Christmas craziness

Hello! It is really hard not to get sucked into all this buy Buy BUY !!! hype for Christmas. I only get my boys a few small gifts, but I like to buy gifts for others. My Christmas budget of still left to buy is $460, plus the $300 I already spent.
I like to send out cards with a nice holiday letter and photo; cards and photos are bought. Still need to get stamps. I send out about 100 cards. I send to my family, some of Jason's family, some of Josh's family, and my church family. This is a me thing, I really enjoy doing it.
I also like to get little gifts for daycare kids, postal woman, teachers (my kids have six total teachers, Jason has three, Josh has three-how can I say one is more valuable than the other?) I spend about $10 on each teacher.
Then I get my aunts, and my grandmother something little (already bought.) I get my friends a little something, like for $5. I buy for my mom, stepfather, sisters, and brother (I can not leave them out.) Plus we buy for Jason's dad, stepmom, and sisters (already have there gifts.) I also buy for Josh's cousins on his dad side and his aunt, but small $10 gifts. I also like to buy for my niece & nephew. And I like to have a cookie swap each year (so much fun.)
No one in my family, except my boys gets a gift more than $25, yet I still seem to be spending so much. And it is hard not to add this and that at each store. I like to make gifts, but even these have costs of supplies and time (plus space needed to store.) Time & space I do not have alot of.
I can't believe I will spend about $800 when Christmas is said and done. That seems like so much, but I am so thankful for everyone in my life and want them to know it. This amount includes all cards, decorations, and holiday food, so I know many spend much more. I have heard of parents spending $500-$1000 per kid, this is like WHAT???? I spend no more than $100 per child. Still, I feel sucked in and want to buy them the IPod (Jason) and Digital Camera (Josh) they want. I will not buy, as they have no need for these grown up items. I actually got Jason a DVD set of these awesome Christian cartoons he likes. This at least helps us to remember Jesus.
We also are making boxes for kids through Samaritan's Purse to be delivered to poor kids as Christmas gifts. I want my kids to think about others more.
I think the more we think about others, the less we think about ourselves.


How are your holiday plans going? Did you remember to schedule some activities to focus on Jesus? The gifts will long be forgotten,but Jesus will last an eternity. -Becky