Family Celebrations | Skilled Urban Survivor

Posts Tagged ‘family celebrations’

Christmas Shopping On a Dime

December 11th, 2009 |

Author: admin

What I often found under the tree when I was a kid

I remember when I was a kid, my list for Santa was minimal, if it even existed. I knew my parents were poor, (though they weren’t as poor as they implied). Filling the Christmas lists of four kids would have taken a lot of money that they didn’t have. So I didn’t ask for or expect a lot. Socks, underwear, new pajamas, a bag of army men, a can of Lincoln logs and I was happy. To order a new bike or a microscope or anything that cost over ten bucks would never have happened. But kids today, wanting the latest in video games and players, or snowboards and boots, personal phones and services, would scoff at the presents I received as a kid, even for stocking stuffers. With our large family our Christmas order filling has always been pretty modest. I remember one really broke Christmas, when I had been without a job for over a year, that the older kids chipped in together to play Santa Claus for the little ones. That Christmas, despite being broke, is one that really stands in my list of memorable holidays. Like many families this year, our purse strings are a little slack. So how are we going to tackle gifts this Christmas? The kids always draw names for each other and they will probably do that again. But grandma and grandpa always buy for everybody, kids and grand kids alike. My wife has always been a smart shopper and she shines at Christmas time. We used to buy heavily at a local over runs store, but the place has gone out of business. We have been on a desperate search for other bargain spots. We know a few in our neck of the woods, but that doesn’t translate to where you live. Ross Department stores have pretty good deals. If you are over 55, Tuesday club gives you an automatic 10% off. Take some time to do some online searching, using the words, close-out stores, liquidation stores, and overstock. Whether you end up buying directly off the web, or you can find a physical store in your area, closeouts are a great way to trim your Christmas budget. Another great way to find bargains at Christmas time is to shop the ads. Traditionally Black Friday always has good deals, but I avoid shopping that day like the plague. As the season rolls on, shopping the weekly ads may help you find the same bargains that came out on Black Friday, but without the headaches and crowds. Making gifts is another way to save money and still enjoy gift exchanges. Make sure however that you don’t spend more for materials than you could buy the item ready made. Look at all the supplies you have lying around and see what you can make from them. Thrift and second hand stores have bikes and other outdoor play things that may just need a little bit of restoration to make them almost new. Look on Craigslist and other online classifieds to find slightly used items. Sometimes you can get them for free.With a little cleaning and fixing these things may be almost good as new. If you are looking for ideas for homemade Christmas gift ideas, try www.homemadeforchristmas.com. This is my wife’s site and it has lots of unique and interesting homemade gift ideas. Service is another good gift to give. Offer to baby-sit weekly for your son or daughter so they can go out and not have to pay a sitter. If your wife is anything like mine, volunteering for a month’s worth of dishes might be the best present you could ever give her. The most important thing to remember with this gift buying and giving is to make a budget and stick with it. Try to make your gifts full of thought, and short on cash. Given in the right way, nobody will really care how much you spend on a gift, except maybe your teenagers and they’ll grow out of it someday.

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Posted in Christmas shopping, Frugal living, Gifts, Holidays |

Tags: Christmas shopping, family celebrations, frugal gift ideas, gift giving, shopping |

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Thanksgiving in the Barn

November 30th, 2009 |

Author: admin

Thanksgiving at our house was a wild and wacky affair that started at 9 AM, when our 3 of our kids and their friends pulled in from an all night trip from California. The first bit of excitement came from daughter Katie’s Pomeranian puppy meeting our other two dogs. Lots of barking and confusion as our pit-bull and lab mix didn’t know what to make of this puff of white bouncing fur.

Molly waits for turkey

Things settled down for a bit, and then the chaos intensified, when son Jeff showed up with his St. Barnard and Boxer puppies.Though our expected numbers dwindled a bit, we still decided to eat in the barn. The room let everybody stretch out and not be cramped elbow to elbow. Decorating with Indian corn and fake fruit and leaves gave everything a festive air. We ran a string of Christmas lights through the middle and hung another strand from the garage door opener, giving us additional light.

Using a high-powered space heater kept the nip off, but everyone still kept their jackets on. No one was really cold eating dinner, but it wasn’t exactly a place we wanted to sit around and visit after we ate. Everyone pulled a chore from the chore jar, and we cleaned it up in an hour, including putting the folding chairs and tables back in the truck to return to the church.

Afterwards our other daughter brought her four kids over for desert. The dogs made another trip upstairs and chaos once again ensued. We had a piñata that was left over from Halloween. The barn was a perfect place with a high ceiling and protection from the cold outdoors to hit it. My wife made it from a cardboard box, covered in black plastic to look like a spider. The box was almost too sturdy and each kid got to smack it with the stick until they were tired. My 23-year old son finally broke it open and the candy poured out.

Me and some of my kids.

We then went back in the house to eat desert, enjoy the fire, watch a movie and play some games.
Not much to say about preparedness or survival in this note. Just a feeling of satisfaction and thankfulness in being with kids we haven’t seen in almost a year. I have a feeling of gratitude for this great country and the ability we have to pause and enjoy such a time of love and warmth with my family. I hope that all of you have had the same chance to reflect and take pleasure in such a day. Hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving too.

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Posted in Celebrations, Deep Fried Turkey, Family, Holidays, Outdoor cooking |

Tags: family celebrations, fried turkey |

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