#1: DH fixed the toilet (more on why the landlord didn’t fix it next week…) so it no longer occasionally just slowly drains, and also so the chain doesn’t get caught on the other thingy leading to constant flushing. Wooo! DH gives me the best presents.
DC1 loved this book of brain teasers and this set of really cool magnetic blocks from Tegu. Oh, and also a sleeping bag from my sister that came early so that zie could use it to go on a class field trip.
DC2 is over the moon with hir batman slippers which will scare bad guys while keeping hir feet warm. Zie also really loves the Tegu blocks. Also a pretty nice winter coat and hat. Oh, and DC2 was super happy with the alphabet gummies that DC1 got for hir.
DH is happy with Terra Mystica and Sky Rim. He’s also really happy about new slippers. We didn’t realize Paradise would still sometimes get cold in the morning, or perhaps we didn’t realize that wooden floors are colder than carpet.
Also, I have a confession to make. This year we took a bunch of the gifts DH’s mom got for DC2 and took them to Toys for Tots before Christmas. It was weird because she had already gotten them a lot of stuff, and then she visited before Christmas and got a lot more because she hadn’t realized we’d left some toys (that frankly, DC2 played with once last year and then never again) back home, so she went to Walmart and replaced the toys we’d left so the new things she bought would work with them. When we demurred, she said that we could just throw them out at the end of the year, which seemed horribly wasteful to us. DC2 has a slightly older same-gendered cousin who is really into something that DC2 could not care less about, but my MIL doesn’t realize that DC2 isn’t into it at all and continues to add to the collection like she does for the cousin. It’s not cheap stuff either– some of the figures go for $20-$40 (though she also sent several cheaper versions), but not worth if it it’s going to be played with once and then just take up closet/floor space. Hopefully another child will get more joy from them.
Next year we’re going to make a wish-list for DC2. It’s a shame because MIL does a really great job picking out things we’d never think of for DC1 (see: Tegu blocks), but for DC2 it’s mostly boring gender stereotyped corporate stuff for shows that we don’t let DC2 watch (because that’s what the slightly older cousin is into).
#2: Octopus Hat. ‘Nuff said.
What were some of your standouts this year, Grumpy Nation?
December 28, 2015 at 7:13 am
The delicious chocolates my boyfriend got me are pretty good. As is the iPhone my parents got me (an early Christmas present) and the KitchenAid stand mixer we got ourselves. It’s so useful for baking!
December 28, 2015 at 9:01 am
Yum! Also, we LOVE our kitchen aid stand mixer.
December 28, 2015 at 1:06 pm
Also those things last FOREVER. Until last year I was still using one from the 1960s, and it still worked when I donated it to Goodwill to save space. It was harvest gold, and third-hand.
December 28, 2015 at 8:46 am
I’ve never seen the snow but ALWAYS wanted to. Money is extra tight this year so the boyfriend decided to bring “snow” to me. We made artificial snow out of the absorbent polymer in disposable diapers, had a bunch of fun making a mess and ran out to the apartment courtyard for a quick “snowball fight.” It was FUN!!! He also gave me a stack of books he thought I might like from the library book shop. Three of them were old favorites from high school :D
Kudos to your DH for fixing the toilet!!! That’s an AMAZING gift! :) Merry Christmas to you and yours :)
December 28, 2015 at 9:02 am
Awww!
December 28, 2015 at 10:26 am
I would like someone to fix my toilet. Since that is unlikely (unless I pay them, which I will do for the leaking faucet that I can’t figure out how to disassemble), I will try to do it myself with the kit I bought (with the plumber coming for the faucet as backup in case I don’t succeed).
Also, a facebook friend posted a picture of a hand-knitted medusa hat. Even cooler than octopus, I’d say (though octopus is pretty cool).
December 28, 2015 at 10:30 am
Our plumber back at home charges $80 per visit up to an hour and then parts at cost– if you’re going to have them fix the faucet (which can be like a 5-10 min fix– usually the hard part is getting the thing apart so they can replace a washer but they have tools and muscles to take it apart), they might be able to get the toilet too at no additional cost (you can ask!). Though redoing a toilet inside isn’t usually hard, just wet. I think Miser-mom has a tutorial.
December 28, 2015 at 10:48 am
The “tutorial” isn’t much of one: it’s in the middle of this post http://miser-mom.blogspot.com/2015/01/surprisingly-fast-easy-fixes.html and basically just says, “It was a lot easier than my husband thought it would be”.
My husband didn’t fix toilets this year (that was last year’s “present”), but he *is* cleaning out the basement with me. Woo-hoo! Things in the MiserMom household are riotous good times!
December 28, 2015 at 12:39 pm
The family that cleans together… leans together? I got nuthin.
December 28, 2015 at 8:05 pm
I just ask the guys at Lowe’s how to fix things when I buy the parts.
December 28, 2015 at 2:51 pm
My best: an insulated lunch bag that says “hangry- state of anger due to lack of food; hunger causing irritability”. The lunch bag contained a box of fancy chocolate too. That was from my MIL.
