Instead of doing a regular tip or dare this Friday, I just want to wish you all a safe and Happy Halloween! I hope you all have a great day! Tip or dare will be back next week...
Friday, October 31, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Wordless Wednesday: Halloween Edition
Our Little Sweet Tomato
Buzz is proud of his Pumpkin
Dash from The Incredibles...
Luigi and Mario (yes, I forgot their mustaches...)
Where's Waldo?All in all, I am happy with their costumes...of course Buzz was the easiest since I bought it for cheap and didn't have to sew anything for it...
Monday, October 27, 2008
Monday Memory: Childhood Smiles
I was born in Portland, and lived there until I was five years old. My memories of those first years of my life are few. I remember going to preschool, to daycare, swimming lessons and some little bits and pieces of my home life.
We lived in a small house. I don't remember a lot of details about it. My two older sisters and I (there were just the three of us kids at the time) shared a room and slept on Army cots, and we thought sleeping on Army cots was fun. The other memory that sticks out about that house was the front doorknob. I don't know why, but my Dad painted that doorknob a bright orange color, and drew a smiley face on it. I loved that doorknob, and its smiling face.
Preschool was not fun for me. I often got into trouble, and I didn't get along well with the teachers. One day my Dad took me to the bus for preschool and dropped me off. I didn't want to go. I can remember being upset about it but of course I didn't have any choice. The windows of the bus were fogged up (it was winter I think) and my Dad drew a smiley face on the window of the bus next to me. It made me feel better. Every day for several days I would sit in that spot because if I breathed on the window, or it was already fogged up, I could see the faint traces of that smiley face from my Dad. It made me feel special, and its one of the few things I can still remember about those young and tender years of my life.
Of course my Dad was not perfect. We had years where we didn't even get along, but on that winter morning, he did just the perfect thing simply by drawing that smiley face on my window. It didn't take much effort on his part, but it was enough for me.
Is there someone you can bring a smile to today?
We lived in a small house. I don't remember a lot of details about it. My two older sisters and I (there were just the three of us kids at the time) shared a room and slept on Army cots, and we thought sleeping on Army cots was fun. The other memory that sticks out about that house was the front doorknob. I don't know why, but my Dad painted that doorknob a bright orange color, and drew a smiley face on it. I loved that doorknob, and its smiling face.
Preschool was not fun for me. I often got into trouble, and I didn't get along well with the teachers. One day my Dad took me to the bus for preschool and dropped me off. I didn't want to go. I can remember being upset about it but of course I didn't have any choice. The windows of the bus were fogged up (it was winter I think) and my Dad drew a smiley face on the window of the bus next to me. It made me feel better. Every day for several days I would sit in that spot because if I breathed on the window, or it was already fogged up, I could see the faint traces of that smiley face from my Dad. It made me feel special, and its one of the few things I can still remember about those young and tender years of my life.
Of course my Dad was not perfect. We had years where we didn't even get along, but on that winter morning, he did just the perfect thing simply by drawing that smiley face on my window. It didn't take much effort on his part, but it was enough for me.
Is there someone you can bring a smile to today?
Friday, October 24, 2008
Holiday Tip or Dare #4
Traditions...(yes, I have that song from Fiddler on the Roof in my head now.)
Today's tip or dare is to think about starting a new Holiday Tradition. You can do something for whatever Holiday you choose...these challenges aren't just about Christmas.
For me, traditions are the things I remember the most about celebrating the Holidays. Memories often start out with, "Every year we would..." Some of the traditions in our family have been passed down from past generations, like eating oyster stuffing at Thanksgiving time and our Christmas Eve celebration at my parents' house (which used to be Christmas Eve at my Grandparents' house). Some traditions are newer, like my sister Myra's annual pumpkin carving party that we do every Halloween (this is year #13 for that, I know this because D and I went on our second date to the first pumpkin carving party at Myra's). These are things that our children look forward too every year. They don't have to be fancy or cost a lot of money. It can be as simple as finding a favorite new recipe to add to the Holiday Season. We do our monster cookies each year, and as a kid, one of my greatest memories is that every Christmas Eve, during the day, the Grandkids would all get together and decorate sugar cookies for that night. We decorated them with food coloring, painting it right on the cut out dough before baking, and although they didn't taste as good as frosted cookies, we always loved that tradition and showing off our creations. We also loved that everyone had very colorful mouths all evening from eating our cookies.
