Best Christmas Present Ever!

Our new Cle*rPlay DVD player is awesome! I can't wait for Santa to bring it for the kids! I found a used one on Eb*y and started downloading filters. Originally I was thinking it would just be great for expanding the kids' movie repertoire to include PG-13 movies, but Hubby and I have used it to watch a couple of rated R movies and while it cut out a lot of the movie, it still made sense and was entertaining, so as long as the basic themes are appropriate it might be OK. Either way, I can't believe how many movies are actually PG-13.

The cool part is that now I can buy older DVDs that we couldn't watch before (used DVDs from S*lv*tion Army or $3 movies from Big L*ts). Since they're not new releases they're MUCH cheaper. This has really increased my options for my teens- who mostly asked for expensive electronic stuff we couldn't afford.

To try to handle gifts in my house without going overboard, I use an Excel spreadsheet. I have 2 columns for each child. One with the gifts I plan to get them, and a second column that I move the items to as I purchase them. This way I don't end up buying more than I intended to, or horrors! "shortchanging" one child.

There's a row for:

• Christmas Eve gifts (pajamas and a book).


• Santa presents (Santa tells me in advance - to prevent duplicates). He gave us the Cle*rplay player in advance so we could get the filters loaded, nnd he'll bring the kids a couple of DVDs.


• Grandparent gift (grandparents sent us a financial gift and we purchase a gift for each child and us from it - and the leftovers we can use for whatever we need - LOVE IT!)


• Gifts 1-3 (each child gets 3 gifts from us. It was good enough for Jesus.)


• Stocking Stuffers - I help Santa with this.


• There's an additional section for other family members (Grandparents and little brother, sis and her family, Hubby and I. -Yes, I buy my own gifts. I get Bob to wrap them for me though.).

We also have Christmas lists aka Santa letters for the kids, but adults are supposed to write lists too. I didn't realize this wasn't normal for every family until recently when my sister's new husband questioned it (he didn't write a list either so I really struggled with what to get him. I can handle people I know without a list, but I don't know my BIL that well yet).

My Dad's love language is gifts so we're used to him telling us exactly what he wants. My stepmom makes it really easy by sending different lists to everyone so I don't have to worry that my sister got him the same thing! Convenient, right?

Hi Mary, Remember how your dad always has things on his list that are no fun to buy, but that he really, really wants? Well, for him for Christmas he has specified the following: Megui*r's web site -- 1) "Gold Class" Carnauba wax (G7014); 2) SwirlX (G17616); 3) Soft Buff Towels (X2050). Use code VYX for free shipping. So I send you those as a suggestion for him. For me -- easy! I love books, so a gift certificate to a good bookstore would be great. For {New Little Brother} -- any xbox 360 game, (not all are expensive), I don't recommend any baseball equip(I know he's obsessed with baseball so I'd asked). He has alot, and our neighbors work for Sp*rts Auth*rity and bring him the neatest things free because the store is changing seasons.

Hubby was frustrating for me this year, because he doesn't want clothes (bad memories from childhood) even though he needs them. He has very little time for hobbies, except scuba diving, which is pretty expensive and very specific, and food/candy is good, but of course too much isn't good for him. I ended up just telling him to pick out some movies while we were shopping for the kids at a used movie/game store. *sigh* I prefer to find great gifts that will be a surprise.

BUT...............

I'M DONE WITH MY CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!!! I'm so excited!!

Now all I have to do is wrap it all! Luckily Bob apparently got my "wrapping gene" and volunteered to do all my wrapping (she can't wrap her siblings presents though). Unluckily, she got overwhelmed (My sister has 5 kids and we got them a bunch of little gifts) and apparantly bored, and now there's wrapping mess in the family room, and a ton more presents to wrap.

Well, better go. I'm being naughty and extended my bedtime curfew. Gotta run upstairs!

Finally got Christmas pictures and post them tomorrow!

Best Christmas Ever!

At least according to everyone but Bear.

