What are you doing this Christmas to save money? Or are you not? I guess now is the time to eliminate any debt you may have or accrue. Jason and I are not using any credit cards for this year and we have saved what we think is a reasonable amount of money for Christmas. With a good chunk of shopping done we still have over $500 saved, so we are happy with that. We only have 6 people left. Hayden is completely done, whew. He obviously is our biggest expense. What tips or suggestions do you have?

Our baby ticker took a big jump today! My due date is officially changed to May 5th or 6th. I really don't mind either. We find out on Dec. 19th if its a Jackson James or a Maggie Mae. Everything looks good too. The heart rate was in the 140's which to me indicates boy, but we'll see. I had a good appointment this time with my Doctor who i wasn't very happy with, the last time i saw her, so that's a good thing!

Whew. Thats just thinking about this whirlwind weekend. We had a blast down in the Cities doing so many new and fun things!
Friday:
-Aitkin: Fishhouse Parade. Very redneck and a blast.
-Blaine: Adventure Park. A indoor playground that is big enough for Moms and dads to play in with the kids. Or Nanas or Emilys or Brandons. We will definitely be going back.
-Night Trains in Minneapolis. Hayden loved these model trains and went around and around the track. Even though he couldn't touch he loved this. He just watched and moved on to the next step and watched again.
-Dinner at Porky's and Holy Land in Minneapolis.
-Swimming at the Hotel.
Saturday:
-Denny's Bakery stop!
-Science Museum. Hayden saw the Dinosaurs, as he is fascinated by them lately.
-Lunch at Mike's Butcher shop. Super yummy beef sandwiches. No sauce needed.
-Elves and the Shoemaker at Old Log Theater. Hayden seemed kind of restless but he is still talking about those "silly, sneaky elves". I guess he did like it!
-Christmas Festival in downtown Excelsior. We rode on the trolley, saw Santa, Reindeer and walked around the little festival. Reindeer I don't think are the friendliest animals. Hayden was excited to see Santa.
-Minnatonka General Store stop! Didn't buy much but got Hayden cool chopsticks made for kids.
-Macy's 8th floor display. More Elves! And trees with faces. Also another Santa sighting. Hayden even gave Santa a hug.(After screaming, flinging himself back into the stroller, Santa giving him a button, Santa pulling him on to his lap and then it was all good after that!) Ohh, a little shopping after in Macys.
-Driving through Phalen Park seeing a Christmas light display. The lights jump and act out little scenes and actions, very cute!
-Dinner at a yummy pizza place. It tasted like Iron River's. yum.
Sunday:
-Swimming at the hotel.
-Mass at the Basilica.
-Tour of the Basilica.
-Scandia Bake Shop stop!
-Minneahaha Falls for some pictures.
-Dropped Brandon and Nana off at the Science Museum.
-Papa, Emily, Hayden and I driving to Menomonie to drop Emily off.
-Driving back! =)
-Pick up Nana and Brandon.
-Had dinner at the Weinery.
-Dropped Brandon and Papa off at the Vikings/Bears game.
-Nana, Hayden and I went shopping at Macy's in Rosedale, World Market, and Kohls.
-Picked up the boys.
-Got gas. 3 gas stations later, due to the fact the first 2 were out of gas?!?!?!
-Home at 12:30 am.

It was a long fun weekend. I have a ton of pictures. I'll post the rough copies of them all and the edited ones will show up later! I hope everyone had good thanksgivings and safe travels!
Michael and Laura come home a week from Saturday! Hayden is pretty excited.

We had a very busy weekend! Basically only sleeping at home. Jason hasn't gotten his Buck yet. But Rae Ann did! She got a "Basket 8".(Deer Hunter language) But Jason hasn't give up hope and it will be a long week until he does! He is happily sleeping in today and only going out tonight.
Hayden, Emily and I went Christmas Shopping on Saturday to a very crazy Duluth. The mall was packed as well as TJ Maxx. I bought the cutest baby boy outfit. Its stripped Ralph Lauren summer outfit. We have multiple weddings this summer and if we have a boy this will be his "wedding outfit". I also have the majority of my Christmas shopping done! Yeah for me. We are very into Christmas this year and it really can't get here fast enough. I bought Hayden a cute shirt for Christmas as Gymboree and he wants a tie now, bad, like Daddy wears to work. So i am on the look out for a black or red satin tie!
Sunday Emily and I made a ton of Christmas cookies. Sugar cookies, sprtiz and peanut butter kiss cookies. Like 14 dozen cookies. We are giving half to church for our bazaar in a couple of weeks for the big cookie exchange.
We also went out to The Smith's house each night to have dinner and chat. We got to see Smith's buck too. Hayden wasn't a fan of the yucky stuff inside of it, the blood. But has gotten over it already.
I hope everyone is going to have a Happy Thanksgiving. I'll try to do another post soon! Hayden and I will be out of town this weekend with my Mom and Dad. We are hitting up a play and other fun things down in the Cities.

Another Post For It Works For Me Wednesday over at Rocks In My Dryer.

This idea I sadly can't take for my own, as my 3 year old came up with this one on his own, and then I thought darn why didn't I think of that!

Super Why on PBS is a favorite by Hayden, loving the songs and letters. I take pride on him knowing his letters and some of their sounds. So if he likes a show that incorporates all of this, let him watch! So the other day he asked me for his Doodle Pro(better known at our house as a Manga Doodle, that's whats i grew up with) and drew his letters along with the show. Spelling out words and letters we don't normally work on. If you don't know the show, they sound out the letters and put them on the screen giving him enough time to write all the letters. I was so proud! But whats better than interactive TV, huh? That's what works for me!

I Love to Spell! S-P-E-L-L!

Few more tidbits!
I forgot almost the funniest Haydenism! We were sitting at East End Cafe last Wednesday and must of been talking about Christmas. All of sudden Hayden says "Nana, for Christmas I am going to buy you a new "phone" " Okay this may not be funny but he put air quotes around phone. So we would like to know what "phone" really means, crack, weed??? What Nana is that you really want?
Hayden has been having a hard time sleeping lately, we don't know why. He was up from 2:30 until 4:30 last night. At about 3(I think) he came into bed with us. Jason had to open, so he was up at 4 getting ready. I told Hayden that he needed to go back to sleep and he said " I can't close my eyes, they won't stay shut, i am tired" Poor kid! He actually went to bed at 6:45 tonight and he is still asleep at 10:30, we'll see what happens i guess tonight!
I thought I'd though a few pictures in too! Have a good week and opening to hunting season here in Wi!