Every year I try to come up with a new thing to add to my Holiday arsenal of tasty treats. Last year I was too sick to do much baking or candy making, so I didn't have a new recipe of the year, but this year in my perusals I came up with the perfect one...Churros! I learned how to make them, and after our first test run they are a hit!
Start a new tradition this year! Simple or big, they will become cherished family memories...
I would love to hear your already established traditions for any Holidays.
Today's tip or dare is to think about starting a new Holiday Tradition. You can do something for whatever Holiday you choose...these challenges aren't just about Christmas.
For me, traditions are the things I remember the most about celebrating the Holidays. Memories often start out with, "Every year we would..." Some of the traditions in our family have been passed down from past generations, like eating oyster stuffing at Thanksgiving time and our Christmas Eve celebration at my parents' house (which used to be Christmas Eve at my Grandparents' house). Some traditions are newer, like my sister Myra's annual pumpkin carving party that we do every Halloween (this is year #13 for that, I know this because D and I went on our second date to the first pumpkin carving party at Myra's). These are things that our children look forward too every year. They don't have to be fancy or cost a lot of money. It can be as simple as finding a favorite new recipe to add to the Holiday Season. We do our monster cookies each year, and as a kid, one of my greatest memories is that every Christmas Eve, during the day, the Grandkids would all get together and decorate sugar cookies for that night. We decorated them with food coloring, painting it right on the cut out dough before baking, and although they didn't taste as good as frosted cookies, we always loved that tradition and showing off our creations. We also loved that everyone had very colorful mouths all evening from eating our cookies.
Every year I try to come up with a new thing to add to my Holiday arsenal of tasty treats. Last year I was too sick to do much baking or candy making, so I didn't have a new recipe of the year, but this year in my perusals I came up with the perfect one...Churros! I learned how to make them, and after our first test run they are a hit!
Start a new tradition this year! Simple or big, they will become cherished family memories...
I would love to hear your already established traditions for any Holidays.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Shoe Shopping...
I am always on the lookout for shoes for my boys. I have learned that if I wait until they absolutely need them, I will regret it because I will end up having to pay full price. The way they wear out their shoes, its just not a good thing to pay more than about $15 a pair. This last year though, in an effort to help the shoes last longer, I have been searching out better quality shoes and trying to find them at that $15 price. Instead of getting holes after two months, the shoes are lasting more like six months, and that is good enough for me!
Two of our sons have high functioning autism. For one of them, dexterity is an issue, and even though he knows how to tie shoes in theory, it is a frustrating thing for him. As he has gotten older it has been harder and harder for me to find sneakers (at a decent price) that don't have laces. Now he is on the verge, between boy's sizes and men's sizes for shoes. When you hit men's size five the shoes at payless suddenly become few and far between and its virtually impossible to find ones that have elastic instead of laces so I have been keeping my eye out for some.
While shopping at Fred Meyer this morning I decided to look at shoes. #5 has outgrown his sneakers (I didn't get new ones for school yet) so I was hunting for some shoes for him. I came across some Avia sneakers in blue and white (blue is his favorite color, so I knew I could appease him with that even though what he really wanted was another pair of Thomas the Tank Engine sneaks...I haven't been able to find them in a larger size than 11, which is what he just grew out of). The Avia sneaks were half off, making them $15, plus an extra 15% off with a coupon. I grabbed a pair and then just because I decided to look for some size fives. I always try to avoid getting the boys the same shoes as each other because most of them are just one full size away from each other, and it could get confusing. The only fives I could find in the Avias had laces, or were the same shoes as the next boy down. Then I came across one pair of shoes that were behind the other boxes. They were size fives, and the same style as the others, but they were a different color combination. They were the only pair in that color at all and there were none on display either. Still, I figured they would be half off also as they were the same style, so I put them in the cart and counted myself lucky to have found some size fives that didn't have laces.
