January 4th. Hmmmm. I had all intentions of catching up with my "Pruitt Preschool" posts (since we took Decemeber off), showing off our awesome Christmas crafts and activities, blogging our Christmas highlights, and having a Happy New Year! post all ready on Jan. 1. If only I could just think things and they would get done.
Lets take a trip down memory lane, shall we? Not a long trip, just a few weeks back trip. Join me, will you?
Lets talk Christmas cards for a minute.
Christmas cards. A great idea really. Plop a happy family in front of perfectly glowing Christmas tree and send those smiles all around the country for family and friends to enjoy all season long. Yes, a splendid idea. In theory.
Each year I tell myself that I'm going to have those darn pictures taken by October 31st, ordered and addressed by Thanksgiving, and mailed on December 1st. Well, we all know how my grand schemes work out. (Need I remind you that this post is about a month late???) Each year I get a little better, so this year I suppose I thought I was actually going to make those deadlines and wanted to give myself more of a challenge- I decided that I wanted to get all of said Christmas cards for free. Yes, we're on a budget and I'm staying home now with loads of free time on my hands (hahahahaha) so free Christmas cards, yes, that's what we need! (I'm beginning to see that I'm really not a smart person.) So free Christmas cards we got.
I began my search for coupon codes on November 1st. (Please note that I'm already late.) Thanks to Southern Savers I received my 1st batch of cards totally free. Like including shipping free. I was delighted. The envelopes were even lined with bright red polka dots. Oh how pretty they were. But it was a slow start with a whopping 5 cards. I needed a minimum of 35 cards. (I did scale the list down a lot this year.) I had a long way to go. But, every few days more codes popped up and I was on my way. The day before Thanksgiving, only my 1st 5 had arrived. (When you're getting things for free and wanting to pay the minimum for shipping, they take a long time, just FYI.) I had those addressed, stamped, and in the mailbox the Monday after Thanksgiving! Yay! Success for those 5 lucky people!
The rest slowly trickled in and I addressed and mailed, until I ran out of stamps. Ugh those darn stamps! I kept forgetting to buy them every time I went to the store. So my last batch made it out the Monday before Christmas. Like I said, each year gets better and better and we were at least lucky to get them out before Christmas this year instead of after New Years or even Valentine's day like in the past. Progress is a beautiful thing. And my final total was somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 (just for shipping) for 35 cards, a $20 savings from last year. Not too bad for my 1st year. (And, 1 of the companies even planted a tree with my order!)
So get to the card already... Ta da...
No happy family in front of the tree for the Pruitt's. No sir. We tell it like it is, and this my friends is how it is. I think it'll be a great reminder of this pouting/whining/happy year of the 2's.
Now lets talk traditions.
Jeff and I are still trying to figure out all of our traditions but this year we confirmed that we will not be introducing the "Santa gift". Is that a gasp I just heard? I know, it's border-line child abuse, but we feel like it the right decision for our family. We want the focus to be on Jesus and the gifts that we can give to Him so Santa will not be visiting Lucy (or any other kid in the world for that matter). We explained and she kind of understand that all of the things we do to help other people throughout the year are presents for Jesus. Of course, this is something that we will continue now that Christmas is over. The celebration just keeps going, isn't that fun?!
We attempted our 1st advent calendar this year. I stole an idea from Pinterest and made this...
That's numbers printed from here glued to pieces of scrapbook paper glued to clothes pins and clipped to christmas socks/stockings, most of which came from the $1 section of Target or my own personal collection. (Apparently I have a thing for themed socks because I had a lot.) A great friend found this book...
It is adorable! It has a small paragraph telling a portion of the Christmas story, a related activity, a Bible verse, and a prayer for each day before Christmas beginning on December 1st. Some of the activities were pretty simple so I added to them to incorporate some ministry projects and fun family activities to make them more meaningful and put them in the socks as Lucy's "experience advent calendar" instead of the typical "small toy or candy" one.
Cute, right? Well it would have been had we actually done it. We did do some of the activities and we read most of the stories but I just wasn't as disciplined with it as I would have liked to be.
Continuing our tradition from last year, Lucy received 1 gift from Jeff and I...
This was after she discovered the horn worked.
And this is how she really feels about her gift...
Booooorrrrrriiiiiinnnnnggggg! Just kidding. She loves it. Although, we have a really cute video of her walking into the living room to see it for the 1st time and I said, "Lucy, what did you get?" and she looks at me and says, "A new phone???" with the sweetest confused face ever. (I happened to be standing behind the car recording with my phone which happened to be dressed in my new cover.)
Cute, right?! Get your's here.
Now, don't you go feeling sorry for poor little Lucy who only got 1 gift. She got lots and lots and lots of gifts. And then she got some more. Her grandparents weren't about to let her go without!
New vanity with all the necessary accessories. She loves this thing and must stop here to freshen up at least 3 times before leaving to go somewhere.
Modeling a new scarf and outfit amongst many presents
This bag was literally full of pajamas, clothes, and toys. She just kept pulling and throwing. I thought she was going to fall in it.
She got so many new things, she had to get a new playroom to hold them all! Bet you can't guess what we're into this year?!
New dress up area. Please note that before Christmas she didn't have a single pair of dress up shoes (unless you count mine).
And just in case you're still not convinced...
Our car literally filled from floor to ceiling and we had to leave some things for the next trip.
As for Jeff and I, well, you remember that big yawn Lucy gave in her car? Perhaps she was remembering our gifts. I gave Jeff a bike (which he actually purchased about 3 months ago) and a pair of running shoes and he gave me half a dining room chair (which I also purchased about 3 months ago along with the other half) and a wallet. (Although it is a pretty snazzy wallet. No pics, but check it out here. You won't be sorry!
Jeff also received a jacket, highly protective phone cases (1 that doubles as a wallet), food gift cards, a gym bag, etc.
And, because I know you're itching to hear my list, I received a bread maker, new pots and pans, a Shark steam cleaner, some make up, and other odds and ends.
Can we say practical? But Jeff and I couldn't be happier. These were all things we've been wanting and possibly needing, but wouldn't buy for ourselves and we are so thrilled with our new goodies so thanks family for all of fun new gifts!
Speaking of gifts...
I decided to make as many gifts as possible this year. Not just because I'm trying to be frugal, but also because I always want to put a lot of thought into gifts so that they are meaningful and useful to the recipient and what could be more personal than a "made just for you" gift? So, here's my line up.
Covered Lampshade and hot/cold rice pack
Tile coasters (These never made it as a gift because I didn't let them dry long enough and they got stuck together.)
Fabric coasters (sorry it's at a funny angle)
Christmas is always such a fun time that goes by way too fast. I love having Jeff home a few extra days during the week and getting to see both of our families so many times in 1 month is always great. Although this Christmas had a sad ending, it was such a blessing to see Lucy begin to understand what it all means and why we're here- to worship our Creator. We are beyond blessed and I really hope were a blessing to our Savior this year.
I hope your Christmas was merry and I wish you a very happy new year!!!
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