This year we are sticking to the "something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read" gift giving guide. We are, however, adding two extra gifts we came up with (with the help of my friend Olivia!): "something to make, and something to bake". I grew up in a family where we got 50+ presents as kids. I remember Christmas as this HUGE lavish, holiday with wrapping paper all over our house. Kids don't need that much stuff, I know. But I wanted to give a smidge more than four gifts, especially when three of the gifts are not *super* exciting. I also wanted to give things that hone in on their current likes and hobbies lately. Plus, they all love to help me in the kitchen, so I thought giving them each a box of some kind of mix to make with me in the kitchen would knock off one of those memory&experience gifts we all love.
Our kids are ALWAYS coloring. We go through so many coloring books, plain paper, crayons, markers...you name it. Anything that has to do with creating something from scratch on any kind of flat surface, my kids are all over it! Honestly if you're going to give my kids a gift, a coloring book and any kind of crayons, markers, or pens goes a long ways in this house.
It's probably because we barely buy toys anymore. I've gotten rid of so many toys over the last few months. They're SO fun for a day and then they barely get touched again. We have very basic toys now: different kinds of blocks, baby dolls, various sized toy cars, a bucket of stuffed animals, and then a dresser filled with coloring supplies. That's pretty much it. Our house would probably be pretty boring for the average kid. You have to use your imagination here a lot.
Honestly, all of our kids are so creative. Our main goal this Christmas is to find ways to foster that in each of them.
I'll also note that the twins are pretty much getting the same things because they fight over things when they don't get similar gifts. We just try to keep it simple with them still. As far as the "something to bake" part, I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to get for them yet. I'd like to do something a little bit cooler than just boxed Betty Crocker cakes and cookies. I'll have to keep my eyes out for something in that department. But if you have any fun ideas for that, I'm all ears!
I thought I would spell out exactly what we are getting our kids, child by child to maybe give you an extra idea for your own kids or nieces and nephews. Our goal was to keep it about $100 for each kid, although with some we spent a little bit more on and saved with others. Okay, okay...we saved with the twins...lol. But our total so far is around $350 and we have yet to buy the coats. We have a nice outlet mall near us with a lot of different stores that I plan on hitting up a little closer to Christmas for that.
Presley (girl, age 6)
Something she wants: A robot.
We found a robot that introduces kids to coding called Botley. It is 100% screen-free which is what we wanted and according to a lot of moms in my mom group, it's a great little toy. I think it will keep her really busy over the holiday break!
Something she needs: A sleeping bag.
We are moving soon. One of the things I really wished we had last time we moved was a sleeping bag for the kids to crash in at the hotel. It makes traveling more fun when they get to use a sleeping bag, even if it is used on top of the hotel bed. It brings the comfort from home too. I got all of their sleeping bags from Costco when they were on sale a few weeks ago. They each picked out a different one, which makes my life a lot easier!
Something to wear: A coat.
Again, we are moving. So she's going to need a warm, puffy coat for the winter climate.
Something to read: A cookbook.
She is always asking to help in the kitchen so I found this one on Amazon. It had great reviews and a bunch of different options as far as recipes go. I think she is going to love it!
Something to make: A kid's airbrush.
Tim just got an airbrush and Presley will sit there with him, mesmerized by the whole thing. Crayola makes an airbrush by using markers. I have no idea how it really works, but it looks like a ton of fun and I think she will love it!
Something to bake: ???
Easton (boy, age 5)
Something he wants: A remote control car.
We found a really awesome one at Costco for half the price it's sold anywhere online. It's a Bumblebee Transformer Volkswagen Beetle one and the cool thing about this one is that the control has a "steering wheel" so his five year old self doesn't have to get super frustrated over trying to maneuver it with the up and down rods on each side. If that even makes any sense...Bear with me, I'm still learning these boy toy terms!
Something he needs: A sleeping bag.
Something to wear: A coat.
Something to read: A popup book.
He loves popup books. I'm still in search of one that is worthy of his attention. He loves looking at popup books so if anyone has any suggestions on this, shoot them my way!
Something to make: Lego Chain Reaction
Now this is a cool craft! I've never seen this in real life and it may be a smidge over his age limit but Easton has a total engineer brain. He is always trying to figure things ou,t how things work, and why they work the way they do. I think this will be challenging for him but it will be a good challenge. I can't wait to watch him try to figure it all out.
Something to bake: ??
Sawyer (girl, age 4)
Something she wants: Robot Dog.
