What gift are you excited to give this year

I am bursting while trying to keep this secret.

We are giving our DD16 a hunt seat saddle this year for Christmas. She has ridden and competed with a local Interscholastic Equestrian Association school team for the past three years and would love to have her own gear. A bit of backstory...we have had a rough year with DS17 and have chosen to send him to a therapeutic boarding school in another state. It is very, very expensive and not a decision we took lightly, but it had become truly a matter of life and death. He is making amazing progress, but the cost has tapped us out and DD knows that and is expecting very little for Christmas this year. What she doesn't know is that earlier this year, I was unbelievably lucky enough to find a barely used version of her favorite saddle at the barn. The saddle retails new for about $3K. Yeah, gulp. I paid less than one sixth of that earlier this spring and have had it stashed away since then. DD is such a good kid and has dealt with all of this difficulty with her big brother for several years. I am so excited to give her a bright spot this Christmas! Shhh...

I'm loving reading these!!

I'm excited to be giving my husband a new MacBook Pro. He knows about it though - so not much of a surprise.

All of my kids' presents (a large stuffed dog and Star Wars lego sets for DS, age 5, and clothes/boots from Justice for DD, age 8). I just know they will love it all. Also the gifts to the organizations I donate to (kid's tool set & grocery GC for one group, clothes for another, cash toward my town's holiday drive for the needy...).

I am excited to be giving cooking lessons to my 20 something kids! DD is ok w/cooking...she can find her way around a recipe, but could always use some tips and hints and learn to make more dishes. DS has no clue about cooking. He just got a studio apt and does little to no cooking. I am hoping that he gets enough out of it that he'll start eating in more often. The good thing is that if something comes up on the nights for the classes I have picked, they can switch to another night. I think it'll be a fun activity for them to do together.

I got tickets for me, DD and DS to go to a Warriors game when they play "away" in DD's college town. Tickets have become soooo expensive so it is a splurge for me (and will be completely unexpected for the kids). But in February, DS and I will go and visit DD for a couple of days and we will all watch the game together.

I am also giving them some cash - I created a money "notebook" so they will peel off the notes when they want to buy something. A successful experiment with rubber cement!

My mom only drinks sparkling water, but hasn't been able to find it (for a reasonable price) since Kroger stopped carrying their store brand. So, she's getting a Fizzi (basically a soda stream for water). I think she's going to be really excited (I'm not even sure she's aware that they exist).

I am most excited for my aunt to see that I gave her a kindle. My aunt is really good to me and I hope she is excited to get it.

The other gift I am excited for is my son graduates from college tomorrow, and I cashed in a small investment and am giving him one thousand dollars to help him relocate when he gets a job. This will make it possible for him to look in places he might not have been able to think about moving.


Edited:  My son graduated today and I gave him the card with the message that he has the $1000 in his account. He gave me the biggest smile and said, "Oh wow!"  Then I got a long hug.  Just what I wanted!

My 2 year old daughter asked for a fishing pole. I CAN'T wait to give it to her.

We got all four of our kids mini drones. We have a two-story great room, so I think they'll have fun flying them around that and buzzing the cats (or at least I will   ).

It's a very good phone. I had a 5c and was happy with it. There is nothing he can't do on it that he couldn't do on a newer model. I only upgraded because my phone was beginning to act up.

Not a dang thing. My presents are s uninspired this year. But I love reading all of yours.

I found these appetizer plates for my best friend at the Goodwill.  They were 1/2 off the sticker price.  They are LIMOGES!  I got her other regular priced stuff but I hope she loves these.  We love to go thrifting together.

ETA:  we had our Christmas get together last night and she loved them!     She kept saying, "I can't believe you didn't keep them yourself." 

I am most excited to see my SIL's face when he opens a tiny .97 cent gift from DD. SIL loves Hot Wheels and MOPAR and is a car nut in general. DD found Hot Wheels at Target one with MOPAR and one with DODGE on them. You probably could have heard her squeal all over the store. They are newlyweds of 2 years and so stinking cute.

DH loves my late Mom's ancient ice scraper that has a brass blade on it. The handle is broken off and he guards that scraper with his life. I found some on Amazon and got him a replacement. Hope he will love it like his old one.