New Traditions

I decided to steal an awesome idea from one of my girlfriends this year. A few months ago I was at Tara's house and I was looking through one of her photo books. It displayed their "seven" days of Christmas. Holland got to open one gift every day for a week and then got her big present on Christmas day. I knew instantly that something like that would be perfect for our family too.

You have to understand that being a girl that came from pretty much nothing (as a young child anyways) I can't help but want to give my babes EVERYTHING. I want EVERY Christmas to be the BEST Christmas. I WAS very fortunate to have wonderful grandparents, aunts, and uncles that would take me out and spoil me every now and then. My kids don't get those special outings from our family members. Half of their family is across the country. I don't mind taking on the role of spoiling my kids though, and because no one else does I rarely feel guilty ;).

Sooo, as you can imagine, Christmas and Birthdays are a pretty big deal around here. I can't help but buy, buy, buy. That brings me to the "days of Christmas" idea. Instead of my kids getting tons of that "little crap" (that I can't help from buying) all at once, I figured they could open up a little something everyday and get real enjoyment from it rather than being overwhelmed by getting so much at once.

DAY 1 - Snuggies and Pillows

I knew that the kids wanted snuggies (Blake is an infomercial freak) but their squeals of excitement took me by surprise. I didn't know they were THAT excited about them. Nicholas was SO excited that he got completely naked and all snuggled into a cozy spot on the couch within a few minutes after opening.

Day 2 - I did not get pictures of the kids opening their gifts because they were with Nana De when they got them.

Day 3 - Castles and Games

I knew the kids would be bummed for having to stay with a sitter right when they got back home from Nana's so I thought it would be a good time to give them something I knew would keep them occupied AND happy while Marc and I were gone :). Day 4 - PixOs and Princesses

Aspen LOVES Disney Princess dolls. These ones are nice because they are rather cheap and small enough for her to tote everywhere. They keep her busy for hours. The boys LOVE to be creative and our sitter is GREAT at doing fun little creative projects with them. I don't mind the PixOs but I was pretty disappointed in the paperooni thing...DON'T waste your money.

Day 5 - Candy, Cars, & Hamsters

I thought it would be cute to get Aspen a car for Nicholas's new car toy, but she wasn't feeling it. I guess I'll be sticking to princesses from now on :) The color changing car toys ended up being more mess than fun. ZuZu pets seem to be the thing this year. I happened to stroll across one at Toys R Us and knew it would be right up Blake's alley...well, not so much :(. It's not that he didn't like it but rather it's not as cool as it appears on TV. Candy Land was the big hit today.Day 6 - Games and Jewels

I have this perfect picture in my head of our family all sitting around by the fireplace playing board games. I know those days aren't too far off so now is the perfect time to start stocking up :) Aspen is the girliest girl I know. Being the jewelery queen that she is, Marc and I thought it would be cute to get her a personalized jewelry box from Things Remembered. Marc wrote a special message for her and had it engraved on the front. It sings "My Girl" when you open it. Aspen is so lucky to have such a wonderful Daddy :).