This and That

-I actually did something I pinned on Pinterest! I saw this quite awhile ago, suggesting to wrap up 25 Christmas books, and let your kiddo open one each night.

Source: katherinemariephotography.com via Meredith on Pinterest

Originally, I planned to do it with non-Christmas books that we already have but don't read often. Then, between being given a bunch of Christmas books, finding a bunch at Goodwill, and raiding my parents' stash from when we were kids, we had 30 Christmasy books. So, I wrapped them up, and we've actually been letting Lizzy choose a book to open since Saturday.

I think Justin was a little suspect about letting her open a "present" a day, but I think it's a fun little Christmas tradition that we'll be able to do for years for only the cost of wrapping paper.

-I had what was probably my last photo shoot of the season over the weekend--for two girls that I went to high school with! They said that their parents don't really have any nice photos other than their senior pictures, so they wanted to surprise them with new photos of the kids for Christmas. LOVE that idea! And I've got to say, as much as I love shooting families/kids, there is something to be said for shooting adults who actually listen to instructions and smile when you tell them to! ;)

-I'm usually kind of a scrooge about decorating for Christmas until December, but after looking at our December calendar, I totally pressured J to put up our tree this weekend. And honestly, it's kind of fun. Now, I just have to figure out what to do with the rest of my decorations--I feel like half the stuff I have is the bright pink/green/turquoise Christmas stuff, and half is "natural"...and that just looks hodge-podged. I haven't quite figured out which direction I want to go with it, and also how to do it low-cost.

-We did Black Friday shopping, and this is the first year I can honestly say it was not worth it. Our Wal-Mart told me that none of the electronics were going on sale until 3am, and that it was basically only kids stuff that was on sale when they opened at 10pm. So we went at 11pm, and figured we'd miss the rush. Noooooo. We were out from 11pm-3:30am, and only made it to Wal-Mart and Old Navy. Wal-Mart was so crowded that the line literally wrapped all around the aisles, so you couldn't really look at anything anyway. It was absurd, and I didn't even get any good deals because you couldn't actually get to much of anything! I went back later Friday at like 8pm, and got everything that was on my list anyway. Lesson learned. And thank goodness, our crazy birthday/Christmas shopping is pretty much done. We still need to do Lizzy and each other, but that's all dependent on what J's check looks like and the actual end-cost of fixing The Most Expensive Car To Fix Ever.

-Speaking of which, our car goes in on Wednesday. Hopefully, it will be done soon thereafter. I'm still kind of pissed that it's going to cost $1,100 to fix. I'm also seriously hoping it doesn't cost MORE in the end. Still, trying to remain grateful that (a) it didn't break down on the side of the road and end up costing more and, (b) that we can actually pay for it, even though it will wipe out most of our emergency fund. Then again, I suppose this is exactly what emergency funds are for. But still. SUCK.