Christmas Program {2011}

Today Sunday's Christmas Countdown Activity:  "Sing in the Christmas Program!"

L has been singing her songs {Away in a Manger, Silent Night, Joy to the World and We Wish You a Merry Christmas} over and over again in recent days and I knew she was ready for Sunday's program.  As it turns out though, she was a bit shy {shocker, I know!}, standing still on her step, holding tightly onto her bell and staring out into the crowd of people.  She would occasionally smile and sing a few words if I caught her eye and reminded her to do so (I was up there helping with the 2 and 3 year olds).  In the end, I think she had a good time as it was, according to her, her 'favorite part of the day' (this may or may not have been because of the cookie she got at the reception after the program)!

Here she is at practice looking totally serious and not at all enthused!

Amidst the large group of kids.

Here's a closer look for you!

Picture of the Day ~ Week 50

We helped Grandpa celebrate his birthday today.  Check out that cake made by J (of course!), isn't it amazing?

L and I made presents for her Sunday School teachers today.  They are each getting a bag of microwave popcorn and a pair of gloves 'snowman style!'

{idea originally seen here}

In case you have any doubts that my kids have the. best. daddy(!), I present to you their new cardboard 'house' complete with doors, windows, 2 rooms and a tunnel {yep, that Luvs box is the gateway between rooms}. 

Side note:  If you bought presents for my children, you can take them back.  All they need is cardboard boxes and packaging tape!

Wednesday {12.14.11}

I have a POTD for today but I'm choosing not to share it.  :-)

D's cousin C came over today and spent time playing with the kids (Can you tell how much they adore him??).  He joined us for supper and for today's Christmas Countdown Activity which was "Go See Christmas Lights."  Thanks for coming, C!

I love those moments when I can see a friendship growing between L and I Man.  Today they were having races (She would grab his hand and they would run from the stairs to the couch over and over again to
I Man's "let's race Eye-yi!" requests) which ended with hugs {actually it probably ended with someone falling or crying and me telling them they shouldn't run in the house but there must have been hugging in there somewhere!  ;-)}.

We delivered Christmas goodies to the neighbors today.  I Man was so proud to carry his own bag (though it may have gotten dropped...a lot!) and even handed it to one of the neighbors. 

"Make Christmas Cookies"

Today's Christmas Countdown Activity:  "Attend a Christmas Party and Bring a Gift for the Hostess" "Make Christmas Cookies"

After D's Christmas party for work was cancelled again {this time postponed until after Christmas} I had to do some re-arranging and "Make Christmas Cookies" ended up as today's activity.  I'm feeling a bit overloaded on sweets {hello, we just made a gingerbread man!} but it worked out since I need to take 2 dozen cookies to Church for L's Christmas program on Sunday.  So...

we mixed the batter

rolled it out

said, "cheese!"

added sprinkles

and taste tested {see the shirt?} 

our creations!

And, if you agree with the motto:  "The bigger the mess, the more fun we had!"  Then we had a great time!

You Can't Catch Me!

Today's Yesterday's Christmas Countdown Activity:  "Make a Gingerbread Man" 

Since making a Gingerbread Man isn't much different than making Christmas cookies {which we still have to do}, I thought it might be fun to make the Gingerbread Man run away!  This isn't a new idea...in fact, I did it several times while I was teaching Kindergarten!  But it does take a bit of planning...

During the day, we read The Gingerbread Boy, The Gingerbread Man and The Gingerbread Baby {not pictured, although I wasn't going to 'picture' any of them until I found this while uploading pictures today!  L must have taken it, pretty good, right?  Ignore the messy counter or just refer to this post, ahem!} after which L said, "I wonder if our gingerbread man will run away?!"

After supper, I made and rolled out some gingerbread dough and cut it into the shape of a gingerbread man.  Unfortunately, we couldn't transfer him to the pan in one piece so I ended up rolling it out again on the cookie pan and cutting him out there!  ;-)

L helped me decorate him {we used decorating gel so we could bake him already decorated!} and then we popped him in the oven.  That's when D took the kids downstairs to the playroom while I 'cleaned up' {read: ran around hanging clues} and waited for the man to bake so I could move him to his 'hiding spot' and race downstairs with an empty pan saying, "The pan is empty, the gingerbread man must have run away!  But he left this clue...Run, run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me I'm the Gingerbread Man!  I've run to the place where you take a bath."

We found clues in the bathroom (I've run to the place where your mom and dad sleep), mom and dad's bedroom (I've run to the place where you wash and dry clothes)...

the laundry room (I've run to the place where you have quiet time) and L's quiet time room (I've run to those yummy smelling gingerbread houses!)...

before 'catching' him hiding under a dish towel near our gingerbread houses!  He must have run fast because he was all cracked up (I had a hard time getting him off the pan, too!)! 

