The Week, Wrapped Up

I have yet to wrap any gifts, but most of them are bought or made. Just a few more to get, but my kids are done and that is the important thing. I can share some of the things I got for them with you. We are doing the "family box" that Niki talked about. Sweet Hubby and I are very excited about this. I got lots of games, some books and a couple of movies to go in the box. Charlotte wants very little. She rarely has a list and this year she asked for snow pants and boots. Well what fun is that? She needs these anyway. We decided to get 1 big gift for each kid and then one smaller gift. That with the family box will be enough. Here is what I got Charlotte. Not exactly, but close. I bought her the My Generation version of the American Girl doll. The one I got her is identical to the one above. The MG version has the name "Gracie" which is Charlotte's favorite nickname. Since the cost was low, I also got her the horse, and a couple of outfits to go with her. At the price difference of $65, it is not a problem to actually play with her. Charlotte loves to "do hair" on her dolls and this one has very long hair and comes with lots of hair accessories.

Zachary. My Zachary! He wants BIG. He only wants one thing, but it is expensive. We do not spend big on Christmas and I want my children to understand the true meaning, without them losing the magic of Christmas. Is it wrong for Christians to tell their kids there is a Santa Claus? I don't know, but my faith in God is not affected because I believed. Sue's daughter Rachel was explaining to her brother Lucas that Santa may not bring him everything on his list. Lucas looked at Rachel and said in horror, "Rachel! You are pretending not to believe in Santa!" Christmas....children....magic (not witchcraft)....Jesus....Savior....God....it all fits together. Back to my Zachary. He will make a great lawyer. After telling him that Santa probably does not give Nintendo DS's and that it would be a great birthday gift in July, he let it drop.....for about a minute! Then he came back to me and said, "you know mom, it IS Jesus's birthday and He would want me to have a Nintendo DS for His birthday present." Here is Zach's Christmas gift...a RED Nintendo DS, because I do think Jesus would want Zachary to have His Birthday gift.
TJ was easy....I thought...I wanted to get him this....
But I could not find them anywhere as they were out of stock. I ended up getting him this... And yes, I asked my son and daughter in law first, because they are NOT staying here! TJ loves to "drum".

Kyle had a list of DVD movies to add to his collection and I found all of them. So my kids are taken care of and I can relax. I really have not stressed too much as I know it takes all the joy out of the season. The one true gift is taken care of and THAT is to be the focus. So now wrapping is next on my list. Right now all of my kids gifts are at Rachel's house hid away from little eyes!

My tree is looking odd...the kids continue to move ornaments around leaving big gaps in the decor, but I am fine with it. It is their tree too and every so often I try to fill in a "hole" and just move on. The ornament which has a place of honor on our tree is never touched. The kids KNOW better.

It is difficult to see, but it says, "Our First Christmas Together 1979". Sweet Hubby bought it for me 29 years ago.

I have spent sometime this week working on my seasonal/quarterly homemaking list. I need to revamp my HMB to add a few jobs that have popped up along the way. It is always a process. I spent some time baking bread yesterday. I love my machine for the mixing kneading process, but I really like my loaf baked in a traditional loaf pan in the oven. SOMETHING went wrong with this one....
No, a little critter did not do this...I must have had an air bubble or something as it was entirely hollow...the loaf was tossed.

We got more snow last night. Carly does not mind...she loves snow.School at the table is GREAT....I get so much more done during the day and things are staying tidy where school supplies are concerned. Rachel will be here very soon to make purse's for Christmas gifts...we have 9 to do, though she chose to do a single fabric instead of 2 different ones. It will definitely make it go faster. There is a brand new blog out there that I hope you will visit. Her name is Sarah. She is a young woman just married a year. She is a quilter and a Christian who works as a veterinary assistant. Pop over and say hi! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!