the season is upon us….allllll things christmas, which means gift guides galore over here! woo woo!
the tree is up, the house is decorated, fire in the place and lights are twinkling! the holidays are 1,000x more fun with littles around and watching the magic happen through the eyes of the babes is simply unexplainable….
i am SO excited this year for christmas and while the girls don’t yet quite understand it all, they know christmas is jesus’ birthday and that santa is coming…and they can’t get enough of the ornaments on the tree. they’ve had a blast with all of the magazines coming in the mail and you can usually find them sitting on our floor mats in the kitchen while i’m getting dinner ready ooh-ing and ahh-ing at all of the toys.
we decided in our small group of friends that we would do a gift exchange just for the kids to help teach the importance of giving this time of year. it’s such a difficult concept for kids to really grasp when everything is usually about them…but i also think it lends itself to teaching valuable lessons in kindness.

christmas eve boxes

jammies | fuzzy slippers | daniel tiger’s christmas book | paw patrol jingle pups book | christmas movie classics

we have a tradition to do christmas eve boxes…which could be my favorite EVER! the kids open their boxes on christmas eve, put on their christmas jams then watch a holiday classic with hot cocoa, read a christmas story and climb in to bed!

stocking stuffers

rub a dub star crayon | flash cards | playdoh | minnie crayons | toothbrush | candy storybook | coloring books | stickers | stockings

in our house, we hang our stockings above our fireplace where they stay until santa comes christmas eve. santa fills the stockings, then places them at the end of everyone’s beds. the first part of the morning is spent going through stockings to see what santa brought…including the mandatory toothbrush! one of my favorite memories is christmas morning and going through my stockings with my sister..which turns out was a way to get my sister and i to stay in our rooms until 7am when we were finally allowed to wake our parents up and see what santa brought them. absolutely one of my favorite traditions to pass on to my kids.

toys + games

pretend makeup set | hot wheels | dab + dot markers | fingerpaint | easy bake oven | hungry hungry hippos | candyland | vtech camera | baking set | magnet blocks

the big girls are all of a sudden very into ‘big girl’ toys and we’ve entered into the era of games. i’m so excited to have family game nights and toys that encourage creativity + imagination. it’s probably the preschool teacher in me but unless the toy has a  purpose in development, it doesn’t have a spot in our house.

gifts that AREN’T toys

i’m always on the lookout for gifts that aren’t toys… experiences that we can have with the girls, memories we can make. here are some of my favorites!

zoo membership | museum memberships | swimming lessons | highlights magazine | sleeping bag | kindness tees | coats {green + pink}

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