[When the magic is gone from Christmas]

We get ds his big gift that he asks for, or money if he wants that, but we still manage to find things to wrap up for him that he has no clue about. He also really enjoys picking out gifts and giving them to others. We try to do a few activities during December, too. We usually go to an old church in Sleepy Hollow to see a story teller perform Dicken's 'Christmas Carol' and go out for dinner afterwards. We've done this for 5 years now. We are also planning on visiting a drive-through Christmas light display. Christmas eve we have a large family dinner and exchange gifts with family, and then we do a quieter gift exchange after everyone leaves. We have a silly tradition of hiding a small gift for each of us in the tree that ds started when he was younger, and we still enjoy doing that. A few years ago we started having a big basket of bagels, cream cheeses, pastries and muffins delivered Christmas morning. It's a nice treat and we can relax instead of making a big breakfast. We all love Christmas, especially dh, and he will never let the magic die, lol. Christmas when ds was younger was actually very stressful (Asperger's and Christmas don't often play nicely together!) so it is more fun now in a way than it was in the younger years. To satisfy our toy buying urges we do the angel tree at church. 

You might like the German tradition of hiding a pickle ornament on the tree.  There's a special gift for whomever finds the pickle.  :)

[When the magic is gone from Christmas]

Yeah, it just isn't quite the same for me.  

 

(and I don't think a boob mug would work for our white elephant exchanges, as they are mostly at church!  :lol: )

I did a questionable white elephant at church once.  Made 'slippers' out of women's pads.  Packaged it with some stationery that would point to someone else. lol  She called me on it afterwards, laughing.

[When the magic is gone from Christmas]

My kids still look forward to their stockings the most.  Gets harder and harder to find some useful little things, but they really look for the magic there.  We also still do the Christmas Eve service together, and some years we'll drive around looking at lights afterwards.

 

After the gift opening, we watch an old movie together.  Right now we love It Happened on Fifth Avenue.  Then we play games.  A few years ago we pulled out the Lego bin.  The boys had a great time visiting and building again.  :)  Once in a while we'll go out to a movie.  It's a good lazy day for us workaholics.

 

 

This year we're trying to get all the now married grandkids to get together at my parents, which we've done all their growing up years.  They've balked at joining the adult gift exchange (we drew names) a few years back, so we don't do that anymore, although my mom and one sister and I like to gift small items yet.  We do continue to have a white elephant exchange tho, which keeps us all laughing and takes a while, since there are now 16 of us.  The stuff can be new, used, or freebies you collected-- my dad's famous for a box of freebies from Menards. 

 

Thinking we need to shake it up this year with some new traditions since my parents' house is getting to be a tight fit.  I'm going to suggest a trip to Bentleyville (huge light display) to get most everyone out for a while.  And maybe the women can check out my mom's favorite mansion that's all decked out while the guys have some peace for a good card game.  If we each bring an appetizer, that will save mom lots of work cooking.  Otherwise, we play lots of card games, or some other game for a crowd.

 

And I am taking the time to enjoy the season this year, for a change.  Spent the weekend doing some decorating, and hope to have the tree up this week.  Usually it's all done more as an afterthought close to Christmas Eve.  I WANT TO ENJOY THE SEASON THIS YEAR!  And I've been thinking about sending out Christmas cards, too, which I haven't done lately.  Thinking it's up to me to set the joyful tone, something I've left out the weeks leading up to Christmas the last few years.

 

[Black Friday Deals?]

Kohl's has some down alternative ones on their black Friday ad for $19....prints and plaids in addition to solids.

Just bought one plus matching pillow shams at Younkers at their sale.  Also picked up a dress.

[Christmas gifts for teens that they can use as adults....]

Sports equipment they can use individually now and later: tennis rackets, snow shoes, etc.

Tools, items for their cars, camping gear, luggage.

[Fall tomatos question when to do final pick.]

When frost is ready to hit, we pick them and layer them in boxes- tomatoes not touching each other- with newspaper between the layers.  Then check them every couple days for the ripe ones.  The other option is to wrap them individually in newspaper before putting them in the boxes.

 

Like the hanging vines option!  My folks never did that--course it's colder in the garage up north.  ;)

 

[Re: Christmas stockings and "trinkets"]

I have older kids, and I get them consumables I don't buy the rest of the year.  A jar of Jif (I buy Smuckers without sugar), Fruit Loops and Poptarts are a few of their favorites.  

[Best board and card games for 8 players?]

Hand and Foot.  Requires one deck of cards per person.  We've been playing this as a family game for every holiday for years.  You can find rules online.

A game we call Nothing,but is often called Golf.  You can find rules for this game (and variations) online, too.

 

We're big on card games here. lol

[Christmas gifts for teens that they can use as adults....]

Gave my boys a shoeshine kit one year.  They can't wear only tennies forever--can they?  lol

 

[Favorite winter recipes]

Cheeseburger soup and lots of the above soups

Smothered chicken with mashed potatoes

Spaghetti or some other pasta is on my weekly list in the winter

Salmon patties

Chicken enchiladas

Spanish rice

Meatloaf and baked potatoes

Pizza hotdish

Turkey tetrazzini

Pork roasts

Chinese: fried rice and Hawaiian chicken or eggrolls with chow mein

Swedish meatballs

[Games...What do you have?]

