Christmas Tragedy.

I sent my mother the yearly gigantic box with my entire family's Christmas presents in it.

I send the box to her, and she distributes for me because it saves me money, over sending 10 separate boxes.

I sent it International Guaranteed Express, and it got lost on the flight from New York to Australia. How, I have now idea.

But they didn't even realise it was lost until I went to the Post Office to get a refund for it not arriving on time.

They didn't refund my shipping, they gave me the run about (of course) - looked up the tracking and said "Well, it left our hands, it's out of the US, blah blah blah."

However, they can't see if/when/etc it arrived in Australia.

They've placed it "Under Investigation" - but that could take UP TO THIRTY days. That means, 30 days to refund my SHIPPING. Who knows how long it will take to get in the insurance money back...

And even though I insured it, and will get the shipping cost AND the cost of the gifts back, it doesn't make the fact that my entire family is now not going to have anything from us to open on Christmas Day.

I'm devastated.

The Santa Situation

I wanted to share everything Santa is bringing for Wesley this year. I'm REALLY excited, as I kept pretty much ON my $200 budget by shopping year 'round and only when things were on clearance/mega sale.

So these are his gifts:

I got this on www.kids.woot.com - a daily deal site. It was $30!

I got the above two during the Target 75% off toys markdown. The Lincoln Logs I got for $8 down from $40 and the Rocky I got for $4.80 down from $20.


I got the Hot Wheels when they were on sale at Target as well, $7 down from $10, and same with Chicken Run - I got it for $3 at Target one day.


These I all got during at 75% off clearance at Toys R Us sometime during the year. The Bamboo Racer I got for $6 down from $25, the 3 pack Emergency Vehicles were $5 down from $17 and the FAO Schwartz Dump Truck was $5 down from $15.
Also from Toys R Us, I got him a tub of Imaginarium Train Track expansion pieces for 75% off - they were only $12. But I guess they don't sell them anymore, because I can't find a picture online anywhere!


I got these at Marshall's. The Coloring Book was only $2, and the Sprig toys were $4 each. They are usually $15 each. (The little purple guy is a guide and plugs in to his Adventure Rig and tells stories and sings songs as he pushes his Rig along)


And then lastly - I prowl Amazon like a crazy woman and get SERIOUS deals on there. (I did 90% of my Christmas shopping for everyone else including Tommy on there!)
The Melissa and Doug Cutting Food was $10 down from $20, the Pirate Ship was $10 down from $30 and the Chef Set was $6 down from $15.

The then I got him a Gymbo Clown from Gymboree which WAS full price at $20.
(He looks like this, but obviously he's a 12" plush)


But if you add all that up... it's not even $150. It's only about $135.

His stocking has Crayola Jumbo Crayons, a Thomas the Tank Engine Pez, with Pez refills, chocolate coins, a slinky, some play doh, two little books, some individual hot wheels... and I THINK that's it.

It's been very hard to stop, especially when I know I didn't use all the money I set aside for him. But anyway, that really is MORE than enough presents for one little two year old. It'll take him all day to open them, not to mention all the presents under the tree from family and friends.

Anyway, I'm proud of myself and I'm excited for my spoiled little boy.

Duty Days - Surprise - Snow!

Tommy had overnight duty yesterday - on a Sunday.

In a normal course of events, he wouldn't be able to come home until this afternoon (Monday) because he would have to go about his regular work day. But for some sneaky and fabulous reason, he'll be home in about an hour.

I am loving this.

I know he was gone for nine months and I should be used to it, but I do miss him when he's not around.

The transition from deployment to "normal" (whatever that is?) has been a struggle. This particular deployment didn't do wonderful things for our marriage, I think I can safely say that.
(Stop worrying, our marriage isn't in trouble. We're still happy and in love, we're just learning to live together again and communicate effectively - instead of snapping over whose turn it is to load the dishwasher.)

...Though, I do love having the bed to myself. I don't like coming to bed and turning all the lights out in an empty house at night, but not having to share the bed is nice :-) I'm sure he'd be very, very offended if he heard me say that, LOL!

It's supposed to snow today. I really like the snow - and seeing as the temperatures have been SO cold, I feel like it's unfair we haven't had more snow. At least give me something to show for the cold weather.

If it DOES snow, hopefully Tommy will be home for a few extra days. They tend to close the bases around here when it snows.
If we get enough, and it sticks (and is not a mere dusting!) we'll take Wes out to play it in. I'm excited! (And hopeful!)

I'm making Roast Beef for dinner tonight. I haven't decided if I'll do it in the oven or crock pot yet.

And lastly - if you're wondering why I'm up so early, it's because of two reasons.
1) I went to bed early with a headache and 2) at 6:04am, Wes has a small bout of sleep talking. And I heard it over the monitor and woke up. However, because I went to sleep so early, I was wide awake.

Thought it was the perfect time to get a warm up in for my new years blog resolution!

How Great is Christmas?

How awesome is Christmas?

How much MORE awesome is Christmas when you have kids?

The answer it AT LEAST ten fold. AT LEAST.

Christmas really rocks when you have kids.

We've decorated the outside of the house with a lot of lights, we've put the tree up, we've done Christmas crafts, and this afternoon when Wesley wakes up from his nap, we're decorating the Gingerbread Train I've put together :-)

I also love giving gifts. I love taking the time to pick a really, really cool gift for someone - something they WANT, not NEED. Something they didn't even realise they wanted, but as soon as they open it, they LOVE it.

(This is easier for my family then Tommy's. He struggles, so he passes the task over to me, but I feel like I don't know them well enough to achieve the above mentioned feat!)

Finally - sorry I'm terrible about updating in here. My new year's resolutions are two things.
1) Buy Wesley 52 new books next year - not including Birthday/Christmas gifts. (Yes, meaning 1 per week!)
and
2) Write in my blog at least once a week.

Lets hope I can keep it up!

Christmas Ideas!

I've had a lot of people ask me for ideas for Wesley and Tommy with Christmas

Firstly I'd like to say: Wesley is a very spoilt boy. He has everything he could ever need, and want, courtesy of his parents! LOL!

And the above goes for Tommy, too, really. LOL!

But secondly, we understand that people do like to send and give gifts at Christmas, and we certainly don't want to appear to be ungrateful or ungracious. We appreciate that you love us so much <3

So, if you're looking for ideas of things they would like, but don't already have (nothing worse than a double up!) here is a link to their amazon.com wishlists

Wesley: http://amzn.com/w/2YNALYJF8ZT66
Tommy: http://amzn.c...om/w/7NA9MRQJNY90


Love you all.

PS: I might make it my new years resolution to write in here a lot more.