Christmas of Dreams Blog Party - Day 3

It's Day 3 of the Christmas of Dreams Blog Party. Today's blog topic is...

When do you start Christmas shopping? How do you budget for Christmas? Do you stick to your budget?

Well I typically pick things up through the year that I see that are on sale and I know my son or husband will like. We have an idea of how much we will spend and we try to stay within that limit. It's very important to us that we don't get too many things for our son. We hate to waste the money, and quite frankly, a lot of toys only hold their interest for a short time anyway and we just don't see the need to spend the money. Our son loves simple toys like blocks, balls, puzzles and crayons, so we try to stick with things that help him use his imagination. Oh, and of course his favorites are books. I try to pick up books throughout the year as well, and keep everything in a safe place that I know he can't get into. We want to stress to our son that Christmas isn't just about presents and how many he receives. Once he is a bit older we are planning to make a tradition of giving gifts to children that don't receive gifts, or volunteer at a food kitchen - but we want him to see that it isn't just about him. The media often makes us feel that if we don't get the latest and greatest toys for our children that we are depriving them, and that is simply not true. The most important gifts aren't material things :).

Sponsored by: Appledonia, Hippos Toes and My Bag. To read more Holiday budgeting visit: MomDot Day 3

Christmas of Dreams Blog Party - Day #2

It's Day #2 of the Christmas of Dreams blog party over at Mom Dot. If you haven't checked it out yet, head over there. There are some great prizes to be given away and lots of fun people to party with! Today's sponsors are: LaPlates, Lets Go Strolling and Natity's Design

Today's Question is:

Traditions, what are some of your favorite family traditions? What are some that you want to begin?

As a child we were always home with mom and dad for Christmas and New Year's. A few times we would visit Grandma and Grandpa in North Dakota, but the majority of the time it was just our small family. I liked that. We would go to early church on Christmas morning and then come home and open gifts. Mom would always make a delicious tea ring, filled with cinnamon and sugar, sort of like a giant cinnamon roll. After the gifts mom would usually start preparing an early Christmas dinner which was usually ham. I loved to help in the kitchen. My job was usually to peel and mash potatoes, make the gravy and set the table. Of course clean up was always part of my chores too :). But I loved that we didn't go anywhere, that we could just have a lazy day at home.

Now that I'm older and I have a family of my own, we tend to do the same thing. Even before my son came along it was always usually my husband and I. We typically visit my in-laws at Thanksgiving, and that is usually the entire clan on my husband's side. Since my folk's have both passed away it is usually my husband's family that we visit, and that is fine with me. Sometimes my sister-in-law (who I love dearly) will come down and visit us for Christmas and that is always fun too. But generally we like to have a more low key Christmas. That means more cookies and treats for us!! HA!

Christmas of Dreams Blog Party - Day 1

It's Day 1 of the Christmas of Dreams Blog Party over at MomDot. What an exciting start to the holiday season! The idea is to visit as many blogs as you can and get to know each other, share a bit about yourself and most importantly - WIN PRIZES!!! How cool is that?

Each day there will be a question to answer and there will be sponsors each day as well.

Day One Blog Party Question is Brought to you by La Belle Toile and This and That by Randi. Today's question is: Introduce us to your family and share Holiday pics from the past.

My family consists of my husband and my 21 month old son. I'm a WAHM, I am the founder of Hippos Toes. I also teach online for an art school. My husband and I have been together for 9 years.

Here are a few holiday pics. This was last year when my son was 10 months old, and the year prior, when I was 8 months pregnant.