My tree usually has "finger chains". Yarn knitted with your fingers as the needles. https://www.instructables.com/How-to-chain-knit-with-your-fingers/

That would definitely catch their attention! I like fire, but my youngest would lecture me on the safety violations LOL.

Looking for some fun ways to make Christmas special with teens. We're going thin with presents this year due to budget, and most activities have been curtailed. It seems like anything I suggest is met with eyerolls and a quick return to the screen or the book. There will be no family visiting, so I'm afraid most of December will just go by with no real excitement. We don't celebrate Advent. Any ideas on how to make this season a little more fun? I am planning on hot chocolate and the drive through lights one night. Christmas read aloud? We've done most of the well-known ones. We're currently in the middle of Frankenstein, but I can set that aside. Christmas movie ideas? I forced two of them to watch the Miniature Christmas challenge on HGTV this morning, and it went ok. One of them likes crafts, one likes to bake, so we'll probably do some of those. Anything else? It's so much easier when the season itself is magical; any ways to get some pizazz?

2020 came out to be a wash. We are almost exactly where we were financially when we went in to 2020. Hopefully, we can make some traction in 2021; I feel like the past few years has been just a holding pattern. When we get some $, it seems something comes up that takes it. Medical for this year: 3 hospitalizations and one 6 week stretch of daily therapy, 3 months of 2x week therapy. One root canal. 3 cavities. Finished paying for 2nd kid's braces although removal has been delayed. Medical for next year: We're being hit with some doozies of medical bills right now even though our kid with the most medical bills is in the "free zone" (max out of pocket for 2020). My youngest is having migraines again; I remembered she has not been to the eye doctor this year, so she has an appointment tomorrow. She is ready for braces now. Appointment is set for January. I did contact the hospital for assistance with my CT scan. I have an x-ray tomorrow, hoping they will decide the kidney stones can just live in there for a while. But we'll see. School for this year: DD graduated high school/comm college & started college. A couple of road trips for college decisions and then taking/bringing her back from first semester. One very expensive laptop. Books and fees and tuition, oh, my! Dropped out of co-op, but added an online course. School for next year: same old, same old. Cars for this year: a couple of minor repairs, but nothing major. Gas was a savings for the year, although with the road trips for colleges and daily therapy 1 hour away for over a month, it wasn't as great as it could've been. Cars for next year: DH will need a new car soon, so that is probably where tax refund will go. College DD wants a car, but that would be on her to provide. Debt, retirement, savings: all are close to plan if not exactly where I hoped we would be. VIPKid was a wipeout with the pandemic. DH took my space over, and I literally have no where to do it in this house. I have only opened slots when they offer me an incentive to do so. I haven't taught a class in well over 8 months. I have made almost $100 doing just those incentive slots, so not horrible. DH didn't lose his job, although overtime was cut for a while, so I am thankful for that. Almost finished Christmas shopping today. I have MIL left, but DH hasn't any ideas, and MIL has given one idea to everyone in the family, so I would have to check with everyone to see if anyone else bought it. I also have neighbors left, but I am clueless on what to get them.

Ours is usually in the living room corner so you can see the TV from it. It's where the tree goes, so right now it's in our bedroom.

I started my morning by getting on the exercise bike. 20 minutes because the cat decided it was time to get off and feed her. She can be a nuisance.

Made $15 today on our Christmas tree stand. We sprang for an artificial one this year. Oldest has some pretty bad allergies, so it was past time to move to fake greenery.

I have a DD who we are "holding back". She has had a rough 2 1/2 years with mental and physical health issues. She is only now starting to come out of the fog a little bit. If she makes a huge leap in the next few years, we will figure that out, but for now, I'm calling her a 9th grader even though she has been a 9th grader before. I don't know what you would like to know. The reasons we are holding DD back are 99% most likely not the reasons you would hold your son back.

Mayhem celebrates Tuxedo Cat Day by wreaking mayhem in the laundry basket.

Congratulations to your DD! How exciting. Hugs to you this Christmas season.

Poor little bunny.

