Christmas Activities

This year, like most other years, we have done a ton of Christmas crafts. This year was different, however, because Ella is a crafty girl, and I pretty much showed her pictures of what to do and then she did  them almost completely on her own. The boys are not very interested anymore so it was nice to spend time with my girlie.

The ornaments below are made from shells and sea glass we found on our trips to Broomes Island this summer. Envisioned and created by Ella. Pretty cool if you ask me.

The 3 white shells upper left are a disassembled snowman

Borax snowflakes

A mountain of playdough

We had a lot of fun taking a bunch of it to church to give to little kiddos (after asking their parents of course)

Felt ornaments. I cut the felt but Ella did the rest. She loves her new glue gun.

Tissue covered votives. All 3 littles did these on their own and discovered that peeling dried glue off your hands is wicked cool. We ended up covering our palms completely in glue so we could peel them.

 Applesauce and cinnamon ornaments. We made these with some friends and enjoyed getting our hands all squishy and gross. One of our little friends licked her fingertip and found it didn't taste nearly as good as it smelled.

Ella's Brownie Troop marched in a local Christmas parade. The girls were elves and the grownups were reindeer. Very fun!

Hank's Cub Scout Pack had its annual Christmas party where the boys were given any awards they earned during the previous month, and....

Santa visited. Our local Santa is really good and the kids just love him. He puts a Santa hat on their heads and if it twirls when he lifts it off, they were good all year. Well, all the adults laughed when it twirled coming off Shane's head. Even he seemed a little surprised, but not as surprised as when he found a big jingle bell in his pocket planted by Santa. Magic, I tell ya

It has been an insanely busy month. Lots of fun, but busier than I prefer. Like many others, I see January 1st as a pivot point for the year so I'm really looking forward to getting into more of a disciplined (for me and the kids) schedule. For now, we're just riding the wave of fun.

Kris Kringle Parade

Each year in early December the 'big city' near us has their Kris Kringle parade which announces Santa's arrival into town. And for the last 4, maybe 5?, years we've met our wonderful friends Mr and Mrs P to watch the parade and then walk to a local coffee shop for cocoa and conversation. Love it!

Ella and Shane hanging out waiting for the parade to start

We meet near the beginning of the parade in front of the Civil War Medicine museum. They have interesting displays in their window. Like this woman nursing this almost dead guy back to health. The boys, of course, think it's pretty cool. Ella always wonders if the woman had to walk in the fields in her dress and if it got torn or dirty.

Why that lady hold that man? He got shot?

A reasonably good group shot

The parade is made up mostly of boy and girl scout troops dressed in fun Christmas costumes likes elves, presents, angels, etc. This year there was a group of boys dressed as chimney sweeps pulling a wagon decorated to look like a chimney/rooftop. Pretty cool, and methinks Hank and I may copy them for the Reindeer Run next year. The wheels are always turning here...

Santa! Where are you!

The local theatre and dance troupes also join the fun, and little kids in costume run along the sides of the street handing out candy canes to little kid spectators.  It's a fun, hometown parade that the kids really enjoy. It's rarely crowded so we can get front row seats without being smushed or crowded.

Then we walk a few blocks to a local coffee shop where we hog a bunch of tables and dump our coats everywhere park the kids at one table to play games and us at another table to drink coffee and chat, my favorite part!

Pardon the bangs; she has decided to donate her hair so now we just need to make the appointment

We don't see Mr and Mrs P very often but when we do, the time we spend with them is as comfortable as your favorite blankey. We just fall into great conversation where we left off and laugh - a lot.

Another wonderful Christmas memory