Bishop traditions old and new

Tradition #1- Have Ghetto Christmas tree and decor.
We did that except it was a bit better this year as I made a trip to the dollar store to invest in some new Christmas tree decorations this year. So not as ghetto as we're used to. We also purchased our very first fake Christmas tree. I wasn't sure if I was gonna like it, but I totally do!!! Never had to vacuum up all the needles and watch it die and water it, etc...

Old Tradition broken: Have the kids look all white trash for the photos. After viewing last years photos I decided to have them dressed and their hair brushed before we opened gifts. I like it better that way. It will likely be done again from here on out.
Old Tradition kept: $30 budget per kid for gifts. (Well technically I went over budget about $6 with stockings, but I'm not gonna count that.) Why do I do this? Well, I realized years ago I could- and I will keep doing it as long as I can because the kids really don't need to have $100+ bucks spent on them each Christmas. It can only go up from there and I think it isn't necessary or maybe not even a benefit to them. I mean, if they can be excited about dinky stuff that isn't much, then lets enjoy that as much as possible! See below- Celeste is sincerely thrilled as she holds up her...well, 3 ring binder. Seriously.
And Jonah with his Webkins.

And Eden's Webkins.

And Becca's walking barking doggie. (Yeah, they LOVE crap like this. Crazy hu?!)

The aftermath...

Charity got a saweet gift! A jumper/exersaucer. And you ask, how did we do this in under $30? Well, I just so happened to have received a giftcard for $50 for Babies R Us from Steve's boss when she was born. And I decided then, that I would save it for this very purpose. Then I got a coupon for 20% off at Babies R Us. Total cost to us= $20. And she's so doggone cute in it!

We have real trouble getting pictures of this girl smiling because every time she does she turns her head away. It's this habit I can't seem to get her to break. She smiles and turns her head away at the same time. Like "Oh stop, you're killing me" kind of reaction. She does it when she laughs too. Bummer.

New Tradition this year: Now some of you are gonna have a hard time with this one, but we actually all really liked it. I'm thinking about keeping it around. We told our kids we have a $30 budget each for Christmas. They knew this already. But this year we actually took them all shopping a couple days after Thanksgiving and let them all pick out what they wanted for Christmas. I bought it all and took it home and stashed it away until Christmas day. So there was no element of surprise. HOWEVER, they all absolutely loved what they got! And that's the kind of person I am. I do enjoy surprises. But if I had to choose between being surprised with something that I'd mildly enjoy and not being surprised but getting exactly what I want, I'd definitely take getting exactly what I want. And the kids seemed to like it this way better this year too. It's the first time we did this, but it was a hit!

Now I bet after this post we're coming off as major cheapskates. And in some ways we are. But I want to make it clear, we don't ever tell our kids we're poor, or that we can't afford something. On the contrary. I often say "We're butt rich." And I feel in many ways we are. Of course if you really looked at how much we made and compare it with the people around us, we'd probably fall somewhere between broke and butt rich. But we've never had to go hungry and we've always been able to pay for everything we need. And to me that means "butt rich!" We always try to make our kids feel like we have all the money we could need, but that we are just exercising caution with our money so that we can save it for something better. If they ask about spending our money on something I don't feel is worthwhile, I'll often say, "Yeah, we could get that, but lets save our money for_________ instead." Works great and is a lot less depressing.

So we had a great Christmas! We went to Idaho right after we got all done with our Christmas festivities on Christmas day. We had a great time.

Our New Year's unfortunately wasn't great. I was so sick! HORRIBLY sick. But I'm all better now. Good thing, because tomorrow is the start of a new life for me. I will now have possibly the busiest schedule I have ever had in my life. Wish me luck! Maybe I'll have time to tell you about it next time I post. We'll see.