I have problems with New Balance, too. I have a pair of Asics and a pair of Brooks right now, and both of them are very comfortable and don't rub anywhere.

We used to have a very beautiful star on top of our tree, but it broke during one of our many moves. The year it broke, we put a small Pooh Bear on the top of the tree. Every year since, one of the kids has donated a toy for the top of our tree. This year it will most likely be Spiderman.

No. I don't like crowds. I braved them the Christmas before my husband went to Iraq for a dvd player for him, but haven't been out since. I don't do much in-store shopping between Thanksgiving and Christmas, either, because of the crowds. It's much easier (and calmer) to shop at home. :)

I'm well-known in our family for cutting myself during the holiday cooking. My BIL says it's not a holiday dinner unless my blood is in it (he has a rather morbid sense of humor). My husband just makes sure I have a supply of band-aids on hand before the stores close.

We love Mindware toys here (www.mindware.com). They have a ton of games and building sets. How about some dress-up clothes? I hit the Halloween sales on Nov 1st and now have a good sized selection of costumes and accessories for the dress-up box. Fun art supplies. My kids really like the watercolor pencils and crayons at the Stubby Pencil Studio. We bought a Wii as a family gift this year, so all other toys willl be non-electrionic. :)

My husband brought up all of the Christmas decorations yesterday and wants to pick up a tree today. We usually get a real tree, but I'm hoping to talk him into a fake one. I love the scent of a real tree, but hate the hassle of it. Although Bath & Body Works has some pretty authentic smelling candles and room fresheners, so maybe I will only have to give up the millions of pine needles decorating my house.

We have very few holiday-themed books and I'd like to pick up some more. We have The Grinch story, Twas the Night Before Christmas, Jan Brett's storybook and a couple of Solstice books. What are some of your favorites?

Pumpkin pie is my second favorite, right after apple. Sadly, my husband and kids refuse to eat cooked fruit in any form, so either I go without or I end up with more pie than I can (or should) eat.

Those are all great ideas! Off to look at all the links. :) Thank you!

My son is 4 (will be 5 this spring) and is into building things. My mother will be getting him some Tinker Toys, and we have some of the cardboard bricks, some big duplo blocks, and some Magnetix, but what other cool building toys are out there? He seems interested in things like marble runs and other construction toys that move. What are some tried and true creative constructions toys for little boys?

A tripod for my camera. A deep fryer. A 7 qt Le Creuset dutch oven. An afternoon to myself and a trip to the spa for a massage. A gorgeous, hand-painted, completely impractical, very expensive, ceramic rooster for my kitchen. But my favorite gifts are the ones that don't cost any money. My kids give me good-for cards every year for different things. DD8 gives me cards for things like vacuuming, helping with dinner, taking out the trash and making lunch (pb&j or cheese sandwiches, only). My DS4 gives me cards for hugs, kisses, and cleaning his room.

Knock, knock. Who's there? Nobody. Nobody who? :D

Our family gift this year is a Wii station. I bought some extra controllers and will buy 1 more game. Because we spent so much on the family gift, we will be spending less on the individual gifts. DD8: Qwirkle game Pogo stick HSM Barbie Sansa mp3 player (birthday is 12/23) DS4: Zoologic game Marble run Pogo stick They will be getting some small games, rootbeer scented body wash, crayons and colored pencils, a pair of socks and a puppet in their stockings.

Double post.

Art and music appreciation. I don't even know where to begin.

Low thyroid? I have a low thyroid and fatigue is one of the most troubling symptoms for me. I know when my meds need an adjustment because I'm always tired.

We're a military family and blogging helps to keep us in touch with our families. For many years, my grandmother and my MIL kept the aunts, uncles, and cousins updated on us. We'd write two letters, knowing that everyone would see them during a visit or hear about them during a phone call. But both of those wonderful women passed several years ago and staying in touch is much harder. With a blog, we can keep our friends and families updated on our moves, on our kids and on when we'll be in their neck of the woods. They get to see more pictures of our kids and hear about the little happenings in our lives and not just the big ones. And I always know when I've let too much time go between posts - I get a bunch of emails asking how we're doing.:)

Try partially covering the pot with a lid. It will come back up to a boil quickly, but keep an eye on it because it can overboil (if the water is close to the top). 1. The Marine Corps Ball is this weekend and the jewelry I ordered two weeks ago still isn't here. And I can't afford to buy more. 2. My oldest daughter wants to move back in - with her boyfriend. Neither of them are working and we can't afford to support two more people, but I don't want to turn her away, either. 3. I can't find nice looking, inexpensive shoes to fit my EE feet.

I made cupcakes this afternoon and I went through the same thing. They were barely out of the oven and both kids were pestering me for a cupcake. They do the same with cookies and pie, too.

It's a powder and I've found it at some supermarkets in the spice aisle. McCormick is the brand name. I've used it only once or twice. May I ask what you're making? :)

I'm going through the same thing with my slim boy. I have learned to keep an eye on the style of the jeans; loose and relaxed fit will look and fit like clown pants no matter how tight I pull the elastic tabs. Carpenter style pants are almost as bad. :glare: Land's End, Sears and Gap have slimmer fitting pants for boys than many of the others we have tried. And they have jeans that don't look like they've been worn by 3 other people before being put in the store.

This is our oldest daughter. It wasn't that she didn't want breakfast, she just didn't want breakfast food. I used to buy the Carnation Instant Breakfast drink packets for her and that would encorage her to drink milk in the morning. She didn't care for plain milk, but liked the chocolate and strawberry flavors of the instant breakfast.

I make mine similar to the way Bill makes his. I also remove the beef from the pan, then saute some onions and peppers for a few minutes before putting the roast back in the pan and adding my liquid and other stuff. Hmmm, guess what we're having for dinner tomorrow night? :tongue_smilie:

The Hyena Cart forums have a trading post and a Spot's Corner, as well as a number of mama-made diapers. Liberated Lounge also has a selling forum. We started out with FuzziBunz, Swaddlebees and Happy Heinys, and I was able to find almost my entire stash second-hand on those forums.

My daughter and my BIL both have December birthdays (her's is the 23rd, his is the 28th). When Elle was born, Pete called and asked us to always make sure her birthday was just that - her birthday. His birthday got rolled into Christmas every year. His birthday presents were opened at the same time the Christmas presents were opened - and they were wrapped in Christmas paper. He didn't get a special meal, a cake or a special day like his 5 siblings did. We put up our decorations the day after Thanksgiving (it's all I can do to get my husband to wait that long), but on Elle's birthday, I decorate the dining room in whatever theme she wanted. This year there will be a HSM3 table cloth, plates and cups. Her gifts are unwrapped away from the tree and any birthday pictures don't include the tree. She gets a cake despite having holiday baking in the house. She doesn't mind the holiday decorations because she knows that her birthday, even though it's 2 days before Christmas, is her own day. She says she kind of likes having her birthday so close to Christmas; my mom never gets her gifts to her on time, so she gets to open presents three days in a row.