Temps are predicted to drop significantly into the teens over the next 3 to 5 days and snow for tomorrow night and Saturday. Only an inch though. Not enough to cover and do much good. But then next week sometime it's supposed to go back up into the 40s again! What a crazy winter! Snow fall amounts are less than half what it was last year at this time and days above freezing are more than twice as many. I watered my roses today! We haven't had any significant precipitation in several weeks and it has been very sunny the last few days so I thought maybe they'd like a drink. I also think they'll fare better in the cold snap if they're well hydrated. I had to lug gallon jugs of water out, ugh! If this weather does keep on like this I'm going to ask his nibbs to hook the hose back up!

My mom is rather anal about being "fair" to all of her grandchildren by spending the same amount but, on the other hand, she won't buy things just to make sure she spends equally. Instead, she asks us what they want or need, and if there is money leftover from her budgeted amount for that child, she'll give them a check for the remainder. That happened more when they were younger b/c they got soooo many toys b/w us and both sets of grandparents that it got ridiculous. So instead, I'll tell her a few things, then she'd give me a check for me to put in their savings accounts. Now that they are getting older, their desires are pricier so it's easy to spend the full amount. Or she'll give them gift cards to their favorite stores, or a Nook or iTunes card which typically makes up any remaining amount. For the most part, now with online shopping, I buy most of the gifts for her! She is not computer savvy, and I'm usually already ordering for my kids, so I'll just get the things they want then kind of divvy it up b/w what my parents will give them vs what we are giving them, but my mom wraps all the gifts from them. While it would be nice if she actually put some thought into it herself and thought of things herself that they might like or want, she is way too practical (said this in another thread) so wants to make sure to give them exactly what they want so the money doesn't go wasted! As for me, I used to keep my spending in the same range per child, so even if something was on sale, I'd use the sale price b/c that was what I actually spent. But as they each get older, tastes get more expensive. Like the year my oldest got an iTouch, I spent much more on her b/c that gift alone was $200. I still got her a few other things b/c I didn't want her to be sitting there watching her three younger siblings opening gift after gift. So I typically spend most on my oldest, then down the line but try to keep the amount of gifts relatively the same (they each get three wrapped gifts from us to symbolize the gifts of the 3 Wise Men, but each gift might have more than one thing inside or one gift might have two boxes wrapped together with a ribbon). My youngest is only 7, so I get off relatively cheap with her (oldest is getting a laptop, next one is getting an iTouch, and she is getting things like an art kit, headbands, etc). Another I do, and not that this is related to your question, is that I have certain ages where they are allowed to get certain things. So my oldest get the iTouch the year she was 11 so my son had to wait until this year to get one at age 11 even though my 9 y/o's friends were getting them at age 7 and 8! Poor 9 y/o envious that his friends have already had them a couple of years and he has to wait two more! LOL Trying to teach them they have to wait for certain privileges and show enough responsibility as well. Sorry, went off topic there and suppose I didn't even truly answer your question, did I??

That's the best one I've heard today. funny!

I just had to report back that I took a "Roast My Weenie" rootin' tootin' cowboy to my previously mentioned party. I wrapped him and then did a little extra package with a frozen wiener (so it would still be "fresh" by the time the gifts were being opened). Well, it was the hit of the party, except the woman who ended up with it happened to be a vegetarian. The wiener was quickly replace by a carrot, which looked equally as ridiculous as the wiener...so now she has a carrot griller. I also bought Marsha Mellow, which I thought I would take to next year's party. But my dear friend ended up having a 2nd mastectomy on December 21, so I'm giving her Marsha and a bag of marshmallows for those times she's feeling a need for some humor. Thanks again for this thread. Great fun!