Only 2 more days until we leave for Camp Cheerio! My sewing machine is ready to load into the RV and am still finishing up gathering my projects. I think it is easier to fly since you really have to limit what you bring! :) We head out Saturday morning and will meander south and east so we can arrive on the 9th. When I mapped it out, Tobey asked the crazy question of why are we going to Gastonia, NC??? I said to go to Mary Jo's, of course. He just laughed! Tobey said he would help tote things up and down the steps. We will have WIFI off and on throughout the trip, so I will try to check in! Jen, are you going to send out an email with everyone's cell phone numbers?? See you all soon. Sue

Donna- These are great ideas! Creative use for old t-shirts and for white wall board. Any teacher would love these practical gifts. Thanks for sharing the details on how to make them. -Laurie

I think the best gift we ever gave our parents was an album of memories from friends and relatives, for their 40th anniversary. We wrote to as many as we could think of, asking them to write and send a favorite memory of our parents, and perhaps a picture or two, which I would copy and return. Then I put them all in a pretty album. It's a job, but believe me, not as much as when we did it -- there were no internet or photo scanners then. And it was really fun to do. One of my dad's childhood friends sent me their whole high school yearbook! It's also a nice way to include out of towners. My husband did something similar for my 50th birthday, and I loved it as much as my parents did. He included a photo section from our own albums.

DH is the last minute shopper, and spends the season grumbling about the lost meaning of Christmas. So shopping is pitifully painful for him. He absolutely abhors it, and wants for nothing from anyone either. ( I know, Bah-Hum-bug) One year, he actually beamed as I was opening the 2 gifts he chose for me! I was so excited for his excitement for me, if that makes sense!!! All the family was gathered around because they all know that my poor DH just is NOT the shopping kinda guy. All eyes were on me as I opened the first gift. It was a seer-sucker bathrobe. That's not so bad, as we are in Florida and I run hot anyway, so don't need a warm, plush, heavy robe. But when I tried it on, something wasn't quite right. It took a few minutes for me to realize...this is a MAN's robe!!! No darts to accommodate the breasts, and no curve at the waist. The belt was hung at my butt-level!!! His response: "Well, the ladies robes were too cutesy-wootsie for you" (I beg your pardon?) Second gift, same Christmas! Perfume, all wrapped in the store paper.... Halston....."Por Homme" "I told them to wrap up the Halston...I thought it was for girls!" (Thanks, I was feeling pretty macho at this festive time of year.) Nevertheless, the greatest occurrence of that precise moment, was my dear brother, who howled with laughter at DH's foibles! We still look back and laugh at that one!!!! And understandably, after that catastrophic embarrassment, DH has reverted back to being bah-hum-bug...he just can't get it right! Poor thing! (I buy my own stuff and say Santa delivered it for me!)