Kitty wearing her new arm warmers (hot pink with skulls), and fake hair piece with both red and black hair, looking at her new skull watch and matching earrings, and fun colors of nail polish.

Favorite gift: My sis gave her a pay as you go cell phone (with my approval), her new stereo came a distant second. She's wearing the arm warmers every day though.

Bob decked out in her new hair bands, PJs, arm warmers and tights (are they called tights when they only come mid-thigh? or in the case of my 5'11 1/4" daughter, just above the knee). This is how the girls greeted me Christmas morning. They're soooo silly! (and I love it!)

Favorite gift: Also her cell phone, but we gave her my old laptop and she's enjoying that a lot. The cell phones cost $20 to activate so the girls are having fun playing with the camera and setting up ring tones. Not sure when they'll be able to afford minutes.




Ponito got all "active boy" gifts. The Ripstick appears to be his favorite gift. Not sure why the camera did this funny thing with this package that makes it look like it's glowing, but it sure is cool!


Bear is bummed. He's jealous of all the other kids' gifts. He got what he asked for... mostly. "Smelly stuff" - cologne and body wash and stuff, a black cowboy hat, some clothes, DVDs of sport movies (I watched Gridiron Gang with him, good movie, but violent!!). Santa gave him a camera which wasn't on his list, and his grandparents got him a new MP3 player to replace the one he claims was stolen.

But it makes him insane that the girls get phones and he doesn't. He wants his old tracphone, and doesn't understand why he can't have it. Hubby will be having a long conversation with him about how stealing a cell phone and an iPod within the last month or so doesn't exactly make us trust him, and therefore this is his fault/problem.

Hubby supervising it all. No, he's not in his undies. His shorts are just riding up a little. That's OK with me. One of the main reasons I married him was for his legs! I know, I know - TMI!

Ooh! And the fact that he makes homemade rolls!

AND the fact that he puts up with silly kids when they do stuff like this!

AND the fact that he still loves me even though I look like this


instead of like this.

Merry Christmas Y'all!

I think this was one of the best Christmases we've ever had.

I loved all of my presents (even though I chose all but a small few! *grin* ... or maybe because I did! *grin!!*)

The best present ever? Grandma and Poppy gave us a new (to us) van!! We finally have a vehicle that seats the whole family!

My dad and his wife gave us several hundred dollars before Christmas to buy presents with, so the kids had a great Christmas too. No one got iPhones or iPods (except the one Bear stole - but he doesn't get to keep that one), but even if we had a ton of money they wouldn't have gotten them anyway. The kids are tough on electronics and I don't think they need that kind of stuff anyway.

The second best present? I think we've finally found a med combo that works for Kitty.

Her behavior wasn't perfect, but she's doing great. On Tuesday, her doctor bumped up her Abilify and the difference is astounding! No meltdowns, no whiny fits that someone got a better present (see last year's hair highlights meltdown). When I forced the kids to do a deep clean when doing their chores (sometimes sending them back five times or more - which in the past has triggered mega meltdowns), Kitty was able to handle it with no more complaining than any of the other kids did. Usually something like this is perceived by her as a criticism and she just can't handle it.

She's been genuinely affectionate. She's seeking me out. She offers to help even though there is no direct reward. She lets me touch, hug and kiss her without her express permission! She takes redirection and criticism (she put dirty clothes back on after a shower and was really stinky and I told her so). She even handled washing dishes! by hand! when it wasn't her job! just because I asked! without screaming, crying, or meltdowns!!

Developmentally she's still about age 7 (yes, I've bumped her up from 4-6 yrs) so she is still delayed, but this is not a bad thing attachment wise. 7 year old girls can hold Mom's hand in public (well, not at school or where her friends might see her but still!).  She's nowhere near caught up to Bob, but no more line of sight supervision. Right now the girls are down the street visiting with a neighbor girl.

