Gifts Given & Received

Matt and I had a discussion before Christmas.  Our kids lack for no material thing, least of all toys.  To keep our budget under control (buying for seven kids can add up fast) and also to keep the junk monster that lives in our house from taking over even more than it already has, we scaled back this year.
I was particularly happy with the gifts we gave to the little boys for Christmas.  They all got cowboy get-ups, complete with hats, vests and chaps.  Jude and Isaac each got stick horses that neigh when the buttons in their ears are pushed.  Isaac needed no instruction on how to use his horse.  The minute he opened it, he hopped right on and galloped away.

I bought all of the boys' outfits at yard sales, thrift stores or for 75% in the Halloween clearance bin.  I found the stick horses, in nearly new condition, at a yard sale as well.  Joel had been asking for a leather vest that buttoned for a good couple of months before Christmas.  Little did he know that he'd be receiving one for Christmas that I'd bought in brand new condition for $3 at a church yard sale.  (Well, it was brand new for about 2 days, until his baby brother decided to decorate it with ink pen.  GRRRR.  Thankfully, the internet offers solutions to all kinds of kid-produced problems.)  Joel was thrilled when he opened the vest on Christmas Eve.

(The hats the big boys are wearing in this pic were from Aunt Jessica)

Elizabeth loves to wear scarves.  I was able to buy a blue Vera Wang silk scarf for her in the Kohl's clearance section for $3 after the $10 coupon I received in the mail was applied to the purchase (originally, the scarf was $30--whoa!).  I also bought Lydia a Carter's fleece nightgown with horses on it using the same method. Lydia also got some craft items that I'd purchased on clearance at Michael's.
For Grace, I ordered several different sets of thank you cards with her own photographs on them.  Every time a deal would come up on one of my coupon blogs for "Ten Free Cards," I would upload one of her photos, pay a minimal shipping charge and then wait for them to come to our mailbox.  Cheap and easy.

Both Paul and Grace received magazine subscriptions.  Grace got Urban Farm and Paul got Field and Stream.  Each subscription was just $5 (again, another coupon deal).  Paul also got a couple of hunting apparel items that I'd gotten on clearance last winter.
The big girls were so surprised to open identical hats that I'd purchased brand new (still had the tags on them) at a yard sale earlier that summer.  I'll be honest, Grace was with me at that sale and she suggested I buy both her and her sister the hats for Christmas.  "I think I will," I said, and I did.
Grace and I also found a fabulous teepee at a yard sale.  The only think I disliked about it when I inspected it was that it's front panel was in Spider Man fabric.  I'm not a fan.  I knew I'd have to change that, so I tried to dicker with the seller.  It was late in the morning and the sale was out in the middle of nowhere, so I thought I'd have a chance.  Nope.  She wouldn't budge.  I ended up buying the teepee for the $10 she was asking.  I later bought a blue bed sheet at another yard sale.  Grace, Elizabeth and Grandma Dianne put their heads together to replace the Spidey front panel.  When all was said and done, Grace said we'd have never been able to buy the materials for a from scratch teepee for $13, so I was happy.  So were the boys (and Lydia) when we brought the teepee out for the grand finale present on Christmas Eve night.

Last but not least, Grace received an organ.  Matt found it on Craigslist and picked it up for super cheap.  The sellers just wanted it out of their shop.  Matt arranged for two friends to help him load the organ into the van (it was in town about forty minutes away--thankfully we have a number of homeschooling friends who live there).  He then got two more guy friends to unload the beast once he got it home, help bring it into the house and down the stairs into the basement.  Let's just say, that thing's not going any where.  Grace has had a desire to learn to play the organ so she might possibly be able to help with the music at church someday. 

This year, our kids surprised us when they came to us with their pooled money so that they could buy a goat for a needy family through World Vision.  Actually, they wanted to buy a sheep through Samaritan's Purse, but Mama messed up on the ordering.  My bad.  But God knows their hearts' intentions and so do their Mommy and Daddy.
Lydia also knitted a scarf for her Grandpa Tom in a very manly country blue color.  He loved it.