Christmas Countdown 2011 - Day 15

Christmas is over, but there is still so much to share! I guess you could say I got a little behind in posting my 25 Days to Christmas activities...let's make Christmas last a little longer!! ;)

Day 14 - Plans got changed! In their place, a fun visit with out of town friends! No pictures...what was I thinking?! :(

Day 15 - Reindeer Fun with Friends

My good friend Sarah and I decided to get together for a fun afternoon with the kids and make our time together reindeer themed!! Little did we know just how "fun" it would be...with me forgetting half of the supplies for the craft, Austin being afraid of their cat, Jilian using her outside voice inside, and Mikayla wanting to just play with the bunny all afternoon. It truly was a comedy of errors, but a great memory was made! Next time we really should take a picture of each other to show off the frazzled mess we were! ;)

Let's make clothespin reindeer ornaments!

As we soon discovered, a craft suited best for older children...

Mikayla & Jilian
Austin giving me the "just one more picture, Mom" look!
Isn't he cute?!
And, aren't they even cuter?!


Let's whip up some reindeer food for Christmas Eve night!

A little oatmeal and sprinkles...

Stir it up...

Reindeer food!!

And, finally...

Let's make reindeer brownies!
(inspired by Pinterest, of course!)


Such a crazy, but FUN afternoon!!

Christmas Countdown 2011 - Day 13

Day 13 - Hanging out with Papa & Grammy

My husband and I celebrated our 8th anniversary on December 13th, so later in the afternoon I took the kids to my parents' house so we could go on a date that night! I wasn't quite ready for the activity for Day 13, so I asked my mom to take a couple of pictures of things that they did at their house. The kids didn't really know any different that this really wasn't the intended activity! ;)

They decorated gingerbread men...

Dressed up in Papa's boots...

...and went to cousin Hunter's Christmas program.

They love spending time at Papa & Grammy's house...
no matter what they do!

Christmas Countdown 2011 - Day 12

Day 12 - Christmas Books by the Fire

Day 12 found the kids relaxing by the fire in their pajamas and snuggled in their sleeping bags ready to read some Christmas books. Each year we have decided to buy each of the kids a Christmas book, so this night was the big reveal! We have a box of Christmas books we pull out each Christmas and leave by the fire and the kids are welcome to read them as much as they want...as long as they put them back in the box! ;)

My Christmas Cuties!

Book #1 - "Santa's Favorite Story"

The next book we had them close their eyes for and then open!

Book #2 - "It's Christmas, David!"

They were both so excited for their books!

And we had a great time reading them...

Christmas Countdown 2011 - Day 11

Day 11 - Family Dinner & Pretzel Kisses

Ever since my parents came "home", the family tries to get together once a week for a family dinner...usually on Sundays. On Day 11 we headed out to my parents' house to eat some yummy taco soup with my sister and brother and their families, as well as my parents. We always enjoy being able to be together and the kids LOVE being with their cousins! For dessert, we enjoyed some pretzel kisses and as part of our Day 11 activity the cousins helped make them!

{The Girl Cousins}
(you can't see her very well, but cousin Hannah is in the background on the right)

{The Boy Cousins}
(minus cousin Jacob who must have been distracted by his book..hee! hee!)

* Pretzel Kisses *

Lay pretzels on baking sheet.
(I've also seen these using star pretzels or round pretzels...too cute!)
Place your choice of Hershey's Kisses (I used "Hugs") on top of each pretzel.

{the little helpers}
Place in the oven at 225 degrees for 3-5 minutes until soft.
(FYI: the "Hugs" melt faster than the milk chocolate Kisses)

Place an M & M on top of each Hershey Kisses and push down.

Each of the cousins enjoyed a treat!

Mikayla - 5 1/2 years

Austin - 4 years
Hunter - 4 years
I tried to snap a picture of cousin Hannah (20 months),
but she wouldn't let me!

Jacob - 11 years
Noah - 6 years
Hailey - 3 1/2 years
Then the treats were passed out to all the adults. Noah was so funny...he would make sure that everyone knew that they could only have TWO.

Fun times with family!

Christmas Countdown 2011 - Day 10

Day 10 - Game Night with Daddy

We had a super busy day last Saturday for Day 10 and I happened to be gone for the evening, so the kids got to hang out with daddy. He was so good about doing something fun with them...setting up a game and each of them got a cookie (that we had made earlier in the week) and some milk for dessert! He even snapped a couple of pictures for me!

Christmas Countdown 2011 - Day 9

Day 9 - Watch America's Funniest Videos

"Christmas Spectacular"

One of our favorite shows to watch together as a family is America's Funniest Videos. This is something I grew up on and Mikayla has fallen in love with the laughter that comes from watching this show! It brings back so many memories of my childhood! For Day 9, we all cuddled up with a tasty treat ("Monkey Munch") and watched the Christmas Spectacular version of the show. It was such a blast and I haven't laughed that hard in so long!! There were a couple of times that Austin would look at me (after I was hysterically laughing) and said, "Mom, it's not that funny." I suppose he doesn't have his momma's sense of humor!

All cuddled up and ready to watch the show!

Best "family photo" we could get!

Let the show begin!

Monkey Munch for a snack!
(with some red & green M & M's to make it more festive)

Christmas Countdown 2011 - Day 8

Day 8 - Pajama Story Time at Mud Puddles

A friend of mine shared with me a great new tradition that we decided to start this year and it became our Day 8 activity of our 25 Days to Christmas. We have a local toy store that is one of those cute little shops that sells quality toys where the kids get to explore, discover, and read. When the kids were younger, we would be sure to make it a habit to visit their weekly story time, but now that both kids are in school we don't make it there as often. For the Christmas season, they were holding a special night time event where the kids could dress up in their pajamas and listen to Christmas books!

I let each of them bring a "friend"...

Austin really was happy to be there...
even though this picture doesn't show it!

It was such a treat to be able to enjoy this time with Mikayla's good friend Ellie because now that they are attending different schools they don't get to see each that much anymore! Ellie's mom (and my good friend) is the one who told me about pajama story time!

Ellie's little sister, Claire, wanted her picture taken, too!

Story time!

Waiting in line for hot cocoa...

It was a fun night and the bedtime process was so much easier that night. We got home, brushed teeth, and then they hopped into bed!