funnies

Just had to share some funny stuff the boys said today!
They both got postcards from my dad, who spent Christmas at Disney Land with his wife. Any-hoo, after I read the card to Kenshin (as I was driving, shame on me!), I passed it to him, and he didn't say anything...I looked in the rearview mirror and saw a puzzled look on his face, as he studied the picture on the postcard. Finally, he said, "That's not the Clubhouse!" Yes, he meant the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Can you tell I let him watch weekday morning cartoons? Mickey and Minnie were sitting on the bed in their "house" but Kenshin has only seen the animated Clubhouse. teehee

Later in the day, after a run to McDonald's to use some of the 30-something "free item" coupons I still have (and they expire in 3 days!!!), they were watching Go Diego and Krillin got a funny look on his face. Then he said, "I didn't know a penguin was an animal!" whaaaat? I couldn't stop laughing. I wonder what he thought they were... plant? mineral?

On another note, I have prepared my rebates for the month. I've been sitting on a few cuz I'm just lazy, but I filled them all out, cut the UPCs off, and got the envelopes ready, with postage and all. happy day! There's about $50 in total, plus a free bracelet and tote bag. I also requested November and December rebates from Rite Aid, so that's another $100 we'll soon have in hand. Rebates are dreamy!

I think flowers from florist places are overpriced. But that's nothing compared to the site I found today! Secret Spoons sells gorgeous treats, mostly chocolate-dipped somethings. I just had to click on this:
And if you do, too, then you'll see why I almost fell out of my chair laughing. I mean seriously! The next time you want to pay $30 for 2 caramel apples, please give me a ring. I won't even charge you shipping! I even have all the ingredients on hand, so you won't have to wait for me to find a good deal!

Christmas Tag

I was tagged by several people, so here's my list for the world to see! :)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? The kid in me loves wrapping paper, but the tree-hugger in me loves bags! LOL Just as long as it’s covered.
2. Real or artificial tree? Artificial, cuz it was free. I do love the smell of real trees, but they’re too much hassle for indoors.

3. When do you put up your Christmas tree? About a week before Christmas.

4. When do you take the tree down? When it starts to annoy me.

5. Do you like eggnog? YES! But I’m lactose-intolerant, so P-chan thinks “mine” tastes funny. LOL

6. Favorite gift received as a child? The quilt! I was 13, and got a very pretty quilt. I remember it quite fondly, because it was the first new blanket I ever got. And then my dog decided to have her puppies on it, a year later. Also the Ramona Quimby set of books, when I was 9. Although, that may have been a birthday present (that is at the end of Nov).

7. Do you have a nativity scene? We have a tiny glass one (with Mary, Joseph, and Jesus) that hangs on our tree, and a small one from the Dollar Store (M, J, Jesus, and the three kings). But I don't have a "real" one with all the pieces that can move around.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My sisters’ husbands, and my father in law.

9. Easiest person to buy for? So far, my boys. They’ve loved every gift. :D of course, they’re young….

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? An ugly ornament. And there was that time that my husband put all my gifts in 2 laundry baskets and bound them with phone cord. Yeah…

11. Mail or email Christmas card? eh, what? Oh, yeah…I always intend to mail, but…

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The Santa Clause.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? The day after Christmas, for next year. I shop all year long! I’m usually done by Thanksgiving. Now, whether I send them in time is another question....

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present ? Yep! I received some fancy liqueur chocolates, so I gave them to someone who would actually enjoy them.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Candy cane pie

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? whatever’s handy!

17. Favorite Christmas song? Messiah by Handel! I also really enjoy zany songs, like I want a Hippo.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen, Rudolph. The song taught me well! :)

20. Angel on the tree top or a star ? Angel that Krillin made at school.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? One on Christmas Eve, everyone picks their own, and the rest on Christmas day.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Not being around family. Also crazy drivers and rude employees.

23. Do you decorate your tree in any specific theme or color? I guess the theme is “be grateful for what you have” cuz it’s just whatever gets on it. LOL But I plan to transition to more sparkle.

