Going to Disney in January pretty well sets the tone of our Christmas. I've done this once before and the kids were thrilled, so here we go again...
They'll still each get the one special gift from us (probably a Wii for the whole family) and one Santa gift from their wishlists, as usual, but instead of smaller gifts and stocking stuffers, they'll have Disney goodies. The kids will be getting all those things that they'd want (some of which we'd buy, many that we wouldn't) while we're there - Epcot passports, AK passports or whatever they're called, a batch of pins to trade since most of the ones they have now are keepers, Disney clothes for the girls, new Cali Gear, new swimsuits, etc. Since the clothes/shoes/bathing suits are all summery stuff, I've already started stockpiling from the clearance racks.
"Santa" will probably be out on Black Friday for DD's gift, because the thing she wants more than anything is a decent, grown-up digital camera before our trip. DS hasn't given any hints yet, but he tends not to think that far ahead. And DBaby, being in that super-cheap toddler stage, will be getting a Sit & Spin that I already bought on clearance at Target.
Our family got together years ago and decided for reasons of both budget and clutter not to shop for the adults (aunts/uncles, siblings, etc - we do still shop for our parents) in our extended family, so the rest of the shopping list is pretty short and easy to manage on a budget. The only people besides my kids that I'll be shopping for are my 7 & 3yo nieces and my 5 & 2 yo nephews. The kids like to make something special for the grandparents, last year was glitter Christmas ornaments, and we'll add a gift card for a movie or dinner out or something to the card.
DH is getting a Detroit Tigers neon sign from Lowes, so I'm watching for a sale to pick it up, and a 1984 World Series pennant to match the 1968 one I gave him a couple years back. I'm either getting an iPod Nano or a new lens for my SLR, so I'm watching prices on those as well (DH is technologically challenged and I'm the kind of girl that cares more about gigabytes than carats, so years ago we decided it best if he just take me shopping to pick out my own gift
).
I think the real budget-buster this Christmas is going to be decor. I want two trees this year, one in the living room for our usual ornaments and one with a Victorian theme for the dining room, plus cedar roping and velvet bows and candle-look lights for the windows... Basically all new decorations to go with an all-new style of house!
And since we cut our own tree, having 10' ceilings is likely to bump up the cost of the tree this year.
I'm always afraid I'm not doing enough or that I'll ge them something they can't use or don't like. I usually just do a gift certificate but that seems so impersonal. I've already been going over possible ideas... maybe those movie night baskets. 
) I think it's going to be a pretty economical present, and less work for me than making everyone their own personal batch of fudge, like I usually do. 
You put this in my head and I went home last night and had an urge to sign Christmas cards. So I sat there and signed 2 boxes of cards while I watched the new Dexter Season 3 DVD that I got in the mail from Netflix.
