Christmas - Round 2

Every year our Christmas Eve traditions include new jammies and the watching of The Nativity Story.

The next morning Kevin had to work but he agreed that we could still open stockings at least.

the kids' treasures. (the wrapping paper scrap reveals which presents under the tree are theirs)

 H's: glitter paint, notebook and pens, a soft wallet, Dora computer game, tattoos, gum and candy, balloons (which we then blew up) and a DVD

 C's: glitter paint, candy/gum, DVD, balloons, a soft wallet (not pictured)

 E's: glitter paint, eraser, key chain, Diego computer game, gum/candy, soft wallet

And these I forgot to put IN the stockings! But at least remembered that same morning! Bedtimes passes for them to each stay up an extra 20 min when redeemed. They loooved these and wanted to use them that night so they could do Christmas when Daddy got home from work! I assured them that it was a holiday and they could stay up later anyway. So sweet.  Eli and Hannah redeemed their coupons within the first week though.  Love how they treasure that extra time together and will try to remember to give them as other gifts as well!  =)

The rest of Christmas day we had fun, although we were reaaaally anxious for Daddy to get home!

 we colored

And got tattooed

 Made snowball cookies.

 Assembled puzzles.

 And played games.

 It was a perfect Christmas Day, minus Daddy!!  As soon as Daddy got home, the kids were excited for him to open his stocking!

and get a tattoo

We had a Christmas dinner of a roasted chicken and potatoes and whatever other traditional feast foods! =)  And then opened presents! This year for each of the kids we gave "something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read".  We kept it really simple and the kids were still delighted!

A good day, for sure.

BUT that same night, Hannah lost her first tooth!!  At the age of 4! It really was loose on its own and getting super wobbly so when Daddy got home, he took care of it and twisted it out of there!  Hannah decided to keep her tooth instead of giving it to the Tooth Fairy for money.  To that we said Okay! What a big girl!!

 

Christmas - Round 1

Still working to get caught up so here we are at Christmas!  Our first celebration was with Kevin's family the weekend BEFORE Christmas.  It was our best visit we've ever had with them! The kids were so well behaved and we didn't have any bedtime issues with them all sharing a room.  And, maybe it's due to new toys and games, but during the day were entertained and busy and not just causing trouble with each other!  Whatever the case, it was GREAT! Definitely smiles all around!

December - Advent Activities

This month was FULL of fun activities leading up to Christmas! As I mentioned on my personal blog, we did a countdown calendar with a family activity each day, along with the unwrapping of a Christmas book, and a Bible story reading.  We truly had a fantastic season, celebrating the coming of our Savior! We created a lot of fun memories and reinforced our family's traditions and beliefs about what Christmas means. It seriously is so much more fun and meaningful as the kids continue to get older!!

These are some of the highlights...

stringing a popcorn garland. They did sooo well this year and stuck with it WAY longer than I thought they would! Eli actually finished it!

 decorating ice cream cone Christmas trees

opening a Christmas "book" that was actually a nativity puzzle

Hannah and I went on a mother-daughter double date to see the Nutcracker Ballet with friends.  She LOVED it and it was a most special day!  With the flu having hit our family that week, we BARELY were able to go, but we did and I am sooo thankful!!

 a Christmas dice game

 the preparing and mailing of our Christmas cards. We created an assembly line for each person, including Carter, to have a job. They were FANTASTIC helpers and this project was done in no time, and they liked feeling like they were at a real job! After this we hopped in the car and dropped them off at the post office. The kids each enjoyed dropping some in the mail slot!

Christmas trivia game

 enjoying looking at Christmas books on a quiet afternoon

A VERY cold snow day!! The big kids only played outside for a few minutes and Carter didn't make it out the door at all.  So we brought the snow IN and the kids had a grand time!!

Back to the Advent activities... We listed what we are thankful for. And Eli wanted to hang his on the tree.

And we decorated Christmas cookies that we could then bring to Hannah's Christmas program the next night.

Before Eli's Christmas program

And Hannah's

 Kevin's 32nd birthday.

Write a Christmas poem