Today's Topic: Gift Buying

Day 3 of the Momdot Christmas Party. Are you blogging? If not you should head on over to Momdot and start entering.



When do you start Christmas shopping? How do you budget for Christmas? Do you stick to your budget?

I shop for Christmas year round. If I see something on clearance/sale and I know someone on my list would love it, I'll pick it up. I keep a rubbermaid bin in the closet of our bedroom to store such goodies in. This makes it easier to budget too, since I'm not spending one huge lump sum in a month or two. I try to budget a certain amount like say $20 for my nieces and brothers, and then work around that amount. I tend to stick to my budget for the most part unless I get a really good deal on something that I didn't plan on buying.

Think Thin Thursdays -- #1

Bridgete Over at the Not So Blog Blog has started a new weekly meme challenge. It's to help us all get fit. Think Thin Thursdays starts today.

I don't necissarily have a lot of weight to lose, though I do have some, what I need to do most is tone. I haven't toned my belly since my second c-section when Izzie was born.

That being said, I have set three goals for this week. I'm starting small.

#1 I will walk 3 days a week. A half mile, a mile, whatever, just designated walking at the Park on the trail.
#2 I need to lose about 10 lbs, so I want to lose some weight this week
#3 I will do crunches or sit ups 2 nights a week.


Our task for this week is:

"Instead of giving myself reasons why I can't, I give myself reasons why I can." ~Author Unknown

What are your reasons??

My reasons are my daughters and myself. I want to teach my children healthy lifestyles. I want them to know that if you keep up with excercise and eating right, you can keep yourself pretty fit and healthy. I also want to feel better about myself, and when I look and feel healthier, I know I will be happy.














Check out the Official rules for Think Thin Thursdays Here at Bridgette's Not so blog Blog

A few Christmas pic sneak peeks

Because I think they turned out so adorably!

Note: Caity, 4.5 years, Izzie, 20 months, Emmy, 9 months

Holiday Traditions

Momdot's Christmas party is still going on. Get your posts in!



The Christmas party question of the day is:


Traditions, what are some of your favorite family traditions? What are some traditions you want to begin?


For Christmas, we have a few traditions.

First and most important is Christmas cookie decorating. We get together as a family, that would be My mom, aunt, SIL, myself and our children. If my stepsister was still in town, she would come too. We all get together and bake and cook and make all kinds of goodies. Sugar cookies for the kidlets to decorate, chocolate covered pretzels, peanut butter blossoms, chocolate chip cookies, candy cane cookies, fudge, almond bark, peanut brittle, and all kinds of other goodies. We keep some for ourselves and give the rest out in little goodie baskets to family and friends.


On christmas eve, after we are bathed and in our new christmas pajamas, matching of course, we all sit down in the living room and read the Christmas story out of the bible. After that, we'll read another holdiay book, usually Night before christmas or Polar Express. Then each girl is allowed to open one gift from under the tree and then its bedtime.


We spend the holidays with friends and family, but on Christmas Day, we designate that family day and we stay home with our girls, so they can enjoy their gifts and some downtime in our home. Christmas morning, after the gifts have been opened, we have a huge pancake breakfast.

Tis the season to Believe

Macy's invites one and all to Believe this holiday season.



At every Macy's store in the country there is a mailbox. A special mailbox to collect letters to Santa. So Bring your stamped letter to the nearest Macy's and drop it off in the mailbox. Not only will Macy's send that letter along to the Post office, but for every letter dropped off, $1 will be donated to the Make a Wish foundation.



Isn't that amazing, simply write a letter, drop it off, and we can make wishes come true.

Momdot Christmas Party Intro

Momdot's Christmas of Dreams kicks off today. Momdot has asked each blogger to answer a question as their entry to the contests and to join in the fun.

To start us off, Momdot wants us to introduce our families and share past holiday pictures.

I am Kris, I am 26 years old (at least until the end of the month). I am married to Jay, who is 27 and we have two daughters, Caity, 4 and Izzie, 20 months.

Here is Caity's first christmas picture (2004)


And Opening Presents



2nd christmas:



And her first cookie decorating Christmas (2005)


Izzie's first Christmas (2007)



Such wonderful memories and many more to come!

THe kids

ARe being so silly today.

Wordless Wednesday -- Feeling Nostalgic

One Step Ahead with Momdot

Momdot is holding another great contest. This one from One Step Ahead for a Stepping Stone Playmat


For the entry into the contest they want to see who we are entering for, so here ya go.




I am entering this contest for Miss Emmy.

Tackle it Tuesday -- Christmas

Ah yes, its November. Birthday month. Thanksgiving. Soon to be Christmas.

