*The Holly and the Ivy* and the You Know What 2013 Chatter Thread.

DomRavioli

Own_My_Own wrote: »

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

I suddenly don't feel well. I sense a nightmare coming on .:eek:
I don't want to shut my eyes . :eek::eek::eek: But it's late, and I'm tired. :eek::eek::eek::eek:

Goodbye everyone .:eek::eek::eek:

OMO, I didn't mean to give you a nightmare! You can always send it to me, and I'll do it for you

shewholovesherfamily

Wow weeclick that tree is fab!

SwipernoSwiping

Well ladies you are already inspiring me. As both my girls birthdays are on the run up to Christmas, buying early is norm for me (much to the annoyance of other school mums ) I tend to leave the toy hunt till easter. Kicking myself as I could have got so much in the boots sale. But today I have picked up christmas cards, wrapping paper enough to go round the house twice and gift tags in the sales. Well pleased with that as they are ready to stash away with the tree. Got all youngest's bedroom floor rediscovered. Divided up toys that will not be suitable for anything other than the tip because of missing parts :mad: and the rest for the local toy charity. Girls clothes are all bagged for ebay/boot sale. Even found vacum bags that I bought in my attempt to organise 2 years back - mistake as we moved that year!
So thank you guys. I'm off to a good start.

bunbun2

ruth honeythanks for the link. I will keep an eye on it. I am the same - I bake cakes but hate cooking proper meals

pinknfluffy a science hamper sounds fab. my eldest ds would have loved that when he was 6. I hadn't discovered mse or hampers when he was that age:(

weeclickyour sweetie tree is fantastic. i bet your neice loved it

shewholovesherfamilythat is my plan too with the slow cooker, to try and meal plan better

I made the mistake of opening a bag of cashew nuts and have eaten far too many:eek:

p-pincher

Hi Everyone

Followed the thread last year and it was a great help. I love Christmas but I love the run up and the organising even more. I get a real thrill finding a bargain. Had a look round the sales but to be honest they were not much cop. Got a few bits in paperchase as I cannot resist that shop.

Christmas day was a bit of a damp squid as my Mum had accident on the way round to mine on Christmas evening. She fell up my front step and broke her jaw and ended up with nine stitches in her chin. Luckily it doesn't require surgery but there was blood everywhere and the kiddies were distraught. Everythings ok now but she cant eat any solid food for about 6 weeks.

Set up another savings plan for this year. Me and DH save £10 a week to cover everything for Christmas the following year. I do moan about it but when it comes to October/November time Im always really glad i did it.

Next job is to take down the decs and to make a list of birthdays over the next three months. I think we've got about 8.

FeistyFidget

Dasiegg - I'm so sorry my sweet, I think I forgot to wish you a Happy Birthday! Ignore the mean comments about teachers - I do think it stems from jealousy. People don't understand that during all of those 'holidays' you are actually working from home lesson planning, marking etc. I get the same rudeness as my job is 50% working from home - even my best friend admitted she thinks I sit trawling the internet all day and eating cake!

Back from the sales and I have to say I was not overly impressed First stop was the card factory. All of their Xmas stock was half price, no lower. They had a box of dog eared tubes of wrapping paper for 50p EACH, I passed.

Also, I may be wrong, but I have it in my head that Boots used to be 50% off after Xmas AND still 3 for 2? I went in today and there were big signs everywhere stating that the 3 for 2 was no-longer valid despite products still displaying stickers I will admit that I felt the familiar pre-Christmas stresses when I was trying to figure out presents for everyone. Had to take a deep breath and remind myself I still have 51 weeks of shopping to go

I have completed my 2013 gift list and have stolen the traffic light suggestion Am sticking to my budget, and any gifts bought in sales will be counted as their pre-sale price. Otherwise people will think that some people have had more spent on them, plus it makes it completely MSE 4 people are now completely bought for, for Christmas

I didn't really find anything for myself in town - 2 bras, a cardi, a belt and a pair of shoes, all totaling £14. So when I got in I treated myself to the fitbit. And to make it completely 'free' I used my £50 xmas voucher AND £30 from my paypal account I will catch the bus tomorrow to get it (otherwise I'll have to wait for almost 2 weeks!) I am very excited

shewholovesherfamily

ouch!! your poor Mum hope she feels better soon!
with you all the way on being more organised for this year.

FBG85

Snugglebunny8 wrote: »

:rotfl: oh I so know what you mean!! I swear with me its become a habit, and now I wonder what i should be worrying about!!! Im almost afraid that if I worry too much about something happening I will make it happen ... it's wonder my poor kids are sane isnt it???!! :rotfl: when they all came back in yesterday and saw me sat on the sofa looking worried (situation normal) and the engineer still here, DD went 'code red! code red!' and backed out the door, thank heavens they can laugh at me!! :rotfl::T

Lol, I take solace in the fact that because I worry about things I plan accordingly so if it it does hit fan, I'll be ( slightly ) prepared! Though how I could prepare for the possibility of my bath falling through the ceiling with me in it I don't know! :eek:
Just bought another Christmas present , some lovely gloves for my sister, £12 down to £4.80 from H of F and a notebook for my birthday , dh is carp at presents so buying my own this year, he's lucky I don't have expensive taste.

redbooties

I had a fab Christmas even though I spent way too much. Everyone loved their Christmas Eve hampers so will be doing those again next year. Also the pots of gold and snowman soup went down really well.
I'm not going to spend anywhere near as much in 2013 as I did this year and I've decided to do hampers for everyone and homemade gifts.

I'm starting my first hamper next week as its my best friends birthday and all she wants is gardening things, but I haven't a clue about gardening or what's available this time of year for the garden so I'm off to the garden centre New Year's Day to see what I can get.

I want a fitbit too I'm going to start saving for it as I never spend that amount of cash on something for my self.

FBG85

pinknfluffy28 wrote: »

hi all, so im struggling a little with organising 2012 hamper themes. I had them all planned out, then realised i would need to change a few for various reasons, so, i need a theme for mum (newly single, likes candle, reading etc, but done the pamper hamper/reading/night in over previous years) and a theme for dd who will be 6. I like to collect throughout the year, so i dont want to do a character theme as theyre so fickle at that age! shes not really very crafty, more acedemic, & even at 5 she would rather play scrabble than paint a picture! please help, need to hit the sales so need to make a final decision TODAY!!
thanks in advance :-)

Hi, re hamper for your dd, have you thought about the maths and English work books you can get, my dds' have some from pound land. Or perhaps books she can read on her own, you can buy rainbow fairies books for early readers now. Pens and notebooks are always a fave with my dds (3 yrs and 6 yrs), maybe little travel boards games like ludo or UNO. HTH