I think every year I say, "We are going to have a small Christmas this year!"And then as I look around on Christmas morning at the piles of wrapping paper and presents everywhere I say to myself... "Well that didn't happen." I must say though, this year I think there were fewer toys and more gifts of things they actually needed, especially for Gabe and Caleb. Gabe is going to be playing soccer on a traveling team this Spring, which is crazy expensive plus all the travel costs and uniform fees. So for Christmas he got a lot of soccer practice clothes (shorts and shirts, etc.), some new shoes, a book, and then for fun gifts he got a Star Wars lego set, a science kit, a catapult building set, a couple board games and that's about it! Oh and he got this Marble run set from Santa! (That's what he wanted!)
This year was the first year that Gabe actually knew the "Santa Secret." I took him shopping alone in Idaho Falls one day right after Thanksgiving and talked to him about it. I expected him to be shattered, but he kind of was like, "Mom, I kind of already suspected that..." But I think knowing it for sure, he was a little less excited on Christmas morning, which makes me a little sad that that chapter of his life is over. Caleb on the other hand was awake until about midnight, not falling asleep in hopes he would catch a glimpse of the big guy! Hopefully he still has a couple years of wonder left.
Gabe tried messing with me a little bit though with his newfound "knowledge." About a week before Christmas, Avery announced that she wanted a Hatchimals for Christmas.
(*Note to Grandma D. and Gramps - In case you were not aware, a Hatchimals is an expensive stuffed animal that is basically programmed to make different sounds and has eyes that light up in different colors, which indicate it being "happy" or "hungry"or "sad" or "cold" or "lonely" etc. There are certain things you are supposed to do to calm it, such as "tap its nose" or "rub its belly" and then it will feel better. When you first buy it, it comes in this egg thing with a breakable shell that you have to rub for about 15 minutes until it "hatches" and then you can pull out the stuffed animal.)
Well, Avery even wanted the "twins" version, which comes with TWO of them. When Avery announced that she wanted it, I'm sitting there thinking, "Heck no! I already bought all your presents and I'm not spending $50 on a dumb Hatchimal!" And so I said, "No way Avery, sorry." And Gabe goes, "Avery, it's okay! Just ask SANTA for it!" Then he looks over at me with an evil grin and a twinkle in his eye. Not cool. Avery sat down the next day and wrote her very first letter to Santa all by herself, asking for a Hatchimals twins set. Like a chump, I went online to Target and found one (on sale for $40... eyeroll) and ordered it.
Avery got the biggest loot as far as fun presents (but she's 5 so that's to be expected, right?) Her toys included a Shimmer and Shine magic carpet flying set, some Nom Noms, a couple of little Hatchimals (not to be confused with the BIG Hatchimal) a Shimmer and Shine Busy book with little figurines, a Lego Elves set, Disney Princess Clip-ins Dolls and castle, and a couple other small things. Then she got a hat, gloves, some boots, pajamas, underwear, socks, hair bows, crayons, coloring books, play doh, and a few other small things.
Caleb got a lot of the same things as Gabe (science kit, lego set, clothes) and then also a constellation night light, some books, and some transformers. His big thing that he wanted from Santa was these Skylanders game pieces. (It's for the Wii video game console.) Gabe and Caleb also got a few presents that were kind of for the both of them, including a table top fooseball game, monopoly, another board game called "Diary of a Wimpy kid", and chess. Oh and each of the three kids got a new scooter as well. So yeah, not a very small Christmas!
Josh got me a crockpot, I got myself some clothes (haha) and I got Josh a nail gun and compressor. We are also counting Disney World as part of our present. Josh is building me some stuff for the living room too, like a new end table and some shelves, so that nail gun will come in handy,
Over the Christmas break, we spent pretty much all day on Christmas just at home playing with new toys and hanging out. Then the next day we went sledding at the sand dunes and then in the evening the boys went to see the new Star Wars movie (which one? like 27? I don't even know.) Avery and I went to McDonalds. Some other fun things we did included swimming at the AmericInn (a nearby hotel), more time at the Gravity Factory (indoor trampoline park), and Josh's niece, Lorie, got married! She is 20 and is the oldest of all the grandkids (all 22 of them!) and she got married in Idaho Falls on December 29th. Then we had her reception on the 30th. I'm sure it won't be long before Skylar and Alex and so on start getting engaged... It's crazy that Josh's parents will probably be GREAT grandparents in the next couple of years.
Josh was lucky to have quite a few days off, but he did have to work just Wednesday and Thursday of the week. Then he was off again Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (New Year's Day.) For New Year's we really didn't do anything exciting. It was on a Sunday night and we have kids soooo.... that pretty much makes it an unexciting day for us! We watched a movie together as a family and then we found the Ball Drop on TV and watched that. The boys actually did stay up until midnight (we watched the ball drop in my bed and then said "Goodnight!" and told them to go to bed!) but Avery went to sleep at about 10:30. She did watch one of those little count downs on Netflix so she felt like she saw something. But I think she was expecting more. New Year's is probably pretty anticlimactic for kids. It's like you just get over the high of Christmas and then get told the next holiday is New Year's, only to then find out there aren't any presents or anything! You just count down from ten and go to sleep! She even was like, "Wait! Where's my presents?!" haha sorry honey. New Year's is lame.
I especially hate New Years because it means I get to see everyone's posts on social media about how they will work out and be healthy now! Can it be February already so that can stop?! LOL I'll just be over here easting my Chick Fil A sandwich if anyone needs me! Josh always complains that the gym is SOOO crowded in January and he can't wait for all "those resolutioners" to quit. I probably should be a little more concerned since I am going to to Florida in three weeks and will probably have to put on a swimsuit.... maybe I will try to eat a little healthier these next few weeks. But I make no promises.
Well that's about all for now! I have my Etsy shop back open now and am mostly just answering a lot of questions from bride's in planning mode (everyone gets engaged over the holidays and then starts planning, but most orders don't actually start until closer to Spring, so it's pretty slow.) But I am closing up shop again here in a couple weeks when we leave for Florida so overall I'm feeling pretty unambitious!
Here are LOTS of pictures! Happy Holidays! And thank you everyone for the money and gifts!
