Gifts

This was probably my favorite gift of the whole holiday season.  Spencer and Evelyn simultaneously enjoying an activity and enjoying each other.  It got so cute I had to get out the camera.

Another fun gift, Evelyn's cute little Christmas shirts from Aunt Hillary.  She is also loving her backpack / lunch box which was a gift from one of my best friends.  She got it for Evelyn before she was born.  I loved it all through the nausea of pregnancy--a cute, fun little reminder of the girly fun to come.

December seems to be gift overload month.  It's surreal.  Spencer has a birthday in December.  Between that and Christmas, I have tried very hard to make this season about more than just getting stuff.  Unfortunately, materialism is a hard thing to fight against, and he gets more toys each year than many children get in their entire childhood.  In an effort to focus some attention towards giving, I had him help me make gifts for his teachers, therapists, and family members.  

"Helping" me has traditionally not meant much to him, but this year he was really excited about making the gifts.  His Nana gave him a birdseed ornament to put outside to feed the birds last year, and he loved it.  So, when I came across the recipe on Pinterest, I held my breath and read the blog post which was refreshingly clear, straightforward, and helpful.  Consequently, the project turned out great, and Spencer got to give gifts this year that he really put effort into making.  

Lucky for me, I'd been stock piling cookie cutters for years before I had any children with whom to use them.  

He was so proud of himself, and he handed them out without too much "encouragement."  They were graciously received, although I know a Starbucks gift card probably ranks higher on the list of favorites.  Even with the first bag of birdseed dumped all over the back yard by a certain little four year old, these were much more economical.  

I made labels for teachers / therapists and labels for family members, both with sad little excuses for poetry.  Unfortunately, the family member labels never got printed out.  So goes the life of a four year old and a one year old.  I counted it as a victory that we had teacher gifts at all.