Well, we did it! We completed 26 daily activities focused on teaching gratitude, generosity and family togetherness. It was a bit time consuming and took some work on my part but the smiles, laughter and memories made were well worth it! Oh and hearing L tell I Man that "Christmas is about the giving!" and I Man being able to name 'Mary,' 'Joseph' and 'Baby Jesus' (as well as several stable animals) in our Christmas books and decor helps, too! There were a few activities we never got to {like "make a snowman or go sledding" - hello, no snow!} but we checked most of them off the list and L is well aware that tomorrow is our first Christmas! So, without further ado, the rest of our Christmas Countdown...
{Buy and Donate a Toy for a Child Who Might Not Get Toys this Christmas}
We told L she could pick out anything she wanted for $10 or under. She spent some time in the toy aisles before choosing two puzzles. To my surprise, this wasn't a difficult task for her! She was happy to toss the puzzles in the 'Toys for Tots' box and only asked a few times when she was going to get toys!?
Side Note: It was I Man who pitched a fit when the Thomas the Train puzzle didn't come home with us...sigh!
{Make Presents for Sunday School Teachers}
We made Snowmen using microwave popcorn and pairs of gloves. It was easy, cheap and right up my 4 year old artist's alley! I got the idea for these gifts
here and you can see
our finished product
here. Oh and her teachers really liked their gifts (yay!)!
{Choose Toys to Donate to the Thrift Store}
This one was difficult for L. Buying a new toy and giving it to someone in need {knowing full well that you have new toys coming your way soon}, no problem! Giving away your own toys was a bit more difficult I'm afraid. It took L close to 20 minutes to decide she could part with 2 stuffed animals, one toy that neither she nor I Man play with and a few books. I then decided it wasn't worth the fight thanked her for 'helping' and sent her upstairs while I weeded out a few more things. We ended up with two grocery sacks and a few bigger items that have been in our garage since the move (7 months ago!) which we then donated. Oh and later L asked if we could give I Man away. Um?
{Make a Gingerbread Man}
...and chase him when he runs away!
Read more about this one
here.
{Be Someone's Secret Santa}
Prior to this activity, we watched the
Veggietales Saint Nicholas movie which helped L better understand today's activity. She was very excited to secretly bless someone, especially after I told her that the family we were giving to had 2 little girls one of which is about her age! I printed the Jack Frost game we played earlier, added some marshmallows, a few packs of hot chocolate and some candy canes to a festive bag and dropped it off when I assumed the family would not be home. It wasn't much but hopefully it made their Christmas season a little merrier!
{Go See the Christmas Lights}
We headed out to see the Christmas lights after supper tonight. This one was our favorite and is also a nominee for our area's Clark Griswold award. Besides all of the lights, the house had music playing and if you look closely you can see the flying reindeer which blinked!
{Make Christmas Cookies}
We made good old-fashioned Christmas cookies (and a big mess too!). Read more about it
here.
{Deliver Goodies to the Neighbors}
I made cracker candy this morning and we delivered bags of it with our Christmas card to our four closest neighbors. When we stopped at R & S's, they invited us in to see their train set (I Man was sooooo enthralled with it!) and sent us on our way with some delicious rosettes!
{Go to the Dollar Tree and Pick out Gifts for Family Members}
This one was fun but a bit tricky as we tried to get gifts for each other in the same small store. We conspired with each of the kids to get a gift for their sibling, mom and dad (we had already gotten gifts for the kids and each other, you know, NOT from the Dollar Tree). It was fun to see what L thought we would like, though I did have to steer her away from the flowery lei and the pink baton she was certain D would like...
{Wrap Presents}
If you're going to buy presents for family members, you'd better wrap them, too! L helped wrap by placing the tape in the right spot and adding the gift tag. She does the 'bagged gifts' pretty much all on her own (gotta love tissue paper!).
{Have Our Family Christmas}
Our #1 Christmas Countdown Activity is "Have Our Family Christmas" which we will do this evening. It will include opening presents, enjoying each other's company and taking pictures. However, I knew if I didn't post this now it might not get done until well after Christmas (and you know I wouldn't leave you hanging!). After all, our whirlwind Christmas adventure begins tomorrow and I have plenty to do between now and then!
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
D, M, L and I Man
