The Post about the Stuff

I like to do a quick post every year about what we got for Christmas so we can remember years down the road.  This year there were no requests for big ticket items, in fact, I couldn't think of anything that I really wanted at all.  Since my whole family was in town, we got to spend Christmas all together which hasn't happened in ages.  I guess I was so excited that I forgot to take pictures, but my dad took this picture of the lineup on Christmas morning before we said a prayer and headed down to open presents.

 Since Oliver is more prone to have seizures when he is short on sleep, we decided not to wake him up early.  We told everyone else they could go on without us and we would join them when our kids woke up on their own (they are not early rizers), but they all waited.  Creed and Logan were bursting with excitement.

I don't think Oliver opened a single present, but he really loved the Wheelie Bug Santa brought him. On a sidenote- this is the ONLY picture I took of Ollie Christmas morning and I only took two of Creed because I was determined to enjoy the moment, but now I need to see if I can snag some pictures from my dad.

Each year, in addition to fulfilling the boys requests, I try to get them each at least one item that I love and want to have around forever.  Something cool/beautiful that they probably wouldn't request on their own, but I think they will enjoy so it's worth the splurge.  I found an amazing deal on Hanno the Gorilla, a wooden posable toy that is supposed to be practically indestructable so that's what we got Ollie.

As you know, all of Creed's dreams came true when he got Belle and Tinkerbelle so he didn't start opening presents until much later, but it didn't take him long to catch up with everyone else.

He got a lot of fun, small gifts like more automoblox (which are beloved around here) and a Fisher Price record player (which is not as cool as the real vintage version because it doesn't have bumps on the records that make the music box work, it just has an electronic MP3 player in it that recognizes the records.)

Scaredy Squirrel is one of his favorite book characters so the Scaredy Squirrel puppet was a big hit.

He also really likes playing with this stacking Cactus from PlanToys.  No one can resist playing with it when they walk by.

Larry got a bunch of boring stuff like clothes that he picked out himself, but he did get a nice leather man-bag since he finished his fellowship and has a real job.

I got a few more of the clothbound penguin classics that I've been collecting.  They are so very pretty.

Larry totally surprised me with an Instax mini, which takes instant pictures like a polaroid, but the pictures are credit card size and the camera is nice and light compared to my polaroids and the film is a lot less expensive.

He also got me a zoku popsicle maker.  It makes popsicles in minutes, and I can't wait to put it to good use this summer.

My Mom & Dad actually printed a hardbound book of my blog which was such a fun surprise.  I love paging through it.  My mom also got me a rainbow of pre-wound bobbins.  Have you tried these?  You just tear off the paper and stick them in your bobbin case without winding them onto a bobbin.  I hate loading bobbins, and I never seem to have the right color on hand so I was really excited about it.  Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?

I love buying people gifts and pondering over what might make someone really happy, but this year, I'd have to say my family trumped me.  Everything I received was so very perfect and much appreciated!