24. What do/did you leave for Santa? 2 days before, we write letters and leave them on the tree; the elves come and pick up our letters! Then we leave cookies on the Santa plate (used only this night!) and milk. I really like the idea of him writing back. We also leave a bowl of juice (colored water) and sugar wafers for the reindeer, on the lawn, since we don't have a chimney. :)

Now that you've read this, you are TAGGED! Go post this on your blog/email. :D

Merry Christmas!

Sorry for the late post, but we were just having too good a time for me to stop and blog about it! :D
The boys love hearing the story about Jesus' birth, so the book my sister sent was a very special gift. :) They opened that box early, since that's technically from last year. ;) They also got to open their birthday presents now, since I'm a DORK and hid the box that they got from my dad, waaaay back in August. So they stopped asking if they could open their Christmas presents! LOL
Christmas Eve we (P-chan and me, not the boys!!) slept in, and ate a late breakfast. Then I found an ad for the local grocery store that had a coupon for $5 off a $50 gift card, and we had 6 coupons (didn't you know I'm a coupon freak? I get 6 Sunday papers! ROFL), so we sat down to figure out our finances, and due to the fact our credit cards are paid off (weeeeee're deeeeebt freeeeeee!), we could swing all 6 cards. :D So we checked out the movie times for a surprise for the boys, and headed out. Kenshin (because he was up since 4 am!!!!) fell asleep on the way there, so we headed to Meijer, much to Krillin's chagrin ("NOOOOOOO! I hate stores!!"). We bought our 6 gift cards, feeling very proud of our thrifty selves. Then the checkout guy (at the self-checkout) said, "You got more? You can pay for the gift card with a gift card, ya know."
DING DING DING
We were ALL OVER that deal!! The cards take 10 minutes to activate, so we toured the store (as if we haven't walked around before) between times. Kenshin woke up when we got to the pet area. Just before 2:30, I suggested we leave for the movie theatre. At the ticket counter there, P-chan bought the tickets and the boys and I ran to the theatre while P-chan bought popcorn and sprite. We had just arrived at our seats when the movie started. The chipmunks were singing, and both boys had their eyes glued to the screen, trying to figure out where they've heard those voices before. Then the chipmunks themselves were on the screen, and Kenshin yelled, "It's the CHIPMUNKS!" and started giggling. Luckily, everyone in the theatre thought that ourburst was funny. :) Both boys were almost rolling off their chairs from laughter, the entire movie. I had come prepared with some cookies and fruit snacks, so P-chan offering the popcorn and sprite was a very nice bonus. It was fantastic! I also really liked it. I plan to buy it when it comes to DVD. :)
After the movie, we headed back to Meijer, to do more "rolling" of the gift cards. We left when they closed, about 7pm. So, all told, we ended up with $510 in gift cards for $270. NICE.

There's also a great deal on the Rite Aid gift cards ($5 off $25) and I buy the rebate stuff there every month, so we are going to do that one as well. It is SPECTACULAR to be able to afford this, it will help our grocery budget soooo much in the coming months! Being credit-card free is AWESOME! :D

Any-who, we went to McDonald's for dinner (using the GC from the birthday box) and the boys got to play in the PlayPlace. :) The boys fell asleep on the way home, but Krillin did remind me to put the cookies and chocolate milk out for Santa. I'm sure as far as they were concerned, it was the best Christmas Eve ever! LOL

Christmas Day was great! The boys actually slept until 9, but P-chan woke me up at 8 so I could unwrap my presents. :) When they got up, the boys kept getting distracted with the presents they unwrapped before they opened another. LOL At 1pm, we went over to Jessica's house for lunch. Jessica had bought the HoneyBaked Ham from the store, and it was delicious. She also prepared cornbread stuffing, crescent rolls, macaroni & cheese, and brownies. Hugh made a delicious cheesecake; yum-o! I brought stuffed mushrooms, green onion sticks (they're covered in cream cheese, then rolled in shredded cheese), and baked mashed potatoes. We ended up staying until almost 9pm, because we played a game of Phase 10. that was fun! :)

Happy Holidays! Talk to you soon!

Santa