Tim and I scoured the internet for something cool enough to keep her attention for more than a few hours. We finally settled on one that was cool enough for us to want to play with, plus it's pink which is her favorite color! It says it'll be delivered sometime between Dec 7th and the 17th, so fingers crossed Amazon pulls through! (We ended up getting it discounted somehow through coupons that were applied in our cart, so it we saved $10 off the original price!)
Something she needs: A sleeping bag.
Something to wear: A coat.
Something to read: A how-to-draw book.
Here's a fun fact about Sawyer: she's extremely creative! She's extremely smart too. Tim and I are always saying that she could be in Kindergarten right now with Presley and would be able to hold her own...if not surpass her big sis! She colors in the lines like she's 8 years old and she can draw just about anything from scratch and make it look really accurate. She can make my dog drawings look like she's the 28 year old and I'm the 4 year old. So what better way to foster that than give her a book to teach her to draw different objects? I cannot wait to watch her blow through this book and ask for another one to master.
Something to make: A Lite Brite.
Okay, this is totally me trying to relive my childhood. The reviews aren't fantastic on this little piece of nostalgia but I figured why not just give it a shot? Plus I think this girl would LOVE it if it really does end up working out.
Something to bake: ???
Lennon (girl, age 3)
Something she wants: An eyeball and an ear.
**Insert nervous laughter here.** But seriously...why, Lenny, why?? I'm trying really hard not to take this as a creepy thing but...!!! Lennon is definitely my little wild child with a mind of her own and I think she will say things just to be funny and odd. So, we had to step in here and we are getting her a little mini trampoline. Walmart had them on sale for Black Friday for $25 each, which is half the price they usually are! It's like a twin mom's dream to run across deals like that!
Something she needs: A sleeping bag.
Something to wear: A coat.
Something to read: A sound book.
We got this at Costco. It's one of those books that has a little picture or symbol while you're reading it and then you push the little button on the right to make a specific sound. Our other kids loved them and we realized the twins have never had those kinds of books. Whoops!
Something to make: A big coloring book and scented twistable crayons.
The bigger the paper, the cooler the idea of coloring it, is. That's just kid science! Plus a scented coloring utensil? Genius. She's going to be busy for hours.
Something to bake: ???
Halen (girl, age 3)
Something she wants: A big bouncy ball.
While she's not going to get this directly, Mama is going to get one to sit and bounce on during this pregnancy. So she will have plenty of time to play with that one. She's getting a mini trampoline just like her sister.
Something she needs: A sleeping bag.
Something to wear: A coat.
Something to read: A sound book.
Again, we got this at Costco. She got a different themed one than her sister.
Something to make: A big coloring book and scented twistable crayons.
Just like her sister, but with a slightly different coloring book. The crayons are the same. We can't switch it up too much with these two!
Something to bake: ???
The Stockings!
Each kiddo is getting:
-Slippers
I got them all at Walmart
-A Fingerling
On top of being creative, all of them love taking care of things. If you wondered why we decided to keep having kids, it's because we're all obsessed with little things that depend on us. Haha. These little fingerlings don't depend on anyone to "survive" but they are small, cute, and the kids act like their Mamas for days on end. Plus I got all of them for really cheap from Ross...so there's that!
-"Tickets" to go bowling one night
This is one of our "experience" gifts. I'll just create little coupons on the computer for them to pretend redeem at the bowling alley.
-Candy
A staple for any holiday
(I may add more or I may not. I may add some kind of small craft for them to do if I find anything worthy (cheap!) at a craft store or the dollar store.)
A Christmas Eve Tradition
Each kiddo gets:
-A new pair of pajamas
I got the kids' jammies at Target (Cat & Jack brand). Here and here. I got mine and Tim's pajama pants from TJ Maxx. I wanted to all match but it just wasn't in the budget this year!
-A little bag of hot cocoa mix
-A new movie to all share
My birthday is actually on Christmas Eve so we celebrate all morning and day for that. Then after dinner we transition from birthday fun to Christmas Eve magic!
My mom is getting them memberships to the children's museum and zoo in our new city that we are moving to. So I'm excited for all of us to be able to do fun things once we get there!
I also wanted to show our little Santa sacks we got last year. A friend of mine made them, but she now lives out of the country and I don't believe she is making them anymore. Although I'm going to need another one for baby #6! Thankfully I have another year to figure that out! I think they're super cute and the kids thought they were the coolest thing last year. They loved that they each had their own cute little sacks with their own names on them! I know some people aren't head over heels about them or the idea, but it worked well for us last year.
So yeah, that's pretty much it! Christmas is really magical and it's my favorite time of year!
Happy shopping everyone and good luck with your Santa visits this year!
xoxo
