Day 23 - Gifts and More Gifts

My dad gave Hunter and Charlotte $25 each for Christmas shopping, so today's activity was to go buy gifts for each other (H for Char and Char for H).  I love the idea of this activity and our angel tree activity because it teaches giving, but I may hold off for a couple of years before putting both of them back on the schedule again.  They were both so occupied with playing with or reaching for toys that they wanted that they couldn't focus on picking out something for each other.  James and I finally just chose for them based on what each of them were wanting to play with in the aisle.

Then tonight we had our gift exchange with Grandee and Poppy (James's parents).  We went to dinner and then came back to our house for the gift giving.  Hunter and Charlotte were so excited to see all of the gifts that Grandee and Poppy brought in...

The first gift was labeled for both of them, so they tag-teamed on tearing off the wrapping paper...

It was this fun piano...

They did pretty well playing with it together for about 2.8 seconds...

Next was another package with both of their names on it...

Inside, it had 2 fun balls that light up when you bounce them...

Then Charlotte opened clothes and Hunter opened this Melissa and Doug puzzle set...

 So fun!!

After that, the kids took a break from their gifts while the adults opened for a while.  One of the gifts for James and I was this popcorn popper...

It was Hunter's favorite gift of the night.  I'm serious.  He was begging to pop some popcorn, and I couldn't pull him away from it until.....

Grandee and Poppy brought in the kids' big gifts...

Grandee and Poppy bought Hunter a bike with training wheels for his birthday last March, and he still hasn't warmed up to it, so they decided to buy this tricycle to see if it could get him going.  He was really excited when he saw it and even pedaled around the house on his own (with some help steering)!

Char got this fun musical lion toy...

It's not a toy that you ride, but Charlotte climbs on everything these days...the kitchen table, coffee table, end tables, computer desk, toilet, and now this toy.  Any time she played with it tonight, she climbed up on top of it and tried to scoot around.  She didn't play with it for long because she saw Hunter's tricycle and stamped her little feet on the ground so hard until he stepped off so she could climb on...

Luckily, he was distracted with her toy for a little while.

Both kids loved this bell...

After Grandee and Poppy left, Hunter played with his puzzle set...

And of course Char climbed on H's tricycle...

It was a great night, and we are so thankful for Grandee and Poppy's generosity!

Our verse for tonight was Matthew 2:12 "And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they (the Magi) returned to their country by another route."

Tonight at bedtime, Hunter and I were laying in his bed after stories and prayers, and he kept saying "gold, frankincense and myrrh" over and over.  I explained what they were, but he just stared at me blankly and then named them again.  I love watching those little wheels in his head turn.  What a gift it is to be those 2 kids' parent.