9 days until Christmas!! More snow today and it will continue all day! At least it helps get me in the Christmas spirit! As a kid, I loved making snowflakes out of construction paper and clothespin reindeer with googly eyes. My sister and I would help our mom make sugar cookies, cutting them out with cookie cutters was the best part! And of course decorating the tree. Some years we had an artificial and others we got a real tree, fresh from my grandparents woods. There really is nothing like the smell of fresh pine! And I did believe in Santa Claus until I was almost 9 years old.

As a mom, I'm figuring out how to make memories for my family. I've started picking out recipes that will be unique to our family. My mother in law is the best cook and I don't want to make the same cookies and treats as her, she'd win hands down! We also have an artificial tree that we put up the weekend after Thanksgiving. Other traditions include a Christmas lunch with my husband (usually at TGIFridays), a Christmas party with our church group, donating to Toys for Tots, making cookies with my son (he loves to help me in the kitchen), and I'm adding to this list each year! I think tradition is a very important part of Christmas!

Here's some new stuff:

Free Idahoan potato sample

Meijer Super Saturday sale- Dec.17

Meijer Santa bucks, printable coupons

Free Olay, when you send in your old moisturizer

Target ecards, wallpaper and screensavers

Free California Raisins calendar

Boston Market printables- $5 off holiday banquet and $10 off $75+ catering order- 12/31/05

New Target printable, Luvs $2 off- 1/31/06