Christmas – Page 9 – Pollywog's Place Blog

Holiday Planner Pics… Nothing Fancy!

Published on November 10, 2023 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog11 Comments

I’ve mentioned in several posts about my Holiday Planning Binder but I don’t know if I’ve ever really shared what it looks like. It’s definitely nothing fancy… just an old Trapper Keeper that the kiddos didn’t use and the folders are old pocket folders that they aren’t using. I really like that it zips up because it helps to keep everything contained really well and prevents the inevitable spillage that happens when you have kiddos running around.

This is what the outside of the planner looks like… nothing special at all but the fact that it is purple helps me to identify it from other binders on the shelf and I can tell almost anyone to grab me the purple binder and they have no trouble finding it all. I probably should’ve tried to clean it up a bit before the pictures but this is how LIFE goes around here and these smudges and smears remind me of all the little blessings that are running through my house!

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Getting Ready for the Holidays Weeks 1 & 2

Published on October 26, 2023November 30, 2025 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog17 Comments

Is it ever too early to think about Christmas? Probably not, especially when you consider all of the extra things that happen during that busy season. We just got everything decorated for Fall… I think this might be the first year we have really decorated this house as I kept waiting until we had everything ‘just right’ but who knows when that will be, so we might as well try to make things a little nicer today.

12 Weeks of Holiday Planning – Pollywog’s Place Blog

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Favorite Gifts from 2022

Published on January 29, 2023November 14, 2023 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

I had to laugh because I found this post in my ‘DRAFTS’ and I don’t think I ever published it or if I did I guess it didn’t go through… these have been some of our favorites throughout the year and may give you some gift ideas for this year.

It’s been a few weeks since Christmas and I thought I’d ask everyone about what their favorite gifts from Christmas were… this can help give me a better idea for future gifts and also let me know which things they may not have cared for at all. This past Christmas we were able to scale back quite a bit… the increased prices on everything helped with that as well!

We found that by putting together a Wish List on Amazon we were able to help get the items they have been asking for and it helped others buy what the kiddos really wanted… this truly made the gift buying a little easier. We have decided that all of our family members should create a wish list of some sort so we can access it for birthdays, anniversaries, special holidays, Christmas, or ‘just because’ gifts… the lists help to narrow down what everyone really wants or needs so that we aren’t just throwing money away on something they can’t or won’t use.

Here are a few of the answers I received:

Life ** The kids had been relentless in asking for this game
Lego Klutz sets ** What is there not to love about Legos? — maybe stepping on them but other than that they are always a hit with everyone
Clue Jr and the Clue Disney Villains ** We got the Clue Jr for our home and big sister got the Villains but we played while she was here
Battleship ** The older kids loved this game and they bought it for their younger siblings who now love it just as much!
Cash Flow Game ** One of the older kids bought this and it has been a bit tricky to learn but everyone loves it — the junior version may be easier to start with and there is an online version as well
Ticket to Ride ** We have seen this on several different videos and the kids really wanted to try it out, it was one that was a little tricky to learn but it does have expansion packs but we haven’t quite figured out how they work yet

Can you tell that they really love board games? Some of these were games that we had never heard of so the learning curve has been a bit hectic but they love playing them all!

Everyone also loved their new blanket throws that they got from Granny!

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Getting organized a little at a time … January 7, 2023

Published on January 7, 2023 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog2 Comments

Whew! It’s been a busy first week of the year but our house is finally ‘undecorated’ all except for the inflatables which are hanging over the back porch railings as they need to dry out.

Yesterday we had our first dance of the New Year at a new location. I tried not to do too much work as I didn’t want to be completely exhausted before the dance… I tried but with my arm, in the condition it is in right now, it doesn’t take much to wear me out at all. I went to one of our sheds to dig out a couple of outfits and then had to go back to find my dance shoes. While we were out in the shed I remembered that someone had mentioned they needed some little boy clothes so I found a tote of clothes our kiddos have outgrown and brought that to the house with us.