Wow. Thank you so much for your compliments on my home. I should have invited you in a year ago, and I would have felt a lot better about myself.

It’s amazing what a few cleverly angled shots can do for a gal’s self-confidence. (Notice: you did NOT see my basement or laundry room. Those areas are messy projects in process. Um, for about three years now.)

I have to thank Alyice Edrich of The Dabbling Mum Magazine for inspiring me to try using our digital camera. If you’ve not visited her DM Writes blog lately, she is starting a new journey in photography, and I’m tagging along for the ride. Her husband bought her a snazzy new (incredible) camera, and she’s learning how to use it and sharing what she learns. Her post, Develop, Print, and Share Photographs, explained all the basics for me!

I still don’t understand the mysterious process of how the pictures go from our camera to the computer. My husband does this — and I’ve learned not to ask stupid questions, like “How’d you do that?” because then my loss of brain cells from full-time mothering the last decade becomes all-too apparent. I just don’t get it. If I touch it, it will crash.

I had never even HEARD of digital scrapbook pages until I read in Scribblings by Blair that she was selling her old scrapbook stuff so she could convert her scrapbooks to digital. Huh? Then I read more about this in DM Writes. So, now I’m … thankful that I’m several YEARS behind in my scrapbooking because I’m sure I’ll jump on this digital bandwagon with glee once I figure it out. I never did like putting tape on the back of pictures to stick them in archive-safe pages. (It bends the pictures if you ever decide to pull one out of your scrapbook to put in a frame.)

But I digress.

This is a post about last-minute Christmas shopping! Which officially begins today, with six days before Christmas — and most of us with our kids home from school! I just discovered that Hobby Lobby has permanent 40% off coupons if you go here and print them off. So you never have to go in that store without a coupon. Hobby Lobby has GREAT craft kits for kids — giving us moms hours of quiet!

This morning I finished up my BOOK shopping! Don’t you know I would have a ton of books to buy? I love supporting our local independent bookstore in town, but this year I just can’t do it. I can’t take the kids into a store full of breakable knick-knacks so I can browse. And the nearest Borders is an hour away. Not good. So I’ve done my book shopping on-line this year.

I ordered several books from Amazon for each of my elementary-age children — the classics I loved as a child, as well as some of the newer ones that have won awards. One thing I’ve missed at the kids’ Christian school this year is a school library — the school is too small to have one. So we go to the public library, which is always stressful when you bring toddlers who SPEAK IN ALL CAPS. And then I have to keep up with the books and make sure they’re returned on time.

Last year in public school, my son went to the library every day on his own. As soon as he finished a book and took his AR test, he’d go back and get another. (Two hours of reading for a Hardy Boys novel, four hours for a Narnia book, he said.)

All that to say, if you want to order books this year for Christmas presents, now’s the time. To see my Christmas recommendations, check out my December Book Buzz column at Christian Women Online — or read some thoughtful reviews at Christian Book Previews. I always get a little spooked at Amazon — I pick out a book, and then the site recommends a few other books that are PERFECT. Eery.

Definitely beats last-minute browsing in a store full of breakables with toddlers.