Home movies on computer

[Sevenfold]

OK here's what I want to do---

1) Buy a video camera of some sort.

2) Make basic home movies that no one but immediate family would care about.

3) Get said movies onto a disk that will play in any home DVD player (if this is possible---just to a laptop if it isn't).

So---what's the easiest and cheapest way (type of camera, etc.) to get movies of cousin Bob out to Grandma Jones?

For the purpose of this exercise, you can safely assume I'm an idiot around cameras and computers, and that Grandma Jones can barely work the DVD player.

P.S.
Running Windows XP if it matters.