four gifts.

I have so many wonderful memories of Christmas morning as a child.

There was the year that we woke up to 10-speed-bikes sitting in front of the tree, surrounding the rest of the gifts for my little brother and me.

There was the year that it was snowy and cold and after all the gifts were opened, we both got carried outside with our eyes closed to find the playhouse they had ready for us.  In fact, Mr. Farmhouse and I used that playhouse as our chicken coop until just last year when we moved to the farmhouse.

There was the year that he and I peeked at our gifts and our two "big gifts" were missing on Christmas morning.  My mom had saved them for last and had wrapped them up with our parents' names on the tags.  We were trying to play it cool like we didn't know they were missing, because we didn't realize they knew we had sneaked out to the shop to look...lesson learned!

Even into adulthood, we have always been provided with everything we ever dreamed of, so naturally I have wanted to provide the same feeling for my own girls.

However, we have some financial goals that we are working towards to be able to provide for them later in life...in high school when they need a vehicle to drive, to help them with college expenses, and of course, when they get married and start having children.

Going into debt or dipping into savings at Christmastime is tempting, but after working so hard for an entire year to save and work the debt snowball, we don't want to lose our progress at the end of the year because of gifts.

Over this last year, I read of a family who does four gifts for each of their kiddos --

something you want,
something you need,
something to wear,
something to read.

We presented this idea to the girls and they loved it.

I asked them to choose three things from each category and make me a list, so they would still be surprised on Christmas morning.

You guys.

I cannot even tell you how amazing the process has been.

The girls couldn't even think of three items for each category. 

They were sitting together at the dining room table as they tried to think long and hard about what they truly needed and the conversation they were having warmed my heart.

H: I can't think of anything for "something I need".  I don't think I need anything.
C: I put an electric toothbrush because mine broke a few weeks ago.
H: You know, I will be needing a new softball glove this year.  I'll put that on there.

The girls are completely aware that we would buy toothbrushes or softball gloves during other times of the year, but instead of using that gift slot for something else, they both decided to use it to replace items that are worn out or too small.

I was able to shop for the gifts without breaking the bank and literally all in one night (Black Friday with my sis-in-law!).

They will each get stocking stuffers and one small gift from Santa and that is IT.

The tree is still pretty.
The farmhouse is still cozy.
The magic of the season is all around us.

With four gifts each.

I can't wait to see their faces on Christmas morning.  

Happy December from the farmhouse, friends.

❤️🏡❤️