Today's tackle was all about finishing up Christmas plans. I made out my list of who we get presents for. Then I went through the gifts I've already got, and checked off the list. So there are 5 people left that I have to pick up gifts for, plus our two gag gifts for dirty santa.

I also made up my list of supplies needed to finish the gifts I'm making.

AND -- I'm rounding up the last bit of sponsors for my christmas blog party!

For More Tackle it tuesday click HERE

Busy Weekend

Saturday we spent the day with Jess and Andrew while DH and Chris went hunting. The kids had a blast playing and enjoyed the day out of the house.


Then today we joined up with Jar Jar and Emmy for some christmas pictures. We got some individual ones of each of the girls, some of all three together (for Nana, and the great - grandparents) and then some of just me and the girls and some of Jar Jar, Manda, and Emmy.

DH and I will go next week for our family pics.

Emmy is getting so big! And she looked absolutely adorable in her christmas best!

Book Contest Winner

Sorry I'm running late everyone, I was gone all day yesterday and did Christmas pics today.

So the winner is

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

16 

Timestamp: 2008-11-10 04:33:58 UTC

And the lucky comment was:

The Petersons said...

I like romance and fiction. It depends on the book though.

Which makes my lucky winner: Kori

Kori, I'll be contacting you to get your info.

But Mom......

But Mom

This is a particularly common phrase in our household right now.

Here's a little bit of a sounds from our house


Izzie Screaming.

Caity: "But Mom, I'm not pestering her. I was just hugging her and showing her love"


Izzie crying

Caity "But Mom, I had the toy first"

Izzie melting down

Caity "But Mom, I wanted the red cup. Red is my favorite color. "


Sugar all over kitchen floor.

Caity "But Mom, Izzie did it"




But MOM BUT MOM BUT MOM


AH yes, already she has an excuse for everything and somehow it all ends up being baby sisters fault!

Aloha Friday

An Island Life hosts Aloha Fridays. The purpose of Aloha Friday is to answer a question.

To participate, post your own question on your blog.

But answer mine first!


Today’s question is:

What do you do to relax?

A very special Photo Story Friday

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

I will post this warning here first. This isn't a 100% happy story. But it has to be posted today and I think even sad stories need posting sometimes. So unless you want to possibly cry (Hey, I'm crying), I would tell you to pass.



So Here we go.


A glimpse into the past.



I'm taking you back to June 2008.






Unfortunately, this isn't a story about a baby shower or a welcome baby party. No. This is the photo memory book of Caleb.

Caleb was born at 17 weeks gestation to some dear friends of ours (and cousins!) on June 5, 2008. He died seconds after birth.



At the funeral for Caleb, Jess and Chris had this table set to the side, displaying many things. The little outfit, blanket, etc that the hospital had given them. Caleb's feet and hand prints. A book they had bought for Caleb. An angel. All things meant to go in his nursery.






I share this story today, because in all its bitter sweetness, today was Caleb's due date. Today we should have been celebrating his birth (unless he was a late boy) and reveling in the miracle that each new life brings.

Instead, we all remember the loss felt that day in June. We all remember the pain and grief, felt, not just by Chris and Jessica, but all of us.

But, today, we also celebrate. Celebrate because, Chris and Jessica are not alone. They miss their son, oh yes, they do. But they also have hope. And they have love. And they have the miracle of new life in their home.

They will finalize the adoption of Andrew on March 4th, 2009. And then they will officially be a family of 3, but We know, that they don't need that final paper to be a family. To be parents.

They've been parents all along.



For more PSF, click Here

13 Random things I love

Thirteen Random Things I love 1. Chocolate -- any way shape or form. 2. Apple Pie -- Yummy. 3. Strawberries 4. Rocky Road Ice cream 5. Smores 6. Paranormal books 7. Warm fuzzy socks. 8. Dr Pepper 9. My girls -- of course! 10. Scrapbooking 11. Sewing 12. Cross-stitching 13. Yummy candles

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Isn't it amazing

How everyones all for equality and expressing your feelings/opinions until your feelings/opinions are not their own.


I guess that's the way the world works. Everyone is all about sharing your feelings, as long as your feelings coincide with theirs.

I hope that I can change that for my children. I want to raise them knowing that they can disagree and be boisterous about it, they don't have to sit down, be quiet and take it.

Works for Me Wednesday -- Toys worth having

Well I was going to tell you my laundry helper tips. But then I remembered this week is themed. So here's my list of toys worth having.

1) Peek a Blocks/Roll a Rounds -- Both of my girls, my nieces, and almost every kid I know LOVES these things.