I got to the checkout line and was being rung up, and the cashier scanned the shoes. She stopped and told me, "I can't sell you these shoes." She explained to me that they had been donation shoes. I used to work at Fred Meyer and I know that with overstock of some things that have gone to clearance they will write them off for tax purposes and donate them to the goodwill. This pair of shoes had somehow been missed when the other shoes went to clearance (more than six months ago) and later when they marked all the remaining pairs to be donated, they were still not found. They sat in their box through all the back to school sales and etc, unclaimed. The cashier called someone from the shoe department over and explained the shoes ringing up as a donation. I offered to pay the full $15 price. He called his manager and she declined and said she wanted the shoes to be donated. I was frustrated but there was nothing I could do. The shoe guy took the shoes back to the shoe department and the cashier continued ringing me up.
Unfortunately I am an somewhat emotional person. I had been pretty excited to find some high quality shoes that didn't have laces or Velcro for my son. Shoes that would look good, and no one would make fun of him for not being very good at tying his shoes. I started to cry (No, I didn't sob or anything...but I couldn't keep the tears back). Standing there, feeling stupid, I waited for the cashier to finish. Just as I was putting my debit card through the shoe guy came back and said, "My manager changed her mind...she said we could sell you the shoes at the donated price." The cashier added the shoes to my total, I paid and I was on my way.
Even though it was a simple little thing and doesn't seem like a big deal, I felt very blessed to have found the shoes my son needed (and he is growing out of his other pair so he really did need them too). Of course, being the deal shopper I am I was pretty glad to get them for the price I did...are you curious?
I paid two cents for them (regularly $29.99)...now if that isn't a deal I don't know WHAT is!
Two of our sons have high functioning autism. For one of them, dexterity is an issue, and even though he knows how to tie shoes in theory, it is a frustrating thing for him. As he has gotten older it has been harder and harder for me to find sneakers (at a decent price) that don't have laces. Now he is on the verge, between boy's sizes and men's sizes for shoes. When you hit men's size five the shoes at payless suddenly become few and far between and its virtually impossible to find ones that have elastic instead of laces so I have been keeping my eye out for some.
While shopping at Fred Meyer this morning I decided to look at shoes. #5 has outgrown his sneakers (I didn't get new ones for school yet) so I was hunting for some shoes for him. I came across some Avia sneakers in blue and white (blue is his favorite color, so I knew I could appease him with that even though what he really wanted was another pair of Thomas the Tank Engine sneaks...I haven't been able to find them in a larger size than 11, which is what he just grew out of). The Avia sneaks were half off, making them $15, plus an extra 15% off with a coupon. I grabbed a pair and then just because I decided to look for some size fives. I always try to avoid getting the boys the same shoes as each other because most of them are just one full size away from each other, and it could get confusing. The only fives I could find in the Avias had laces, or were the same shoes as the next boy down. Then I came across one pair of shoes that were behind the other boxes. They were size fives, and the same style as the others, but they were a different color combination. They were the only pair in that color at all and there were none on display either. Still, I figured they would be half off also as they were the same style, so I put them in the cart and counted myself lucky to have found some size fives that didn't have laces.
I got to the checkout line and was being rung up, and the cashier scanned the shoes. She stopped and told me, "I can't sell you these shoes." She explained to me that they had been donation shoes. I used to work at Fred Meyer and I know that with overstock of some things that have gone to clearance they will write them off for tax purposes and donate them to the goodwill. This pair of shoes had somehow been missed when the other shoes went to clearance (more than six months ago) and later when they marked all the remaining pairs to be donated, they were still not found. They sat in their box through all the back to school sales and etc, unclaimed. The cashier called someone from the shoe department over and explained the shoes ringing up as a donation. I offered to pay the full $15 price. He called his manager and she declined and said she wanted the shoes to be donated. I was frustrated but there was nothing I could do. The shoe guy took the shoes back to the shoe department and the cashier continued ringing me up.
Unfortunately I am an somewhat emotional person. I had been pretty excited to find some high quality shoes that didn't have laces or Velcro for my son. Shoes that would look good, and no one would make fun of him for not being very good at tying his shoes. I started to cry (No, I didn't sob or anything...but I couldn't keep the tears back). Standing there, feeling stupid, I waited for the cashier to finish. Just as I was putting my debit card through the shoe guy came back and said, "My manager changed her mind...she said we could sell you the shoes at the donated price." The cashier added the shoes to my total, I paid and I was on my way.
