Tis the Season

Suddenly, it seems, December is upon us. Yesterday, we woke up to snowflakes and MaM exclaimed, as only she can,”This is the best day ever! God made it snow!” It was really pretty, and there is nothing better than watching kids catch the first snowflakes of the season on their tongues. Junior even wore his boots, which is a big deal because he typically only wears his Cars shoes.

Last Wednesday, I wrote the post on how we were approaching Advent, and so far, it’s going really well. The kids are getting ready a whole lot faster in the morning so we can get the next ring down before we walk out the door. It’s been great doing a short project every day, and it’s inspiring me to make a little bit more of a monthly plan to enjoy knowing that we will get to fun things every month with some planning. (Check out this idea from Heather, I love it)

Today’s activity was supposed to be write a letter to Santa. MaM was kind of intrigued, but got distracted and never brought it up again. If she’s ok with that, I’m ok with that. We did have an interesting conversation about it.

“Mom, I know what I can write to Santa!”

“You do?”

“Yes. I will say, ‘Don’t worry mom and dad, I’m out helping Santa,’ ”

“Oh that would be a letter to us, do you think you’d like to ask Santa for something?”

“Well, I’ll see presents when I help him.”

“True. Is there a present you’d like to ask him for?”

“I’ve already asked him for a pogo stick.”

“Would you like to ask him for anything else, in case he can’t find a pogo stick for you? Maybe some books?”

“Books are too boring. I need something else. Maybe a Barbie bath toy.” (last year’s gift)

And with that, she busied herself with something or other.

So here’s the thing. Actually, two things.

1) She’s kind of obsessed this year with “helping Santa”. As in, Santa is going to pick her up on his sled and she’ll go riding with him Christmas night. And that’s why she’d leave us a note so we don’t worry about her. Of course, every time she brings it up, I take the opportunity to tell her it’s not ok to leave with any Santa Claus who approaches her, anywhere, anytime. And if Santa comes knocking on her window, she must come wake us up. Strange, but I wanted to make sure all of our bases were covered. (Last year, she was obsessed with him visiting her on Christmas Eve)

2) She’s also obsessed with getting a pogo stick for Christmas. Here’s the thing, it snowed yesterday. If she were to get a pogo stick, it would sit in the garage for months before she could really use it. Also, her present this year is a Fisher-Price iXL. Have you seen these? I hadn’t even heard of them, until I went to BlogHer. There I spent some time in the Fisher Price booth, and came out a winner of an iXL. I’m hopeful that she’s as excited about it as I am for her. She absolutely loves using our iPhones, but she’ll have more flexibility with this device. There are games and a drawing program, it can play MP3’s and more. There can also be more than one user profile, so theoretically, the kids can share (we’ll see about that). I need to carefully pull it out of the box and get it ready to go for Christmas morning sometime soon. (disclosure: I won the iXL at Blogher. Just like I said. I am not under obligation to mention this fact, but OMG, this thing is cool.)

So that’s what the first week of Advent in our house. How’s yours going?

P.S. Indy friends, if you’re reading this and it’s not 5pm on Friday (12/3) yet, and you need a Christmas tree, check out this Savvy Savings deal for 50% off a live tree!

P.P.S. There are three huge gift guides over at Grown in My Heart, one for donations, one for goods, and one specifically for fair-trade. There are some amazing organizations you can support this holiday season.

P.P.P.S. I’ve got a few gift guides listed over at Persephone, arranged by age. There’s Baby’s First Christmas, Toddlers, Preschoolers and School-Agers, along with some ideas for large families/copious numbers of small children.

Time for this week’s Savvy Deals: Conner Prairie & More

Over the past two years, my family has become HUGE Conner Prairie enthusiasts. We stop by on our way home from school, swing by for short visit on a Saturday morning, and spend entire Sundays there. The kids now know the grounds inside and out. They noticed when Discovery Station got new trains. They run right to the Balloon Voyage exhibit, race the steamboat and the hot air balloon, and then work their way through the rest of the exhibit. They know how to hold the chicks in the Animal Encounters, they know to look for mice in the William Conner house, and they most recently learned how to play hoop and stick. MaM has a slight obsession with resident Lenape Indian (he’s for real, and comes to Conner Prairie every summer), and loves to hear the tales he tells. Long before I started writing down our adventures for the Savvy Source City Guide, I wrote this blog post about going to Conner Prairie one day with the kids.

Think your family would like to check it out? Then this week’s Savvy Savings and Scholarships deal is for you! Conner Prairie is offering a 4-pack of tickets, normally valued at $44, for a 50% discount. That’s FOUR TICKETS for $22. What a steal! Follow this link to purchase this offer Monday thru Thursday this week.

Not near Central Indiana? Deals are now live in SIXTEEN CITIES! Find one that works for you on SavvySource.com! All deals run from Monday through Thursday night.

Savvy Savings is here! Savvy Savings is here!

Like I said last week, I’ve been working with Savvy Source a lot this summer, as their city editor for the Indianapolis City Guide, and I’ve been involved in getting the Savvy Savings and Scholarships off the ground here in Indy as well.

So it is with great excitement that I present to you the first offering (there will be a new one each week):

A HALF PRICE FAMILY MEMBERSHIP TO THE CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF INDIANAPOLIS!!!! (deal should be live early Monday morning!)

I know, it’s HUGE, right? For $60 (a $120 value) you can enjoy the museum all year long with your family. If you frequent this blog, you know that we are huge fans. We’ve been going since MaM was about one, and the kids both love every floor of that place.

Not in Indy? Here are the rest of this week’s deals:

Atlanta: $17 for creative playtime at Farmhouse in the City

Remember, you get to donate 5% of the purchase price to a preschool of your choice, and to a preschool scholarship fund as well!
(want to promote these deals on your blog and to your friends and family? sign up here to be a Savvy Savings & Scholarships Partner!)