Want. Need. Wear. Read

This year Justin and I have decided to do something different for Christmas. We have been pondering a way to simplify Christmas for some time now. Our children, like all children, love Christmas and of course Christmas gifts. As they are getting older, they are becoming capable of asking for more, and sometimes even, expecting more. We feel the need to teach them that more is not always better. Sometimes, more is just... more.

Last year, I read about a new gift giving idea and shared it with Justin. Each family member receives four gifts: something they NEED, something they WANT, something to WEAR, and something to READ. Eureka! We both agreed - this was a great idea! Of course the children will still receive the customary gift from Santa and their stockings will be filled, but they now will know what their limitations are as far as Justin and I are concerned and they will have to consider what it is that they most want in these categories rather than presenting us with an endless list of meaningless items.

I am pleased at the thought of Christmas being so much more simple and less stressful this year. We have put a lot of thought into this idea and I know the girls will feel especially loved Christmas morning when, rather than just an abundance of gifts, there are select gifts that they were really hoping for. We are especially hoping that our children are still young enough that they can easily forget the years of over indulgence and find the true meaning of the holidays.

Right now we got our perfect Christmas tree. Or that's what our dogs think. They run under the tree if they are sleepy, in trouble, or hiding from something. We got our nativity set set up. Which took Hannah and I forever to figure out we had Joseph as the Shepard and the Shepard as Joseph. I bet if he still was alive, he wouldn't be happy with us!

Yesterday, we went to help set up with the parade of lights and ended up leaving earlier than we had planed. Hannah had a peanut reaction. Before that we helped guard the traffic. We argued with people who thought that they could drive right through, and that's what some of them did! Most of them were teens and when we told them, they looked like they were going to try and back over us. Then the peanut reaction took place. We drove home really fast and when we got home, we could not see because of all of the mud on our faces!

A Few Christmas Memories

So, here are just a few shots of our Christmas; a few of my favorites.

The girls in their Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve.

The girls all slept downstairs together and the next morning
anxiously awaited the "green light" to see if Santa came.

Truly one of my favorites. Hannah wrote a letter asking
Santa to leave his signature and was thrilled that he did!

Sophie and her Webkinz.


Hannah and her Zhu Zhu Pet.

Bella in one of her new outfits and her hat.
This hat has rarely left her head since Christmas morning.
She also got a mini Camelback and at one point was in the
outfit, hat and walking around the house drinking from her
Camelback {so funny}.


Mia and her new lapdesk or as she likes to think of it, her suitcase.
Yes, Santa thought this would be great because it stores writing & drawing
things under the desktop. However, for Mia, it is just another container
in which she can store all of her worldly possessions.

The girls with some of their holiday loot.
Specifically, their dog crossing signs {notice Bella's hat}.

Christmas Lights

Here is a shot of the house!

Christmas Lights Are Hung

Well, we finally worked up the motivation to put the lights up this afternoon. We worked on cleaning the house this morning, and headed out after lunch.

This year we decided not to put the lights on the roof line, and instead decorated the trees and hedges. The deer are staked to the ground so anyone with a sense of humor won't be able to introduce them to each other.

Happy holidays!


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