holidays Archives - Page 6 of 13

Nov 29, 2011

Winning at Black Friday

The sales this year promised some amazing deals. And most of them required you to stand out in the rain and cold for half of Thanksgiving if you wanted any chance at the hot doorbuster items. Seems like a lot of suffering for a cheap waffle maker.

Me? I waited for a total of 20 minutes combined at all of the stores I went to. I don’t mess around on Black Friday.

First, I took advantage of Black Friday online deals. Why wait until Cyber Monday when many of the same Black Friday doorbuster deals are available online on Thanksgiving day? At 6am I scored a new laptop at an incredible discount to replace Aaron’s broken laptop, all from the comfort of my computer desk. (And with convenient local store pickup!) I had to click quickly, as they sold out in less than five minutes, but it worked.

On Friday, when the checkout line for Kohl’s wrapped to the back of the store, I briefly considered not buying the new clothing my two growing kids needed. But then a sales associate announced that anyone who signed up for a Kohl’s card that day could go to the front of the line. Bingo. I was out the door quickly. I’ve been waiting for the right time to sign up for a card, and the right time presented itself.

We also didn’t shop for a lot of the big ticket items. The Xbox 360 bundle was hot this year, but we wanted the deal on the Wii as a gift for my aunt. Aaron did have to wait a little for that one at Walmart, but not too long. Everyone else wanted the TVs and Xbox bundles.

But my top score of the shopping weekend? A new mattress. (Exciting, no?) Macy’s had a mattress set for $249, normally $850. My lumpy mattress has been a constant source of back pain and poor sleep for quite some time. So I was in line when the doors opened at midnight for that one, and made sure I was the first to the mattress department. It’s a lovely mattress with a great warranty and I can’t wait to sleep on it.

I honestly hate the crowds and the frenzy of Black Friday, but I do appreciate the deep discounts on items I’m looking for. The key is to stick to the sale items, and really think about what you need versus what the hype is telling you to buy. We bought a few gifts and a few must-have items for our house that we were already planning to buy, and we saved well over $1200 compared to what we would have paid for these same items if they weren’t on sale.

Which means when it comes to Black Friday shopping, I think I can safely say I won.

Anyone else get any great deals online or in the store this weekend?

Filed Under: daily life, holidays, money, pop culture, shameless bragging ·

Nov 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

By Christina ·

To everyone in the US, I hope you’re having a fantastic Thanksgiving.

Today, I’m thankful that Aaron and I have jobs and thanks to his new job, we have health insurance. I’m thankful that we have enough to cover our needs and some of our wants. I’m thankful for friends, both close by and those close only in heart from our connection across the Internet.

But mostly, I’m thankful for these people:

My husband and my daughters are my heart. They guide each decision I make and provide worth to everything I do. I treasure every hug and kiss.

What are you thankful for tonight?

(PS – And I’m thankful for my friend Heather, who has the magic touch at capturing my family in photos.)

Filed Under: holidays, love ·

Nov 23, 2011

Happy Blogiversary To Me

By Christina ·

I completely missed my blog’s anniversary yesterday. Whoops. Yesterday marked six years since I decided LiveJournal was so 2004 and abandoned it in favor of my own independent blog.

What do I get myself for a blog anniversary? Wikipedia says the sixth anniversary gifts are iron, sugar or wood, depending on which chart you use. I’m holding out for my seventh anniversary: wool. In November, a nice wool sweater or socks would be lovely.

Instead, this year I gave myself a little bit of nostalgia. I read back through some of my old blog posts and laughed at how much I forgot. Thank goodness I wrote it all down – there are so many incredible stories of my daughters that I never would have remembered without my little corner of the Internet.

Oh, how I miss those curls on Cordy…

Six years ago I had one cranky toddler, worked part-time at a university, and weighed about 50 pounds more than I do now. In some ways I was happier – I had more free time, mostly – but in other ways I see how much we were struggling with the adjustment to being parents and the financial strains we were under.

So much was different then. Mira wasn’t even a thought yet. Autism was just something I connected with the movie Rain Man. I had yet to start nursing school. Aaron still had long hair. And I still felt like a rookie mom, both overconfident and unsure of everything, all at the same time.

As I read through my archives, I see how much motherhood has changed me in six years. I’m fighting harder than ever for a better life for my kids. Tolerance for others, the environment, healthier foods, equality, health care, civil rights…it all matters more to me now. Being a special needs mom has also changed my outlook on so many things: that grumpy, strong-willed toddler from the start of this blog is now a charming, beautiful, autistic girl who depends on me to fight for her to get the services she needs to help her cope with this world, as well as understanding from others who may first try to dismiss her due to her autism.

