This year for the kids' gifts we did 2 toys and 3 books each, and they each gave each other a small gift. It felt like just the right balance between minimalism for me and excitement for them.
FAVES: The gift that the girls both seemed to like the best was the plastic jewelry I put in their stockings: rings and bracelets and crowns galore! The jewelry and the colored pencils were the most used gifts for the girls, and Jay easily loved his lego-style knight set the best. My favorite gift was of course my Flexible Flyer sled, and Jeff's favorite gift was a virtual reality headset (picked out by him, wrapped by me). The kids gave each other funny little trinkets. Rose gave Jay a tube of toothpaste so he could squeeze the whole thing out at once, just like Ramona Quimby. He loved it. Jay gave Jeff a 5x5 Rubix cube--Jeff mastered the 3x3 cube years ago, but the 5x5 is proving much more difficult. Rose gave Amber a box of sparkly bandaids so Amber could use as many bandaids as she always wants to (they are already long gone). Jeff helped the kids pick out painting supplies for me: oil and acrylic paints, canvases, and even a tabletop easel! I have never painted on a canvas before and I have never used oil paint before! Their esteem of my artistic abilities is flattering and a tad overwhelming.
After a pleasant hour of gift-opening and another hour of gift-admiring, we went sledding in the thin powder for about half an hour. My Flexible Flyer performed admirably with the minimal snow depth. Then Jeff and I whipped up a pan full of omelets, tossed the kids and some gifts into the van, and headed over to Grandview for the White family gathering at 10am. We had brunch and opened presents with cousins and I tried to persuade everyone to let me take a family picture. They refused and I am still kind of bummed about it. It has been three years since the White side of the family took a picture all together! Sigh. We were home a little after 1pm, and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and playing with the new toys. I LOVE long slow Christmas afternoons. Christmas dinner was the usual ham and cheesy potatoes, casual and relaxed at our kitchen table.
Jeff built a barricade of cardboard bricks in the hallway to block the kids from running out too soon. Amber busted through it when it was time to come out.
Stocking exploration. Jeff always gets a new video game for the family at Christmas time, so that was on the TV.
Typical Amby: wearing her crown like a superhero mask.
We all got socks in our stockings.
Pattern blocks
Rose arranged her gifts in a neat semicircle inside her tent.
Jay organizes his things in his mind, not in real life--just like his father.
Amber's tent was also a tad jumbled.
Rose drifted around the house watching everyone else's activities all afternoon. It took me half the day to get her to use her own gifts. She was so pleased with the little arrangement that she made of all her presents in her castle tent that she didn't want to disturb them by actually using them!
Rings, bracelets, and sparkly bandaids.
Lego time!
That's a tall plastic sandwich.
Trying out her 3D pen.
This book was MADE for Jay! It's Greek myths told with scenes made of Legos for illustrations.
The 5x5 Rubix cube conundrum.
I'd better start painting!
Jeff's VR headset is pretty cool. He always says "I love living in the future!"
Catching a butterfly between his fingertips in a far off world.
Sledding:
Queen Amber would not remove her crown for our sledding expedition.
[excuse my frown of concentration--getting five walking people into one picture is not easy!]
Jay went rocketing over the side of a ditch on the sled and needed a fatherly rescue. He wasn't hurt at all; that snow/dust combo was exceptionally slick! Amber wanted to help rescue him too.
The thin snow quickly mixed with the thick dust on this hill out back, so the kids' knees were all covered in dirt and snow, which melted into mud when we came inside. We hung the snowsuits on the front porch.
Sled selfie! It was so FUN and magical to get a surprise sled on a white Christmas!
On to Grandview for the White family gathering:
Rose picked out a stuffed cat for Layne and it was purrrfect.
Sweetest biggest hug.
"Helping" Grampa put together Grayce's toy
Brothers.
Amber is part hobbit with that hair. Hobbit royalty, of course.
Uncle Sam!
Hugging Grama goodbye
Somehow Amber lost her crown. Maybe it fell off when she was upside down?
Christmas dinner
Reading his new Rick Riordan (Magnus Chase and the gods of Asgard) book in his tent.
All three kids love sleeping in their castle tents. Jay has the best deal if you ask me, though, because he can fit his tent onto his bed.
Cosy Rosie. Jay and Rose both got mini clip-on book reading lights in their stockings, and they quickly discovered that the lights clip onto their castle tents too.
Ready for "bed" in her castle.
We moved the girls' desks to the basement to make room for their tents in their bedroom. These girls' beds seem superfluous. They sleep in their own beds maybe 50% of the time.
Playing a Nintendo game. Jay thought it was hilarious when I told him that my least favorite part about Christmas is when Jeff makes me try out the new video games. It's true!
I feel so grateful for my family and for Christmastime. Giving with love on Christmas and serving with love throughout December are wonderful reminders of how I want to live my life year round. Here's to giving more love and service. Merry Christmas!
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