You may recall that we decided, as a family, to take the money we would have spent on Christmas gifts and use it to give some gifts to those more needy. We assured the kids that there would still be a few gifts for them; besides grandparents, Mom had a few things stashed away from garage sales and resale shops.
Well, it turned out there was more stashed away than even Mom remembered! So no one was too disappointed.
Still in our jammies, with Grandma Rooster.
Chicklet6 with her two favorite presents. The Lee Middleton doll was in a $1 box at a church rummage sale two summers ago! I was given the handsewn velveteen dress-up dress at about the same time and had been waiting for her to grow into it.
Aunt and Uncle's gift was a real hit with Bantam3. (His other favorite was a die-cast metal tractor--with disc harrow--that I paid $2 for at a garage sale.)
Bantam9 found this Harry Potter chess set at a resale shop a couple of months ago. Without money of his own, he had no choice but to wait for Christmas for it!
At another garage sale, here in Wisconsin this summer, I scored big-time--they had Legos for sale! I was able to buy each of the older three Bantams a set. They were thrilled! Here they are showing off their Lego fortresses to Grandpa Rooster.
Here is our 4-year-old niece holding Chicklet's new doll, while Chicklet embraces Blondechick's doll of the same style--poor, neglected dolly! It was high time her mommy pulled her out for a little lovin'; Blondechick was inspired by Chicklet's gift. These dolls are very realistic and weighted to feel just like a real newborn.
Here's Grandpa Rooster with his other daughter-in-law, our sis-in-law.
And no holiday is complete without a little music-making! This is Papa Rooster's brother working out the accompaniment to a Beatles tune for Blondechick to sing ("If I Fell").
A good-looking pair of brothers!
6 comments:
Looks like a lovely day! I hope you'll post how you used the money you would have spent. Have you seen www.AdventConspiracy.org? Blessings!
Annie
OH, I loved that! I feel like I was THERE now. I wish I could've heard Blondechick's song though - I love that one. Glad you are all doing well - I've missed reading so much - hoping to get more time to catch up as Peanut seems to be getting more willing to allow it!
Colorado Mom--
Yes, I have seen the AC site! Very cool.
Maybe I will write a post, but in case I don't get around to it...
From the Partners International Harvest of Hope catalog, we decided it would be appropriate for our church-planting family to provide a bicycle to a church planter in another country!
We also picked out some animals from there and the World Vision catalog, both in place of our family gifts and as our gifts to a couple extended family members who preferred it.
We wrote a few checks to individuals as well, especially to two families who have been battling cancer and have had many medical bills and other expenses.
One of our kids said, "I like doing this--I like the way it makes me feel." I had to agree!
:)
Jeanne
I've started planting seeds in my kids' brains and hearts about doing the same next year. We give some already, but we could give much more!
I'm glad your Christmas was so merry. Please blow some of that snow south!
Ummm...wow..on the Lee Middleton score! That is awesome!
My middle daughter, Ally has one....we bought it for her when she was in 2nd grade. She is beautiful and still lives with us. She's a treasure....my daughter named her Sadie (after a grandmother) and carried her everywhere forever!
Nice Christmas.......
sounds like a really lovely Christmas. We don't celebrate at our house, but because we used to, and the kids still remember the gifts...we moved the 3 gifts we used to give them to New Year's day. I really love the simplicity of giving only 3 gifts, it is really all they need-it's soo easy to have too much "stuff", and they appreciate and play more with the few things they get, instead of being overwhelmed with too many toys. The grandparents still give them gifts, so they make out pretty well. We don't have a tree either, and will be donating the 50 or 60$ we would have spent on a tree to a Bible outreach ministry this year, some years we give it to a family or individual we know is in need.
thanks for sharing your sweet day!
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