Author |
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Biscottiii
Member
05-29-2004
| Thursday, December 17, 2009 - 3:27 am
Fantastic War, I just knew Caleb and his Classmates would shine! Sounds like a wonderful Christmas Show.
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Twiggyish
Member
08-14-2000
| Thursday, December 17, 2009 - 4:25 am
Oh I love Christmas shows like that War! Em was in one this year, too. She's in varsity chorus this year and their theme was multi-cultural. It was beautiful.
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Thursday, December 17, 2009 - 10:27 am
I bet that was awesome, Twiggy! Our school cut their music program this year and I really missed the choir singing with the guitar kids. I love this type of stuff. I'm always so proud of the kidlets, they work so hard and do such a good job, and it's flat out fun. Heh, I did figure out why Caleb was so nervous (brat kept it a secret, lol!) He's never been one to run on stage with the look at me look at me attitude but he's also never been the one to be any type of nervous about being on stage either. But, Tuesday he was telling us he didn't want to go and he's been real nervous all week about it, totally unlike him. I thought he was just upset that Darren wasn't able to be there. Until his teacher got up and introduced the four kids playing Winter Wonderland...with solos by Armando and Caleb. What???? He surprised us with his first solo.
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Dfennessey
Member
07-25-2004
| Thursday, December 17, 2009 - 10:34 am
And I bet he did great at it. Good for Caleb
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Happymom
Member
01-20-2003
| Thursday, December 17, 2009 - 10:51 am
Cool! a solo! It's neat that it was a surprise! The kids' elem. school used to have a holiday sing a long (well...maybe they still do, but my kids are past elem. school) that was so much fun! Just families and a teacher playing the piano and everyone singing! Santa used to show up too and walk around passing out candy canes. I just did some shopping at JoAnn Fabrics. 60% off all their Christmas stuff. I got some tins to give homemade cookies to some teachers and to my mom. (She is still using tins from when I was a kid...they are in bad shape.) They had some really cute wooden ornaments too. We are going to write in sharpie on the back of them and tape them to the outside of the Christmas cards. I also got some candy for the kids' stockings, I think that was 25% off.
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Thursday, December 17, 2009 - 11:16 am
Oh man I miss JoAnn's! That's a great sale, Happy. Hehe, sis and I got a little smart with stocking stuffers. We found some stuff at Walmart, like packs of pencils, erasers and silly toys like kaliedascopes (I know that's spelled wrong,) yoyo's and those little maze games for $1 and $2 each. Got home and started to split them up and realized there was enough for both my kids, her kids, and we had some left over that we were able to give to a friend for his nephews (they live with him.) Now sis and friend are going to buy a couple bags of candy and we'll split those up. I thought it was a great idea, I always get a few silly things for stockings and pencils/erasers and candy, but splitting it up three ways is cheaper and I don't have a bunch of candy left over, lol. Our schools (elementary and Jr High) don't really do Christmas shows. My nieces old school had a 2nd grade bell choir (that was totally amazing!) Niece did that one year for Christmas but that was it for any of our kids in elementary scool. Jr high only does the one they did last night and I think that's opportunity more than anything else, he does two shows a year, and by this point, the beginners have learned enough to play several songs, which they probably wouldn't have been able to do any earlier in the year.
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Happymom
Member
01-20-2003
| Thursday, December 17, 2009 - 2:46 pm
I've actually just made my 2nd trip to JoAnn's. I think I only go once a year on the years that I need cookie tins! And now I've just been there twice in one day! My parents are giving 2 of my girls snuggies for Christmas. One wants zebra print, one wants cheetah/leopard print. My mom was able to find them. I went to Costco this morning and found huge very soft body pillows in all different types including zebra and leopard/cheetah! So now they will have those to match their snuggies! I'm so excited because they are so huge and were only $13! Third daughter will get a shaggy off white one that matches the rug she picked out herself for her bedroom! I had to go back to JoAnn's to get huge gift bags to put them in! I'm having a tough time thinking of stocking stuffers. I don't want to waste money (one of my most hated things in life!), so, I want them to really like whatever they get. They are 13, almost 16, and 19. All girls. Gotta keep the cost down and not crazy about lots of gum and candy (they will get some). Two will have itunes gift cards and one will have 2 movie tickets/passes. (And those are the expensive splurge items.) Beyond nail polish, they don't really need any makeup or bath products or hair products because they have tons. They don't need or like school supplies. 2 don't like jewelry. I don't want to give them any kind of clothes (including socks, scarves, and gloves) because there is a good chance I'll end up taking them back. I don't want to put money or gift cards in there beyond itunes / movie tickets because those things cost the face amount. (if that makes sense) But they all really like stockings and finding the surprises in there...so...any ideas? Maybe someone can get ideas for teen girls by reading this post and seeing what my girls don't want lol!
