Christmas Angel

Day 24: Go Bowling

But since I have no pictures of that, here's one last "advent" post of Lu doing the *other* activity of the day: icing cookies for Santa.

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Day 21: Make Gingerbread Houses

I would like to preface this post by saying that I have absolutely no recollection of ever having made a gingerbread house before in my life. So I decided to start out small (and since I have small kids . . . that works well). We used graham crackers and basic icing and all the familiar gingerbread house candy. Lucky thing kids like candy, because this was, by all counts, a learning experience.

Anxiously watching Mom assemble the house.

I should also add that we had our friends the Christiansens over to share in the candy joy with us. *They* obviously had gingerbread house-making experience, because with the meager materials provided, they came up with this:

Theirs.

Ours. It's the crackhouse of the gingerbread world. But, you know, it was totally edible. So who cares?

Day 19: Drive Mom Crazy

Oh wait. That was today. Yesterday it was "Wrap presents and make gift tags." TODAY it was mass hysteria. (Have I mentioned yet how much I secretly hate Christmas? You wouldn't know it from all of my lively pictures. Hopefully my kids don't suspect it either.)

Are these photos making you dizzy? Crummy winter light. "What does the light have to do with the angle?" you ask? Just don't question me on this, ok!! (Bad day. I really shouldn't be blogging.)

The finished product.

Attention! TV Found to be Good for Kids

Engenders spontaneous acts of love and kindness between siblings. Will wonders never cease?

Day 17: Help Mom Make Dinner

That may not sound very exciting to all of you. But to my kids, it was the bomb. Actually, what made it more exciting was that they got to CHOOSE their favorite dinner, and THEN help me make it. I had the ingredients to a couple of well-known favorites on hand and was not disappointed. Nachos it was.

And, of course, Phx was happily on dish duty.

A Right Jolly Old Elf

And a young one too. I know I'm biased and all, but, Is that a cute smile, or what?

Phx is right now sitting on *my* lap saying, "That's Santa. He says (and do this in a low, Santa-ish voice), 'Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas.'"

He stayed on Santa's lap long enough for a picture, but, really, the candy-cane was much more interesting.

But Lu . . . well, she was very earnest in keeping Santa's attention long enough to tell him exactly what she wanted.

(Note: These pictures *were* taken on the 13th, hence the same dress once again. sigh.)

Day 13: St. Lucia Day

Because we're all-inclusive like that. And because we are always looking for an excuse for a good craft. Here is our attempt at traditional St. Lucia Day processional hats.

And a boy's hat for Phx.

Crafting.

In the creative moment.

(Note: I just noticed that she's wearing the same dress on day 13 as on day 11. I swear these pictures were taken two days apart. What can I do? She picks her own clothes out now.)

Day 11: Make Candy for Teachers

. . . and librarians. I mean, who ever remembers the librarians? We have the best librarians, so we decided we'd make some goodies for them too. We made these "turtles," some cookies, and even cream cheese mints. All that AND a cinnamon ornament. And Day 12 (of which I have no pictures) was "Decorate gift bags." How on-the-ball am I? Huh? (Just disregard the fact that I have fever blisters right now, most likely due to stress.)

As usual, Lutece is "helping" Phoenix. Luckily it doesn't bother him too much. She's a caring big sister.

At first they were just putting the pretzels on the tray with the Rolos on top. Then they got zealous and started helping me unwrap the Rolos. After trying to put countless Rolos in their mouths, each time having me remind them to put them in the bowl, not their mouths, they both started saying, like a mantra, "I'm not eating it, Mom," as if to reassure me. Anyway, they both got to eat some too.

The finished product. Good enough to eat.

Day 10: Eat More Cookies

Ok, actually, it was "Buy a Christmas present for Dad." But this was way more fun to take pictures of.

Yum.

Sooooo good, I tell ya. As soon as we made the cookies on Saturday, we froze 75% of them. So nice to pull them out whenever you need a fresh cookie. Or two. Ahem. Just right for a FHE treat.

Yea. There's not a whole lot better than Christmas sugar cookies. Unless it's Christmas candy. Stay tuned.

Sunday Best

Ohmygosh. It is so hard to get a decent picture of the two of them together. I give up. This is the best I could do. No. Really. The best. I think he's yawning. I don't know *what* she's doing.

Day 8: Make Sugar Cookies

I know. It seems like a huge leap from day 3 to day 8, but, well, I just don't have my camera with me all the time. Sorry folks.

The sugar cookies was mostly a Mommy/Lu activity. We tried to let Phx help . . . hmmm . . . not such a good idea. Maybe next year buddy.

For now, you can do the dishes. I don't feel so bad, since this is an activity he LOVES.

Day 3: Make Cinnamon Ornaments

Mix the dough by hand. Oh the joy! (Applesauce and cinnamon. That's it.) Phx can attest to the fact that you should NOT eat it, however much it looks like cookie dough. Bleah.

Roll it out.

Cut it with various cookie cutters. Remember to poke holes in the top for your ribbon. (Hence the straw.)

Then let bake for 2 1/2 hours. Oh, and have FUN! (I just have to add that about 2 hours into the baking process, the smell of cinnamon was so strong in the kitchen, I thought I might just throw up. That part wasn't fun.)

Day 2: Trim the Tree

Voila. The tree. What more can I say?

Sorry about the blur. Lu and I made these simple decorations to fill in the lower half of the tree. You know, the part that Phx is going to destroy.

Day 1: Cut Down Christmas Tree

So we started the advent calendar on December 1. Natch. I thought I'd catalog some of the more exciting activities we do this month, cause I know you're all DYING to know what the kids are up to. We had such a great time last year cutting down our own tree, that we decided to make it a yearly tradition. Lutece had her first dance recital in the morning (more posting on that later). I just tell you that so you can appreciate her "dance hair" in this pic of her on Santa's sleigh.

It was very cold. If you can't already tell by the glassy eyes and ruddy cheeks.

After I noticed Phx waving this stick around for awhile, I asked him, "Do you like that stick?" His response: "No, mommy. It's a sword."

And here it is. The glorious tree.

The Finished Product

Here is the finished advent calendar that we were working on in the previous post. We found the idea at Kids Craft Weekly, a fantastic site that I just recently discovered. Lutece did the prints, cut out the numbers, and pasted them on. As we were finishing it up she said to me, "We are Christmasizing our home Mom." Naturally. Since we "winterized" the home a couple of weeks ago. (Stayc would tell you how advanced she is in her use of morphemes.)

Now we have an activity planned for each of the 24 days leading up to Christmas. How's that for advance planning.

Someone wanted his picture taken too. "Cheese Mom."

And finally, another example of the hilarity I mentioned in the last post. Can you see the crazy in her eyes?

Potato Prints

Yesterday we worked on a homemade advent calendar and did a little painting. Where are the potatoes? Where are the prints? Sorry, no images yet of the finished product. I'll post that later. No one got yelled at or put in time out. Hey. A good time was had by all.

If you look closely, you can see one potato print on the tablecloth next to Lu. Not the place we were aiming for.

The paper plate "palettes" got more painting than the paper. And after an hour, the activity slowly degraded. (Hey. An hour's good!)

No. That's not a rash on Phx's face. At least he didn't eat any of it. This time.

I just had to add this last picture of Lu. Note her little outstretched index finger there. She makes this hand gesture whenever she's talking to you and trying to make a point. It's so characteristic; I was delighted to notice that I inadvertently captured it on film.