D1 favourite – probably her new books & reading chair and more Sylvanian toys to add to her collection (she has spent hours with both)
D2 favourite- toy cleaning set & her “reading chair”
DH – not sure. Maybe whisky from his brother? Or tennis tickets.
Our Christmas lowlight – being broken into while we slept a couple of nights after Christmas. Thankfully they were disturbed by our neighbors & only got away with cash from our wallets. Found the wallets & bag down the road.
December 28, 2015 at 2:57 pm
Adorable! You have a very thoughtful MIL.
That sucks about being broken into, especially while you were there. :( Yay your neighbors.
Our lowlight was about a thousand dollars of car repair (the bulk of which DH is convinced was them scamming us).
December 28, 2015 at 3:57 pm
My fave- my veggie spiralizer. Yes, I am aware that I have no life.
My daughter’s favourite- her Zoomer Kitty and her Little Live Pets Bird.
My least favourite- my daughter’s Zoomer Kitty and her Little Live Pets Bird. They’re very LOUD.
I also enjoyed hosting a party for 26 people. It was really fun, but extremely stressful.
December 28, 2015 at 4:06 pm
I have never seen one of those before! It looks really cool. I bet we would have gotten a lot of use out of one of those back when I was allergic to wheat during my second pregnancy.
Yay parties!
December 29, 2015 at 1:11 am
I gave my brother 7 Wonders (a board game), and we’ve had great fun playing that together. Another hit was the disappearing milk bottle I gave to my toddler for her baby doll. Stereotypical gift but one she plays with constantly. She’s in love with baby dolls, partly because she spends a lot of time in the baby room despite being a toddler. They don’t have enough kids for an after-care toddler room (we do “extended hours” at our preschool/daycare), so she goes wherever they have room. Luckily, she plays well with both babies and big kids.
Favorite I received were some new pairs of nice socks. I wear hiking socks for casual wear, and mine have all been wearing out.
Mostly, tho, the best part of Christmas has been family time. My mom and I finally sat down and put together a photo album for my four years ago wedding (via an online publisher), so that will be nice. That was my present to her. And as a gift to our parents, my brother and I helped them sort through a ton of books and decide which we should keep. So, mostly just spending time as family playing games or doing stuff around the house.
December 29, 2015 at 9:54 am
Disappearing milk bottles are pretty cool though– very clever bit of mechanical engineering there.
December 29, 2015 at 1:42 pm
Highlight: when our family filled up a whole pew at my grandma’s church at the Christmas eve candlelight service and then she introduced us all to her pastors. She was so happy and proud!
Lowlight: when we were driving back home and spent the night huddled in the back seat of our car in a miles-long traffic jam ON THE ICE-COVERED INTERSTATE! On the plus side, the next morning while it was my turn to drive I got to listen to the best local call-in radio show I’ve ever heard.
December 29, 2015 at 1:44 pm
Awww: re: church
Booo traffic jam in the ice.
December 29, 2015 at 5:22 pm
Best: lazy weekend following successful Christmas Day dinner party brought to you by the letter “P.” (Our menu: paella, pavlova, and prosecco started it, quickly followed by pears & prosciutto with pomegranate; pea salad; prunes, stuffed with goat cheese; roasted peppers with Portobello mushrooms and parmesan; pita crackers & potato chips; pesto Gouda; pumpernickel, with bruschetta spreads; Petite Petit wine for the red drinkers; Paso Port with dessert. Oh, and propane – for the paella burner. :-)
Best for DH: tickets to the Vault Tour at Petersen Automotive Museum, and not having to go up to San Francisco for a crisis like last year.
December 29, 2015 at 5:25 pm
That is a lotta P!
December 30, 2015 at 2:12 am
We got to celebrate Christmas with a near totaled car and really painful ribs + a bad cold (for me), so that wasn’t awesome.
PiC tried to buy the whole family a new pair of shoes each, but only his worked out, which is a shame because he’s normally really good at picking out clothes/shoes for us.
A friend lent me a massive pile of books which I am to pass on to another friend and I’m thrilled about that (new books for me! and then I don’t have to keep them on our overburdened shelves!) as well as the surprise “I’m clearing out the closet and I always hated this [very designer, gorgeous silk] design, it’s not me, but you might like it, adopt it will you?” scarf. It’ll be nice to have that one really nice thing for professional wear to pull out when I’m slightly panicky about having nothing professional enough.
LB got 2 new outfits, a fun alphabet board (used), a sweater we’re looking forward to donating because it’s too small but will keep another 6-12 month old cozy, and some books that we’re excited about reading with hir.
December 30, 2015 at 8:56 am
I saw you mentioned the accident somewhere right after I saw a car hit the same way and an ambulance etc, but it turned out to be a different city. I hope you’re healing quickly.
November 23, 2016 at 1:39 am
[…] Tegu blocks were so popular with our kids last year, we’re getting a set for the cousins. We’ll also be getting some A-Z […]