Aww that was so cute/sweet

Bowling? Meeting at the movie theater for a movie they all want to see? Going to a sit down pizza place? Depending on where you live, an ice skating rink? Lots of good ideas up thread. That sundae bar sounds yummy

This ques. doesn't really apply to me, but I wanted to share something kinda related. One store was routinely "self checkout only" after a certain hour in the evening. Dh complained on the phone to someone higher and it hasn't been that way when he's gone back late in the evening. So if someone really wants to see more cashiers maybe make a phone call.

Personally I have eaten hummus on several occasions and not with pita chips. I can't stand them. It's like do I want to break a tooth? I'd dip pretzels, naan bread (preferably warm), carrots or tortilla chips. Sure you could offer them, but I'm just saying there are some other possibilities. I don't like all hummus. I think I prefer the hummus from Whole Foods (not sure if there is a brand name but they sell a sampler with like 4 flavors) to the Sabre brand. I would love to try homemade.

Alternatively, you could probably buy photo paper and print some of your own. Maybe not a postcard style but a photo to stuff inside a Christmas card (you could buy a cheap box of Christmas cards). Maybe you could even load the picture into an app or something with a Christmas boarder or such and then print? I guess it depends on what kind of printer that requires. I have never tried this. This year dh said we'll print some at his work on photo paper, though since Santa is visiting his work and we're bringing the kids.

I don't know if this is a concern or not, but don't you need the children to try on the helmets before anyone purchases them?? This summer we considered getting ds a new bike (he's outgrown his) and helmet (also outgrown). Walmart helmets had a vague size range and none of them fit him properly. I was looking at one at a bike store but it was a lot more than I wanted to pay (if we had bought the bike there they would have given a discount on accessories, but we decided it wasn't in the budget and he was kinda in between sizes on bike frames, too). All this to say, I think helmet shopping requires the participation of the one wearing it. Otherwise, they might open an item on Christmas day that doesn't fit (which would be a huge bummer if exchanging it is inconvenient or you want to ice skate immediately). So buying online or second hand or gifting at all might be difficult?

I usually avoid them! Even when I have just a few items I can have bad luck like "you didn't bag your item" or something annoying like that (maybe I did bag it, but didn't weigh enough or maybe it wasn't practical to bag). Last time I went to Walmart I only had a few items, but I needed to redeem Shopkick coupons. I thought it might not work at the self checkout or be a nightmare to figure out so I didn't even try. Honestly, maybe I could have waved my phone's barcode, but not sure if it would have required a hand scanner or what. Dh will choose self checkout at Sam's club where he has a million bulky items. I think he's nuts!! They do have a long conveyor belt at least. The times I went there I had just a couple items and had an issue that required the nearby employee to assist me. And that made me realize the time before that, the other employee mislead me. I asked, "do I need to do anything with my club card?" She said, "no." The second time I went the employee said you need to scan your club card first. So this has me wondering what happened the first time and did I not earn points for that purchase? At least it was only one item! All this to say I have trust issues with those self checkouts.

I thought the dot was to accompany the Echo. Like I thought the Echo was required to use the dot. Shows how much I know ha. I just googled it and it sounds like the dot is more bang for your buck since it's pretty much the same. http://www.howtogeek.com/248590/whats-the-difference-between-the-amazon-echo-and-echo-dot/

Ah, I see. Have you already checked Book Depository? They ship free worldwide. But they sell new, so might not be any better of a deal than what you have found so far. Some credit card companies do cash back and categories that rotate, with Christmas time including dept. stores or certain online shopping. I don't know if this applies to you or not. When I was a kid there was a skating rink I went to sometimes. Didn't use any equipment there, but outside of the rink I had a pair of rollerblades and used knee and wrist guards (helmet too maybe??). I really really needed the wrist guards LOL

Well maybe we could help you find ways to score a bargain on enough items that the budget could afford more? Like a deal on a chess set and a deal on the helmet. I don't know? I try to rack up a few gift cards through Swagbucks that I redeem on Amazon. I also scan products inside stores for shopkick gift cards. It's not much, but it helps a little! I saved $4 on a Christmas sweater for dd the other day with my shopkick points.

If you don't think they want them, would it be better to postpone the helmets? Is something else practical as a gift that will take up the time they would be likely to go skating? I know bike helmets are not the norm everywhere or even required by law everywhere. I actually had a different angle on this topic. I wanted to get a helmet for my nephew but dh said not to because it was be insulting to the parents. I worry more about things like that I guess. Then when we all went (SIL's family and mine) to an air show I bought ds ear protection from the gun dept. I asked dh if I should buy any for my nephew. Again he said no. Dd was not born yet. I bought two pairs, one for me and one for ds. I hate the things that go into your ear, so I was planning on wearing the headphone style. Then we get to the airshow and someone offers my nephew the ear protection that was supposed to be mine. I thought dang it you guys should have just let me buy three pairs. Lol.

I don't want to clean up after anyone's monthly mess, either. It is not just whether or not you will make contact with it (I could wear gloves, it could be wrapped) but the fact that it might smell. Trash is not all the same because that means emptying a diaper genie is on the same playing field as a can of shredded documents. Nope. Sorry. Not to me, anyway. If someone wants their son to empty the trash in the bathroom and there are no issues (no complaints) from it, then there's no problem. But if I was on the fence and the person (sibling male or female) objected then I would rethink it.

I find that pricing to be a joke. I mean, they can do way better than that for Black Friday special. We paid $99 for ours when it first came out.

Well they might not have their own room, but I figured their own space. That could be the living room couch or the person whose family lives there takes the couch and gives the guest the actual bedroom. Lots of people have pull out couches or futons or would rough it on the couch if they wanted their guest to come that badly. I mean, really, this would have to be considered before inviting the guest over probably. Let's just say if it was my significant other and we were close enough that they were visiting for an overnight stay at my parents, I would know or ask how they felt about bunking with others they probably never met.

