Christmas in 2016
This was the most relaxed Christmas we've ever had and I'm sad that it's coming to an end.
Because we hosted Tim's 40th, I wanted to get as much Christmas stuff done early so that I wouldn't be stressed trying to cram it all in mid-December.
We did a good job of sticking to the Something you Want, Something you Need, Something to Wear, and Something to Read with the boys.
Luke:
Something you Want gift: Signed Rob Scalon LP and Rocksmith
Something you Need gift: Headphones (he's been stealing mine all year)
Something to Wear: Sushi rock band t-shirt
Something to Read: Mysterious Benedict Society book set
Stocking: guitar picks, mints, Good Mythical Morning sock hat
Gabe:
Something you Want: A bucket of plain Legos. He's been building more structures and wanted just regular bricks.
Something you Need: a super fluffy blue blanket (I have the same one in green and he's been stealing it from me)
Something to Wear: a shirt that looks like a penguin
Something to Read: Minecraft book set
Stocking: clear glue (for making slime), Good Mythical Morning posters, rubber shoe lace thingies to replace his laces, penguin coffee mug.
For a family gift we purchased season passes to Six Flags and we also got them an educational gift of 3 Tinker Crates (total $8).
All that to say, we stuck with the plan and were able to order everything early on. As things came in I wrapped them right away and put them under the tree. Easy-peasy.
We simplified gift giving to others, too. We bought for our parents, nieces, and nephews. No grandparents and no neighbors this year. Oh and I bought a couple things for the bestie, but she's worth it!
It really helped cut down on the agony of finding, buying, and wrapping all those gifts.
Bonus? We were able to donate a tidy sum to our church's outreach. They did a big offering with 100% of the proceeds to go right into the hands of 4 carefully-chosen organizations that are all amazing. This felt like the right thing to do. Christmas is Jesus' birthday - not ours.
Now some things we can't take credit for: one family get-together was rescheduled due to some crazy ice storm. Another family get-together was cancelled because too many people were sick. I myself felt under the weather for several days. I was able to use my hippie powers to keep from getting sick-sick and no one else in the family caught what I had, but it was enough to keep us pretty well homebound.
Ben is taking the week off between Christmas and New Year and we've done a lot of reading, moving watching, etc. It's been the best thing ever and I know that we can't expect this to be a yearly thing, but it's been wonderful and I know I'll look back on it fondly.
On the 23rd, Chelsea and Nate come over, ate dinner with us, and then rode along with us to Six Flags. We were only there an hour, but the lights were beautiful! We had such a nice time.
On Christmas Eve we attended church and then had dinner, opened gifts, and played games over at Karen's.
Christmas Day was glorious! We opened gifts and then had a yummy breakfast. I made the gingerbread waffles from Against All Grain's website. We played board games over at Karen's for a bit and then had a turkey dinner at home.
The rest of this week has been very chill. I did two weeks worth of grocery shopping right before Christmas so that I wouldn't have to cut into my stretchy-pants wearing time too much. We did got out to see Rogue One and a couple of films at the Science Center (I promise I wore real pants).
We have just two days left before the real world begins again. I think I'll be ready for it. Ready-ish. Ready enough. Eh, I'll make do somehow.
Because we hosted Tim's 40th, I wanted to get as much Christmas stuff done early so that I wouldn't be stressed trying to cram it all in mid-December.
We did a good job of sticking to the Something you Want, Something you Need, Something to Wear, and Something to Read with the boys.
Luke:
Something you Want gift: Signed Rob Scalon LP and Rocksmith
Something you Need gift: Headphones (he's been stealing mine all year)
Something to Wear: Sushi rock band t-shirt
Something to Read: Mysterious Benedict Society book set
Stocking: guitar picks, mints, Good Mythical Morning sock hat
Gabe:
Something you Want: A bucket of plain Legos. He's been building more structures and wanted just regular bricks.
Something you Need: a super fluffy blue blanket (I have the same one in green and he's been stealing it from me)
Something to Wear: a shirt that looks like a penguin
Something to Read: Minecraft book set
Stocking: clear glue (for making slime), Good Mythical Morning posters, rubber shoe lace thingies to replace his laces, penguin coffee mug.
For a family gift we purchased season passes to Six Flags and we also got them an educational gift of 3 Tinker Crates (total $8).
All that to say, we stuck with the plan and were able to order everything early on. As things came in I wrapped them right away and put them under the tree. Easy-peasy.
We simplified gift giving to others, too. We bought for our parents, nieces, and nephews. No grandparents and no neighbors this year. Oh and I bought a couple things for the bestie, but she's worth it!
It really helped cut down on the agony of finding, buying, and wrapping all those gifts.
Bonus? We were able to donate a tidy sum to our church's outreach. They did a big offering with 100% of the proceeds to go right into the hands of 4 carefully-chosen organizations that are all amazing. This felt like the right thing to do. Christmas is Jesus' birthday - not ours.
Now some things we can't take credit for: one family get-together was rescheduled due to some crazy ice storm. Another family get-together was cancelled because too many people were sick. I myself felt under the weather for several days. I was able to use my hippie powers to keep from getting sick-sick and no one else in the family caught what I had, but it was enough to keep us pretty well homebound.
Ben is taking the week off between Christmas and New Year and we've done a lot of reading, moving watching, etc. It's been the best thing ever and I know that we can't expect this to be a yearly thing, but it's been wonderful and I know I'll look back on it fondly.
On the 23rd, Chelsea and Nate come over, ate dinner with us, and then rode along with us to Six Flags. We were only there an hour, but the lights were beautiful! We had such a nice time.
On Christmas Eve we attended church and then had dinner, opened gifts, and played games over at Karen's.
Christmas Day was glorious! We opened gifts and then had a yummy breakfast. I made the gingerbread waffles from Against All Grain's website. We played board games over at Karen's for a bit and then had a turkey dinner at home.
The rest of this week has been very chill. I did two weeks worth of grocery shopping right before Christmas so that I wouldn't have to cut into my stretchy-pants wearing time too much. We did got out to see Rogue One and a couple of films at the Science Center (I promise I wore real pants).
We have just two days left before the real world begins again. I think I'll be ready for it. Ready-ish. Ready enough. Eh, I'll make do somehow.
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