I had a case of mild frostbite last year after sledding in sub-zero temperatures with only a thin pair of gloves. I had a couple of blisters and darkened spots on my hands once I started thawing out, which was a painful experience that lasted days. I have found since that incident, my fingers are cold more often than they ever used to be.

Last week L.'s feet got wet inside her boots and she decided to continue playing outside instead of changing her socks (and boots - she has a couple of pair for just this reason). She never complained about her feet being cold so I had no idea. The next day her swollen toes were red and hot to the touch with a couple of small bruise-like patches on them. She complained about how much her feet hurt for a couple of days afterwards and said she learned her lesson about changing her socks and boots when they get wet inside now.

Yesterday I was chatting with my friend Carl, an avid hiker who takes lots of cold weather hiking trips, about my family's frostbite experiences and he shared his thoughts about Merino wool. I decided it was a necessary investment and he offered a couple of suggestions on discount locations to buy it.

I'm sure those knowledgeable outdoor enthusiasts are asking why we do not have these kind of wool socks and gloves.

The cost. They're about $15-20 for a pair of socks.

Not to mention my kids have never been able to keep a matching pair of socks together. They throw them around and make a fashion statement out of mismatched pairs and I've accepted the fact that losing socks in our house is inevitable.

So spending a lot of money on a single pair of socks has not been something I've been eager to do.

But yesterday I found out the LL Bean outlet in Portland has a GREAT sale going on for Smartwool socks. They range from $7.95-12.95 on sale right now.

I bought a pair for each member of my family (shhhh, they're Christmas presents so don't tell them!) and have hopes that each of us can keep track of a single pair of socks this winter.

We all need a special Christmas wish ...