CHRISTMAS 2019
PARKER:
• Grinder Brush & Kettle
• Baba Is You
• School Books
Parker has become a hipster coffee snob.
It’s actually hysterical. He grinds his own beans one cup at a time (with a specific grinder), heats the water to a very specific temperature, only uses the finest roasts. You get the picture. So this year’s gifts included a grinder brush to clean his fancy grinder. And a goose-neck kettle that has a build in thermometer so that he doesn’t have to constantly check the temp with an external one. He was very happy. We also got him a fun little Switch game that’s very brain-bendery. His “big” gift was a large box full of all of the books he needed for grad school next semester. It felt great to take that off of their plate. Also, maybe he’ll let me read them when he’s done. ;)
OLIVIA:
• Bird Print/Hanging
• Cotton Cardigan
• Vintage style dress
We had a sort of Christmas gift debacle for Olivia this year. I ordered two of her gifts from what turned out to be a scam site. So the final products were... not what we expected. Basically trash. So there was a last minute run to the mall where I found a BEAUTIFUL vintage style dress in her favorite “blush” color (she looked amazing in it), a long, cotton floral cardigan (she loves those and has several, but always wants more because they’re great at making plain ol’ shirts look extra cute). Then the one original gift that remained in place was a bird wall hanging that showcases the birds of North America. Olivia LOVES ornithology.
PEYTON:
• Vinyl - Mingus - Ah, Um
• XBox 1 game & Switch controllers
• Super Luxuriously Soft Robe
Peyton was super easy and low-key this year. A jazz album, a couple of controllers so he can play in video game tournaments with friends, and a robe to replace the one he lost in the move. He’s so happy with anything... and that’s what I love most about him. We spent less on him than the other “big kids”, a lot less... but the bigger gift he wanted really required that he and Jeff take a trip together to pick it out. So when income tax returns come in, he’ll get a bass ukelele.
MABRY:
• iPad Pro
• Apple Pen
• Regional At Best on Vinyl
This girl is getting more and more difficult to buy for. She’s out of the crafty, glitter, silly stage and into more older teen things. She fell in love with ProCreate on Olivia’s iPad Pro, and was drawing some pretty great things. So when she mentioned wanting to save up for one so that she could make art to sell, we decided we could swing it this one time to spend more than usual. We certainly love encouraging her art, and if it can make her a little spending money, even better! Obviously the Apple Pen goes along with the iPad. Her third gift was a vinyl that she’s wanted for a couple of years now. It’s not for sale anymore, so we had to locate one on eBay. She was SO happy.
FIN:
* Minecraft Wall Torch
• Mario Maker 2
• Switch
So, we tricked Fin this year. We told him there was no WAY we were spending money to get a Switch because they were too dang expensive. Parker & Olivia have one that her parents got her a couple of years ago, so we said the most he could hope for was a game that he could keep here and play when they came to visit. And he was okay with that. Haha. So after opening his wall torch (that really lights up) and his Mario Maker 2, he was literally speechless and moved to tears when he opened the Switch. He kept wiping his eyes and asking, “is this really mine?!”
LOTTIE:
• Wooden Tea Set
• Busy Board by Jeff
• 7 inch baby
I mean, she’s one. The tea set and baby doll were simply what I figured she would like. I was right about one of them. The baby doll? She has NO maternal affection for it. Hahaha. She just tossed it down and went to the next box. By far the winner was the double-sided sandwich board style busy board that Jeff made. One side is locks and latches and such, while the other side is textures and a flip book of pictures of family members. She loves it. :)
MEIRAH:
• Board Book
• Bows
• Flip book of pictures
Last Christmas I started Meirah out on a series of board books that are biblically based with stunning artwork. So I got her another one of those. This time about animals of the Bible. I also hunted down about thirty or so assorted bows and headbands that are super cute and stylish. She doesn’t have a lot of hit yet, but she sure looks adorable in them! Lastly, she got a flip book of laminated pictures of family members. I hole-punched them and put them on a key ring so that she could look through them and learn to recognize people who live near AND far.