9. Decorate and Listen to Christmas Music
Decorating for Christmas with the children is really not enjoyable. WHY do we have so many breakable things? The majority of the ornaments are breakable which of course are the most desirable objects the boys want to help put on the tree. They can’t help hang the lights because we have to stand on ladders. We have a fake tree so they can’t help pick out a tree on a farm or something FUN like that. So trying to keep them from breaking things, trying to keep them calm when they melt down because they can’t climb the ladder to help put up lights is kind of stressful. That being said, we don’t have any pictures of decorating, except this one of Kellen helping put his ornament on the tree!
10. Santa!!!!
We met 2 other families this year for our annual Santa visit! The Wightwick’s with their sweet Baby Jane who was less than 1 month old and The Arnoldy’s with their sweet big girl Reese who is 16 months old.
The boys did great! Finn was super excited, climbed right up there, had lots of smiles, so happy! Riley was shy and quiet and it took a lot of work to get a smile out of him. Same for Kellen. He just sat there dumbfounded. I finally tickled him to get a smile.
Finn went up first, then we added Riley and then we added Kellen, then we did whole family and then we did just Riley and then just Kellen. In all the chaos, Finn forgot to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas, but Riley had asked while he was up there, so afterwards, Finn hopped back up to talk to Santa:
Santa: What do you want for Christmas?
Finn: a gun to shoot my brother with.
Santa: that’s what your brother asked for.
I.die. from embarrassment To our credit, the boys were playing with these really cool nerf guns while we were waiting to talk to Santa. But still, Santa did not know that….and neither did any of the other people working in the store who kept asking the boys what they asked Santa for. It is definitely hysterical, but the look on everyone’s face…..omgoodness.
And one teeny tiny bit of hesitation at the very end that came out of nowhere but is so cute!
And I love that all three boys have worn this romper to meet Santa!
Our friends took these pics which I think are just precious!
The bigs waiting their turn
And watching the trains go by while we wait to go to lunch!
11. Church Christmas pageant
Finn was mostly blocked by the kid in front of him the entire time, this is about the most you can see of him while they sang Hark The Herald Angels Sing
Waving at us while singing Go Tell It On A Mountain
12. Dress your baby in plaid
I seriously die from this cuteness!
13. Snowflakes
I have wanted to make paper snowflakes with the boys forever but I knew they needed to be able to have some decent cutting skills. Finn’s scissor skills are amazing now and Riley’s are coming along pretty good. This was still a little hard for him to do, but with a little help we managed. The boys loved seeing what their creations looked like when we unfolded them. And Finn brought frosty along to help, you know, since he is made our of snowflakes!
Frosty making snowflake angels
And then we hung them on the panes of the back door.
14. Christmas Mystery Reader
I was the mystery reader for Finn’s class this week. Parents can sign up for any day to come in and surprise the kids with a story! The clues that they gave for me were that I’d never read for them before and that I have three boys. I took along How The Grinch Stole Christmas, a family favorite in our house. Most of the kids had read it before, but not all. One boy kept reminding me that it was a movie too. And one kid did not know what a chimney was. I totally forgot to take my camera with me though. :(
But, we’ve also pulled out our pile of Christmas books at home!
15. Make Gifts for Teachers and Friends
Chocolate covered pretzel rods with sprinkles and Reindeer Noses!
First we made cards for our teachers
The on to the good stuff! Riley did the chocolate dipping first while Finn did the sprinkles
Then they switched!
All done and ready for cooling!
The finished product in mason jars wrapped with ribbon and labels.
And reindeer noses!
Day 16: Paint Christmas Trees
We had some free time and I realized that we didn’t have any Christmas tree crafts, and can I again say “I love the internet”!
This craft called for painting with a fork…..
That lasted about 1 minute!
Finished products, Riley’s on the left, Finn’s on the right.
Day 17: Make Family Name Snowmen
Another great internet find! They helped trace a flashlight to make circles which I had to cut out (Finn can cut great straight lines now, circles, not so much) and then they helped count out how many letters in each persons name and helped glue them on. Finn wrote his own name and some letters of the other names, and he helped draw the faces!