10 Days in the USA is one of our newer ones.  I'd like to get more of them (Europe, Asia, Africa, etc.) but the rest are *expensive*!!!

We have one of the others--Asia?  Dd likes playing that.

 

Also:

In a Pickle

Catch Phrase

I have to go home and find dd's favorite.  Our coop kids loved it for creative writing class, and she's had her friends play it, too.

[S/o what music/videos do you like while recovering?]

I have always liked Don Williams songs as a way to wind down at the end of a long week.  Just lay down, close my eyes, and let the music relax me.  I really wished I could have had his music playing while I was in labor!  But that was a while ago, and the now adult children weren't there yet to show me how I could have my wish. lol

[Christmas stockings]

Do they still make those Wiki sticks? That was good.

[When Nothing Goes Right]

Time for a list until you're feeling well rested.  ;)

[Christmas stockings]

Burt's Bee's lip balm or little tins of Vaseline lip therapy.  Secretary just gave me one that smells like bubble bath.  :)  Perfect for a fake spa time. lol

Additions to something they collect

Pampered Chef tools or other small items from the kitchen store-- hot pads, baggie holders, juicer tool for a water bottle, etc.

flavored popcorn salts

jar of Jif or box of Poptarts or bag of Fruity Doos---or whatever your kid loves that you never buy

jerky

fast food or movie gift cards

movies

shoe laces or shoe polish--if they have leather shoes ;)

make up wipes or make up brushes

tire gauge, car care supplies

 

 

[Sob! We need a new boiler for our furnace.]

The boiler is the inside part of the furnace that heats the water that is then circulated through the radiators.

I have no idea about other types of heat we could use. It’s a big house. Natural gas (which is what our furnace uses) is pretty efficient and cheaper than heating oil or electric that used to be used around here.

No duct work to switch to forced hot air.

 

I’ll have dh research some more for sure.

 

It’s a big house near Canada so it gets cold up here.

 

A boiler system heats water and circulates it through tubing to baseboard fin-tubes, cast iron radiators or through piping under the floor.  A furnace heats forced air and there is ductwork built in to the house for the air to circulate through the house; there are registers in the rooms for the warm air to come into the house and cold air returns for the air to circulate back to the furnace.  A house with a boiler does not have ductwork.  You can't switch systems unless you're tearing out the pipes and adding ductwork.  Dh said that would probably be $17,000 to do.

 

If it's a high efficiency boiler that piped right, with the proper controls, pumps or zone valves, the cost would be right at around $9000.  It's a lot more involved than replacing a furnace, and takes a few days versus one day.

 

(We own a heating company.)

 

You might check into getting a charge card from a small local bank to pay for the boiler.  We have one here that ends up costing less than a loan.  Just a brainstorming thought.  :)

[s/o Who do you expect to take care of your elderly relatives?]

Took care of the in-laws in our home in my 20s until the doctor said they had to go to a nursing home.  Second mil lived in an assisted living apt until she needed a nursing home.  Moved sil down to our area a number of years ago after she had a stroke, and oversee her care in an assisted living facility currently.  Waiting to see what care my folks will need.  I'm the dd that lives near them, but they are still taking full care of themselves at 79 and 90.

 

I'm thinking it's not mentioned as part of the empty nesting as one thinks of that as planned for.  Taking care of family happens as needed and is just a fact of life??

[How much does a future spouse need to know about his/her fiancée's past?]

Yes I think it is a huge red flag.  

I see jealousy and wanting to control the other coming up

[My brother's eulogy.]

That was beautiful.  Thank you for sharing your brother and your childhood with us.  I'm so sorry for your loss.  Hugs.

[Help me find a good family dvd movie, please]

Zathura

 

[Small Business Healthcare]

We had to offer it to keep our best employees tho.  But rates have climbed and we can only offer 1/2 for the employee only, too.  We are just offering some additional options, but the employees need to cover those themselves.  They are discounted from what the employees could get on their own without the group.

[Universal basic income]

The amount would need to differ in different parts of the country/cities.  Who would determine what was enough from area to area?

[Emergency Food for Beginners]

Thanks for giving all the details! 

 

Wow, I had no idea you can get ground beef in a can!

I recently saw the cooked canned meat at Walmart.

[Give me your ideas for rice dishes]

Just made pepper steak (sliced sirloin or round steak, green peppers, tomatoes, green onions and a few other items) over rice yesterday.  Was craving the peppers! 

[Addition and subtraction worksheets, games and more.]

Dice games and using a deck of cards.

Roll the dice, add them together and write down the total.  Take turns, each person adding their totals together, til you get to 100.  Multiplication: multiply them and add to hit 500.  Add a third die to add more challenge.  You can also buy dice that have multiple sides and larger numbers.

 

Play War with a deck of cards, but each player places two cards up and add/multiply them together to see who has the larger number.

 

Google free math games or free printable math games.