Christmas shopping for grands on after Christmas clearance for next year.....

silly goose gloves for everyone

arrived 1-17-26

BIG BROODY BUNNY for ??? would make an adorbs birthday gift??? it's here.

2026 Christmas Ideas.....

get Cousin Crew tees again. ask the kids their fave color. Z has requested pink.

Krampus in St Charles December 2026!

another spooky advent calender with daily TikToks!

make a baby cardboard robot!!!!! have trunk and legs. need head and arms.

set up a decorated box for Christmas pics for grands. (this has been on my mind forever. get it together, girrrrrrrl.)

definitely bring back Christmas mimosas!

lay off the piles of Christmas books. keep on with notebooks and pens.

all grands and the Bigs get a pair of silly goose mittens. (arrived today). put the Bigs $ in theirs.

wind shiny tinsel around wood pole on mailbox. Santa Hat on mailbox.

save asst. boxes to wrap all the silly goose gloves in....

papa ordered Ian's big gifts today.

2 brick build guns.

ok, bank fraud police. take a chill pill.

it's Black Friday week. Christmas is looming. I am online shopping. is Walmart really a risky purchase? and yes, I am having gifts sent to people. 'cause Christmas. Seriously. Walmart? I'm glad you take my financial safety so personally. that $47 was gonna have me living on the street. Merry F'in Christmas. I just about lost my shit.

thought of a few more gifts tailored towards specific kids today....

a dinosaur jammie set for Millie's boy doll.

a bluey keytar and chatty teeth.

the last piece for the Avon Heavenly Blessings Nativity Set arrived today....

but I got the angel I already had. (insert eye roll here.) I was pissed. furious. livid. I decided I'd sell it back on eBay. got frustrated about 25 seconds into a listing, decided fuck it, why can't I have twin angels? instantly ordered the angel I wanted. checked my email. I. did. order. kneeling. angel. so I didn't fuck up. someone else did. and that makes it all better, cause now I'm not the one who was wrong. and I'm ok with that. I can let it go. and someone else is probably recieving the kneeling angel today. will they let it go? dunno. already threw the box away. I'm done.

new flannel sheets on bed. CHRISTMAS flannel sheets. that I will of course use year round. because.

did second coat on end cap paint and another layer of grotto. watched Chris & Tracy's Salem video.

the tree is up. little Santa hats everywhere. found the missing nativity. ordered the final piece from eBay. started collecting in 1986. it's 2025.

ordered KJ & Koren first christmas ornaments off eBay. found tiny pics. Koren's arrived today and is on tree. (her original has been missing for years.) finally put a pic in Katie's first Christmas ornament. (she's 27). Bigfoot has his sweater on. The deer and dog are out of the garage corner. first time in YEARS. Bumble has moved upstairs. The Christmas Plushie gang in under the tree. wrapping presents. adding to the list here and there, trying to even it all out. playing Christmas Angel so Z has a good Christmas at mommy's house. may Sasquatch bless us, every one.

Christmas, Christmas, Christmas

making handmade books for each grandkid. made new grand Christmas Sack Tags. have my amazon cart full of Christmas books for grands. made Violet 4 Christmas Notebooks with embellishments. making Tracy a Halloween Notebook and a ghost Christmas Cookie doll and got her that cool thing she was eye balling at The Lizzie Borden House Gift Shop. I am getting Build a Bear's Bloody Beary. have snarky mugs for the daughter and sons-in-law. snarky books for our 3 little ks. Izzy is getting a trash can for her room. Millie a knock off American Girl Boy Doll and outfit. Cora has asked for the new KC AG doll accessories - ordered 2 outfits. new baby has a ridiculously big Highland Cow plushie. Zerelda a Fur Real Tumbling Panda. going to attempt an Ugly Christmas Sweater for Bigfoot. and got ornaments to hang in his tree. no requests from Ian yet. a new ornament and jingle bells for front door wreath.

my whole vibe has been a bit off this year.

Cora had given me a birthday list. then mom said she didn't need any more baby dolls or stuffies. she asked for clothes and real makeup and Legos. and a Roblox card for her game. so: found her a cute pair of hoop earrings, lip gloss, lip balm, 3 books, a Roblox gift card, a Lego set, and a Target card to go shopping for clothes.

of course I'm Christmas shopping. it's JULY.

