The Coombs Family

This year we did something different, and boy did our kids think we were terrible. We decided this year was about experiences and not physical gifts. We told the kids that we would let Santa still bring them a gift, but mom and dad were not going to traditionally wrap gifts and have things under the tree this year. We told grandparents and family, please do not buy our kids gifts. You can send them tickets or passes or books but nothing else. And everyone actually paid attention! This was one of the best Christmas days we can remember. It was so much fun telling the kids what we had scheduled for them to do and have trips to look forward to. We also had a scavenger hunt on Christmas day after they opened Santa gifts. We told them that we had to build another shop for a water storage tank for the new house. We told them it had to be high off the ground so that gravity would help the water get to our new house. We just built a huge shed for this a few months back and have water tanks, ...

 Ronin had a nerf gun war party at the church this year. We set up tables, bought a bunch of nerf bullets, and invited lots of kids to come run around the church gym and play war. He is starting to show he is left handed more each day and he loves to shoot his guns left handed and use his right eye for the sites. It's hilarious because he can't shoot anything. Ronin is quick to do anything that he sees an older kid do. He desperately wants to hang out with all of Calvin's friends. He is really social and has a lot of friends already. He is really active and has the energy that Shelby did at this age. He wants to run around and play and help us work. Of all my kids, he is the first one to offer to help us do chores. He will grab a shovel, help clean up yard chores, he unloads the dishwasher every time, and he doesn't mind hard work. He is very coordinated and doesn't fall or crash very easily. He appears to be our tallest kid at this age and he hopes to outgrow every...