We Wish you A Merry Christmas....

OK Its 2: months til Christmas....What are you planning???Cozy Christmas at home or traveling? Have you started your shopping??? Are you thinking about how to make you & your families favorite desserts sugarfree??It will definetly be different for us this year!!!Maybe we can make a pact together not to gain this year!!!it will be so much easier with our tool!!!Come on talk to me now!!! Can you tell Its my favorite time of the year!!!!I so love the Holidays!!! OK-I have my sons Christmas on Layaway at Wal-mart!!!I have been picking up stocking stuffers already!!!So I am well on my way!!!Still don't know what to get hubby!!!He's a mechanic & loves Drag Racing & has everything pertaining to those so I am just stumped this year!!!Any ideas???Please help!!! I have started thinking about my menu as I am always the one to cook for both mine & my husbands family at both Thanksgiving & Christmas!!! Thanksgiving menu:Turkey, Chicken & dressing, Green beans, mac cheese(for kids) Broccoli casserole, corn, rolls, sf pumpkin pie, sf pecan pie, sf banana pudding. Christmas menu:I am thinking about doing a Christmas breakfast!!We'll see after Thanksgiving how my suggestion goes over!!! ~Missy~

I'll definitely join your pact! I will not gain! lol I love this time of year! I always start getting excited way too early. I'm gonna have a hard time not putting up all my Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving. I just love how they make the house look, so I want to put them up early and not take them down until after the first of the year! Hubby thinks I'm nuts, but the kids love it! I need to start shopping, YAY!! Our kids are way spoiled, but they're only little once! and it's just too much fun to watch them open all their loot I wish I had any suggestions for what to get your hubby, but I don't even know what to get for mine! He's the hardest person to shop for! Have a good day! Bobbie

Bobby, We always do our outside decorations the weekend before Thanksgiving, then the Friday after Thanksgiving we put up our Christmas Tree. The wa la we are done!!& yes I leave it up until the weekend after New Years. We have one son (he's 11yrs old will be 12 in Jan.) So he's spoiled rotten too. You are so right they are only little once!!! Love my baby!!! ~Missy~

oops!!!I am so bad with names!!!Sorry!!! Meant Bobbie!!!I have a cousin whose name is Bobbie Not sure why I did that!!! ~Missy~

Oh my gosh, you just made me so hungry!!! Do you make your broccoli casserole with Cheez whiz & rice? Someone brought that to a potluck before & I swear I ate the entire dish! Luckily my family lives close. We will not be gong out of town. I have only bought a couple of small items so far. I'm a last minute girl. Hubby puts the tree up the day after Thanksgiving, but I want it out of there the day after Christmas. Darlene

Hey Darlene, I use to make it with all the regular ingredients but since wls I am trying to do more low fat etc.... Brocc Casserole 1 bag Green Giant chopped broccoli (freezer section at Wal-Mart) 2 cans cream mushroom soup (now use healthy soups) 2 bags minute rice(I used the brown rice last time) Lots & lots of sharp cheddar cheese(I just heap it in there LOL)(will use low fat next time) 1/2 cup milk 2 packages of ritz crackers( will be using the whole wheat ones from now on) Steam broccoli, cook rice according to package, mix brocc & rice add cheese to your taste, add soup & milk, mix well put in casserole dish & top with crushed ritz crackers. Now usually I pour butter all over the top & bake 350 until browned. Not sure what I'll do now may some spray I can't believe its not butter. I am so trying to make our favorite dishes more healthy!!! Enjoy! ~Missy~

Hey Missy!! It's so cold here I've already been thinking about Christmas too. I LOOOOOOOOVE to shop the day after Thanksgiving!! But...this year something fun happened about a month ago. I was shopping in Kohl's and they were giving card holders a scratch off for an extra discount and I got a 30% off one!! Wooohoo!! They were having an AWESOME sale at the time (40-50% off all toys!!) so we got like 90% of our Christmas shopping done already!!! We went crazy over the 2 or 3 days that coupon was good for!!! Hubby bought our daughter the Dora kitchen (from Santa) like 3 months ago through his "rewards" program at work. So basically it feels like our Christmas is pretty much bought...just have TONS of wrapping to do! I'm a little disappointed I won't have any thing to go after the day after Thanksgiving...although I am sure I will still go shopping!!! I like to put up my decorations the weekend after Thanksgiving..but right now we are in housing limbo...trying to sell our house and relocate (hence hubby at the job interview right now)...hopefully for Christmas I will be decorating a NEW place. But the thought of moving has me leaving my Halloween and Thanksgiving stuff boxed up right now. Christmas Eve is usually at my house with my fam. We don't make a ton of food - just a handful of peeps. Usually I make a ham - no one makes much dessert - too many diabetics and WLS peeps. Christmas Day will be at the in-laws where there will be hoards and hoards of food - enough for 10 times as many people as will be there. Most of it isn't anything I like too much (shhh...don't tell my MIL) so hopefully I can resist. Now - my sisters annual cookie baking will be another story...

Oh Amy I soooo wish I had mine done!!!Good job on the coupon!!Just think at least when you get your new house you are done with Christmas shopping!!!I bet this was Gods way of working everything out!!Good luck to your hubby on the job interview!!keep us updated! We both have Huge families so there is always hoards & hoards of food at every holiday and unfortunatley it is all soooooo good!! Now You wanna talk cookies my Mom makes the best Oatmeal Drop cookies!!They are my favorite since childhood!!Every year she makes tons of these cookies & gives me my own special tupperware bowl full!!!She doesn't know about my wls (for personal reasons)so I just don't know what I am gonna do with all those cookies!!! Although my dearest friend (who also had wls 2 yrs ago) assures me these cookies can be made with splenda!!!So we will see!!! ~Missy~

Hi Missy, I don't usually post too much but you got me in the spirit. Oh how I love christmas!!! All my kids are grown and gone but I do have 9 grandchildren so that is always fun.. I am very disappointedd with Wal-Mart now.. it seems this is the last year they are going to offer layaway. They say there isn't enough people doing it to constitue them having one anymore..I think that is a bad choice. There are people out there that can't afford to just go out and buy everything at once...I really wished they would reconsider this decision. if anyone else agrees you can call 1-800-walmart and tell them how you feel. Now that, that is off my chest lets get on to decorating. I usually start right around Thanksgiving. really wished it would hurry up. Since I live out of state now my dad does both Thanksgiving and Xmas dinner. When I move back next year I will take over doing Xmas once again.. Yippieeee i love cooking. So you all Have a great day and I know it is kind of early (really early actually) but Happy HOlidays.. Dawn 225/154

Hi Dawn So Glad I could help get you in the spirit!!Wow 9 Grandchildren!!Congrats!I know I have 13 neices & nephews ranging from 13yrs to 1yr, & I have 3 more on the way!!We have such a huge family!!!I love doing for the kiddies & shopping for the one thing that will make their eyes light up!! I know what you mean about Wal-mart!!A lady that I work with son is a manager here of a Super Wal-mart & he said the new Ceo of Wal-Mart use to work for Target so they are making alot of changes!!ie...the disappearance of layaway, They are changing alot of rules & benefits for the employees too(they are going to have to start wearing uniforms???) Anyways I got off topic...So sorry the layaway thing just gets me fired up!!!Its the only way I can afford all those neices & nephews!!I think I will call thanks for the number. Are you collecting all of these good recipes people are posting so you will have them when you get back & start all that cooking?? By the way-We almost have the same stats I started at 228 & as of this morning I was 155!!Woo Hoo!! Happy Holidays to you too!! ~Missy~