I couldn't think of a good title- sorry 'bout that. Christmas is coming! I just LOVE Christmas. I love the music, the lights, the decorations, the happy people, the giving, and yes, I love the getting too, lol. We have all the presents we need for the kids except for Joseph. I'm sure we'll pick up something for him, at least so the kids don't think we forgot him. Not that he needs anything- except a baby book! He does need one of those. I'm sure he will love eating the wrapping paper on Christmas morning, better make sure it wasn't made in China...
We used to just get the kids whatever. There wasn't a certain amount we spent or a certain number of presents, we just did the best we could. Now that there are more of them though we had to figure something out. So, now the kids each get 3 presents for Christmas. One from Santa, one from Mom and Dad, and one from their siblings. It keeps the cost manageable and they don't end up getting a lot of junk that they won't play with in 2 weeks. At least we hope that's what happens. We managed to keep it in budget this year so far. We didn't want to spend more than $200 on all presents for everyone. We still have money left and only a couple of more gifts to buy for extended family. It feels great! Thankfully, I have wonderful kids who don't really notice that other people get a ton of presents. They know what to expect and know that sometimes Santa knows what they want better than they do so they may not get exactly what they ask for. I think they will absolutely love what they are getting this year.
Do your kids write Santa? We follow a tradition I saw in a movie once- I can't even remember what movie it was... You write the letter and then burn it and the smoke carries it to the North Pole. It's so much fun! The kids (well, really their dad) burned their letters last week when we started having fires in the fireplace. We also love all the Charlie Brown specials that have been on lately. We missed the one that was on last night. We didn't notice it until the kids were already sent to bed. Too bad, we like to have hot chocolate and popcorn while we watch. I had intended to send out Christmas cards this year too but I don't think it's going to happen so Merry Christmas to all who read this! We haven't even taken a picture yet! No family picture with Joseph yet, that's just wrong. I don't think we even have an entire family picture with Eric in it. We have one with all of the kids but not mom and dad in it too. It's time isn't it? We'll do that this weekend.
So this post was just a ramble- you'll have to come back another day if you're looking for something more wacky or thoughtful ;)
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Onward, Ever Onward!
Posted by Lena at 6:55 AM
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9 comments:
We do the something similar with our gifts. Three presents each, then one for the both of them, and then stockings.
It's the grandparents that go hog-wild over gifts, and my husband and I are usually the ones sorting through toys that the kids haven't played with in months, or years, each December, trying to get room for the new stuff.
Morning Lena,
We did watch the Charlie Brown Christmas lastnight, but truthfully I think I enjoyed it more than Nicole , lol even though she does like Peppermint Patty and Marcy ( my name!!
With a letter to Santa, Nicole writes it and I take it from her to mail..Not sure how much longer thats going to last though, now that she knows how to address envelopes and such and she may want to mail it without me seeing it, but shes already got stuff we've bought her thats hidden.
Marcy
In Britain it is tradition to burn the Christmas letters on the fire so that they would be magically transported by the wind to the North Pole. However, this tradition is dying out in modern times with few people having true open fires in their homes.
That is all I could find on that topic. I know what movie your talking about but I cant remember the name of it though. HEHE. I liked that too. I think its an oldie... because if I remember correctly its a colored in old black and white one. If you know what I mean...
good morning beana,
way cool that you don't have to spend a ton of money to still make it special. i like "keep it simple." i don't get into the whole overdone, try to blow a ton of money thing. i think it is more special when you give something to someone (doesn't always mean it cost a lot, could be created by your own hands, too) ... but you give something to someone that let's them know that you truly KNOW them. that is more special to me.
i keep hearing Christmas music lately, but since you told me what you did, now when i hear the Christmas music, i think of my beana friend you. awww.
my family went out to golden corral last night before the play. i saw a family there (a mom, a dad, and six kids ranging from about 14 through 1 month). i just had to smile at them repeatedly for they made me think of you. i was wishing it was you so i could come over and say hi friend, how are ya? and of course, i would hug ya hello!
hey, have a great day hon, kathleen :)
Great ideas! :) Love those Grandparents! I like the Santa letter idea--we always have the kids make "wish lists" (ie. it gets it out of their system :P) but have never actually written Santa..
We used to burn our letters to Santa when I was little.
I used to get the baby something like a huge pack of diapers from Costco and wrap it up. It just seemed so mean to leave her out, but hey, she didn't actually know... Anyway, that was my compromise.
Since you brought up the topic of Santa I'll tell you our traditions are very much the same as everyone else's. BUT a few years ago when our first born sincerely asked us if Santa was real we told him "no." The shocker part to everyone is he was only three years old. He is now 7 and in the first grade.
I'm having problems posting. I got cut off on my last post, sorry.
So the other day a mother of another first grader called me and she was so mad. You see my first born (Taylor) told her son that there is no Santa. Her son Jordan then came home crying.
My Taylor has a very tender heart. So I spoke to him about feelings and how Jordan felt. Then we talked about how there is a lot of beliefs in the world that are not true and how we "will know the truth of all things."
I am so glad we tell all three of our kids Santa is not real. My 5 yr old Cameron wants to believe in Santa, because the movies tell him he's real. We still have all the fun of writing letters to Santa and everything that goes with him. BUT I think we have more fun because when they ask I tell them the truth and they learn how to listen to the spirit at a young age.
The mother of Jordan did not understand my point of view and still hates me and said to me that I "ruined her Christmas."
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