My kids are now all adults though they are students. Any money they spend is really our money. So we are not encouraging any lavish gifts. Our son has said before, the fact that he will not graduate in debt is the biggest gift he could ask for. Plus, it can be a lot of pressure to find a "perfect" gift: I remember that particular stress from Christmas gifts exchanged in my small office. Our boss would always get us something amazing (not expensive, just "perfect"): it set the bar too high for us peons. I loved everyone there but IÂm glad I donÂt have to deal with that anymore. I accumulate an Amazon wish list over the year: and keep adding to it. Any family member can just check that list and know they are getting me a book or CD I really want. Sometimes I make it even easier on them and order it myself! Since I have maybe 20 items on there I have no idea ahead of time what they might pick: keeps the surprise element. My husband had always been the hardest person to buy for. But he wore out 2 pairs of shoes this fallÂgreat timing! He is starting a new job with a long walk from the commuter rail station: hat and gloves! My digital camera just bit the dustÂgreat timing again (no, I did NOT drop it on purpose). Our son wants an "interview" suit. He needs it anyway, but chose to ask for this for Christmas. He has always worn his DadÂs: but they are not the same size, itÂs time he had his own. So we will make a day of it and all go as a family to choose it together. Our daughter is still at an age where she wants a lot, but doesnÂt trust us to select it. She send an e-mail with specificsÂthings she thought we couldnÂt mess up! Both "kids" will get various fun, inexpensive surprises in their stockings. Colorful notepads, decks of cards, makeup for daughter.

Gazebo for the back yard, and patio built up front. Money is always good. Gift certificates to local and online nurseries. Extra helping hands are always welcome. Seeds - lots and lots of seeds: nasturtium, zinnia, cosmos - easy to grow and reseeding. And plants that are really resilliant to rabbits, voles and chipmunks. And rain - enough to refill our local lakes, so the drought ban would be a thing of the past! Amen.

I made one added 5 carols, a card at the beginning and one on the end, pics. of all our decorations inside and out in between with very kewl transitions, and put one in several family members xmas cards, in red, green or blue sleeves.. and I did it all for free with a download allows 38 or so pics.in free version.

We have a large family and birthdays are always a struggle to remember so I do calendars every year for my brothers families and my mom. I put in the birthdays and a picture when possible, January is particularly difficult as we have many birthdays on the same days. We also have two sets of twins and the spaces on store bought calendars are very small to accomodate everything. I've thought about making the actual calendar but that is just allot of work and expense.