2) Baby Dolls -- For general stores, we love the Little Mommy dolls, great size, easily cleaned. For better quality, we love waldorf dolls.

3) Aqua Doodle mats

4) Crayola's Color Wonder everything! No more worries about markers, paint, or anything crafty!




Check out more Works for me Wednesday posts for more toys.

Wordless Wednesday -- Little Monkey

FOr more Wordless Wednesdays, click HERE or HERE

Fun With Food

As always, Another photo, with a purpose. The wonderful folks at Five Minutes for mom are hosting another photo contest. This time sponsored by Prego and good for a prize of $500 worth of groceries!

The theme, is Fun with Food

Here is my entry






For more info and to enter yourself click Here

This weeks Insurance Battle

Some days, I really wonder why we have insurance at all. Lately, it seems we have to fight for anything from them.

Caity's newest drug protocol starts with Flowmax. YES that Flowmax.

Our insurance company declines to pay on it, because its "experimental" for children/girls.

So, our urologist contacts them and does what they call a prior authorization. Hopefully they approve it and we only have to pay our copay.

$125 a month for one medicine of 4 is a big pill to swallow.

Tackle It Tuesday

Running a touch late today. I've been busy doing stuff. Then the election, and voting, and yeah. It's been a busy run everywhere morning here.

So




This week I tackled the mountain in my basement also known as the dirty laundry pile. Yes, it really was that bad. In my defense though, the dryer hasn't been working correctly, but its fixed now.

So I did, 9, YES 9 loads of laundry.

Um, so, no I haven't folded and put them all away yet. But hey -- they are washed!


Look here tomorrow for my Works for me Wednesday post with a laundry tip!


ETA: So it doesn't look like I never do laundry. I shall add that Izzie's clothes have to be washed seperately than the rest of ours, due to allergies. And Caity's seperately too. So I have lots of smaller loads to make up the 9 -- not 9 huge loads. And we did bed linens and towels too!

For more Tackle it Tuesday, visit 5MFM

Did you Vote?

MIL took the kidlets tonight, so DH and I could go vote without having to take them.

Good thing too, since they told us the wrong voting location teh first time and we went from one end of the town to the other.

But, alas, we voted and came on home. Now DH is watching the TV like the world is ending (well, you know what I mean!)

So, did you go out and do your civic duty and vote?

A Book Giveaway

Book Room Reviews is hosting a bloggy giveaway. For, but of course BOOKS.


So......since I had some other stuff come up last week and couldn't participate in the Bloggy giveaways carnival, and one of my giveaways was a book -- I'm doing it this week.

So, how bout some details!


The Prize:
A brand new copy of SummerHill Secrets 1 by Beverly Lewis. Inside this book are 5 short stories.

555 pages.

Whispers Down the Lane
Secret in the Willows
Catch a Falling Star
Night of the Fireflies
A Cry in the Dark


Published by Bethany House Publishers.

This is a Teen Fiction book.


The Rules

For your first entry, post a comment here and tell me what your favorite book genre is. Is it romance? Mystery? Fiction? Non Fiction? Paranormal? Whatever gives you your kicks.

Three ways to get additional entries (post a new comment for each one you do)

• Follow me on blogger
• Add me to your blogroll (or post my button on your blog)
• Follow me on Twitter

I will draw a winner on Saturday November 8th via random.org.


Please note, I can only ship within the US at this time.

Pardon the dust

While I spruce up the blog template a touch.


I've got some great things coming this week including a giveaway (or two!) and two reviews.

The Grand Package from MomDOT

I've briefly introduced Momdot's Christmas of Dreams blog party, but now I want to highlight the grand prize Christmas of Dreams package.

So further details are as follows.


These are the current sponsors of the grand prize package, and while we don't know their exact contribution, its plain to see from looking at them, that its going to be one killer prize package.

So for now, check out these sponsors and then head over to momdot to enter to win.


Sponsors:

• Dyson
  
  


• BabyPop


• The Shrunks


• Soda Club



• Kadi Prescott


• Uncommonly Cute


• Lollipop Book Club


• Kuster


• Silly Monkeez


• LA Plates


• Natitys Design


• Little Black Box


• Koshas



• Kidz Sunglasses


• JAS Creations


• Appledonia


• LeapFrog


• Mutsy


• Kushies


• Huddy Buddy


• Mimsi-Bags


• BottleWise



• Lets Go Strolling


• DaBib


• Sassy Baby


• Baby Legs


• Scentsy


• FeeFiFoto


• Randi100


• Organic Blankees



• Shi Shu Style


• Georgie Tees