Lego sets and pom poms arrived today. putting stuff in Christmas sacks and realize....I've bought TWO BARBIES? wtf. they're right there, in the bottom of The Gift Trunk. now have to find 3 more, of course. or just save them for birthdays next year? but I'm pretty sure Coralie NEEDS a cat Monster High doll RIGHT now. THIS Christmas. or is it a werewolf? (sigh.) the girls all have tons of Barbies. I'll just leave them loose in box for now. such big monumental all important life-altering decisions going on here. not sure I'm up to the task. and something for Ian. would he want pom poms? there is an extra pair if he wants them. so now he needs TWO extra gifts. or 1 if I let the Barbie thing slide. unless he wants a Ken from movie. or does he? idk. and I want to do t-shirts again. the kids seemed to like them. I often see pics of them on FB wearing them. I am seriously trying to downsize. I really really really am. seriously. #truth.

prime day christmas shopping for grands.....

6 sets of sparkly silver poms for 5 granddaughters.

6 lego sets for 6 kids.

Let Freedom Ring

we haven't bought fireworks or went to a small town 4th celebration in years. we DID watch the original Red Dawn. KJ, Ann, & Izzy came over for a picnic lunch...they brought brats, chips, and cookies. we had watermelon, cantelope, buns, chips, baked beans, potato salad, deviled eggs, a decorated Hy-Vee chocolate chip cookie, and baked beans. a little something something for everyone. KJ's dryer has now quit. (for the love, am I right? we have very recently bought 2 new washers, HVAC and furnace, and now have to buy another dryer. $$$$$)

Izzy has quite the vocabulary and personality.

made scrappy snakes for each grandkid.

matching t-shirts again? but put their birth year on back....13.. 20, etc.?

gift card for each kid....Target for Koren's. Walmart for KJ's.

a Lego set for everyone!

of course a book for everyone! maybe a Christmas book?

Christmas 2024. it's almost end of January, folks.

I promise to cut down on Christmas this year.

planned gifts....

Washington DC book for each kid

homemade Funky Friend for each kid. Coralie cat. Ian snake. Izzy- , Zerelda- , Violet- , Millie- .

Barbie clothes for each big girl....handmade sets from Amazon.

BIG Lego set for each kid.

2024

Lego set for everyone

family pic on gazebo?

hmmm. thinking its about time I made a Christmas village....🎄🎅☃️🍭 of course it needs a Bigfoot and some other cryptids. I can change the names of the store buildings. of course need a mysterious warehouse that no one knows the purpose of. and a backstory on all the townspeople. and a town curse. I love Will Ferrell's village. I'd start with Zak Bagan's The Haunted Museum. naturally.

buy Christmas fabric and wrap in fabric instead of wrapping paper, can be reused every year. cut into 30x30" and 20x20" squares, and made small gift bags. girl in video just tied them together. or you could use big wide ribbon, I guess.

Christmas 2023 is in the books.

the stickhorses were a hit. had the kids go around in a circle taking turns opening one wrapped gift each and holding it up. they all opened the cousin crew shirts together on the count of 3. there were some tears in this years snowball fight. got some future baseball players, it seems...

so. time to start all over again buying Christmas gifts. ideas for next year:

Lego set for everyone

family pic on gazebo?

hmmm. thinking its about time I made a Christmas village....🎄🎅☃️🍭 of course it needs a Bigfoot and some other cryptids. I can change the names of the store buildings. of course need a mysterious warehouse that no one knows the purpose of. and a backstory on all the townspeople. and a town curse. I love Will Ferrell's village. I'd start with Zak Bagan's The Haunted Museum. naturally.

individually wrapping the grands gifts to put in santa sacks.

ordered matching cousin crew ts from Etsy. they are numbered in order of arrival.....1-6. Ian-Isabella. hoping to get a pic of them holding them up front ways, then holding up the back.

it's September.

getting all the big enough granddaughters a girl and boy barbie. everyone gets a yellowstone book. everyone gets a plushy. everyone gets 2 regular books. the big enoughs get a journal.

need: another book- Ian. Violet. a stuffie: Izzie. . something else since they don't get 2 dolls for : Ian. ordered Crimson Typhoon again. didn't come last year, they substitued something else....

instead of snarky books this year ordered Tiny Toys.....

a Big Wheel, games, etc. to go with cash gifts. ordered 10 so I'll have for the usual culprits, plus some extras just in case.