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Thursday, December 17, 2009 - 6:00 pm
Cell phone jewelry, which only works if they have cell phones, lol. You can find those at hmmm, the little cell phone stands at the mall OR you can make them...super easy, super cheap. Just buy a couple charms (can pick a pack up at Michaels and maybe Joann's?) for a couple bucks, get a pack of the small silver rings (jump or split rings) at Michaels as well for $1.99, and get the little doohickeys (they are black strings with a little piece that attaches them to a small ring) and put them on. If they don't have cell phones, they'll also work as zipper pulls or keychains. Takes a couple pairs of pliers to put them together or just slipping them on the little ring depending on what type you buy...if you're interested I can find some pics and post them for you to show you how simple they are. If I thought I could do it in time and get it mailed to you, I'd offer to do them since I think I have all the stuff here. Along the same lines, bookmarks. I know, school stuff, lol, but you can also make those yourself...Michaels sells the silver bookmarks (look like shepherds crooks) and you basically use the same materials as the cell phone charms, except you could put the charms on different legnths of chain (and Michaels has lots of silver chain fairly cheap to choose from.) Posters would fit as well, rolled up. And small picture frames. I just picked up a couple picture frames at the 99 cent store for stocking stuffers. Favorite cookies or crackers? Like the snack pack sizes. Pocket calendar, organizer, or journal would work too. Or even a paperback book they've been wanting. Ipod cases (believe it or not, I just saw those at the 99 cent store too, the rubbery ones.) Do they have any hobbies you could find small items to go along with? Dakota, for instance, just got into using my expensive clay for beads and figurines, so I picked up a few packs of clay (on sales at Michaels last week) for her. Hair brushes and hair stuff...I look forward to finding new rubber bands and scrunchies every year, lol. Dakota gets barretts and headbands. Small puzzles or card sets (Walmart has all kinds of card games, from the regular decks to decks for old maid, war, shoot, I can't remember and I even picked up some of those!) Oh, oh, shootie toys! Like those that shoot foam discs or darts. Pretty sure those can be found at the 99 cent store too. They're always big on Christmas around here and best part is usually all the darts and discs are lost pretty quickly, lol. Hehe, how bout something like Hula Hoops, batons or jump ropes? Sis picked up a couple hula hoops for her girls for a buck a piece at Kmart! I ended up having to go to Walmart for Kota's cuz Kmart was out and spent like $3 on one. You're girls are a bit older, but no reason they can't play with stuff like that too.
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Biscottiii
Member
05-29-2004
| Friday, December 18, 2009 - 3:17 am
Well, I hope this story isn't too long, but WHEW & WHEW!!! I lost my kitchen a couple years ago due to mold abatement, the contractor finished replacing just shortly before last Christmas. So, this year to celebrate my new kitchen, I decided to bake & mail cookies and caramel corn to my Siblings in Phoenix. Last week I blew $133 in groceries. Food items sure, but after living on TV Dinners almost 2 yrs, those baking items like flour, sugar, conf sugar, brown sugar, syrup, tins, sprinkles etc. start adding up. Tore the house apart (haven't totally put my house back together) and FINALLY found the recipe for the Radical Womens' Shortbread cookies, which used to be posted on the front of my refrig for probably 10 yrs that I always meant to try making. When I was working until I retired 2001, we had a group of Radical Women (I think they were Libertarians) that would bake cookies & baklava each year to fund their yearlong efforts. Delivered to my worksite. I didn't agree with their politics but loved their cookies and several of the Rad Women coworkers were great friends of mine. For some reason, one time they put the recipe for their shortbread cookies in the batch years ago. My Sis & BIL loved the cookies which I would always haul down with me, especially since they were baked by 'Radical Women' (Sis being a Democrat in redneck AZ). OK so 2 days ago I went to make up 2 batches. 