Holiday gift ideas and an Easy Crockpot Meal!

Happy Wednesday friends. Sharing some holiday gift ideas and some of our gifting traditions today. Growing up we always had a "big" present unwrapped under the tree and then a few gifts wrapped and that tradition has continued with my kids. Ella has gotten a desk for her room and Luke a big train table. We also always got PJs, some family games and always new socks and undies....again things we have carried on with our littles. Thought I would share some of our favorites with you, along with a few things on E & L's wish list.

First, I must share Ella's list of ideas I found at her bedside....

Yes... you are reading that correctly... two plane tickets to Paris!!!! Now she loves all things Paris and Eiffel tower and her bedroom is decorated with a Paris theme. And apparently she wants to travel there to see it first hand. That's a pretty extravagant wish....but I am excited she said the second ticket she's wishing for is for me!

Let's get on to some more realistic and fun Christmas ideas. Family game night is the best! Family game day on Christmas is even better...especially when you don't change out of your PJs all day and are playing new games! Here are a few of the favorites in our house. You can click on the picture for details on where to buy all the items I pictured in this post!

 

These are a few that we love. Our kids are 7 & 9 and have fun with all of these games! 

I have fallen in love with these adorable sleeping bags from Target! They fold up and have a sewn in handle... and at $19.99, I think they are a perfect gift idea! These are my two favorite patterns, 

but they do have two more patterns online.

  

Obviously you need to have a few toys to play with on Christmas morning and my two are wishing for some Legos. Ella loves the Friends series and Luke likes Ninjango. 

  

Ella got this instant camera for her birthday and just loves it! It's such a fun idea for girls her age and comes in a few cute colors. There are also some accessory kits to make scrapbooks and decorate your pictures!

 

Luke got these Qixels last year and loves them. It's a fun boy craft to do in the winter months and they remind me of Minecraft. He also loves science kits and I thought this one looked cool!

 

The kids have their presents from Santa, and then a few from Paul and I. Our gifts are usually something they need.... new PJs, fun hat & gloves and always something to read!

 

I love these matching gingerbread PJs from Gymboree, although I think we might need them before Christmas! Here are some others I love too....

 

I love fun winter hats! The GAP always has super cute hats!

  

Some of our current favorite book series.....

   

So that wraps up my gift ideas for this year! I hope this helped give you some inspiraion. What are your kiddos wishing for? Share some thoughts in the comments below. Next week I will share some smaller gift ideas... perfect for stockings. 

Now with the days getting busier around the holidays, we could all use a simple Crockpot meal. These Chicken taco bowls are really easy and come together in no time. 

Just place 1 1/2lbs of chicken breasts in the Crockpot and season with salt & pepper. 

Pour one jar of salsa over top & then fill the empty salsa jar with water and pour in on top.

Cook on low for 6 hours.

Shred the chicken and let sit in the crockpot another 20 minutes.

We build our bowls with cilantro lime rice, lettuce, Greek yogurt and whatever veggies I have prepped in the fridge! You can also use this chicken to make tacos or top lettuce for a delicious Mexican salad! You can find the recipe for my cilantro lime rice here.

I hope to see you back here for Friday Favorites! I'll be linking up with a few bloggers to talk about my favorite things from this week. See you then....there's always room for one more at our family table.

xoxo

Genevieve