Holiday Cheer 2019 {5} - Holiday Gifts

We went a little big on gifts this year and it's funny because our apartment is small!  However, that's the reason for us getting things the boys can use throughout the winter in the event we can't get outside. We believe they will be HUGE hits for us in 2020 and will find good resting spots whenever we buy our home in Johnson County.

The Nugget!

This pretty boy came to us a bit early. I snagged one in November when a few colors came back for a hot second. I managed to get one before they sold out! I ordered Lagoon and the boys have had so much fun with it! They can build forts and climb all over them. The awesome part about this is that it comes to you in a box, but it doesn't need time to air out or anything! It is ready for play as soon as it's upwrapped. If you have little wildlings like us, you may need a Nugget for yourself!

Legos!

Our kiddos have really gotten into legos this past year. They both love to build cars and planes as well as structures. We kept running out of pieces for them to build things so of course we had to get the 900 piece set when that went on sale. And then, Gspice found a fire station and police station. We bought those a few months ago and sweet little Jack found the fire station on multiple occasions. I had to lie each and every time and say they were for his cousins but he was SOOOO darn excited to get it for Christmas! Gary and I haven't felt well the past few days so we haven't yet put them together but it'll happen soon! And of course, we needed a place to store all the new legos so we got them a lego table. When they unwrapped the box, they were very excited and yelped that they didn't need to play in the living room and make a mess! Yep, that's right!

Annual Shutterfly Puzzle

I always buy the boys a puzzle from a recent family photo shoot. This year did not disappoint though I went a little crazy and got the 252 piece puzzle. I had trouble putting it together but the boys got into it a little bit with me! We also got them a personalized matching game which is a little more their speed.

Holiday Cheer 2019 {4} - Santa Sightings

We really outdid ourselves last year with 5 different Santa sightings. We didn't quite reach that many this year because I'm guessing Santa is still getting used to us living in Johnson County! Now that we have one Santa season under our belt here, I think we might be able to see him a few more times next year! That might help the boys come up with some more creative gift requests though. Jack could only come up with toys or presents and Owen was all about squishy balls. Um, it's not what you think but it sure made Santa laugh....

Saturday, December 7 -  Breakfast with Santa  -  Photos by Sandi Spurrell

Saturday, December 14 & 21  -  Santa Saturdays @ FilmScene  - Photos by staff onsite

Holiday Cheer 2019 {3} - Johnson County Holiday Lights

I was really nervous about holiday lights this year. I very much enjoyed what we've done in years past but knew that wasn't in the cards since we moved 2 1/2 hours away. If you ever get a chance, you should definitely check out the Holiday Lights, Magical Nights display put on by Helping Services of Youth & Families in Decorah, Iowa. We loved to go on the first official night so we could walk around, eat yummy cookies, and take photos up close!

Anyhoo, I didn't want this tradition to just go away! So I decided that we would go to the fun light displays that individual families had at their homes! Thankfully, I was able to find out which addresses to go to through the Iowa City Moms website and it was fun to go around and look at all the lights people put on their homes as we traveled to the locations!

We ultimately went to six locations and the boys got to outside for three of them. I was very impressed by a couple of them and it was certainly a lot of fun to see the boys so excited by the holiday displays! One of the last locations we went to had a light display in coordination with a holiday radio station. I would have loved to stay longer but it was hard for the boys to see from the car and there were a lot of parked cars on the road at the time.

House in 3rd Place

House in 2nd Place

House in 1st Place

Holiday Cheer 2019 {2} - My Favorite Holiday Tunes This Year

I took me a bit to get back into the Holiday tunes this year than in previous years. But man, once I did, I was IN IT. I listen to it all day at work, and if I had my choice, would also listen to it in the car. I got to do it once but I don't think Gspice was a fan. For him, I just put Frozen II on instead :)

My absolute favorite song for this year is a bit curious. It's celebrated by many but it's got some interesting lyrics. That said, Pentatonix really outdid themselves back when they released this a few years ago.

My other favorite is a throwback to 2014! I may have heard this before but am LOVING it this year. It is so good!

Here are some of the other songs from their Best of Pentatonix Christmas that I've really enjoyed!

This last one isn't my favorite but the boys have really enjoyed the cartoon Grinch this year so this is for them!

Be sure to check back for more Holiday Cheer posts this year! We should have about 6-7 if all goes well!

Holiday Cheer 2019 {1} - Holiday Crafting

The fact that the boys are completely fine walking around in their underwear tells me that I have reason to turn the heat down farther than Gspice will let me!

This year, I wanted to do some fun crafting with the boys. I scoured Pinterest for a bit and made my easy peasy shopping list. I got lucky and found everyone all in one aisle at the store! We had fun making pipe cleaner icicles for the tree, bead bracelets, pom pom and popsicle stick stars, as well as sorting all of the colors. Most of these crafts, you guessed it, the boys were in their underwear!

For good measure, here are some photos of the boys playing with legos in their underwear. I didn't want you to think that they only wore underwear while doing the holiday crafting!