1-POUND of real butter each! They came out kind of soupy. Discovered that it was required to roll out between sheets of waxpaper to keep from sticking. Was there any waxpaper in this new kitchen of mine? Nope!! Not so much as a waxed sandwich bag! It was late and I was tired so I put them in the refrigerator. Next day they were HARD AS A ROCK! Yesterday, I made a run to my best friend to deliver all the caramel corn (sadly, no cookies) & presents, because YIKES I realized she's heading for Oregon on Friday with her Brother & 2 nephews. Stopped at the store and picked up waxed paper & more salted peanuts to make more caramel corn (another $50 worth of groceries since I ran onto other lovely recipes I had always meant to try while searching for this shortbread recipe). So, I was getting pretty anxious. Even leaving the shortbread bowls out on the counter all day today, as cool as it is up here they were still hard as a rock. Knife wouldn't cut it. Had I just wasted 2-lbs of real butter and all that flour? This evening I pulled out a mallot and a heavy spoon and started chiseling. Seriously, chiseling! Little bits on my waxpaper, by the time I started rolling as they were getting to room temperature, they actually rolled out nicely. Day-Yum!!! Both batches turned into some of the flakiest fantastic cookies I've ever produced. Sturdy enough to pack, but they just melt in the mouth. I've been stressing for 2 days over the fool things. Tomorrow I'm making another batch of caramel corn and some simpler cookies and ready to mail them on Saturday or Monday. Whew again!
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Christy358
Member
07-10-2007
| Friday, December 18, 2009 - 7:13 am
I like long stories, esp with happy endings. However, how could Biscottii have posted this WITHOUT the recipe? Seems ODD to me. :-)
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Friday, December 18, 2009 - 7:34 am
Good story!! 
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Aurora
Member
11-24-2006
| Friday, December 18, 2009 - 8:00 am
Yes, recipe please! I wonder if I could use this recipe in my cookie press?
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Friday, December 18, 2009 - 9:53 am
Silly, I know why you couldn't find the wax paper, it doesn't belong in the kitchen it belongs in with the craft stuff! Or at least it does in my house, lol. I'm glad the cookies turned out perfectly.
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Happymom
Member
01-20-2003
| Friday, December 18, 2009 - 9:56 am
War, all good suggestions! Thanks! I remember your cell phone charms and bookmarks. So considerate of you to throw in the offer of making them and mailing to me if you had more time! Thanks! I think I'll get up early Mon. to be at Michaels right when they open. I dread crowds and don't like shopping so I'll make it quick and easy on myself! I never would have thought of shooty toys, but one Christmas a relative brought tiny little shooty toys for everyone and they were a big hit. It was nice cheap entertainment .... and they were all lost quickly! Bisc, I'm sorry about your kitchen, but your story has me lol! I'm with Christy and Aurora...I'd love if you'd post the recipe! I contemplated buying shortbread at costco yesterday til I saw the price. Never having made shortbread, I'd love to start with a tried and true recipe.
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Merrysea
Moderator
08-13-2004
| Friday, December 18, 2009 - 10:19 am
LOL at the shooty toys. My 24-year-old son got a secret Santa Nerf Revolver from someone new at work, and he was still talking about how awesome it was when he got home. He must have made her feel really good about her gift, because he was so excited.
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Friday, December 18, 2009 - 11:10 am
Heh, shooty toys are wildly popular here. I think a lot of it is that we spend so much of the day in and out of our house and at other peoples that we don't really have the chance to sit and play with anything on Christmas and the shooty toys are a great, quick distraction. Caleb wants a nerf long rifle this year and that's what my aunt bought him. Well, I thought that just wasn't right...he was going to torture Dakota with it, so I bought her a different one so she can fight back. Sis was with me when I bought them and I pointed out a nerf dart tag game, came with two guns and a bunch of the darts and she got them for the older two girls. The kids spend enough time together the four of them will have a blast. Sis called the rest of the family and told them about the set...so now all the cousins are getting nerf guns of one type or another this year, lol. And, while I was out one day, I saw a pack of four small nerf guns, and I picked that up...me, Darren, sis, and bil, lol! We're not doing the big gift exchange, buying everybody something cuz everyones cut back so much, but I think we found a way to keep everyone occupied for a while, lol.
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Aurora
Member
11-24-2006
| Friday, December 18, 2009 - 5:43 pm
All four of my nine year old grandsons are getting Nerf guns for Christmas this year. Very popular toy. I'm a little worried about my Christmas decorations after they open their gift. Maybe they'd think Nerf in the snow would be fun.
