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Great Christmas Clearance Finds

This afternoon I ran to the store to pick up a few things I needed to get to make dinner. I’m making chicken parmesan and I needed mozzarella cheese, chicken, and parmesan cheese. Anyway, while I was there I browsed the clearance table at my grocery store.

You would not believe the great deals I found on some things. Publix had stocked a variety of toys for Christmas at decent prices to begin with. I found a bunch of items that will be good to use for birthdays, birthday parties my kids go to, and of course Christmas next year. I found some really nice puzzle sets for only $4! They were normally priced at $20 but because they want to move out the Christmas inventory they were heavily marked down. I also scored some really exciting play dough type toy sets. These were only $4 as well. I couldn’t pass up the deals. I got a few of each in sets for boys and girls.

I also couldn’t pass up the Christmas candy. I’m a chocoholic and I love when it goes on sale. I scored snowflake chocolates again this year for $1 a bag. I love getting 4 bags of chocolate for the price of one. They had a bunch so I bought 8. I know it’s a lot but I’m going to put it in the freezer and save it to make chocolate dipped strawberries for Valentine’s Day. Or at least that is my plan. There is no telling what will happen to the chocolate now that it has entered my home.

I’m so happy I found some great Christmas Clearance finds even though I wasn’t looking. It totally made my day a lot sweeter. Pun intended, I ate a bunch of chocolate on the way home.

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Family Fun With A Bubble Machine

Bubbles, bubbles, everywhere! My kids love to play with bubbles. They just can’t seem to get enough of them. I love seeing their faces as they chase bubbles around or try to blow some bubbles of their own. One of our neighbors got a bubble machine at Musician’s Friend. The kids had so much fun when they brought it over and filled it up with bubbles.

Bubble machines are great because you don’t have to do any of the work of trying to blow the bubbles yourself. I love that I don’t have to keep dipping the bubble stick into a jar and repeatedly blow bubble after bubble. It’s like instant gratification. Turn the bubble machine on and you have tons of bubbles to chase to your hearts delight.

I’m thinking it would be lots of fun to get one of these bubble machines of our own for the kids for Christmas. It’s pretty close but it might not be too late. I’ll have to see if I can get one delivered with rush delivery if it isn’t too expensive. Seeing the smile on the faces of the kids from playing with the bubbles is worth every penny in my opinion.

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After Christmas Shopping Sales

It’s the day after Christmas and that means one thing to me, after Christmas shopping! I love to go out the day after Christmas and pick up decorations and things like gift wrap for bargain prices because everything has been severely discounted. I also grab some gifts that I think will be great to give throughout the year for friends, family, and teachers.  Usually there are amazing deals on gift sets because stores want to clear them out and make room for new inventory.

I plan to go to my local CVS and Walgreens to pick up the left over gift wrap and then I’ll head on over to Target and then to Wal-Mart. I always find the best deals on coffee mug sets and “smell good” sets as I like to call them. You know the baskets with lotion, body wash, and maybe a perfume.  There are always tons of these and you can pick them up for just a few dollars after Christmas and they usually don’t’ have any marking on them to indicate that they are Christmas sets. They are prefect gifts for any time of year.

I think I’ll head to Macy’s as well.  I’m excited to use the fantastic coupon they have for $10 off any $25 purchase.  I love coupons like that, especially when you can use them on heavily marked down Christmas items.

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Cell Phones at the Dinner Table

Cell Phones at the Dinner TableDo you jump the second you hear your phone buzz or beep? Do you freak out if you forget your phone somewhere? Do you never leave a room without your phone?

I was always afraid to get cell phone in the beginning because I thought of them as an electronic leash. I don’t think it’s necessary for people to be able to get a hold of you every second of of day. I think it’s actually turned people into open books almost. People share everything or text a friend about the most random things throughout the day. I don’t think they would have shared whatever happened if they didn’t have a cell phone.

I think the challenge above is a great one.  To me it challenges everyone at the dinner table to actually be present and involved with the people that are partaking in the meal. Without this challenge you would probably see people checking and updating their Facebook status, playing some silly game, and or texting.

I know I have been guilty of using my cell phone when it wasn’t necessary and when I realize it I try to make a conscious effort to put the silly thing down. Whatever it is, it can probably wait until the meal is over, the television show is over, or you are done playing the board game.

Try this out with your family and friends and see what happens.

 

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When Do You Put Away Your Holiday Decorations?

Christmas is over but I like to leave the decorations up until at least Three Kings Day in January. Some times I’ll leave them up a little bit longer. I remember one time I left them up longer than I really should have because I truly enjoy sitting by the Christmas tree and gazing at the warm lights.

I did  take the decorations from outside down I just left the tree up past Valentine’s Day that year. I loved every bit of it though. Then, I realized that I should put it away in order to keep it special. Because if I left it up all year long, it would loose it’s special value of being a Christmas tree and turn into an every day house hold item in our home and that was not something I wanted.

