Merry Christmas!

Christmas is officially here!  Sorry I missed after the first week of the countdown but I think we can all agree that this time of year gets hectic. Hopefully you dear readers came up with some wonderful ideas and made great memories with your friends and/or family.

My girls said they loved making and decorating the cookies most of all and both have asked if we can get the stuff to do it again next year.  I actually got the kits through a fundraiser a friends son was doing.  If you are interested they are from Joe Corbis and I believe are crayola sets.  (Yes, you have to buy the dough separately from the decorating kit).

I also remembered the aprons my mother had bought last year for the girls to wear. They were so cute in them.  I hope you enjoy the pictures of our cookie making.

Christmas Countdown: Days 4, 5, and 6

Last night while I was making dinner, hubby and the girls put up our Christmas tree.  I admit I was a little sad that he didn't think of waiting so I could be a part of it.  Though by the time he was home I was already starting dinner and knew it needed finished. Besides i don't usually do much but record them.  So far we have it undecorated to see how our cat is going to react to it.  He has already tried chewing it as soon as it was out of the box.  It doesn't help that my mother tells me how her cat has climbed into hers and actually while on the phone with my mom last night the cat made it to the very top.  (She is planning on taking it down).  Let's all pray our cat doesn't get those ideas to try it.

After dinner we also had our towns parade.  It goes through Main Street which is just at the bottom of our hill.  The four of us went down, watched the bands and floats, got candy though not always at the same time.  In typical fashion, even though I tried to get them to go to the bathroom before we left, Katherine really had to go during the parade.   So Justin took her up while Ava and I got candy for her too.  About five minutes after she got back, Ava had to go.  Back up the hill went Daddy and again the daughter still there and I got more candy for the missing sister. 

The girls have also received their Christmas messages from Santa Wednesday. I found the site last year and the girls love it.  You get to personalize and add pictures so he becomes more real.  Plus, it's free!!!   Interested?  Go to http://www.portablenorthpole.com/home .  There are also options to buy other packages but the basic is pretty amazing itself.  If you do make one this year don't worry, they change them up every year so the kids won't catch on. 

We also had a night of hot chocolate and Christmas stories.  Maybe that doesn't sound that exciting but the girls love getting to snuggle in our big bed and read stories together. 

Of course every morning we still go around to find Boyd, our Elf on the Shelf.  I was shocked at how many people do not seem to like him on Facebook.  I guess I understand because they see pictures of the elf doing things he shouldn't be doing - things our children would be in trouble for.  Well, that's just the doing of those people and have nothing to do with the tradition of him.  Ours is a good boy and it's pretty much a game of not so hide and seek.  From my point of view - very worth the money. 

I hope you're having a great time celebrating the Christmas season! 

Christmas Countdown: Days 2 and 3

Sunday night (day 2) is a busy night.  With school the next day our girls are busy making sure everything they need is in their backpacks and/ or signed.  Then there is the normal routine of dinner and baths.  To countdown to Christmas we kept it simple.  The girls and I got out some red and green construction paper and made a paper chain to go across the large opening/doorway between our living room and "room of requirement". 

It was a simple task but the girls still had a lot of fun doing it.  I'm sure the fact that our cat, Willow, was trying to attack the chain with everything he had helped too.  It also allowed the girls to further help in the decorating of our home.  Up until now I have done most of the decorating myself with them helping with a few ornaments on the tree.  However this is making them proud and to feel more a part of the celebration. 

Today (day 3) we went to visit my in laws and had to go to the market.  We were still able to continue on though as we watched two different Rudolph movies that were on tv at my in laws home.  This allowed not only fun and new movies to be introduced (one about Rudolph and a New Years baby and the other about a toy thief Rudolph helps catch), but also allowed extended family to be a part of our celebration. 

So far the girls are enjoying our special evenings and crafts.  Hopefully you are able to do this with your family also.  Without a ready made list we are able to modify our experiences to fit what may be going on.  That may be the trick to this. I have several more ideas of things to do in my head but haven't written them down to see if I have enough to cover the 24 days.  Feel free to share any ideas you may have also.

The first day of December

I decided this year to add to the excitement of Christmas and do something special each day.  Our Advent calendar is very cute but is just a basic countdown - no surprise treats. Today we started with making ornaments out of a basic salt dough recipe.  (I will post the recipe at the bottom).

Adding Salt

Adding Flour

"This is so gross"

Our Willow was just wondering if he could eat it

Press

cut

Yes, I forgot to take an after picture but I was tired.  The ornaments turned out wonderful.  Now I just need to get some paint and they can finish them.  They really had fun doing this and will always remember it when they look at the ornaments hanging on the tree.

After they cut out the shapes they wanted, I used a straw to put a hole in the top so we could hang them later.  You may also want to flour your table like we did so the dough doesn't stick.

Salt Dough Recipe 

1/2 cup of Salt 

!/2 cup of Flour

1/4 cup of water 

Mix the ingredients in a large bowl until a dough forms.  Press out but not too thin.  Cut using any shapes you'd like.  If hanging, use a straw and punch out a hole.  Put in a 200 degree oven and bake for 3 hours.  Paint and then seal.  

*Due to the large amount of salt and flour, you may want to go to your local Dollar Tree to get them to help the cost*