Even though it was a simple little thing and doesn't seem like a big deal, I felt very blessed to have found the shoes my son needed (and he is growing out of his other pair so he really did need them too). Of course, being the deal shopper I am I was pretty glad to get them for the price I did...are you curious?
I paid two cents for them (regularly $29.99)...now if that isn't a deal I don't know WHAT is!
Wordless Wednesday
Our annual Monster Cookie tradition continues...
Sometimes its about how creative you can be (and how symmetrical!) by #3
Sometimes its about how much candy you can fit on one cookie by #2
Sometimes anything goes...(he must resist the urge for symmetry) by #4
Must...Have...More...Candycorn! by #1
A brother and his sister in cookie art...(#5 made these...the green one is baby B and the purple one is him) Ah...but he made them mostly symmetrical!
As for me, I just like them to be pretty...(and symmetrical!)
D goes for the creativity AND the candy to cookie ratio...
Friday, October 17, 2008
Holiday Tip or Dare #3
Exchange Christmas Stockings.
I love opening my Christmas Stocking every year. It wasn't always so. See...because Santa is so busy, here at our house at least, I do some shopping for him. Santa tells me what to get, so to speak, and I make sure the stockings are filled to his specs. Opening my stocking was, needless to say, pretty anti climactic. Especially because I tended to just toss in whatever leftovers I might have had after filling the stocking of my kids. For a while I thought about having D fill my stocking, but I know that he is busy, and shopping for a bunch of small things would be stressful. He would be willing to do it, but I had a better idea.
A few years ago my Mom, one of my sisters and I started filling each others' stockings. I knew they were both having the same depressing stocking experiences I was, so I asked them if they wanted to try it, and they agreed. Instead of exchanging directly with each other, we each get things to put in the stockings of the other two. Of course we sometimes overbuy a bit, so our stockings are always really full. My side of the family gets together on Christmas Eve, so sometime that night we take turns going to my Mom's room and putting our stocking stuffers for the year in each other's stockings (without looking at whatever else is in there). Its always fun opening my stocking now. My Mom and sister always do a great job, and even though none of us spends a lot on the stuffers, we always feel special. Other female family members are missing out a bit, but since they don't want to let their hubbies off the hook, its okay.
If you don't have family close by, you can always try this out with a friend or a group of friends. I dare you!
I love opening my Christmas Stocking every year. It wasn't always so. See...because Santa is so busy, here at our house at least, I do some shopping for him. Santa tells me what to get, so to speak, and I make sure the stockings are filled to his specs. Opening my stocking was, needless to say, pretty anti climactic. Especially because I tended to just toss in whatever leftovers I might have had after filling the stocking of my kids. For a while I thought about having D fill my stocking, but I know that he is busy, and shopping for a bunch of small things would be stressful. He would be willing to do it, but I had a better idea.
A few years ago my Mom, one of my sisters and I started filling each others' stockings. I knew they were both having the same depressing stocking experiences I was, so I asked them if they wanted to try it, and they agreed. Instead of exchanging directly with each other, we each get things to put in the stockings of the other two. Of course we sometimes overbuy a bit, so our stockings are always really full. My side of the family gets together on Christmas Eve, so sometime that night we take turns going to my Mom's room and putting our stocking stuffers for the year in each other's stockings (without looking at whatever else is in there). Its always fun opening my stocking now. My Mom and sister always do a great job, and even though none of us spends a lot on the stuffers, we always feel special. Other female family members are missing out a bit, but since they don't want to let their hubbies off the hook, its okay.
If you don't have family close by, you can always try this out with a friend or a group of friends. I dare you!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Wordless Wednesday
Sometimes I think Baby B should be in movies. This is her "scared" look aka "Why are you pointing that camera at me again?"
There are moments when she doesn't mind though.
And then there are moments like this one, where she was either tired of me taking her picture or she realized suddenly that she was sinking in quicksand (that's what it looks like to me).
"Please Mom! Stop it already!"Maybe I should stick to nature pics...
