fluffkin79

I don't really care about brand. Are there Pillow Pet knockoffs out there cheaper than the branded ones?

I like the pillow pets - has anyone seen them cheaper than $20?

I wouldn't worry about preterm labor unless you have a reason to - if you have been having a difficult or unsual pregnancy. Have you been BF shopping before in the city you will be shopping this year? Do you live in one of those towns where people tend to get rough? If so, you may want to sit it out. Otherwise just make sure you are taking care of youself and you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

At dinner tonight my DD6 was telling us what she wanted for her birthday. She didn't know what they were called, but I think that she was describing Zoobles and Squinkies - especially Squinkies. I just looked them up and my first thought was "Who actually pays for this floor-fodder?". Ahh but she loves them, what to do? That's it, commerical TV is now going to be forbidden from my house. I am positive that she learned about these from SpongeBob's commercials. We are going back to PBS! Disclaimer: I am sure that these are great toys if you have children who take care of them. Mine does not.

Sure, I started in January! My kids are still young so they get most of their gifts from Target's toy clearance. I'm not sure who is getting what, but I have a closet full of stuff to choose from. With 3 kids I pick up anything that I think is intersting and put it in the closet. When a birthday or holiday rolls around I choose what to give to who. If I decide that a certain toy isn't right for any of my kids then it becomes a friend b-day gift. Last year was the first time I got to go Christmas shopping from my stash and I loved it! I also have bunches of clothes and PJs stashed from clearance sales. Santa tends to be pretty good at bringing their big wants each year, and I give them new clothes and the random cool stuff they didn't even know existed. I really don't think that I need to buy anything else for the kids this year, just the family gift exchange.

I also saw, but didn't get: Curious George Hide and Seek Zoo game $5.xx http://www.target.com/Curious-George-Hide-Seek-Game/dp/B001P4L1ZS and Bend-a-roos reg price $5-$20, now 30% off, but at a store where they hadn't marked down toys yet

Oh what a day! I read yesterday's posts and decided that today would be a good day to make that trip to the outlet mall - and stop at every Target on the way! Sheboygan (Kohler) Target: I got there at 9:00 and they were about 1/3 done marking toys. Someone was nice enough to scan the few things that weren't marked down yet and I got a cartload of goodies! Fond du Lac Target: I got there around 11:00. No toys had been marked down further. They seemed to be busy consolidating and assured me that they would not get to marking down toys today - maybe tomorrow. I did check again around 3pm and nothing had changed. I did find a pair of shoes that my DD wanted in the freshly marked-down shoe dept. Oshkosh Target: I got there about 12:00 and they were just getting started in toys. I put the things I wanted in my cart and wondered around for awhile. When all but one of my items had been marked down I asked one employee if she would please check my train set. It would take them quite a while to get to that aisle and mine was the last one in the store. She refused, saying that she had to scan everything in order. So I politely asked the other employee to scan my train set, explaining that it was the only one. He glanced around, didn't see any other customers close enough to see what he was up to, and scanned it for me. I understand why they don't want to keep stopping what they are doing to help individuals, but I am happy that he was able to scan that for me. Then I headed over to the outlet mall and found a surprise sidewalk sale! If you are in the area Children's Place, Nike, and Land's End had some good deals - but that's a story for another thread, Some Target goodies I haven't seen listed yet: Shoes - all of these are fresh markdowns ### 093020611 CK Hutchings boys brown sandals 2.48 ### 093092248 Toddler Girls' and Girls' Hello Kitty Glitter Slide Sandals - Pink 3.74 ### 093092083 XHIL FAYDA Pink girls slip on shoes with sparkly sequins ot the toes 4.24 Toys ### 086000785 Etch a Sketch Freestyle (I found 2 colors - pink and red) 2.48 ### 204040236 Fisher Price Kid Tought Noise Control Headphones 4.24 ### 204060723 Circo Blocks 100 pc. Set 3.74 ### 204033341 Circo Wooden Train Track set 3.98 ### 086000785 Play-Doh Party Pack (10 small canisters) 1.12 ### 086001050 Shrinky Dinks set 3.48 ### 086002453 Easy Bake cookie mix 2.48 ### 086002504 Scratch Design Princess sticker craft set 2.28 ### 204021121 Banzai Toy Story Infinity and Beyond 3-D Water Slide (slip and slide) 10.02 ### 204032805 Various Wooden Thomas engines 2.74 ### 204033373 Thomas Wooden Colin the Crane set 9.98 ### 204070736 (ASIN = B0017U9XB4) Lincoln Logs Big Sky Corral playset 8.24 Now I know what we are doing for DD's B-day party. I got a Toy story slip 'n slide, 8 water guns, and 2 fun rollers - now all I need is some 2 liter bottes to set up and obstacle course, some cake, ice cream and a pinata and - presto! - we have a party! I think we have the gifts covered...

YES! I've been to many playgroups and both boys and girls like the trains. My DS3 has a wooden set - whenever he plays with it his big sister (5) will come play with him. We have many young girl friends with toy train sets, too!

Was this in the summer or regular aisle? What does the box look like?

My store had summer stuff marked 75%. The one item I bought - a football - rang up at 75%. Strange that they didn't all get marked down at the same time. Did your store have 4th of July at 90% yet?

