A little public service announcement for my friends who may still be shopping… Amazon has some incredible deals right now! And even more awesome is that all of the ones I’ve listed below can ship for free with Super Saver Shipping – woo-hoo! I’ve been done with our Christmas shopping for quite a while now, but Lilly’s bday is in January and Annie’s is in February, so a couple of these deals have come in pretty handy.
In case you are still shopping for a child or two, here are a few I’ve stumbled across (most I found myself, but a few were pointed out to me by friends at HCTS – love those gals!):
Sweet Lily Castle
Rose Petal Cottage
Cherry Blossom Market
Smart Cycle
Computer Cool School
Busy Ball-Tivity Center
Girl Gourmet Cupcake Maker
Kid Tough Cameras
U-Dance
Holiday Hannah Montana doll
Honeybee Hop
If you notice any other great deals please let me know so I can add to my list. I love bargains!!!
Annie’s going to Vacation Bible School this week and she is loving it! It’s her first time ever.
So after I picked her up at noon we were discussing what to buy Daddy for Father’s Day. I have a few ideas but nothing concrete. Annie told me that she had a great idea and she was going to pay for it herself, but Daddy forgot to pay out her allowance on Sunday. She then pointed out that I should be the one in charge of her allowance since Daddy always forgets. Or tries to give her money that is already hers. (He once had no cash in his wallet and attempted to give her Disney Dollars that were in the china cabinet, but my savvy 5 year old knew that was not a fair deal. And apparently she has neither forgiven nor forgotten.)
So back to the idea – she wants to buy him a wii game. I’m not sure what to tell her. It’s a very sweet idea, but Chris works a lot and doesn’t do a whole lot of wii playing. As I tried to come up with a way to let her down easy, she said that she just knew Daddy would love the Go, Diego, Go! game she had in mind.
Selfless huh? But I’m amused to see that she’s just a chip off the old block. The Daddy block that is. He has, over the years, treated me to such generous presents as:
-the Sunday NFL ticket. So I never have to miss a game.
-an $85 universal remote. For a large entertainment system I can barely understand.
-a new set of luggage, just before he went to Paris for two weeks. Without me.
-an insanely large and expensive grill. Because women love grills.
I’m sure there are more, but I’ll stop here. Suffice it to say he’s quite the giver. And I’m tempted to let his daughters purchase the intended gift for him, just so he knows how it feels. Maybe I’ll even chip in for that new snap press that I, I mean he, has been wanting. Because I love him that much.
PS) Before you go feeling bad for him, just stay tuned. I’ll be bragging about him in a day or two. He’s fabulous in 98% of what he does. But when he’s less than fabulous, well…he really does that with gusto too. 
Guess who is half done with her kids Christmas shopping? Oh yeah, that would be ME! I am so darn proud of myself.
I shop early every year, but this year I hope to be completely done by September. The holiday selling season is insanely busy and has a huge profit potential, so I’ve set my sights on selling again this year. Two years ago was hard because we were moving and I was quite pregnant so I didn’t do much then. This past season I was just having a hard time getting 3 kids out to shop with me! But this year hopefully things will look up. I’m pretty limited being that I live in a town with only ONE store, but I’m gonna try my best!
Back to topic…The girls are getting several American Girls items this year, since it seems to be their latest obsession. (Can’t wait for that Kit movie in July!) Not sure what else yet and I know realistically I have to wait until closer to the holiday so I can get those current requests, but they better be small ones!
I’m also trying to scale back on the size and volume of our gift giving. Yes, I say that every year, but this year I really mean it! We are running out of house to put large toys and I don’t like the clutter. I’m going for gifts that don’t take up as much space, and fewer of them. I inherited from my father a tendency to go ever so slightly insane when it comes to Christmas shopping. On Christmas morning our living room looks like a mini Target store with everything in coordinating gift wrap.
I know several people who give their children each 3 Christmas presents. The reasoning being that Jesus only got 3, so why should we get any more? I felt like crawling into a hole with shame when I first heard that. My philosophy has always been more like why give 3 when you could give 73 instead? Yikes! Do I remind myself of that VeggieTales song? Jingle Jingle Jingle Ka-ching!
In my own defense, we do 6 shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child, and we always buy for at least 2 people off of the Angel Tree. I’m not a completely materialistic pig. I just have so darn much fun buying that I find it hard to stop myself. (Just ask Chris about the bills that roll in – oy.)
Enough babbling for one night. Feliz Navidad my friends!