Monday, October 13, 2008
A Monday Memory: Living on a Bus
When I was about 15 years old my family was living in a three bedroom apartment. That might seem like a decently sized home to all of you, but you should take into consideration that we had six kids in my family growing up, and five of us were still living at home during this time in my life so there were two teenagers, a six year old and four year old twins in addition to my parents and apartments are usually a lot smaller than a house would be.
Finding that apartment complex a few years before had been somewhat of a miracle in and of itself, as most places would not consider taking a family with that many children. When we had first moved into the complex it had been as tenants, and then after a while my parents got the opportunity to manage the apartments. I wasn't in on the details, but I do know that managing the apartments was a pretty stressful job and my Dad was working full time in addition to that. The day came when we needed to move on.
Now we were back at square one: A large family unable to find a place in their price range that would take them all. I'm sure this had to be frustrating for my parents. My Dad has always been a creative person, and does the best he can to find solutions to any problems that come up. For a long time my parents had slept in the living room on an air mattress while all six of us kids took up the three small bedrooms upstairs. Now he was trying to find a place for his family to live and coming up empty. His solution was one that most people wouldn't try, but it was creative, and it gave us shelter when we needed it.
He bought an old school bus. There were no seats inside other than the driver's seat and the outside was spray painted black. My Dad built bunk beds into the back of the bus for me and my three sisters. My brother slept on a mattress nearby and my parents slept in the front of the bus on an air mattress. There was no bathroom or kitchen in the bus. At first we tried parking the bus at my Dad's work where we could plug in the microwave and make food, and where there was a bathroom, but that could only go on for so long. Then a wonderful family from our church invited us to park the bus in their driveway. They opened their home to us by allowing us to come in and use their bathroom and shower when we needed it, and the Mom of that family and my Mom took turns cooking dinner for both families in the kitchen. We hung out (an extension cord ran from their garage to our TV) and slept in the bus. My sister worked early mornings at Target and was the first one up. She would go in and shower and get ready for work, then as soon as she was done it was my turn (I had early morning seminary and had to be there around 5:50 a.m.). After me was my Dad getting ready for work, and so on...
I didn't spend a lot of time in the bus during the day what with seminary, school, basketball and then dinner in the other family's house. I don't remember where I kept my clothes...if it was just a bag of them packed, or if we had a dresser or something. The window next to my bunk (the bunks were plywood, and I slept in a sleeping bag) was broken, and had a piece of cardboard over it to keep the wind from coming in. It was cold (I think it was early December). I vaguely remember worrying about how we would do Christmas while living in a bus. All in all though, our time in the bus was only for a couple of weeks. Mom and Dad were able to find a house for sale that they could afford and we moved in before Christmas came. A stressful and worried time of life has become a fond memory. Even though it may not have seemed conventional, my Dad took care of us. We could have ended up on the street or in a shelter, but as it worked out, that bus kept our family safe, and even though it wasn't the most comfortable it kept us mostly warm as well.
After we moved into the house (where my parents still live today) the bus sat out in the driveway. It never reached its full potential. I know my Dad always wanted to make it nicer and make it a really good place for living out of. Instead it became a sometimes clubhouse and a place we wanted to have sleepovers, and eventually Dad got rid of that old black bus...but I for one, will always remember it. For just a little while, it was home.
Finding that apartment complex a few years before had been somewhat of a miracle in and of itself, as most places would not consider taking a family with that many children. When we had first moved into the complex it had been as tenants, and then after a while my parents got the opportunity to manage the apartments. I wasn't in on the details, but I do know that managing the apartments was a pretty stressful job and my Dad was working full time in addition to that. The day came when we needed to move on.
Now we were back at square one: A large family unable to find a place in their price range that would take them all. I'm sure this had to be frustrating for my parents. My Dad has always been a creative person, and does the best he can to find solutions to any problems that come up. For a long time my parents had slept in the living room on an air mattress while all six of us kids took up the three small bedrooms upstairs. Now he was trying to find a place for his family to live and coming up empty. His solution was one that most people wouldn't try, but it was creative, and it gave us shelter when we needed it.