But on this Thanksgiving eve, I’m especially thankful that I started this blog. Coping with all of the changes we’ve gone through would not have been as easy without this space to write it all out, and the friends I’ve made through this blog who have been my support when I felt like giving up on everything. The community of moms I’ve met through blogging has been fantastic – along with my close “real-life” friends, many of my blog friends and commenters have been my shoulders to lean on, my place to turn for advice, and (I hope) I’ve been able to be the same for them as well.

If you have some time, browse the archives. There are some fantastic and funny posts hidden in there. And some adorable photos of Cordy and Mira, too.

So for all of you still reading, thank you. I’m thankful for having this space to share my life with all of you, and for the friendship and community you’ve shared with me.

Filed Under: holidays, love, me me me, memories, mom blogs · Tagged: blog love

Nov 22, 2011

Our Weekend Great Wolf Lodge Getaway

By Christina ·

Life has been a little hectic around here. With my third shift schedule, Aaron’s new job that has him out of town some days and working from home other days, and the crazy school bus schedules that our daughters endure, we often only have 1-2 hours at most during the evening where we are together as a family. Of course, most of the time I’m too busy to let it get to me, but then there are times I find myself missing my family and wishing we could spend more time together.

So this last weekend, we ran away. Or more precisely, we spent three days forgetting about homework and deadlines and schedules and instead focused on creating some memories at Great Wolf Lodge.

We’ve been to the Great Wolf Lodge in Cincinnati a few times and always look forward to going back. The indoor waterpark and resort is perfect for when you don’t have the time/money for a full vacation, but still want a mini-vacation atmosphere.

This year’s trip was yet again more awesome than the last. Shortly after we arrived, there was a knock at our door and we were presented with bottles of water and a complimentary bag of their caramel-chocolate popcorn as a thanks for being a repeat visitor. The popcorn was devoured before the weekend was over, but in that moment the kids were more focused on getting out of the room to play MagiQuest. (It’s kind of like a Harry Potter-type game for kids, with magic wands that do all kinds of neat things through the entire lodge.)

Hooray, treasure!

Saturday morning was our first visit to the waterpark, and I was surprised how much Cordy and Mira had matured since we were last there. Both were fairly scared of the water last year, requiring a lot of coaxing and gradual introduction to the wave pool and the itty-bitty water slides. (And a lot of anxiety involving any deep water.)

This year, life jackets securely on, Cordy went straight to the wave pool and ran right in, with Mira only a few steps behind her. They both tackled the intermediate water slides. (Cordy was too big for the little slides, and still unwilling to try the big ones.) They even practiced trying to swim, with Aaron and I just in reach. I was so impressed that Cordy could handle being in the water so well.

In fact, Cordy was a little too self-confident about her abilities. At one point, she disappeared from my view – it was really just a few seconds – and when I spotted her again she was about 20 feet from me in the deeper section of the wave pool, unable to touch the ground, flailing and calling for help. As I tried to get to her quickly, the lifeguard dove in and a teen boy who was less than an arm’s reach from her, well, reached out his arm and grabbed her with little effort. She wasn’t in any danger thanks to her life jacket, but it was good to know how quickly the staff reacts. (And that teen was the hero among his friends for “saving” her.)

Note to self: sign Cordy up for swimming lessons. And keep that life jacket on her for now.

But other than that one moment, the waterpark was perfect and we couldn’t have had more fun. (I have no photos of the waterpark – I know myself well enough to not take electronics around water.)

Aside from swimming, we played more MagiQuest.

“I command you to speak, tin man!”

And had plenty of snacks.

The kids got wolf ears with their lunches.

She was trying to look awake.

And enjoyed downtime in their own little “kid cabin” inside our room.

We were sad to leave Great Wolf Lodge on Sunday. Mira was weepy the rest of the day because she didn’t want to be back at home. Or maybe she was tired, since she barely slept the entire weekend. All I know is she slept eleven hours straight on Sunday night, and then still fell asleep in the car on the way to preschool Monday morning.

While it wasn’t a full-out vacation, it still wasn’t cheap for our budget, so we probably won’t be doing this again until next year. However, I think the memories we have from the weekend make it all worth the money. Well, all of the money except for the three pay-per-view PBS Kids episodes Cordy charged to the room by accident. Apparently the pay-per-view menu is just as easy to navigate on the remote control as our Tivo menu at home, only these episodes cost $3.99 a piece. Oops.

And now back to the daily grind.

Note: This is not a review post. We love Great Wolf Lodge and paid for the entire trip on our own. (You’re welcome to view my credit card bill if you’ll agree to help pay it.) Although if Great Wolf ever wants to invite us back to the lodge on their tab, we will have our swimsuits ready to go on short notice.

Filed Under: Aaron, Cordy, family time, holidays, love, memories, Mira ·

Nov 2, 2011