I have already begun to put away some of the things I got while out shopping yesterday.  That’s one of my rules; if I buy new decorations on sale I can’t set them out until the next year. I did get a bunch of  cute things to set out for next year and I can’t wait for Christmas to be here all over again. I look forward to decorating the house every year, it’s just the putting everything away afterward that I don’t’ really like.

When do you put away all of your holiday decorations?

 

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Mayan Calendar Ended But the World Did Not

Well it is December 22, 2012 and we are all still here. Woo hoo! I never doubted we would be but oh boy did many people think just the opposite.  I feel horrible for the people that spent their life savings thinking the world was coming to an end only to wake up today to realize that they have nothing left. Talk about a rude awakening for people.

All of these people based the idea that the world was coming to an end simply by using the Mayan Calendar because it ended on December 21, 2012. I wonder what all of these people are going to say now that we are all still here. Are they going to take things back to the store for a refund so they have some money again? What will they do if they spent every penny on consumable items and they are all gone?

What would you do if you spent all of your money and burned every bridge you had because you thought it was all going to be over and gone today? Would you go beg, plead, borrow, and apologize for your actions? Or, would you suck it up and go out and start over and do what you have to in order to survive again?

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Household Holiday Clean Up

I have less than a week before everyone arrives for Christmas.  We’re hosting Christmas at our house this year so I need to do my household holiday clean up.  That’s where I go and scrub every surface that a mother-in-law could complain about seeing dust, and make sure everything is put away in it’s place.

I need to steam clean all of the carpets and drapes. The kids seem to bring dirt in no matter how many times I have them wipe their feet or take off their shoes.  I don’t know how it gets in, it’s like they are dirt magnets. I plan to do that this afternoon and then take the kids out afterward so the carpet has a chance to dry.  Hopefully once it’s clean it can stay that way for at least another week or two while everyone is here.

I have most of the normal everyday cleaning done it’s just the things I only do on more of a monthly basis that still need to be done.  I need to change the sheets on the bed in the guest room.  I don’t remember when they were used last but fresh sheets are always nice to have.  I should probably also cull the magazine collection I have in that room as well. I don’t need a two and a half foot stack of magazines int here to collect dust.

What is your routine for your household holiday clean up?  I’d love to hear how you get through it and any tips or tricks you might have.

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Family Photo Books for Christmas

I was thinking it might be fun to get all of our relatives long lasting photo books of our family.  We could send them out instead of Christmas cards this year.  Our family is always pestering us for more photos.  One nice thick book might appease their appetites for a little while.  I’m looking at getting wholesale catalogs at zooprinting.com.

A nice glossy catalog of page upon page of the children and all of their silly shenanigans from the year is just what everyone needs.  They are nice and sturdy and will last awhile.  I bet I’ll even find them used as coffee table books at a few of my in-laws homes.  They absolutely love to share off their grandchildren to everyone that steps foot into their home.

We’ve made photo calendars in the past but I think these catalog style books will really stand out.  Plus, there will be more than just twelve pages of pictures in these. Now, the fun part is to gather all of our family photos and start putting it in order.  I’m soo glad I have saved all of our photos digitally. I don’t have to go digging through a bunch of boxes to find our photos.  They are all organized nicely on my computer in a file tilted, “Family Photos.”

 

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Countdown to Christmas Begins

Countdown to Christmas
image credit: Jamie in Bytown

The countdown to Christmas has already begun in our house.  The kids ask daily how many more days are left until Christmas is here.  I haven’t quite figured out a fun and creative way to count down the days with the kids.  Right now we are just marking off the days on our wall calendar.  It’s not that exciting and definitely not pretty.

Occasionally, I’ll feel crafty so I’ve decided to take a look around Pinterest to see what might be fun and not that hard to make.  The standard paper chain is my back up and I know I can manage to glue or staple a few strips of construction paper together.  No matter what idea we decide to go with, I just want it to be something that is fun for everyone.

What kinds of things do you do in your family to count down the days until Christmas? I’m open to suggestion and would love to hear from all of those crafty people out there that have ingenious ideas that I could never come up with on my own.  I promise I’ll share your ideas with other families that are clueless about what to do too, honest.

27 days before Christmas, let the countdown begin.

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What to do with Thanksgiving Leftovers

Thanksgiving Leftovers Turkey Sandwich
image credit: kthread

I recently did a post about ways to make over mac & cheese to turn it into something new and delicious by adding a few ingredients.  I found another gal that posted how she is going to turn her Thanksgiving leftovers into something new.  She is going to make Shepard’s Pie and some very yummy looking Buffalo Turkey Taquitos.  I can’t wait to try some of those recipes out myself.  I think my husband will really love the spicy buffalo turkey taquitos.  He loves all things hot and spicy so they really should be a big hit in our house.

I love Thanksgiving but, I don’t like to eat the same thing over and over and over after a big holiday meal. That is exactly what happens every year if I don’t put in some effort and get creative.  I hate to see all of the extra food go to waste after we all get sick and tired of eating the same meal over and over. Hopefully these new ideas will inspire me to try something new every year instead of having the standard turkey sandwich.

What do you do with your Thanksgiving leftovers?  I’d love to hear how you turn boring leftovers into something delicious so that none of your food goes to waste.