He bought an old school bus. There were no seats inside other than the driver's seat and the outside was spray painted black. My Dad built bunk beds into the back of the bus for me and my three sisters. My brother slept on a mattress nearby and my parents slept in the front of the bus on an air mattress. There was no bathroom or kitchen in the bus. At first we tried parking the bus at my Dad's work where we could plug in the microwave and make food, and where there was a bathroom, but that could only go on for so long. Then a wonderful family from our church invited us to park the bus in their driveway. They opened their home to us by allowing us to come in and use their bathroom and shower when we needed it, and the Mom of that family and my Mom took turns cooking dinner for both families in the kitchen. We hung out (an extension cord ran from their garage to our TV) and slept in the bus. My sister worked early mornings at Target and was the first one up. She would go in and shower and get ready for work, then as soon as she was done it was my turn (I had early morning seminary and had to be there around 5:50 a.m.). After me was my Dad getting ready for work, and so on...
I didn't spend a lot of time in the bus during the day what with seminary, school, basketball and then dinner in the other family's house. I don't remember where I kept my clothes...if it was just a bag of them packed, or if we had a dresser or something. The window next to my bunk (the bunks were plywood, and I slept in a sleeping bag) was broken, and had a piece of cardboard over it to keep the wind from coming in. It was cold (I think it was early December). I vaguely remember worrying about how we would do Christmas while living in a bus. All in all though, our time in the bus was only for a couple of weeks. Mom and Dad were able to find a house for sale that they could afford and we moved in before Christmas came. A stressful and worried time of life has become a fond memory. Even though it may not have seemed conventional, my Dad took care of us. We could have ended up on the street or in a shelter, but as it worked out, that bus kept our family safe, and even though it wasn't the most comfortable it kept us mostly warm as well.
After we moved into the house (where my parents still live today) the bus sat out in the driveway. It never reached its full potential. I know my Dad always wanted to make it nicer and make it a really good place for living out of. Instead it became a sometimes clubhouse and a place we wanted to have sleepovers, and eventually Dad got rid of that old black bus...but I for one, will always remember it. For just a little while, it was home.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Holiday Tip or Dare #2
Make a list.
I am a maker of lists. Its just the way I roll. Every year, sometime in the early fall I use a notebook to make a list of everyone I have to shop for for that Christmas. I also include any birthdays coming up during the fall to Christmas months to make sure I don't forget to shop for those as well. Generally I will come up with a budget or a goal for how much I want to spend on each person/gift. I write gift ideas for people down (the page with my kids' gift list on it, I keep hidden, and I use a kind of a code that only I can read for their gift ideas). I write ideas for gifts next to each person's name (this list is for people outside the family) and then I keep my eye open for sales for what I want, whether those sales are on the Internet or elsewhere. This helps me stay in budget and keep track of what I have and what I still need. I check off each gift as I buy it, and I can also check off when its wrapped and cross it out when it gets mailed, delivered or packed to take with us to our celebrations.
I also make a list of extra food things I will be needing for the holiday cooking. I always budget extra grocery money during the holidays to cover the costs of making all the great food we enjoy. I'm already getting started on that as I used the last of my chocolate chips making my cookie dough to freeze for last week's challenge. Costco currently has coupons out and chocolate chips are among the many things I am planning to get there before the coupons expire. Sugar, flour and other baking things will start going on sale soon as well, and with food prices as high as they are, its good to stock up.
Some of my usual lists every year are:
Gift list for people not in our household.
Gift list for people in our household.
Grocery list for holiday groceries.
List of goodies etc to make for the holidays and people to deliver goodies to.
So my challenge to you is an easy one. Make a list this week (and don't forget to check it twice ;o). You can use my list for inspiration or come up with your own lists. It doesn't even have to be a list for Christmas! You could do lists for Thanksgiving or other holidays to get you started. I think I will work on my Christmas Card List this week as I have yet to be truly successful at getting my cards out every year (I still have nineteen stamps left over from last year...it took me eleven months to use the other 21 up).
Another great resource that can help you make a list is Wish Tips. Its a website started by friends of ours that lets you make your Christmas list (or birthday) list and lists for your kids and then you can send an invitation out to people you want to view your list. Your list stays private, because only the people you give permission to can view your list. It even lets you put links in your list so that friends and relatives can see exactly what you or your kids want and won't be confused. The best part is that its free!