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Serate
Member
08-21-2001
| Friday, December 18, 2009 - 7:35 pm
Happymom, if your girls are like ours, glow sticks will be a good stocking stuffer, and cheap. I think they come in a tube of 10 for $1 @ Michaels. I keep waiting to be told "I'm too old for glow sticks" but every time I give them I hear "oh cool you remembered." Candles, scent sticks. I don't like lit candles because of the critters, so have gotten each of the kids a couple of candle warmers. Our 16 yo asked for puffy jell cling decorations. You can stick them on almost any surface. Haven't been to Michaels since she asked for them after she got here, but found some pretty cheap Christmas ones at Target. Another big hit was small bottles of fragranced hand sanitizer. Found some small purse size bottles at Target very inexpensive. They didn't ask for them, but loved all the different fragrances. & I loved the fact they will be using hand sanitizer on a more regular basis. Not sure about the 19 yo, but are your younger ones into making friendship bracelets? If so, embroidery thread in every color, and lots of it. We already had our Christmas because it was our year to have the kids on Thanksgiving. But I guess we're still having Christmas dinner. Ham. Blech. But hubby really wants it. Told him he had to buy it he had to cook it. Well I bought it, and I'm going to cook it. I'll be eating alot of side dishes as I hate ham. Going to make a couple that I want, even tho my hubby and brother won't eat. Decided I'm going to do a rum & coke glaze. Don't know how it will taste, but I'm sure by the time I'm done basting - and drinking the glaze sans brown sugar in a glass - I'll not care anyway. lol
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Friday, December 18, 2009 - 8:20 pm
Shootin' Nerf toys have been a staple at our house for years - last Christmas saw my mom ("Gram") taking on the four youngest nephews (ages 2-5). Way too much fun and not very expensive! DS (who turns 15 in Nov.) actually has Nerf darts listed on EVERY "gift list" he gave to inquiring relatives. He and his friends plan nerf gun parties - so it's a gift that will keep on giving. 
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Happymom
Member
01-20-2003
| Friday, December 18, 2009 - 9:02 pm
I'm not shopping for stocking stuffers til next week, so feel free to keep sharing ideas. I'm making a list Wow...I never knew the popularity of nerf guns! Maybe it's because I have three girls. I think Santa may bring my husband a nerf gun too! War, lol that you are arming Dakota! Serate, those are all good suggestions for stocking stuffers too, thanks! My husband also had a good idea for stocking stuffers and I thought I'd pass it along. He said to give them the stuff they borrow from me (or the household stuff) and don't put back...those things that drive me crazy. I immediately knew they'd each be getting a pair of scissors. I did a little shopping today...the mall stuff. Oh how I HATE the mall! But at least I was there and gone before it got too busy. I did find some good deals too. Traffic was crazy after I left the mall. I stopped at Old Navy too. (they are having a sale on crewneck sweaters tomorrow...$3 ea!) It is not attached to the mall but in a huge shopping center with Costco, Target and other big stores. I have never seen the parking lot that full. I'm glad I know back country roads so that I could avoid the major streets and highways. Middle daughter asked if we "HAVE" to drive around and look at Christmas lights this year. I told her she can do the driving since she needs more hours before she can take her driv. lic. test. A few years ago, the 5 of us went driving around looking at lights with our neighbors. We were all in one vehicle. We played Christmas music and went through Starbucks drive-through and got hot choc. That is a really nice memory.
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Biscottiii
Member
05-29-2004
| Friday, December 18, 2009 - 10:50 pm
Hi All! Yes, I was planning to share the recipe but I was so tired last night. I've learned in the past that it's not safe to write up a recipe when tired. Too easy to leave out a key ingredient. So here tis, I'm also planning to copy over at the Recipe Thread: SHORTBREAD yield twenty-four pieces Cream together: 1 pound real butter 1 cup powdered sugar In another bowl mix: 3 cups sifted flour (sifted before measuring) 3/4 cup corn starch Gradually add the dry mix to the creamed butter-sugar mixture. If dough begins to look oily, put in the refrigerator to firm up. Roll and cut into 3" by 1-1/2" pieces about 1/4" thick. To prevent sticking, roll the dough between two pieces of waxed paper. Put three indentations down the center of each piece. Place pieces on an ungreased cookie sheet about 1" apart. Bake in preheated oven at 300-325F for 30-45 minutes, until golden. You do NOT want to brown the shortbread. NOTE: use only 100% butter -- nothing else tastes good. - - - Bisc Note: While I was reading up on recipes, in case I couldn't find this, one site said when you're rolling don't work it too much. So I kept trimming off the scraps, putting into one bowl. At the end I refrigerated for about 20 minutes, then rolled out all the scraps for my OWN cookies to eat. Those leftover scrap cookies are pretty fragile but still taste fantastic. Also, I needed to use fresh sheets of waxed paper each time for rolling because it still stuck to the waxed paper and left residues. They do blow up a bit, that's why you need to give them the 1" space to cook.
