Christmas Eve Gift Exchange

On Christmas Eve morning we draw names for a family gift exchange. We spend the day working on making special, homemade gifts and keep them a secret until it's time to exchange them after dinner. This year:

Lily had Gracie

Gracie had Phil

Caleb had Jared

Jared had Lily

Jenny had Caleb

Phil had Jenny

Almost time to open gifts! Caleb is waiting patiently with his bear, Bearemy.

When I asked Caleb what he thought Jared might like for Christmas, he mentioned clothes for his Build-a-Bear. Caleb helped me make a felt super hero cape for Jared's Bear, Love. You can see it in the background. Caleb did a super job pushing the pedal down on the sewing machine!

I made Caleb a playmat for his sheep complete with "quiet waters," a puffy mountain, fencing for a sheep pen and a yellow pouch to store it in.

When I asked Gracie what she wanted to make for her daddy, she said, "tools." When I mentioned that it would be difficult to make tools, she said, "a toolbox." So we went down to the basement, found a box, made a lid out of cardboard and then decorated the lid. She insisted that it be pink.

She found a few tools to place inside of the box before she wrapped it. I wish you could have seen her sweet, happy face when she handed the gift to him!

Jared found these coloring sheets online all by himself. Phil printed them out and helped Jared find a purple folder to place them in. She squealed when she opened her gift!

Lily enjoys having hot chocolate with her sister everyday, so we made up little single-serving packets of hot chocolate powder for Gracie. We sat in the pantry closet to do this--quite a tight squeeze! She added the marshmallows to each bag and then decided to add our extra Hello Kitty birthday napkins to her gift since Gracie loves Hello Kitty.

Phil gave me an awesome gift! Anytime I want a mocha or latte, all I have to do is ask...and it expires in 2058. He'll be 89 years old by then. I should probably laminate this.