I use it, usually 5 items per month. Vitamins and supplements, razors, and some cleaning supplies. I check it at the end of every month to see if I need to switch around anything, check prices, skip items I have a stockpile of, and verify I have 5 items for the greatest discount.

I thought you guys would appreciate this funny. My middle DD wants to be a doctor and she loves to dissect/study anatomy/etc. So for her Christmas present we decided to get her a suture kit. I found "skin" on sale last month, just ordered the thread and went to order the scissor/tweezer pack from ebay. There was one that was 6-something normally, on sale for $5.89, but had a best offer option. So I put in a best offer, the seller countered at $5.80, a whopping 9 cents off. LOL.

Congratulations!

They are available to any child; therefore, your children qualify. Take the help that is being offered. Do not spend a minute worrying about it. Hugs to you, Ms. Tiggywinkle.

I always answer sarcastically, "Yes, she knows. An actual angel showed up and told her. I think she probably paid attention." It irks me. But I haven't noticed my response changing depending on the singer. I'll sing along with it (as I do most things), but I find it a silly, irritating song.

We usually do a literature or science unit study in Jan/Feb when we are all burned out. Harry Potter (Hogwarts School) or read and map your way through the Hobbit? Electricity with Snap Circuits or Physics with marble mazes? Map the stars on these clear cold nights? Math fun: Hands on Equations might work with that age group. Or The Book of Perfectly Perilous Math (Sean Connolly has loads of science experiment books that might be fun too). A Photography Challenge? Or if you have athletes, a physical challenge? Complete the pictures. https://www.instagram.com/p/BwsdGkxh4qX/?igshid=e8s1481aa0yh A lapbook or presentation on a topic of their choosing. Memorize The Night Before Christmas. Poetry "Tea" with hot chocolate or eggnog and Christmas cookies. Try to recreate a famous building or style of architecture in gingerbread.

Ugh - got my bill from my CT scan I had a couple of weeks ago. It went against my deductible. On the bright side, my deductible has been met and my upcoming x-ray won't be crazy expensive. I'll also call them on Monday to see about a price deduction; we usually qualify for one due to income. Because of this expense and having oldest home from college (travel expenses & she has not one long sleeve shirt (where did they all go??)), I decided one gift per kid for Christmas. Groceries will be fairly cheap this week. My freezer is super packed, so I'll be relying on that over the next few weeks.

I was shocked too when I found it last week. It was Redbox' 18th anniversary so they were having $1.18 off any rental. I told the kids to look and they found Mulan. 62 cents to watch it - way better than Disney+, plus their rental.

I am still looking for a gift for my neighbor. I don't think I can gift wine condoms. She's 81, and honestly, she'd probably love it - I just don't think I can do it...

Thank you for this - I got 2 months of my DD's iron pills. It turned out to be buy one, get one 75% off with my rewards and the 25% code.

My neighbor moved a couple of months ago and gave us two of his garden trellises. They're obelisks. I almost burst out laughing when he brought them over. I plan on disguising the beacons under clematis.

Yay for Roombas! I really want one, but it just hasn't been in our budget yet. My youngest DD likes to vacuum though, so she usually takes care of it. I hate floors. I'm narrowing in on Christmas presents, now to find deals on them. How many presents do everybody's kids get? I sent DH (he's in master bedroom quarantine) links to my ideas, about 2 presents per kid, about $50ish in total per kid, and he picked one item off of the list for each of them. I don't think 1 is quite sufficient considering we don't really buy much overall. They do get $20 from one Grandma, a couple presents or quite a bit of cash from the other, a present from an aunt and uncle, and a present from a different uncle. So maybe 1 is sufficient and I'm being weird?

DH likes cheese so much, he asked for Mac and Cheese for his birthday dinner this Saturday. Um, I can probably handle cooking that meal.

Good ideas on Christmas presents. Some ideas for winter-themed birthday: stuffed penguins or snowmen. Snowmen decorations from the Dollar Store. Fairy lights or white Christmas lights. Paper Snowballs. Hot Chocolate with marshmallows. Some cute kids' games here: https://coffeeandcarpool.com/best-winter-themed-classroom-holiday-party-activities/