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Biscottiii
Member
05-29-2004
| Friday, December 18, 2009 - 11:22 pm
This recipe was given to me by another coworker about 25 yrs ago. It's the best homemade caramel corn I've ever eaten. CARAMEL CORN 2 cups brown sugar 1 cup butter or margarine (I use one cube each) 1/2 cup dark corn syrup 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. soda (have measured & ready to toss in at the end) 1 can (12oz) salted cocktail peanuts 5 qts. popped corn Combine sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt and boil for 5-minutes, stirring constantly with wire whisk. Remove from heat and stir in soda quickly. (Will bubble up quite a bit.) Pour over popcorn and peanuts, and mix. Bake at 250degrees for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. I use one of those aluminum disposable turkey roaster pans you buy for approx. $3 during holidays. Just the right size for one batch, but don't overfill with popcorn maybe 1-1/2 inches from the top, to allow for stirring and to allow enough caramel for all.
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Saturday, December 19, 2009 - 12:30 am
Nerf in the snow would be a blast!! Really though, short of the kids running into or bumping your decs, the darts themselves are pretty foamy (some have a soft rubber tip) and shouldn't do any damage. The fun part about the kids all getting them is that we do Christmas afternoon/evening at bils uncles house. He has a ton of land and this being So Ca, it's warm enough we can send them outside and they have plenty of space to run and chase and shoot each other. Hehe, better than last years activity where they grabbed shovels and dug big holes then filled them in! Er, this would be why my kids don't get dressed up for holidays too, lol. I got into what I think of as the fun part of Christmas gifts today...made some jewelry. First up, myself...I asked Darren for clothes for Christmas and offered to buy them myself, he was happy with that (he picked out his own video game, lol.) Got a purple sweater I plan on wearing for Christmas so made a necklace and bracelet with dark purple crystals and seed beads. I also made Caleb a necklace he asked for, he wanted a guitar pick on one, "so that he'd always have an extra pick." I attached the pick on a clasp that he'll be able to take the pick off of so hopefully he likes it. Then with the scrap wire, made sis and Kota cell phone charms since I'd been talking about those earlier. I'll probably do some book thongs this weekend. Told the girls (my nieces and Kota) I'd help them make some jewelry for sis for Christmas too tomorrow. Hehe, Happymom, way to get your dd on board for Christmas light looking! We're doing Griffith Park tomorrow night with Caleb, Kota, and three nieces and they're all excited about that, it's pretty cool. Then Sunday we're all doing the Christmas train (metro link decorates one of their trains with thousands of lights, they make stops from here to, actually I'm not sure how far they go, and do a 15 minute or so Christmas show with Santa and the reindeer.) Now that one has Caleb begging to stay home. 13 years old and the Santa train just isn't all that exciting I guess. Fortunately his buddy told him tonight he was going too with his family and they're planning to meet up and hang out together so he's not as against going as he was.
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Biscottiii
Member
05-29-2004
| Saturday, December 19, 2009 - 2:31 am
BTW, about that shortbread cookie recipe, it sure gave a LOT more that 24 pieces (I was just copying the recipe). Worth every pound of butter IMO! Aurora said: "Yes, recipe please! I wonder if I could use this recipe in my cookie press?" As soft as they were before I put them in the refrigerator, I bet they would work great in a cookie press.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Saturday, December 19, 2009 - 7:38 am
Happymom, Bath and Body Works has great stocking stuffers. lots of little bottles of lotion, body washes ect. They have the cutest and softest sock slippers for $5. I bought a bunch of pairs of them. (i know you said no clothes, but these socks are really cute...my 15 year old loves them)
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