeks or so-our local news station did a bit on Mail carrier gifts last night-stating they cant recieve gifts in excess of $20. Seems like I heard this last yr...anyways We will probably do some shortbread cookies with a Mug & snowman soup

Got my 1st card from Mom232003-this is so exciting!

about half of my cards went out Sat, will get the rest in the mail on Monday-I signed my cards pastasalad aka georgie I just printed out the names and addy's then cut and pasted them on the envelope(makes for less mistakes for me-) and those of you that get the "Ho Ho Ho" cards my dd10 wanted to help sign some Happy Holidays:holiday07

Thats a really good idea-I have been reading and re-reading posts to get ideas for my ss and ornament exchange. Now I will search amazon too. My ds has been useing my amazon wish list to put stuff he wants for christmas-it makes it very easy shopping for him-I need to let my girls do it too but I have never thought about useing the wishlist function for myself-

I cant wait to see who I get to go buy goodies for! patienctly waiting for my list

me too! Did some browsing today and saw all kindsa cute stuff-

Dear Santa, I was on my way to deliver this letter to you personally, I made it through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, then the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest but I got lost. Oh Oh I did see Arctic Puffin and he asked me if I wanted to help him pick some snowberries,but I had to take a snowcheck since I was on a mission. So I returned thinking I could hitch a ride on the Polar Express but I didnt have a ticket. I know you will see my letter here so here goes....Ever since I can remember my parents combined my B-Day & Christmas since there is only a 7 day difference,not to mention that starting on Dec 8 for 10 whole days my younger sister and I are the same age,gosh that was hard growing up-she used to tease me and say hahaha your not the oldest right now....anyways as I got older I got use to it and my sister stopped teasing me well sorta. Well I am married now and as luck would have it my wonderful dh's (that stands for dear hubby)B-Day is Dec 2nd so here we go again everyone and I mean everyone combines our Birthdays and Christmas and not individually but as a whole-so this year I have taken matters into my own hands and am sendng you my Christmas List. On the top of my list this yr is the Logitech io2 Digital Pen Digital Writing System OH Santa it is the coolest gadget ever!!! But I bet you know that since the Elves are making them in your workshop right now. Santa that was so smart of the Elves to make sure it has the built-in learning software that converts your handwritten notes to digital text! Gosh you and the Elves really do think of everything! Next on my list is a new digi camera I really like what the Elves have done with the Kodak 7.1 MP EasyShare P712 Digital Camera, 12x Optical Zoom, Image Stabilization I held one the other day and it's like it was made for me! Those elves sure put out quality toys! If there is still room in your bag on the sleigh I would REALLY REALLY like a Bottle of Tiffany Perfume Santa Thanks for reading my letter and as always there will be cheese and crackers for you and the reindeer! Love, Pastasalad P.S. Santa "if" my sister is on the naughty list for teasing me PLEASE reconsider-I dont mind it so much anymore

The Stocking Idea is a great one! Old Time Pottery has nice stockings on sale, starting today for $1.50

I am ready to get out the Christmas decorations but will wait till Thanksgiving weekend. The Christmas commercials have started and I am definately in the Holiday Spirit!

I dont know if you live in an area that gets much snowfall but what about these for the younger boy & girl http://www.reallygreattoys.com/ItemDetail.aspx?itemID=26332 I know you said you didnt want to do a gc but what about a gas card for the older boy if he drives my girls ages 10 & almost 14 love the ring watches-found them last yr at big lots super cheap I think they were $5-$8 Check out old navy for pj bottoms or gloves,scarf & those lil head wraps that are so cute.

I have always given clothes as gifts granted all the clothes go in one huge box and is wrapped-this yr though I am going to do clothing gc's my 2 oldest children are getting to where I cant just walk in somewhere and buy a shirt or pair of jeans-plus they prefer abercrombie,hollister american eagle so they are getting exspensive

one code sent to lowmerc1 one left to give....my cards do not state any cell phone specific's I get a link and a code hope that helps .... got the codes off my Herbal Essences shamp & cond bottles

Just got 2 free ringtones from my shampoo & conditioner bottles My treat for Halloween 1st 2 pm's get em....

I so love a good snowday! cant wait for the kiddos to use the sno-ballers

Are you and your sister close? I would visit with her and see how she feels- If it were me I would get them a small gift,nothing extravagant but someting simple and that could make them feel welcomed into this new family they just inherited. Or you could buy them a DVD as a joint gift for the both of them. Just a thought.

Pistachio Dream 2 cups graham crackers crumbs 1 1/2 stick butter melted 1 cup chopped nuts(I used pecans-you can use your favorite) 8oz cream cheese(softened) 1 large container cool whip(thawed) 1 cup powdered sugar 2 boxes pistachio pudding mix(dont follow box directions) 2 1/2 cup milk 1st layer-mix graham cracker crumbs,nuts and melted butter with a spoon-pour into cake pan and bake 20-30 mins @ 350 let cool completely 2nd layer-next mix 1 cup cool whip,cream cheese and powdered sugar beat well with a mixer-spread onto the cooled crust 3rd layer-next mix 2 boxes pistachio pudding and 2 1/2 cups milk beat well until thick-pour over 2nd layer 4th layer take remaining cool whip and spread over the pudding(3rd layer) chill for about 2 hrs

Put it in a pinata as a filler around all the candy and goodies

we bought our dd the creative zen vision M 30gb last yr for Christmas-she Loves it. Now ds wants an Ipod and we are trying to talk him out of it-we prfer the Creative Zen

I like the solid purple