Do people actually buy this stuff??

So one night this week all we received in the mail was approximately 5 holiday catalogs. How we got on these list I don't know (okay we bought something from each one of these catalogs years ago, But they still send us a catalog). What gets me about these catalogs is not the stuff, that I might buy. But some of the things that they sell. Really Do people actually buy this??

I will give you a few examples of the things I have seen

Example A- Rubber band ball Kit - 5.95 Plus tax and S &H; Really I need a kit to make this? when I was a kid, we took a super ball we had lying around the house, and raided our moms desk of all the rubber bands, then begged her to go buy more at the office supply store. I am not sure how much a bag of rubber bands costs these days, But I am guessing it is not $11.95.

Example B- Snowman family kit- $29.95 plus tax and s & h; this is a kit of wooded pieces to make your snowman family's faces, all in a cloth bag they can store for years to come. Yes that is right, cause we here in the Pacific Northwest we would get Snowman making snow Just once that year, Use it that year, store it away and forget about and sell it at a Garage sale in 2020 for $1.50. I think I will stick with the same Set that worked for Frosty, Corn cob Pipe, Button Nose and Eyes Made out coal, (okay as I write this I realize I don't have coal or a corn cob pipe, but you get the idea).

Example C- Make your own Vanilla Ice Cream Kit- $12.95 plus Tax and S & H. All you do is add your own Cream, Sugar and Vanilla and you have Homemade Vanilla Ice cream in no time. If all you are doing is adding Sugar, Cream and Vanilla, I can tell you how to make Ice Cream make using 2 Ziploc bags, a #10 can and Ice and it will cost way less $12.95.

I could go on on examples, these are just a few that have popped out at me.

What I want to say to the general public, is with tough economic times, all I am saying is Buyers Don't be stupid. Save your money, and do it yourself at home.

Disclaimer: I have left out the companies that make these Items on purpose, But I promise you they are real items from real companies that have been advertised in a catalog this holiday season.

The Hall Amoeba

For over a week our hallway was overtaken by this amoeba. It appeared after our friends older boys came over to play and left it there.

Normally I would have cleaned it up a lot sooner, But Phil had so much fun with the elaborate design that we kept it together for over a week.

For several nights after we had gotten rid of it, I found myself stepping over it, because navigating my way around it became such a habit.

A Black and White Halloween

A Holstein calf

and A Zebra