December 4, 2009

7 Quick Takes: December 4, 2009 (Volume 23)

in church/faith,cleaning/laundry,finances/frugal ideas,food,holidays/birthdays,toys/games

~ 1 ~

I. must. clean.

In just a few days, I will be hosting a baby shower for my sister-in-law at my home. Nothing like a party to force you into really a nice deep cleaning around the house, I suppose. I actually have a bunch of things to do before the shower, but it should be a nice afternoon.

~ 2 ~

We are gearing up for St. Nicholas Day this weekend. My kids are very excited, just like I always was when I was a kid. Although we only do one small gift (between the three kids, the gifts averaged at right about $5/kiddo), they are eager to see what will await them.

On the topic of small gifts though, what are some of your favorite stocking stuffers for kids?

~ 3 ~

We just got our paperwork for Eric’s health insurance for next year. We have just a few days to make decisions and get it all turned back in. I’m not sure why it has to be that way every year, but it is.

More importantly, I don’t understand why we have to pay more for our monthly premiums each year, yet we also get an increase in our copays and introducing this year — a deductible as well. Oh well, I guess I can understand the increase in price, because they are cutting some of what they cover and making us financially responsible for more of it.

Yeah, it makes perfect sense.

~ 4 ~

I know that a lot of people around the U.S. right now are probably at the point where they are tired of coming up with creative ways to use leftover turkey. But do you know what? I only got to have turkey on Thanksgiving and then a few rolls with some turkey on them on the drive home the next day (from my grandparents house). So, darn it — I’m in the mood for turkey.

Good thing I went to Aldi’s for the first time ever and picked up a Butterball turkey at a great price. I have to decide when to make it (so I know when to start thawing it), but then I’m all psyched to have some turkey at home.

In preparation for when we get tired of turkey though, anyone have any great leftover turkey ideas?

~ 5 ~

I was excited to get to change my ringback tone on my cell phone to “Carol of the Bells” by Straight No Chaser just after Thanksgiving. It was apparently a whole family event, because the kids had to call my phone and then so did my Mom. Then the kids made me play the song on my iPod several times. I didn’t know it, but it is apparently Noah’s favorite Christmas song.

~ 6 ~

I recently searched around town and the Internet for this Pastry Chef set from Step 2 for Molly for Christmas. I just thought it looked so cute after reading about it in the most recent issue of Family Fun Magazine.

Much to my displeasure, what I thought was going to be a single click on Amazon.com actually ended up being an all-out search. I have not linked you to Amazon, as a matter of fact, because they are out and there are third party sellers trying to get almost $60 for the set right now (which should be around $25).

I was thrilled to then find that Step 2 sells them on their website! But, the catch is that they only sell a two pack of this toy on their site. Get this though — it was on sale for $29.99 for the two pack! (Right now, it’s up to $49.98 for the set of two, but that is what retail price would be for two.)

So, not only did I manage to get a toy that I wanted, but now we have another gift just waiting to be given to someone else! WooHoo!

~ 7 ~

I recently heard this passage from Matthew’s Gospel (when my friend Amanda put it on a mixed media painting) and I realized that I need to think of it a lot more often than I do:

Learn from the wildflowers in the field, and behold the birds in the sky. Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will wear. Your Heavenly Father knows what you need before you even ask Him.