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With the holidays right around the corner, the well-known scramble to make sure everyone has the perfect gifts is well underway — and country singer and mom of four Jessie James Decker is no stranger to the madness.
Speaking exclusively with PEOPLE from sister Sydney Rae James’ home, Decker laughs as she compares her holiday preparation style to that of her younger sibling’s. “My sister probably starts buying Christmas gifts and everything and like October, she is so ahead of game, super organized.”
Doubling down, Decker explains that she is a very “last-minute person” when it comes to all things gift-giving, shopping and beyond. Though it’s just over a month out from Christmas, she admits, sheepishly, that she hasn’t bought “one Christmas gift yet.”
“I’m always like one step at a time, one day at a time,” she says.
With four kids under 12 years old, it can be difficult to keep track of all the different interests each kid has come Christmas shopping time, the “My Cowboy” singer shares.
Vivi Rose, Jessie’s 11-year-old daughter with husband Eric Decker, is keeping her “young” this holiday season, she jokes, with all the Rhode products and latest cosmetic items she’s jotting down on her list for Santa.
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Her sons, Eric Thomas Jr. and Forrest Bradley, are dabbling in all things sports and music and the baby of the family, Denver Calloway, who was born just last year, is finally “at an age that he can really understand what’s going on,” she says, sharing that anything Toy Story is at the top of the baby’s Christmas list.
Jessie and her husband also differ in their approach to holiday shopping, with the country singer, 36, telling PEOPLE that Eric’s holiday mentality is, broadly, “Let’s keep things on a budget, let’s have a certain dollar amount per kid.”
This holiday season, to make things easier as a self-proclaimed last-minute planner, Jessie is partnering with PayPal, where, starting on Nov. 17 until Dec. 8, shoppers can earn 20% cash back on Buy Now, Pay Later purchases — a collab which Jessie jokes Eric was almost more excited about than she was because of the choice and flexibility it gave the young family.
“He is that guy. He wants to get the most bang for our buck. He wants the deal, and he wants, you know, he wants to earn rewards. He’s the guy that puts his number in everywhere we go,” she laughs of Eric’s major dad energy.
Jessie James Decker/Instagram
However, Jessie also touches on both her and Eric’s backgrounds as young children, sharing how her upbringing changed her mentality about the holidays.
“We both didn’t grow up with a ton,” she shares.
“I really grew up with like, we were on food stamps at one point. And so like I definitely have this mentality of like, I love that I don’t have to worry and count pennies anymore, like my mom used to have to do when we were in line at a fast food restaurant.”
Despite the holiday frenzy, it’s clear that gifts aren’t a top priority in the Decker household. The mom of four also opens up about the sweet holiday traditions that she and her husband like to implement with their kids — namely, their “holiday parties.”
“During Halloween week I have the hot apple cider and the Halloween music and we’re carving pumpkins and I bake a big pot of pumpkin chili and we have our little party,” she says.
“We had our Christmas pre-party and so I made a big ham and mashed potatoes, green beans, and we played Christmas music and made hot chocolate and we all decorated the tree. We do these things every year and we just make it a little party.”
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“These are memories your kids will cherish forever. They look forward to this every year,” she gushes.
In other news, while she’s all in on traditional Christmas cheer with the fam, Jessie is also making sure to celebrate the holidays in slightly less traditional fashion.
She recently starred in a Karen Kingsbury Christmas movie called The Christmas Ring, which she says her kids are already requesting to put on when it comes to holiday movie nights.
And, she has a new Christmas song out with Jamey Johnson, with whom she wrote “My Cowboy” — the song that launched her music career. The pair covered “Winter Wonderland” for this latest collab, and Jessie says it’s long overdue to put out music together with Johnson.
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Her family and community are the most important part of the season for her, and while the shopping and chaos of the lead-up to the holidays can be stressful, Jessie has made it a priority to cultivate those Christmas magic memories for her kids.
While she has a few items on her Christmas wishlist (cough, cough, some new luggage, Eric), she’s also adamant that the season is primarily about her family’s shared joy.
“I feel like every year I’m just starting earlier and earlier,” she says, of getting in the Christmas spirit (though holiday shopping may still remain a last minute item for Jessie). “And when you have kids, they love the magic and they’re just ready for it,”
