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Sweet Simple Snowflake Christmas

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P.S. This is the one time in your life you'll see Lucy with anything cute in her hair. It was torn off seconds after the photo was shot.

Turkey Trouble

 A few weeks ago, Ben came home with the assignment to disguise a turkey so it wouldn't get eaten for Thanksgiving dinner. Here's the students' work on display last week at parent-teacher conference. Surprisingly, no two were alike and all were very creative. They encouraged the kids to have the turkey doing something unique to the child, so of course Ben's was...

 A golfer.

This Power Ranger one also stood out to me. Not only for its professional-looking quality (undoubtedly created with a wee bit of adult help), but also because last time I volunteered in Ben's class I got to hear all about this little girl's love for Power Rangers. She was distraught that all the pink Power Ranger costumes were sold out at Wal-Mart and she had to settle for being a princess. Yuck!

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

Our car was filthy, so I thought it would be fun to take Lucy through the automatic car wash. She didn't agree.

She started crying and kept repeating,"Too loudy!" For the past few days she's told people about getting our car washed and asks to go again. I'm not sure she's ready for it, considering the post-traumatic stress she's suffered as a result of us getting our shower redone.

We had our old, moldy tile taken out and replaced a few months ago, and we can only assume that the noise of chipping out tile and the associated mess snapped something inside of her. She saw the work in progress and has been terrified of showers ever since. At every house she goes to she asks to see the shower. She refuses to bathe in our tub with a shower and won't go to the bathroom alone if there's a shower next to the toilet. We keep telling her the shower is happy now that it's fixed and she will sometimes ask to "pat pat" the shower if someone holds her to reach up and touch it.

 

The project halfway through.

Andy loves the finished product since he says that now he feels like the can shower without catching a fungus, but we might have to take Lucy to counseling as a result.

What to do?

Back to the Drawing Board

I thought this picture might work for our Christmas card, but upon further inspection, realized that half of our party is not looking at the camera. Drat. Maybe we'll have to piece together some sort of photo montage.

Am I Sensing a Theme?

Ben started his Christmas list yesterday and here's how it looks so far:

1. Nintendo DSi XL
2. Harry Potter DS games
3. Star Wars Lego games
4. New Lego Star Wars
5. DS Lego games that has a Lego in it

I saw this book on Amazon and think it might be just the ticket.

Other than that, I haven't even started thinking about Christmas gifts yet. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, perhaps this would be the time to start. I'm also woefully behind on sending out a Christmas card since we haven't taken any current family pictures. Busy schedules, lack of planning, and our pregnant photographer/dear friend's due date collided so that we missed our window of opportunity. Now that I think of it, there is one from this summer that might do the trick. Better get on that ASAP.

Online shopping is going to be our friend this year since we'll be traveling for the holidays. I've gotten lazy and haven't gone Black Friday shopping since I was a teenager. Back in the day we always spent Thanksgiving in western Washington with my grandparents, and since they lived in a fairly remote area, it was big excitement to make the 45-minute drive into town to hit the sales at JC Penney, Lamonts, and Rite Aid. Now I try to avoid the toy aisle as much as possible as a general rule, let alone when hundreds of other sleep-deprived, budget-crunched, turkey-crazed customers are tearing madly down the aisles, all fighting over the same Zhu Zhu Pet.

Is that still a cool toy? I don't know even what's en vogue for kids right now.

• Where are you on your Christmas list? Are you an organized do-it-aheader or a last minute shopper?
• Will you be out on Black Friday, and if so, what will you be buying? Maybe I can be convinced it's worth the effort for the right item. Last week's email about 75% off all women's outerwear at Old Navy didn't even entice me, even though I have a major weakness for coats.

I Heart The Warblers

This clip encapsulates the best thing about "Glee": The Warblers. I can do without all the show's teenage drama, but what's not to love about sharp-dressed men singing a capella along with amazing choreographed dancing? Those navy blue blazers with red piping are killer.

Anyone else a Gleek, either in our out of the closet?

Nifty Thrifty

A few weeks ago, I was asked to talk in our church Young Women's group (ages 12-18) about money management. As it's a subject I feel particularly passionate about, I jumped at the chance. Since today was the big day, I wore my shwankiest discount/thrifted outfit, brought in items that I'd gotten for free or nearly so thanks to coupons, displayed my favorite finance book, and we discussed principles that hopefully will set them on a path to financial security. The girls were kind enough not to act bored to death, but who knows? I had a great time and could have gone on for hours.

This week I also needed to get some winter gear for Lucy and Ben: Coat, gloves, hat, shoes, boots, the works. It's the first time that we haven't had hand-me-downs or gifts to rely on. So in the spirit of my upcoming presentation, I headed to my go-to location for childrens' items: Le Goodwill. You better believe it. A few months ago, I found three practically new pairs of shoes for Lucy at $2 apiece, so I crossed my fingers that we could recreate the magic and get lucky again. Well, no dice on the shoes and clothes, but I did hit the jackpot on some holiday decor and other crazy items that I couldn't pass up.

Fall garland and pumpkins on our entryway

I struggle with seasonal/holiday decorating, so these pumpkins and garland were just the ticket. Price: 39 cents apiece.

Close-up of the entry table



The finds

Our Goodwill is awesome and stocks brand-new, unsold clothing and household items from Target and other retailers. So for a grand total of $16, I got the following items in mint condition:

• Cute Paula Deen party banners and matching placecards (to be given as early holiday gifts). The best part: They say, "Happy Holidays Y'all"
• Purple and silver hanging foil snowflakes to put around my kitchen light fixture as a sort-of Christmas chandelier decoration.
• Metal utility cup that sticks to my fridge to corral writing utensils.
• Cozy thick wool socks in Ben's size for his winter sledding adventures.
• Another pair of kid safety scissors so Lucy and Ben don't have to tussle over our one other pair.
• Fun gold "Naughty or nice" cocktail napkins, perfect for a holiday party.

All in all, not a bad day. We were there for almost an hour as I sifted through things, but Lucy was a good sport, smelling all the random candles, playing with the toys, and only asking to go to the bathroom twice. She's a fun little shopping buddy. Except when I'm trying to get her to try on winter hats in Target and she runs away, tearing between the displays and hiding under the clothes racks. I ended up just going to Once Upon a Child by myself to get the winter gear. Having never shopped there before, I was amazed at all the adorable, good-quality used kids' stuff. A thrifty gal's dream.