Kids' Christmas Shopping

This past week, we received 3 GREAT catalogs in the mail. We get these every autumn, and each year, I always think that they would make GREAT Christmas shopping catalogs. This year - I actually WILL probably buy most of the kids' presents out of these catalogs. Sooo...if you're on the hunt for some neat & unique presents this year (hint, hint to all the grandparents out there - tee hee - just kidding...kind-of...)...look no further!! :)

Here they are - check them out:

Young Explorers: http://www.youngexplorers.com

Back To Basics Toys: http://www.backtobasicstoys.com

Hearth Song: http://www.hearthsong.com

Happy Shopping!! :)

my style is not his style...(when did this happen?)

Wow - so it's been a big shocker this week as G-man and I have been out shopping for some school clothes. He won't be wearing a school uniform this year, which is a bummer - that made things so easy in the past! So we have to buy him some "real" clothes.

It used to be so easy when I could just buy him clothes and shoes, and he'd be fine with whatever I bought. But - something has changed - and I'm really noticing it this week as we've been out looking at clothing. I told him just because he doesn't have to wear a uniform this year doesn't mean he can dress sloppy!

We have 2 main rules for clothing at our house once you get to be about 4-5 years old:

1. no cartoons on anything (especially not on shoes)
2. no skulls/crossbones/etc

We don't want to look like a walking mummy, nor do we want to go to school looking like Spidey or Sponge Bob! :) Not that there's anything wrong with that - it's cute and all (when they're 3) and kids are just kids once - I completely understand that - but I want to see MY CHILDREN, not Nick JR characters. :) Of course, there are other (probably strange) things we follow for clothing guidelines - but at least G-man and I both agree on the 2 mentioned above.

Luckily, I have never had to pry Spiderman tennis shoes or CARS sandals out of his hands or anything like that. So at least we agree on that part - but aside from cartoons and the walking casket look - it's been hard to buy decent clothes. I never knew it could be this hard to agree on what "looks nice" with an 8-year-old boy. :) So far he has one pair of pants and a couple shirts...oh my...we have a long way to go...good thing he can wear shorts for a couple more weeks!

yahoo - new car!

After much contemplation, deliberation and prayer!, we decided to not do the repairs on my car and just get something newer (now we can actually take some road trips!). The repairs on my old vehicle were going to be a little more than I originally thought: $450 (repairs) + new tires ($400) + other things costing around $200 - all total it would have been $1,050...and that was just the estimate - before labor charges. There could have been more they found later, who knows. That's just more than we wanted to spend on a 15-year-old vehicle that's only worth about $3,000 (more than we originally thought!).

So, we took advantage of President's Day Weekend sales and got an incredible buy on a used vehicle. It's the newest car I've ever had - and I finally have cupholders! (TWELVE, in fact!!)

Funny sidenote: my in-laws and a friend of mine ALSO bought vehicles over the holiday weekend. I didn't know so many people in my life were also needing a new vehicle like me! :)

I went to DMV to register the car at 7:45 am, and there were already 5 people in line, waiting outside. By the time they opened the doors, there were about 10 people in line. I'm so glad I got there early. Needed two different screwdrivers to switch out license plates from car to car, froze my hands off - it's cold outside! - but now it's all done and I'm so thrilled to have my vehicle stuff taken care of!

Now, we just have Sweet Hubby's car to do...but - we have 12 months to get his figured out - that's when Ms. P will be in a booster seat and need a shoulder-type seatbelt...something Sweet Hubby's car doesn't have enough of. So, we'll enjoy her current carseat for 12 more months and then start the car selling/buying process all over again - fun fun!!

shopping detours...

So, today I had to run a quick errand and somehow came home with the cutest spring dress for Ms. P! I wanted to get Ms. K a matching one, but they didn't have her size. So, this dress, once again reminds me that spring has got to be near (tee hee!) - since all of the retail stores have out swim suits already! I'm still looking for snow pants for sledding and always find myself in the swim suit department (I can justify a detour through the swim suit section in January b/c of our Hawaii trip this year! -tee hee-). So, back to my story - I bought a dress for this spring/summer for Ms. P and it came with a matching little dress for a baby doll. I just took a picture of Ms. P and her baby in their matching dresses and had to share! So much fun!

sweet feet

This post might be silly...but I had to share. I'll just get right to it. I like patterned socks. I don't own a single pair of solid colored socks. Not that there is anything wrong with wearing solid socks, but patterned socks are just so much fun! Whenever I go to Target, I find myself making a quick detour through their $1 section right inside the front doors. I have noticed, that many times, they have some pretty cute patterned socks there - for kids and adults - for just $1. I like that section because it is current with the holiday or season. So, last week, I bought my daughter and I some various pink patterned socks (stripes, hearts, etc)...since Valentines Day is coming up. So, if you are ever in need of a new pair of patterned socks - check there!