Best of all, husband-Stephen was off for quite a number of days in a row. Whoo hoo! That never happens. We had so much togetherness, and I loved it.
Also, Stephen gave me THE most fabulous gift - he made me (us) a gorgeous kitchen table, the perfect size for our quirky long, narrow space in the kitchen.
The kids were easy to please gift-wise, the biggest hit being an electric train from Publix for $14.99. No Disney World. No iPads. I'm a big believer in setting the bar low for young children....on purpose. They are so satisfied/thrilled with so little. You see this quote "presence over presents" everywhere this time of year. It is cheesy, but it is so true!
One funny thing I always do for my children's stockings, I divide one bag of candy amongst the 3 of them. By the time Christmas arrives the last thing they need is more sweets. It also saves me a few dollars to only buy one bag.
We are loving these last few slow days before the children return to school. Right now I'm sitting by the fire, the older two are playing outside, baby George is napping, and I'm making tea. Bliss.
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! See you in 2015.
lovely! Such sweet photos.
ReplyDeleteI totally do the same candy trick with the stockings! I am also careful not to put "cheap plastic crap" (a family phrase around here) in the stockings. The kids get mostly socks/undies/mittens or else little notebooks or art supplies, often meant to be used in church. For them, it's the joy of undoing their stocking and then being allowed to eat their candy or chew their gum when they want. You are wise to set the bar low - it's such a treat to see how thrilled kids can be with simple things. The big hit in the stockings this year was double-sided tape - ha.
Lovely post of a lovely Christmas! :) Happy New Year!
ReplyDeletePrecious. We have the same motto around here, although I'll admit it's hard to stop buying. I rarely buy the kids anything during the year, so I'm always tempted to majorly restock/refreshen/replace their old toys at Christmastime. My mama came over a few days before Christmas, and after showing her what I'd bought each child, she reassured me less is better and encouraged me to stop with the 4 or 5 things I'd bought for Sam and AS. It was kinda a relief to hear someone say "this is plenty." And sure enough, the kids were crazy thrilled with what they got!
ReplyDeletewonderful pics - and you are so right about simplicity and "setting a low bar" on presents. Glad the holiday has been so good. Love to you and to all of the Spooners!
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