'Tis the Season!!!

SOOOO....Turkey day is OVER! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Now it is time for Christmas! MY FAVORITE TIME OF YEAR!

I went Christmas shopping (OF COURSE NOT ON THE BIG SALE DAY)..I would rather cut off my arm than go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. When my older kids were little I was traumatized at the store. After going on my big SALE hunt for the day, I was kicked and yanked on, kids were thrown to the floor, and injured, all for a damned Tickle Me Elmo! Thank God for Ebay and online shopping now! WOO HOO!!!

I managed to find ALL the presents that the kids needed...I mean...WANTED! I always tend to "overbuy." I have a bad habit that way, at any given time of year, but it gets really bad during the Holiday Season! I LOVE TO GIVE GIVE GIVE!!! So, after a day of shopping, I lay everything out on the bed, and freak out over all of my purchases! The whole time we shopped, my husband and I kept saying that we would not buy a ton of things to junk up our house! Well, we did not follow our rule....the kids have way too much as it is now, and with Santa coming, I really do not where on Earth I will put all of their NEW toys! I could have rewrapped the toys in their toybox and they probably would have NEVER known! They always play with the same things over and over, when they find something that they consider NEW, they are like, WOW! Oh well, 'Tis the Season!!!

Now, my older kids want MONEY!!! Of course they do! Why not? I love how we draw names for all the kids for Christmas, and we all ask what their kids want...we all say MONEY for the older kids..now, why not take their name out of the hat???? We are only trading our MONEY!! Ridiculous!

I like doing the name drawing, and I used to love the game we played at Christmas, where you buy a male and female gift. Then you steal the present, whatever it is called. Well, on my side of the family everyone is cheap! Our limit is $10.00......so, I would ALWAYS go buy extra things, because for $10.00 I cannot find anything really worth giving! I would end up with a $5.00 tin of Popcorn that someone caught on sale. So, I quit playing. My mother says that I am a party pooper...but it is not fun there, and I end up with JUNK. Now, on my husbands side, our limit was $40.00, so that was great! But now, other families have come into the picture, leaving his family not wanting to trade gifts. I can't blame them, but it does spoil the fun! At least we still trade with the kids! That is what it is all about anyway!

I am loving this cool weather we have now, too! Especially the fact that it makes my little kids sleep in late!!! I have been sleeping until about 9AM!! Geez, from 6AM wake up call to 9AM...guess we are getting used to this time change after all!

This cool weather is also making me want my hot chocolate, and watch Christmas movies and cartoons with the kids! I don't know why, but EVERY SINGLE YEAR, I just LOVE to watch all those movies! We own the Original Frosty and Rudolph DVD's that comes on TV every year, too. I absolutely HAVE to watch those!! I get all cozy and warm feeling and curl up with my hot cocoa, plop down on the sofa to watch our movies! Last night was Santa Claus, with Tim Allen and this morning we have already watched part 2! Wonder what tonight will be....now it is The Christmas Story! FUN FUN!! REALLY, it is!!

Well, Happy Holidays to ALL! Tam~