A few years ago, we started a brother name-draw homemade gift exchange, and, even though the boys usually come up with great ideas early that they end up pulling together at the last-minute, I really love it. The gifts the boys came up with this year were fantastic! Zac sanded and finished the walking stick Tommy found at Cedar Breaks this summer and added a rope grip, it's really beautiful! There must have been some salts or something in the wood, because when he polished it, patches of it turned pink. Ben put together an amazing music binder for Josh, filled with piano music of the kinds of songs Josh loves to play, all taped together for easy removal and storage. Josh made a great duct-tape wallet for Luke, complete with plastic sleeve for his ID and his name in silver; Luke loves it! Luke made Ben a coupon book with coupons to take on Ben's chores a handful of times, which is truly a gift from the heart because Luke hates chores! Tommy made a crown for one of his Beanie Boos and gave both the Beanie and the crown to Zac; although that seems simple (and not totally homemade), to give away a Beanie Boo is kind of a big deal for Tommy (he LOVES Beanie Boos, however, I should admit that it was one of his rattier ones...heehee).
My favorite gifts to give this year were the ones I made/had made for our parents. I had a photo blanket made for my parents with three photos each from each of the five Nana and Papa 8th Birthday Trips they've taken with the boys. I could hardly contain my excitement to give it, and I may have cried a bit when they opened it. It was like giving happiness and favorite memories to cuddle up with! And Adam's parents bought a second house right near their Roesiger Lake House this year, to help hold the expanding family when we all gather there--at, what I think we can all agree is, our very own bit of Conlin Heaven on Earth. They call it the Lawn House, so I made a name sign for each with the year it was "established" as a Conlin home. I was so happy with how they came out; I was nervous to mail them in case they got scratched!
There were so many fun gifts for our family this year: a Nintendo Switch from Grandma and Grandpa with the boys' most-wanted games: Zelda and Mario; pickleball paddles and balls for the pickleball courts at the new park right by our house; a digital drum set for our wannabe drummer, Tommy (and it comes with a headphone jack for the rest of us); stunt kites for the three older boys, Ozobot accessories for Tommy and Flings for Luke from Nana and Papa; hammocks for the 3 boys who still didn't have them (we can now all hammock together!); hermit crabs for Luke, who has been researching and begging for months; movie passes; great books; adorable clothes; a bike rack for Adam's car; a new bike to put on that rack for Z; ski equipment and passes; an REI shopping spree for Ben; the list goes on and on. The one thing I was hesitant about was giving a gift card to Ben. He has such a hard time deciding on what to spend his money on, I'm worried he'll never actually use it! And joy of joys...I got a new faucet for the kitchen sink! Hallelujah! It was the last gift I opened but at the very tip top of my list. I was thrilled. And extra thrilled that Adam spent much of his Christmas Day installing it for me.
And then there was time to just enjoy. The boys played the Switch, we cooked and cooked and ate and ate, we took a walk and flew kites (it was basically a cool summer's Christmas day), and we tried out our new pickleball set, which was really fun and will definitely be getting some heavy use in the year ahead. Tommy did find one old patch of snow from a light dusting we had had that week hidden below a curb, and declared it a "White Christmas." It was a full, wonderful, fun Christmas day shared with the best!
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| Tommy said, "Tree-Rex...hahahaha!" |
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