I’m pretty sure our crew had a great Christmas.
They’re still living it up around here. It looks like a toy bomb went off in our living room.
And I can’t get Speedracer out of his new bathrobe–which he keeps calling his “bathroom.” The boys have had a bit of stomach bug the last few days and there’s been quite a lot of bathroom talk around here. Boy was I confused the first time he asked me to “please you tie my bathroom for me?”
I don’t know how you shop, but I try to make a list for each of them that is sort of a “category” and then fill it with something we think they’ll like. I picked this up (with modifications) from my Grandma Hohner. We get each of them something to wear, a learning toy, a craft/project, a hobby/special interest item, and something trendy that they can open right away and start playing with. The special interest item usually takes up the most of our budget.
That last one we just added the last year or two. We learned the hard way that no matter how nice the stuff they get is, they really want something to just open and play with right away. This is usually our least expensive item, but they don’t know that. This year the Ladybug got Squinkies and the boys got Captain America and Thor toys.
We also try to coordinate our gifts with family a little bit. This year everyone got new bikes (the boys for their birthdays and the Ladybug for Christmas) so we talked with Mimi and she got them helmets. Grandpa Ray and Grandma Judy told me that they were getting the Ladybug a little sewing machine, so Mimi got her some sewing notions and a basket, I got her some patterns and fabric, and my sister got her a little sewing machine kit for her American Girl doll, Julia. It makes for a well-rounded holiday.
My sister also got the Cowboy and Speedracer Star Wars light sabers–which they’ve wanted desperately since visiting her house and playing with my nephew’s. And the Ladybug keeps calling them “light Saviors.” How cute is that? I can’t help but grin when I hear that one, or when she says “bee-loc-u-lars” instead of binoculars (they each got a pair in their stockings).
The kids even picked out some things for Penny. They got her a pack of “Pig Parts” (sounds delicious, right?), a new collar (since her other new one is apparently sized for a St. Bernard/Clydesdale cross), and a rubber-tire-rope toy (to distract her from chewing on everyone’s muck boots).
We didn’t get anything for our cat, Scratchy. He doesn’t need anything. He doesn’t eat treats (we have three bags in the cabinet right now), he plays with empty boxes and scraps of paper rather than his toys, and he insists on sleeping in Penny’s bed or my clean laundry rather than his cat bed, so it seemed pointless to buy anything for him. But we gave him some turkey for dinner.
I get to be home all this week with the kiddos until they go back to school on Monday. We’re heading to PA for New Years, but otherwise we’ll be home. I’m hoping to fit in a little New Year sorting and organizing in between baking cookies together and playing with all the new toys.
Have you started thinking about New Year’s resolutions yet?