We have one. I have very mixed feelings on it. Guess I'm not a very good user because I don't find it nearly as user-friendly as I had hoped. There have been many times where I thought it was stupid because it couldn't google for me or whatever. You ask a question and it says, "I'm sorry, I do not understand the question" and such. I ask about the weather and it mishears me half the time and tells me the weather in another part of the country that has a similar name?? Then I have to interrupt and repeat myself. If I'm adding several items at once to the grocery list I get exasperated saying, "Alexa. Add oranges to the shopping list. Alexa. Add salami to the shopping list. Alexa add blah blah to the list." If you don't say shopping list sometimes she'll put it on the to do list instead. Dh says you can just add the items via the app on the phone so that's what I did last time. I would rather just say, "Alexa. Add oranges and salami to the shopping list" but I think she puts them on the same line?? When you say her name she turns blue. If you stop talking she will turn off and that's why you have to say her name again. I do like Alexa for some things. Setting timers, setting alarms, listening to music. Sometimes she will play a song because it's available from Prime or in my music library. Sometimes she won't play what I ask because we don't own it, but she may redirect me to a music station. Sometimes we ask her definitions. I don't know if it worked every time, but at least a few times ds was able to get her to understand when he asked an abbreviation for a state. That is so funny about turning on music remotely. I didn't know about that. My MIL also has an echo. Dh and SIL added weird things to her grocery list lol (I mean from her home, not ours) My toddler has thrown Alexa a couple times. She's still alive. So far. The biggest use here? Us saying, "Alexa, what time is it?" Lol Usually when everyone is trying to get ready to leave the house and doesn't want to stop what they are doing to look at a clock. Usually Alexa doesn't react (turn blue) when we're just carrying on/watching tv. There used to be one Amazon Echo commercial that made her react, though! It was annoying because she would start reading the news Lol.

This is true. I'm guessing that the wedding = "officially part of the family" so they figure you gain access to family portrait time. If the couple divorces or someone dies, they were still in the family at the time the photo was taken. I know marriage, rings, and other things don't always = family, but this is likely the way a lot of people make the conclusion about family photos. I don't think I have any photos of dh and I in a posed family photo with my parents and siblings. We took our own family photos and they are up in my parents' home and dh's parents' home, though. The family photo comments made me think of Parenthood. I know a lot of people on this board have seen the series.

I get it because it was how I was raised. The understanding is, "you're not married, thus you do not share a bed." Ring on finger doesn't = married. I don't know how I would deal with the situation if I was the adult and my child was engaged and had their partner coming over to stay.

I would be kinda weirded out if I was assigned a roommate as a guest. Well, not in every single case I guess. But as a general rule, I'd think the guest would get their own room. Sure, assign a roommate for the child that lives there if you want. I brought a bf home before. I don't remember anything special. He got my sister's old room (she was older and had moved out). We don't do anything besides eat for Thanksgiving. No football game or gift exchange or anything like that. One time I brought home two platonic friends (one guy, one girl). I don't even remember sleeping arrangements but I think we stayed over night. Again, it was no biggie. My oldest sister brought home boyfriend(s) a few times when she was the college student. Someone slept on a couch futon bed. My dad couldn't bring himself to use the word boyfriend lol. He'd always call my sister's bfs her friend. He probably did the same with me lol. Pretty conservative family so pretty much everyone avoided PDA probably ha.

Before anyone misconstrues yet another post of mine I will clarify (without editing my last post because I want to leave them intact). I don't mean being labeled black is bad. I simply mean that not everyone dark considers themselves black, not everyone that speaks Spanish considers themselves Latino, etc.

THAT WAS NEVER MY POINT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is why I'm still arguing with you. My point was should ANYONE ON THIS PLANET make jokes about people based on race or color. And my other point was when you casually referred to everyone in your video links as black, you could label someone in a dismissive way they don't appreciate. That was my point. I'm done.

Since you edited your post. I DIDN'T REJECT HIS MESSAGE. I said that I ask myself if jokes of that nature are right, coming from anyone. You did read that I'm Mexican, right? Yeah, what would I know about anything. My mom had to fight to get my birth certificate because she didn't make it to the hospital in time when I was born.

A. I didn't say anything about his insight lacking. B. I just said that lots of times people don't appreciate being called something they don't identify as My comment was not meant to involve your husband, but thank you for his perspective. You could have just said that one post back, but you know, without flipping out. I had a close friend in college that always got called black, but she'd tell me she's not black, she's Panamanian. Guess we won't know unless we ask him.

I can't tell which posts are meant to be dirty or not, but they are making me :laugh:

Lol I was picturing giant inflatables that are sitting there before Thanksgiving. I guess it depends. Is there any problem waiting til after Thanksgiving? I would wait unless this is just a burden and you want to get it out of the way (or nervous about the weather). Just lights?

I wouldn't host if I wouldn't allow guests to eat on couches, etc. and didn't have a big enough table. But who has a table to fit that many? So I would see if there's space for a card table/chairs to add the rest. I wouldn't expect to eat in shifts and I think that'd be awkward to ask a few to wait. Is there anywhere to put a card table?? Could you make an exception for the couches/living room area this time? Could you lay down something to protect the most worrisome item? Like fold up a nice rug and store it or cover it with a plastic shower curtain or something? Lay down a large blanket over the couch that can be washed? Yes, it's important to me that we all eat at the same time. My parents have often had to set out an additional table and chairs. My in-laws have a larger table and we all (barely) fit at it. We add chairs from another table set and make it work. I personally have weird dining room chairs. They are foldable, but you don't really notice once they are open.