Gotta love little red stickers! Most of what I bring home from Target has them. My kids even know to look for them while we are in the store, they know they have a chance of getting it if it has a sticker on it!

Same as yesterday - some 50% (oatmeal, some shampoo), some 75% (other shampoos, crayola, dishes, water bottles, etc). What was left was on carts ready to go to the back room, but the employee I spoke to told me to help myself to whatever I wanted.

They were packing up the rest of the bulk/big save stuff at my store this morning. I was able to find some bundles with 3 washcloths and 3 handtowels - white, tan, or blue - for 2.48 (75% off). I thought they were part of the big save, but if they were they hadn't been packed up yet. I was dissappointed at first when they weren't with the other household clearance (where they were yesterday), but I found them on an endcap near picture frames.

###Wolverine twin sheet set 4.xx, 75% off Wolverine and Spiderman are both Marvel comics, but Spiderman is still 50% here. Has anyone else see Spiderman sheets go to 75%?

###Coleman propane camp stove $20.xx, 75% off ###Tarp, 10' x 20', ~$5, 75% I've been watching the camp stove for a while and got today as they were marking camping gear down.

###Girls hats, gloves, scarves, earmuffs 75% off.

Do you know the brand or price?

I buy for us to have or to give, not to resell. I have 3 kids, and they are getting old enough to be invited to birthday parties. It's nice to have good gifts to give without breaking the bank. As a rule I spend $10 or less on friend birthdays, but I love to give something worth keeping. I usually know who a gift is going to before I buy it, but will sometimes pick up extras just to add to the gift closet. I bought 5 footballs at 75%, have assigned 4 to specific kids, and have an extra on hand just because it is hard to go wrong with a football. As for my kids, I have most of their birthdays and Christmas covered, along with their cousins and close friends. I really didn't have to buy much for my kids last Christmas. I was able to shop in my toy stash and spent under $500 on gifts for 32 people, including what I spent on the toys and clothes when they were purchased.

1st stop: Sheboygan, Wi Was there till about 9:30 yesterday and there wasn't any action in toys. There were 12 Spikes, so I thought I had a pretty good chance at getting one. I got there at 8:05 and the last one had been found by a fellow GDer. The rest had dissappeared. The cashier said that she checked out several last night, so I guess they marked down toys later in the day yesterday. That's alright, I didn't really NEED Spike, he would be a nice-to-have for us. I did find: ###the Bionic Eye microscopes I really wanted, 11.xx ###Doll highchair, wooden, Circo brand 4.98? ###lots of Board Games, 2.48 - 6.xx ###Printies 4.98 and extra sets 2.48? ###Lionel wooden train sets, 9.98 and some smaller stocking stuffer type stuff. 2nd Stop: Grafton I just didn't feel done yet, so I drove 30 min. south to Grafton. I was able to find: ###Spike, 32.xx ###The Christmas Story Train Set, 3x.xx ###Lionel expansion track, 7.xx ###Snow White barbie-type doll (kitchen set?), ###Mini Kota 3.74?(looks like a furreal), ###Thomas train car 2.48 (I think) ###Smartcycle game 6.xx (hotwheels?) ###Toy story magna-doodle type drawing board with stencils 4.98 (rang up as kai lan, wrong sticker?) ###Target brand play kitchen appliance 3-pack: blender, coffee pot, and mixer ###Target brand fire truck 5.00 ###Hanes sweatshirts 4t was .98, 7/8 was 1.2x ###Gerber 2-pack footed toddler pjs 4.98 - $1q from Target website. Saw but passed on: ###Eye clops projector (there were 5-6 left) 24.xx ###Monty 14.xx (1 left) ###D-Rex 37.xx (1 left) ###Smartcycle game, Spongebob 6.xx (2 left) 3rd stop: Fond du lac After picking up my preschooler we headed to the one last store within reasonable driving distance. There were toy clearance aisles, but there were pretty bare by 12:30. I did manage to find: ###Princess table and chair set 4.98 ###Cabbage Patch Doll 6.00 #Didj case 4.98 ###Counting and number board game (can't remember which chacters) 2.48 ###Play toaster, changes colors with water 2.xx ###Bionic Eye microscope, a different kind then I had seen at my regular store, 7.xx ###Gerber footed pjs 4.98 - $1 coupon ###Boy's gym shoes 3.74

I saw a couple of the wooden train sets at my store. Normally $40. They didn't have the orange/white striped stickers that internet returns normally have, so I am guessing they are something that many stores have (or had) on clearance.

For those of you whose stores have marked down toys: Are most of the toys marked down to 75%, or does it look like they are going to drag this out and do it in stages?

I am! I was there this morning, but haven't made it back. I'm counting on them marking down toys tomorrow. I really hope they do because being in Target every day is getting expensive! Today I strolled through cookware and shoes. I picked up a collendar, 6 pairs of shoes and boots for my kids, and a couple boys shirts - all 75% off. There were quite a lots of shoes and boot, but I didn't see much in the kitchen area. I am still waiting for the Gerber 2-pack PJs to get marked down to 50%.

How late does the markdown team work?

***EA Sports Sweet Spot Football 3.74, was 14.99 (75%) Cheers when you squeeze it.

What do these look like?