How I'm Saving Money This Christmas

In my previous life working for an insurance company, I would speak to at least one person everyday who would complain about their rates being increased because they were "on a fixed income". It used to both crack me up and get under my skin. Who ISN'T on a fixed income? I don't know anyone who has an unlimited amount of cash flowing in, except maybe Bill Gates.

I'm so rich!

Since my funds are certainly not unlimited, I found a few ways to save on Christmas this year that I thought I'd share.

• No Clothes - I think the least popular gift for children under the age of 13 is clothing. It gets feverishly unwrapped, frowned at, then chucked behind them to move on to the next present which will hopefully be a toy. My kids could use clothing, no doubt about that, but we're saving it for our normal purchases after Christmas and saving the good stuff for the presents.
• No adult gifts - Jeff and I are not buying for each other. We both have everything we need. There are certainly things we want, but we're at the age where if we want it that badly, we'll just go buy it.
• Make it - I'm making each kid a blanket and hooded towel. The blankets are being made with panels, so basically all I'm doing is sewing two pieces of fabric together. The hooded towels are SUPER easy and really cute - I'm hoping to do a post just on them soon!
• Go straight to the source - Brenna's main gift this year is a Little People House. I thought it would be nice to get her the Little People SUV and Backyard Playset to make a complete home for her people, but found the SUV and the Backyard nearly impossible to find in stores and SUPER expensive on sites I normally shop at like Amazon.com. So I went to Fisher Price.com, they had both in stock and I bought both pieces for $30 - what I would have paid for just one set elsewhere. I also got free shipping and it arrived in just a few days. (Now if anyone can find me the Dance 'n Twirl Palace for a reasonable price, I'd be willing to part with a finders fee!)
• Make a List - this one seems like it should have been a no-brainer. But for me it was like a huge revelation. Normally what I would do is go to the store with a few specific things in mind, but mostly just pick up whatever I thought would tickle their fancy. This left me with lots of craptastic toys they barely played with and nothing left in my wallet. This year Jeff and I sat down and thought about what we wanted them to have, what would be helpful for them and what they would play with for a long time. And we are only buying those things. We're going to end up spending about $100 a kid (except Gracie. Since she's a baby and doesn't know any different, she will have practically nothing under the tree. We'll make up for it in years to come I'm sure!)

What are you doing to save a few bucks this Christmas? I'm sure I could use more tips. I don't see unlimited funds in my future.

Dinner and a Movie

Here are my favorite Christmas movies:
-  A Charlie Brown Christmas - classic, perfect Christmas movie. And you can watch it here!
-  Olive the other Reindeer - So cute.

 -  Mrs. Miracle - I read this fun story last year and was excited when it came out as a movie. It's a guilty pleasure, but not too cheesy. Doris Roberts is brilliant.

-  The Grinch - The animated story is great, but I don't think it compares to this version. The telling of the Grinch's backstory is perfection. It makes me want to crawl inside my tv, braid my hair in funky ways and become a Who.

-  Love Actually - This is my favorite movie of all time. So many sweet, sweet scenes.  So many lovable characters. Even the unlovable characters are wonderful! I found this video remake of my favorite scene in the movie and thought it was super sweet. Enjoy :-) 

And the menu for this week:
Tonight is taco salad
Tuesday is Southwestern chicken
Wednesday is cavatini
Thursday is baked chicken
Friday is pizza

So close!

We couldn't find a tree topper of Santa mooning us. But I DID come across this gem...



The Tootin' Santa Farting Santa Butt Holiday Ornament
(Yep, that's it's actual name!)

You can buy it here.  Because nothing says "Let's celebrate the birth of baby Jesus" like a good mooning. Right Bridget? :-)

Spread the Love

Here are some articles I've really liked recently:

Learn about gifts of service and love with Mom Life Today.

Ten easy ways to give to others from Life As Mom

A post I have read over and over again when I needed a pep talk.

We can't watch tv without hearing, "I want that!" with every commercial. So I found this post helpful.

And last, but absolutely not least - I don't want "at least" faith.

Video Friday

I took this video of Brenna while we were waiting for Riley to come out of preschool. (At the end, I am driving, but I was just moving my car forward in the pick-up line at the preschool and I was facing forward...I was not driving while recording!)

P.S. I never meant to insinuate that the Matthew West song was in any way a BAD song. It's a very good song with an excellent story. But it is SAD. I don't want to be sad at Christmas!! (And Chelsea, your comment wasn't mean at all :-) )

Christmas Music Fails

I told you about my top 5 Christmas songs. Now here are a few things that drive me CRAZY about Christmas music.

1.) When the artist has children sing. I don't know these kids and I can't see how cute they are. It's not precious, just irritating.

2.) When the artist pulls a "patriotic swap". It's nice that Beyonce and her friends want to honor our troops, but a "Red, White, and Blue Christmas"? Come on! You can do better Beyonce! (On the same note, "Sending You a Little Christmas" by Jim Brickman and Kristy Starling is one of the most beautiful songs ever and never fails to make me cry. So maybe it's not the patriotism I have a problem with...maybe it's just Beyonce?)

3.) SAD Christmas songs - "Do they know it's Christmas time at all?" Matthew West has a new one that will make you want to lock yourself in the closet and cry for days. "Christmas Shoes" is the absolute worst - it's depressing AND has children singing. Can I get a little joy please?

What are your Christmas music pet peeves?

The Mighty B's Top 5 Christmas Songs

I adore Christmas music. I start listening right after Halloween and I never get tired of it. So here, in very specific order, is my top 5 Christmas songs.

1.) "O Holy Night" - Words cannot describe how much I love this song. So beautiful - and the lyrics, UGH! "The thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices....fall on your knees, oh hear the angel voices"...it stirs my soul. This is BEST when Mariah Carey sings it, although Josh Groban does an excellent job as well.

2.) "Sleigh Ride (Instrumental Version)" - Such a bouncy, fun song. I have nothing against the lyrics, I just have very fond memories of playing this with my high school band. (There were no band geeks at my school - we rocked! And I played trombone!)

3.) "Merry Christmas Darling" by The Carpenters - Karen Carpenter had one of the most beautiful voices. This song has so much emotion, "I wish I were with you..."

4.) "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" by Gayle Peevey - so cute. I have a vivid memory of sitting at my Aunt Emily's kitchen table with my cousin Samantha and hearing this on the radio. Now it's one of Riley's favorite songs too.

5.) "All I Want for Christmas is You"  by Mariah Carey - classic, fun Christmas song that is in my favorite Christmas movie...which one is that? Guess you'll have to wait for that post. :-)