Christmas hits and misses

I actually received the biggest hit and was completely surprised. My husband has told me since late summer that he was getting me the apple watch 2 and he was taking my apple watch 1. To say i was rather disappointed in his choice is an understatement. My windows laptop died yesterday and Dh cannot fix it (corrupted hard drive). I open my watch box this morning and it just had a cable in it. I'm looking at it wondering WTF?! Then he pulls out a wrapped box that uses the cable. New Mac Pro!!! He's obviously wonderful AND psychic!

I think we had all hits here. Middle ds loves his vintage typewriter, his monster Bluetooth speakers, and his Always Sunny in Philadelphia book. Youngest dd loved her clothes, her City of Horror game, Suicide Squad DVD, her dress form and her basket filled with basking and pastry making supplies.

I put together a Chef's Life basket for my dh (do any of you watch that show on pbs?). I included her (Vivian Howard--she's the chef) brand new signed cookbook (which I can't wait to read--it's filled with her stories as well as her recipes), a bottle of her blueberry barbecue sauce, a jar of her fish and fin rub, a Chef's Life tshirt, and a Chef and the Farmer magnet (that's the name of her restaurant). He really LOVED this gift. I also got him the Captain America Civil War DVD, a Belgium waffle iron, Fabio from Top Chef's cook book and a bottle of Jack Daniels. I generally don't get much at Christmas. I spend all the money on dh and the kids and there's none left for me. I always say we'll get something for me later. But this year I got an iPad Air (my first tablet!), a lighted makeup mirror, a beautiful canvas of a dandelion going to seed, a sephora fragrance sampler, and a leather bound book of Uncle Remus stories (a treasured childhood memory). I also got a new board game and two dvds (Trainwreck and Conjuring 2) at my family gift exchange, so I'm feeling quite spoiled.

Love reading about everyone's gifts!

My 1 year old (almost 2) is clever, he realized what packages were shirts and books and really didn't want to open them, e.g. Got 2 t shirts and 2 books, he'd open the first and reject the second package.
My 4 year old loved all the legos and the shirts and books. To be honest I think the biggest hit was bugles snacks in the stockings, and toblerone bars.
Funny thing is I wrapped so much stuff I even forgot things that I was getting until I opened therm, lol!

Thanks! I'll go to the bookstore this week. We bought scavenger hunt books that should be fun in museums.

My big hit: DSO surprised me with a gym membership. I had no idea he was getting me that. I'd wanted to join the gym (it's the same one DD goes to) but I didn't think he'd be too happy about it (I cancelled my last gym membership after months - nay, years! - of nagging from him because I just didn't use it). DD told me that the gym had some special offers on so I went in on Friday and they told me that they would match the offer that DD got earlier this year. I got home and told DSO, just to suss him out about me joining, and he looked unimpressed. I realised why he looked unimpressed on Christmas morning when I opened my gift and found the membership - he'd paid quite a bit more than what they said they'd do for me. But I got an extra month plus a free consultation and plan, which normally costs $30. 

Bah. You can never have too many portable power sources.  Solar chargers sound nifty.

I think everything I picked up for the kids was a hit. I have never ever seen a kid get as excited as my twin #1 did this morning over a pillow top for his mattress! 

My dd was over the moon for her new comforter set (which matches her bedroom decor better than I thought!), her new Uggs (first and possibly only pair ever!), and THREE new leos for ballet. I think I convinced her that she wasn't getting any because they're something that need to be tried on. She FLIPPED!

Twin #2 was super pumped for all the socks and undies he got! LOL! He's been stealing from his twin so having his own again was pretty exciting as were the new gaming headphones he got. 

Dh was super stoked for his Echo Dot--thanks so much to YooHoot for the suggestion in my thread last week. It's by far his favorite gift! He's actually loving all his gifts, but this was one he secretly wanted and never said anything about. Silly man!

I was super spoiled! I got a beautiful new charm for my Pandora bracelet w/ starfish and pretty light blue stones as a reminder of our honeymoon in Myrtle Beach as well as our terrific family vacation this past summer--first vacation we've had that didn't include visiting my family in Canada each summer. I also got a new tablet. I'm in love .  I also got a purse -- I really wanted a bag for work--to carry my school stuff and he misunderstood. It's cute, but not really my style. I'll see if he minds if I trade it in for something else...not sure if I should just "suck it up" and use it or tell him it's not my thing. I also got a couple of pretty scarves and a picture frame. That I really want to return--definitely NOT my style and he knows it. It's not horrid, but it was an odd choice for sure!

Overall, it's been a good Christmas at our home. I'm very thankful and blessed.

Panic at the Disco are playing in NZ in Feb 2017 - I brought 2x tickets for my daughter in May/June this year, and put them aside. She never guessed.
I, do not want to go to Panic at the Disco....my eldest son said he would reimburse me the cost of the tickets, and take her as his gift to her.

She cried when she opened the tickets, they were a big hit.

I did have a tear in my eye seeing how happy she was to get them....

Our lunch was the miss. We made a new lasagna recipe, it was one side of red sauce with meat, one side of white sauce with veggies. It was only okay, and a lot more work than a regular lasagna, not to mention the number of dirty dishes it created.

All the gifts were hits. DH is a good gifter and a gracious getter.

We had a nice quiet day at home. Except that there is a freakin thunderstorm. On Christmas Day. In Minnesota.

Merry Christmas!

We had a great holiday and i am very spoiled. I'm typing from my new MacBook Air. Took a few hours to transfer everything from my 5-yeer old iMac, and now i am up and running! DH totally surprised me by saying for weeks how it would be a waste, it's not needed, he can upgrade the RAM on my iMac, etc. He's a tricky one, i tell you!

biggest hit for my 6-year old son was Lego, but he really loved everything he got. Love that he has a thankful heart.

DH's favorite gift is a Goonies t-shirt, it's his favorite movie.

My older DD gave her little sister one of those Virtual Reality headsets and that has been a huge hit. Everyone has been playing with it.  

My MIL gave me a set of bath towels. They're perfectly nice, but this is now the 3rd year in a row she has given me a set of towels for Christmas. It seems like an odd "annual gift" to give, but maybe she doesn't remember she's given me towels before.  

I had to take my MacBook Pro in right before Christmas.  It was long past its warranty (2011).  It was having graphics issues.  The technician looked at it and said that since that year had some issues with graphics, that Apple would pay for it.  They also replaced some of the prongs used for charging as they noticed a few were bent.  My $575 bill was paid for by Apple.  It was an awesome Christmas gift!  It took four days to fix (went to California) and I spent those in Vegas, so that was a plus too.  Enjoy your Pro.  We've had Macs since the Apple ll (in the 80's) and are very happy with them.

My mom gifts towels to DH every year. We had some ratty ones and he likes nice new ones. This is the first year he didn't get any in about 3 or 4 years because we just moved and it turns out, we have a lot of towels.

We saw it last night it was AMAZING!!!  We saw understudies for Eliza, Angelica and Jefferson/Layfette and it was still amazing!!

Enjoy!!