I am a maker of lists. Its just the way I roll. Every year, sometime in the early fall I use a notebook to make a list of everyone I have to shop for for that Christmas. I also include any birthdays coming up during the fall to Christmas months to make sure I don't forget to shop for those as well. Generally I will come up with a budget or a goal for how much I want to spend on each person/gift. I write gift ideas for people down (the page with my kids' gift list on it, I keep hidden, and I use a kind of a code that only I can read for their gift ideas). I write ideas for gifts next to each person's name (this list is for people outside the family) and then I keep my eye open for sales for what I want, whether those sales are on the Internet or elsewhere. This helps me stay in budget and keep track of what I have and what I still need. I check off each gift as I buy it, and I can also check off when its wrapped and cross it out when it gets mailed, delivered or packed to take with us to our celebrations.
I also make a list of extra food things I will be needing for the holiday cooking. I always budget extra grocery money during the holidays to cover the costs of making all the great food we enjoy. I'm already getting started on that as I used the last of my chocolate chips making my cookie dough to freeze for last week's challenge. Costco currently has coupons out and chocolate chips are among the many things I am planning to get there before the coupons expire. Sugar, flour and other baking things will start going on sale soon as well, and with food prices as high as they are, its good to stock up.
Some of my usual lists every year are:
Gift list for people not in our household.
Gift list for people in our household.
Grocery list for holiday groceries.
List of goodies etc to make for the holidays and people to deliver goodies to.
So my challenge to you is an easy one. Make a list this week (and don't forget to check it twice ;o). You can use my list for inspiration or come up with your own lists. It doesn't even have to be a list for Christmas! You could do lists for Thanksgiving or other holidays to get you started. I think I will work on my Christmas Card List this week as I have yet to be truly successful at getting my cards out every year (I still have nineteen stamps left over from last year...it took me eleven months to use the other 21 up).
Another great resource that can help you make a list is Wish Tips. Its a website started by friends of ours that lets you make your Christmas list (or birthday) list and lists for your kids and then you can send an invitation out to people you want to view your list. Your list stays private, because only the people you give permission to can view your list. It even lets you put links in your list so that friends and relatives can see exactly what you or your kids want and won't be confused. The best part is that its free!
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Wow...do I read a lot of blogs!
I went through and cleaned house today, so to speak. Well, I cleaned my feeds anyway. I got it down to just over 60 blogs. How did this happen?! This after I deleted the feeds of newer blogs that I have never commented on, or the blogs of people I don't think will miss me. That doesn't even count the handful of private blogs I go to.
Its too much! It stresses me out. So here is my sort of solution...just for my own peace of mind.
I sorted them. I made a feed folder for each day of the week except Sunday, and I put nine or ten blogs in each folder. So if you don't hear from me all week, or see me lurking every day on your stat counter anymore, don't fret. Its just that visiting nine or ten blogs each day and catching up on a week's worth of their blogs seems easier to me than trying to keep up with all 60-something of them. I feel better already!
The beauty of it is that each folder will show bold if it has unread blogs in it, so if I am totally bored I can always peruse a day or so ahead, but if I am too busy, I can feel better knowing I will get to it on its scheduled day.
Its too much! It stresses me out. So here is my sort of solution...just for my own peace of mind.
I sorted them. I made a feed folder for each day of the week except Sunday, and I put nine or ten blogs in each folder. So if you don't hear from me all week, or see me lurking every day on your stat counter anymore, don't fret. Its just that visiting nine or ten blogs each day and catching up on a week's worth of their blogs seems easier to me than trying to keep up with all 60-something of them. I feel better already!
The beauty of it is that each folder will show bold if it has unread blogs in it, so if I am totally bored I can always peruse a day or so ahead, but if I am too busy, I can feel better knowing I will get to it on its scheduled day.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Friday, October 03, 2008
Holiday Tip or Dare #1
There are less than three months until Christmas!