Perfect timing on the new car and Hubby starting his new job. Now I can work a little longer while Grandma deals with the little kids and I can leave work in time to pick up Kitty (and Bob) from middleschool. This gives me another 45 minutes at work, and saves Grandma a ton of driving (we'd decided that she would go to our house and pick up Ponito from elementary school -and three days a week she picks up my niece and nephew, then she'd have to take all the younger kids with her to meet the girls at school, take the girls' friends home - aren't they sweet to volunteer Grandma to drive all over the neighborhood?, then come pick me up at work and take us all back to the house).

Now Grandma can stay and hang out with the littles and I'll go pick up the girls. That way I get the after school chatter. You know that time when they have their guard down and they're stuck in the car with you so you hear actual stuff, without having to wait for it all to come out in therapy.

Merry Christmas to All!

Guess I better hurry or it won't be Christmas anymore!

This was a calm Christmas although Kitty and Bear had a hard time. Bear was the most shut down, but he hid it best too. He basically was "sleepy" all morning. Maybe he really didn't sleep well - I don't know. He disappeared in his room for quite awhile. Maybe he didn't really like his presents. He's hard to shop for!

Grandma commented that she thought Kitty didn't like her presents. I told her it was just that Kitty was having trouble sitting through opening presents (took over 1 1/2 hours!). Kitty spent some time decompressing in the playroom afterward.

One of our Christmas traditions (started last year) is that the kids only get 3 presents (just like Jesus). I do this for several reasons:
1. With 4 kids, making sure everyone has the same number and equivalent value of presents gets ridiculously difficult.
2. We often have other family there and that gets even more complicated (nieces and nephews especially).
3. My kids don't need a lot of stuff (especially Kitty and Bear who get overwhelmed if their environment is cluttered)
4. I want to help the children focus on the reason for the season, not presents.

Of course the kids got around this by giving each other presents! Silly Bob decided to give joke presents. She also did a lot of regifting this year! Including some of my Christmas decorations! *sigh*

So one thing I realized is that because I do a lot of thrift shopping, a lot of times the gifts I've chosen are small and inexpensive (but will be liked/loved/wanted by the child). I don't want to make a small paperback book the child's entire present when they only get three! So last year I did "theme" presents. One present was all books and school supplies. One present was a big one (couldn't afford that this year). Bob got contact lenses, Bear a bike, Kitty a bed, Ponito got Heely shoes.

This year the gifts were a little more random. As I tried to group things, sometimes the theme of the gift was not obvious. I didn't want the kids to think they were random! So this year I decided to write fun "clues" on the packages. (I didn't put them out until Christmas Eve so the kids wouldn't have much time to think about them!)

Axis or Eyes (with a pair eyes - one winking ; ) - this made Bob nuts! She could not figure it out. Inside was a big purse, a bunch of head bands, etc. She didn't get it until I reminded her of the game Mad Gab and she said it several times out loud.

The pen is mightier than the sword - school binder/organizer, movie called Warriors of Virtue, Teen advice book, some fancy mechanical pencils...

Here there be dragons (with a compass rose) - for Ponito who loves dragons! A pair of jeans and shorts with dragons on them and a fancy coin bank that looks like a dragon.

Dragon rider (like a rider on a contract this one went with the other present that I found after starting the Cmas wrapping) - a couple of t-shirts with dragons on them

Beauty is only skin deep - Although she'd never heard this expression before, Kitty, who'd asked for makeup figured it out quickly.

"Life is a work of heart. You've got to paint it colorful." (This is a quote from Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen which the girls know by heart!) In that one was a paint brush, a roller brush, and a lime green fuzzy pillow sham. I'd already told Bob we were going to redecorate her room so she figured out what this odd assortment meant.

Don't hold your breath - a gift certificate to the dive store for Bear.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun. I think the kids had a good Christmas. I did end up making the Cinnamon Roll Christmas Tree, and it was totally worth breaking my diet for! I'll include pictures as soon as I get them downloaded and uploaded!

Yikes! Two minutes till midnight! Merry Christmas to all! And to all a good night!