Once we found him, we had to eat him before he ran away again! 

This was a fun family activity!  L was all about it and I Man (who D carried around so he could keep up) was pretty into it, too!  L didn't have as many questions as my Kindergarteners used to, asking only, "if we make another one will he run away too?" and "how did he hang those clues up?  Maybe he found our tape and used some!"  :-)

Picture of the Day ~ Week 49

When we got home from Church tonight, our Christmas lights were on (thanks to a new timer!) so the kids went to check them out.  They were so impressed by all of Daddy's hard work! 

{I'm pretty bummed that this picture didn't turn out...it would have been sooo cute if it had!}

Today, the kids turned our couch pillows into stepping jumping stones to get from the 'hard floor' to the couch.  I would have stopped them, but they were taking turns and having such great fun together.  D and I may or may not have joined them at one point, too!  ;-)

This is one of the pictures that L took today (click here to see the rest of them!).  I love that it shows a little bit of Christmas at our house....

I was attempting to get some pictures like these ones, but neither my camera nor my kids would cooperate!  Sigh!

We made Gingerbread Houses today!

We enjoyed our first indoor picnic tonight and I have a feeling we'll be doing it again!

D's parents were in town to do some Christmas shopping today and were gracious enough to watch the kids for us so we could go out to eat tonight.  We ate at the Thai Orchid.  The inset picture is of D's fortune which read "True love doesn't consist of holding hands - it consists of holding hearts." 

Christmas Countdown {Part 1}

We are halfway through our Christmas Countdown and so far it has been g.r.e.a.t!  We've had fun, seen lots of smiles, answered {or at least tried to} some great questions and have done what we could to spread Christmas cheer to those around us.  Here's a peek into what our Christmas Countdown has looked like thus far...

{Deck the Halls}

{Send Cards to Soldiers}

{Watch a Veggietales Christmas movie}

L chose The Star of Christmas

{Color a Christmas Picture and Send it to Someone of your Choice}

L chose Cousin K and was super excited to put it in the mailbox!!

{Open One Present Early}

This was an addition to my list as we received a surprise box in the mail containing (yet another) countdown.  This one includes candy, money, stickers and other small treats and the kids are loving it!  It doesn't exactly teach generosity or gratitude but we did have the opportunity to make and send a thank you!

{Family Game Night}

I printed this game which I originally saw here, added some hershey kisses and mini marshmallows for game pieces and called everyone to the table to play.  I gotta say, it was fun...really fun!  Although, once we stopped using candy to play the kids lost interest pretty quickly...

{Make Salt Dough Ornaments}

This was another fun one (more so for L and I then the boys) which I hope to include in some gifts!

{Call 3 People and Tell Them You Love Them}

L's choices:  Cousins K, A3 and A1

{Make a Christmas Treat}

I had envisioned this being Christmas Tree Brownies or Christmas Tree Cupcakes but I had all the ingredients for Rice Krispie Bars so we made Rice Kripie Christmas Trees instead!

{Put Money in the Salvation Army Bucket}

Read more about this one here.

{Make a List of 10 Things You are Thankful For}

We did this one collectively which turned out to work well since I Man just copied whatever L said anyway.  Maybe next year we'll each make our own list?

{Decorate Gingerbread Houses}

Read more about this one here.

{Have a Pizza Picnic in Front of the Christmas Tree}
Both kids loved this one and have already asked me to do it again!

Gingerbread Graham Cracker Houses

Today's Christmas Countdown activity:  "Decorate Gingerbread Houses" {yes, technically these houses are made of graham crackers but my kids don't know the difference and even if they did, I don't think they would care!}

During quiet time today, I made these little houses using graham crackers and my hot glue gun {Sooo much easier and much less frustrating then frosting!  Thanks for the idea Lesley!}.  When L saw them, she said, "Wow, we each get a house (unlike last year when we all decorated one)!  I'm so glad mom sewed these up for us {they were sitting in the office next to my sewing machine and apparently she thought I sewed them, ha!}." 

L was excited to frost her own house but didn't get too far before asking for help...

I had pre-frosted I Man's so he got straight to work decorating!  Shortly after I took this photo though, he realized the decorations were edible and he never got much further than the roof...sigh!

Several minutes later we had each decorated our own little house {and eaten plenty of candy - uffda!} which are now adorning my kitchen counter!

Top Left:  D's, Top Right:  M's, Bottom L:  L's Bottom R:  I Man's

There wasn't much learning about generosity or gratitude with this one, but we had some great family time together and it was FUN!