Now, any of you that have read this blog from the start (hi DaPoppins!) know that I get a little crazy with things around the Holidays. I have a lot of special Holiday desserts I like to make and its always hard to narrow it down. Last Holiday Season I was puking my guts out from morning sickness, and we were planning our trip to Disneyland for the day after Christmas. It was a great family trip, but really I almost feel like last Christmas was skipped over. Gifts were at a minimum due to the Disneyland trip and related costs (although I don't mind minimal gifts so much, we will be doing minimal again this year). I was too tired to do much in the way of baking and candy making, and I even listened to less Christmas music last year because I have an unfortunate tendency to associate music with nausea when I am pregnant (there is a whole Manhattan Transfer CD that makes me want to throw up because we bought it when I was pregnant with #1 and listened to it all the time). Christmas music is a favorite tradition of mine, and I was afraid it would be forever tainted by morning sickness memories so I listened minimally last year in comparison to my usual. Combine last year's fewer gifts bought for the kiddies, very few goodies being made and only a little Christmas music and it almost feels like I skipped over a year!
Still, in my tendency to overdo everything, I try to get as much done ahead as I can. This year I thought I would put up some Holiday Challenges for you. I'm calling them Tip or Dares. Like truth or dare, you can choose between the two. You can take it as either a helpful tip that you don't ever actually use, or you can take it as a dare, and try it out! I will post these when the mood strikes...so here is #1.
With my list of 17 different Holiday goodies it gets stressful trying to get them all made. Something I have been doing over the last couple of years to help me not be so stressed out, is to make things ahead and freeze them. I especially do this with cookie dough, and with the Christmas Day cinnamon rolls I make. So my challenge to you this time around is to make one kind of cookie dough this weekend and put it in the freezer. I shape it into logs, wrap it in wax paper and then vacuum seal them. When I need cookies for something, I just get some cookie dough out, slice off however many cookies worth I need and bake them up. It takes some of the stress and mess out of the holiday rush for me. I try to have a couple of different kinds in the freezer ahead of time (I make cookie dough once a week for a few weeks) and then if something comes up, like an invite to a Holiday gathering, I can just bake some right up and take them along. Its also comforting to know that if things get really hectic close to Christmas and I just can't get everything done, we won't be left treatless. So go ahead!...I DARE you!
Now, any of you that have read this blog from the start (hi DaPoppins!) know that I get a little crazy with things around the Holidays. I have a lot of special Holiday desserts I like to make and its always hard to narrow it down. Last Holiday Season I was puking my guts out from morning sickness, and we were planning our trip to Disneyland for the day after Christmas. It was a great family trip, but really I almost feel like last Christmas was skipped over. Gifts were at a minimum due to the Disneyland trip and related costs (although I don't mind minimal gifts so much, we will be doing minimal again this year). I was too tired to do much in the way of baking and candy making, and I even listened to less Christmas music last year because I have an unfortunate tendency to associate music with nausea when I am pregnant (there is a whole Manhattan Transfer CD that makes me want to throw up because we bought it when I was pregnant with #1 and listened to it all the time). Christmas music is a favorite tradition of mine, and I was afraid it would be forever tainted by morning sickness memories so I listened minimally last year in comparison to my usual. Combine last year's fewer gifts bought for the kiddies, very few goodies being made and only a little Christmas music and it almost feels like I skipped over a year!
Still, in my tendency to overdo everything, I try to get as much done ahead as I can. This year I thought I would put up some Holiday Challenges for you. I'm calling them Tip or Dares. Like truth or dare, you can choose between the two. You can take it as either a helpful tip that you don't ever actually use, or you can take it as a dare, and try it out! I will post these when the mood strikes...so here is #1.
With my list of 17 different Holiday goodies it gets stressful trying to get them all made. Something I have been doing over the last couple of years to help me not be so stressed out, is to make things ahead and freeze them. I especially do this with cookie dough, and with the Christmas Day cinnamon rolls I make. So my challenge to you this time around is to make one kind of cookie dough this weekend and put it in the freezer. I shape it into logs, wrap it in wax paper and then vacuum seal them. When I need cookies for something, I just get some cookie dough out, slice off however many cookies worth I need and bake them up. It takes some of the stress and mess out of the holiday rush for me. I try to have a couple of different kinds in the freezer ahead of time (I make cookie dough once a week for a few weeks) and then if something comes up, like an invite to a Holiday gathering, I can just bake some right up and take them along. Its also comforting to know that if things get really hectic close to Christmas and I just can't get everything done, we won't be left treatless. So go ahead!...I DARE you!
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Wordless Wednesday
I don't really like this picture (D took it...spiders are NOT my thing) but I thought it was fitting being the first day of October and everything.
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