47 Days Till What?

Did you know that there are only 47 days left until Christmas?

Here at the mom blog household Santa was on our minds in August so we've taken care of a few things but the real holiday shopping frenzy doesn't start until after Thanksgiving.

This year I'm planning on buying a lot of things online and it looks like I'm definitely not alone. According to bizreport.com, over 33 billion dollars will be spent online during this year's holiday shopping season. That is 20% more than last year. Will you be joining in?

If you are an online holiday shopper then I've got the perfect guide for you. I've put together a Christmas Gifts Under $20 Shopping Guide. We've got some of the top gift ideas under $20 for moms, dads, toddlers, pre-k kids, and much more to come in the next week so don't forget to check it out to help you with your holiday shopping. And if you have some great ideas for gifts under $20 or you are or know a mom owned business who has a product they want to promote send me an email.

Don't forget to enter our current contests going on right here on the mom blog and over at amomsreview.com

You could win a Trendy Tadpole T-shirt for your little one here (deadline is Mon. 11/12/07).
You could win some Oopsie Dazie hair accessories here (deadline is tonight!)
You could win a stylish Dabib here (deadline is tonight!)

And if you are wanting to make some extra cash this holiday season, why not check out HomeJobForMoms.biz 's real list of work at home jobs or think about starting your own online business?

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Buying Our Kids Too Much Stuff?

I am guilty of buying my two boys too much stuff. There, I said it. Other Moms are talking about it too. Our home is overflowing with junk. However, I haven’t always been this way. There have been plenty of times when Hot Daddy and I were new parents and we barely had enough money to buy food & diapers.

But now I buy a little something for the boys almost every time we go somewhere even if it’s just a quick trip to the grocery store. I don’t buy extravagant gifts or anything like that but I do catch myself and HOT Daddy (he’s really bad for it) buying the boys something like a book, a hot wheels car, or sometimes a movie when we go into a store. For example, a couple days ago I went to get school snacks for Future Bam and ended up buying him one of the very few Sponge bob DVD’s that he didn’t already have and his little brother got a Disney Cars toy.

Obviously I know this is a very bad habit and I don’t want the boys growing up thinking that they can have any material object any time they want it. I was not raised that way and I don’t want my boys to be raised that way but it’s hard to not give in to a tiny little toy that puts a smile on their face when we go shopping. For the most part we buy things that cost a $1 or $2 but those costs do add up and could be put to better use. I’m not sure what “better use” yet. Maybe some of you could give me some ideas on how to spend the money better if I do in fact stop spending it on junk. I know I could be paying more towards our debt but really is that $2 going to make a difference?

So, let’s hear it. I’m really interested in hearing how many of you buy your kids too much stuff? Do you buy your kids something every time you go somewhere? And if you do buy too much is it because you feel guilty? I know that is part of my reasoning. Honestly, when Hot Daddy and I have been really busy for a week or two and haven’t really gotten to spend a lot of real quality time with the boys I try to make up for it and I guess that’s where the buying stuff comes in. At least I am being honest and acknowledging this problem but in the grand scheme of things it probably doesn’t even matter. What do you think?

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Last Night MY ARM GOT STUCK IN A BLANKET

When the hubs (herein referred to as HOT Daddy since "the hubs" is getting silly) and I got married, we received a homemade blanket (bedspread) as a gift. The blanket has covered our bodies and the bodies of our little boys ever since which is going on like around 9 years now. Anyway, It's FINALLY falling apart and tearing around the edges. I'm not sure what took me so long to notice that it was falling apart. Maybe it's because I'm so used to our comfortable old blanket.

Well, last night my arm got stuck in a hole of the blanket and that is where I draw the line. I'm going blanket shopping or is that comforter/bedspread shopping? WHO CARES? I'm going shopping!

Since blanket shopping is such an exciting item to shop far, I'm enlisting my fellow bloggers in helping me decide what to buy or at least give me some direction. Plus we haven't bought a new blanket for ourselves in like EVER. Is that weird? SO onto the blanket...I'm looking for something smooth, thick, and warm. Wow. That kind of sounds x-rated, huh? Or is it just me? So, what colors and styles are in? What's on sale? What's trendy but affordable? A specific store to shop at? Online? I'm open to Wal-mart, Target,etc. Hey, Wal-mart is the only thing we have that's NOT an hour away.

P.S. Everytime I look at the title I think of that P Diddy song and now that stupid song is stuck in my head. Geez, that's just dumb. Does anyone even know what song I'm talking about?

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