All the things! Not really, though I did go shopping with my mom. First stop was Home Depot to get evergreen wreaths. She likes to get one to put on my dad’s grave. I got one for me and for my sister for our front doors.

Then we went to the mall. I picked up DS a talking Boba Fett action figure and matching Mickey/Minnie/Pluto/Goofy PJs for both kids at the Disney store. Mom got her boss a calendar of stuff related to his alma mater (her annual gift to him). We both bought new jeans for my godson as that’s what my cousin suggested we get him. That was it for the mall.

We went to Target next - Mom got a new outfit for each of her 4 grandkids and her great niece and great nephew. I grabbed a couple of Disney roadster cars for DD’s stocking, makeup stuff for one of our angel tree kids, a new puzzle for DH, and a few Christmas movies.

After a break at home to play with the kids, eat lunch and nap, we al (mom, DH, both kids and me) went to Scheel’s (local sporting goods and more store) to ride the Ferris wheel and for me to get DH a Chiefs T-shirt. I also picked up a few pairs of the Darn Tough socks (I think someone here maybe recommended them - or it was somewhere else that I saw the recommendation) as they were 25% off. And I grabbed a new fleece jacket for myself as mine is from Target and is maybe 8-ish years old and really showing its wear these days.

Our last stop was Fat Brain Toys for something for DD and a couple of stocking stuffers for the kids. L

Yes! I live one town over from Olathe, and we are in the Olathe school district. Housing is more expensive than most of Kansas in this county, but cheaper than Chicago. It’s definitely a suburb, but you’re not that far from downtown KC, the Plaza area, Crossroads, and more.

cktc, she may still be too young for an AG doll to dress. M got a Target Our Generation doll last Christmas from my cousin, and at 2y4m, she couldn’t dress/undress her without major help (in fairness, it was the scientist doll so some more complicated accessories). My MIL got her one for her 3rd birthday and she can mostly do it now, especially the dress that my MIL made for it (she also made M a matching dress, which is super cute).

Deleting since I can’t figure out quoting.

Garmin fitness watch? I love mine and you can get one in that price range.

New suitcase or backpack?

Some random things on my Amazon list:

Packing cubes

Portable power bank

Stasher reusable bags (for food)

Out of Print socks or tshirts (https://outofprint.com/collections/socks/products/library-card-mint-green-socks)

I’m curious about the new kitchen sink. I thought they were not going to live on the property?

A girl my sister went to high school with used to always post pics of her boys (at the time, toddler and preschool aged) doing stuff like this. And then she’d post about wanting to watch some kids at her house for extra money. Yeah no. I get stuff happens, and I don’t/can’t watch my kids every second of every day, but stuff was always happening with her kids. Like multiple times a week. Strangely, no one that I could tell ever took her up on having her watch their kids.

The Baby Cheapskate lists are usually pretty good. Here is the 6-12M recommendations:


www.babycheapskate.com/2018/10/23/toys-that-get-played-with-2018-6-to-12-months/

And 13-24M recommendations:


www.babycheapskate.com/2018/10/24/toys-that-get-played-with-2018-13-to-24-months/


Shape sorters were huge hits with both of my kids, as were the Little People sets (especially the zoo and farm ones). And who am I kidding - my 7yo will still occasionally play with the Little People animals.

Got a phone call from C’s principal yesterday - that was a first. And bad mom me for my first thought being “what did C do now?!” Turns out at the table group next to his a boy was shoving his desk back and forth into another girl’s desk (and her fingers), so C got up to get the teacher’s attention. The boy got mad and threw a pencil at him, which hit him in the forehead and left a scratch. Whew. That I can handle. C was fine when we picked him up after work (he went to after school care like normal) and was excited that he’d gotten some extra computer time out of the deal.

Turns out that I know the boy’s mom - she’s from my hometown and is the cousin of one of my BFFs. The boy and C also play baseball on the same team. She messaged me to check on C before I even knew her son was the pencil thrower. So I’m happy to hear that mom and dad care and that he’s got consequences at home, because there is a kid in the class where that wouldn’t be the case.

Woo hoo, mpl!!!!! Way to go!

Agreed. My mom has had 2, and she diligently did the PT, OT and whatever else they told her to do. At the end of the day, she’s still a sixty-something person with arthritis but her quality of life is so much improved. Legitimately, I can’t tell you the last time she’d come upstairs at my house (master bedroom and kids rooms are on second story, but our guest room is on main level with kitchen and family/living rooms), but a few weeks after her surgery this summer, she was climbing the stairs to help kiddos with baths, play with them, etc.

DH’s SIL and ex-SIL set the time for holiday family get togethers before I ever met him. And by set the tone, they basically decreed that my ILs never get the actual holiday at Christmas and Thanksgiving. They used to get Easter, but then the oldest BIL got divorced and doesn’t have his kids every Easter, so they get Easter on Easter every other year now.

Thanksgiving used to be at my sister and BIL’s house (20a-ish minutes away) with them, their 2 daughters, my mom, sometimes our uncle and aunt and adult cousin, and maybe a random friend or two that didn’t have family in town. Sis got divorced this year and has said she’s spending Thanksgiving with her new boyfriend, so we are either going to my mom’s house 2.5 hours away and then going down to Texas to see my Alma mater play football on the day after Thanksgiving, or we are staying here, and us and my mom are going to a friend’s house for Thanksgiving. The IL Thanksgiving will likely be hosted by us, but not sure when yet.


We used to always go to my mom’s for Christmas as my cousins in my dad’s side were usually in our hometown as well, and there was always a Christmas Eve get together at my aunt and uncle’s house. We didn’t go the last couple of years and my mom came up here, which was awesome. We went to Christmas Eve mass, then dinner and the Candlelight Christmas Eve (Protestant) Service at my sister’s church, and then back to our house where my kids woke up in their own beds on Christmas morning. Sis and family would come over at some point and hang for a bit and exchange gifts. Not sure what is happening this year, except I’ll be home, and my mom will be staying with us for the holidays. I haven’t heard the specific IL plans as it depends on when BIL has his kids, but my guess is that it’ll be the weekend after Christmas. My SIL will probably host, and that’s only about 40 minutes away.

I do miss that we don’t see my cousins that we basically grew up with on the holidays anymore. And my aunt and uncle sold their house and moved to the town where one of their sons lives, so I don’t see them when I’m visiting my mom either. But it is what it is. We see one of my cousins a couple of times a year when we go to her house or they come to ours, so I’ll take it.

Congrats to your kiddos, Beth - that’s awesome!!

Hi, Firebird! Glad to hear you’re doing well!

My son C is 7 and into reading, Legos and all the sports. I have a 3yo daughter M now. DH and I both still work for the same company, and are back living in our home state and live relatively near-ish both of our families.