12 Days of Christmas, Days 7 - 12

Alright, time to finish up the 12 days of Christmas.  

Day SEVEN was a fun one! We invited a lot of our friends in our neighborhood and my sister to come to our house and let the kids act out the Nativity.  It was so CUTE and will definitely be a tradition! We "casted" based on age, so Isaac was the oldest boy and got to be Joseph.  There were three mobile babies who got to be the sheep, so that was Beau.  We had the Roberts, the Johnson's, the Jenson's, and the Hill's (my sis) join us.  It was so fun, we all had camera's and video camera's.  And thanks to Travis for reading the story! Here is Isaac (Joseph) and Milly (Mary) with baby Beck (baby Jesus) and look at Walker, what a great sheep he was!!! His costume was my FAVORITE!

 Here are all the kids, we had Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus, three sheep, three wise men and Katie became our angel!

This is the best picture I could get of Beau....He did not like the headband, definitely not as good as Walker's costume!

Day EIGHT: Isaac got a "luggage tag" to put on his new roller-board backpack.  The activity was to "pack" for Utah.  Sorry, no pictures. 

Day NINE: Isaac got his very own, and very first ornament to put on his little tree in his room.  He has a bunch or random ornaments on it from my childhood, so it's fun to start his own little collection.  Again, no picture, we were busy getting ready for Utah! 

Day TEN: We actually didn't do this one because it was the day we travelled to Utah and we were too busy to do it.  Oh well.  But I got him a pack of stationery cards and the idea was to write letters/thank-you's to family and friends and then mail them.  He would have loved it, but he loved playing with cousins more.  

Day ELEVEN: We started this tradition last year, so it was perfect to incorporate into 12 days.  Isaac and Beau got a new Christmas book and Isaac got a stuffed animal.  The activity was to read the book and then, per tradition, we trace the boy's hands in the front of the book and write what they are grateful for.  I would tell you what they said, but I've already put away Christmas stuff.  Here are pictures:

 Day 12: Again, per tradition, the boys both got new pajamas.  To really keep with my childhood tradition, we should have driven around looking at Christmas lights in the pj's, but the boys were soo sleep deprived that we were too anxious to get them to bed early. :) But here are Beau and Isaac in their new pj's with Grandma! (Taylor's mom)

And that concludes the 12 days of Christmas.  Overall, it was a lot of work and planning on my part, but Isaac loved it.  I used a gift bag for all the gifts, so every time Isaac saw it on the counter he got so excited! So it will be a definite re-do next year!

12 Days of Christmas, Continued....

Continuing with our 12 days of Christmas countdown... Day FOUR: I made Isaac a fleece blanket and the activity was to watch a movie together. While I was at the store, I asked a random person their opinion on what color backing I should put with my print, well come to find out, the lady I asked made blankets for a living.  So she took me all around the store, gave me her opinion on things and pointed out things I never would have thought about.  It was awesome.  Then, before she left, she offered to embroider the blanket for Isaac.  I knew Isaac would love that, so bring on the project! Here he is opening it in the morning (yep, in his PJs....and notice Beau coming around the couch!)

 Here's a close-up on the embroidering and the blanket.  I don't know why my pictures look squished...

Day 5: I found an apron for Isaac and continuing with his name (he is REALLY into letters and writing things and loves to point out his name)I painted his name on the apron and wrote "Sous Chef" on it.  Then the activity was to make gingerbread houses (yes, this was his third one of the season). 

 We had friends come join us.

 Isaac and his new friend Milly.

Day SIX Isaac got sprinkles and cookie cutters and the activity was to make sugar cookies and deliver them to our neighbors (ah see, get opportunity to have a service teaching moment) :).  Next year, someone please remind me to just buy something for neighbor goodie plates....because, making 3 dozen cookies and dinner at the same time made for one messy kitchen, a grumpy mom, and forced family bonding. :) Three and a half hours and 12 neighbor plates later...I can now check "neighbor goodies" off the list...and thank goodness because I am EXHAUSTED!

12 Days of Christmas

Whew....I am behind! I didn't think I had much to post about, but after going through my camera I had a lot more than I thought.  I'll see if I can catch up somehow, someday.  But I really wanted to post about the 12 days of Christmas we are doing at our house right now.  My aunt gave me the idea of doing something special leading up to Christmas, so everyday Isaac gets something and then there is an activity that goes along with the gift.  

So day one, he got a Santa mug and then we had a hot chocolate bar (with peppermints and marshmallows) but I don't have a picture of that.  

Day Two: Matching Christmas shirts for the boys. (Timed so that he could wear it to preschool today). 

Day Three: A fun and funky pen -- the activity was to use it to write his letter to Santa. (Be prepared for his crazy pose in this picture!)   

 The boys with their letters.... it was so fun to write Isaac's, it cracks me up what he says, 'A big, big, big, big, big snowman in his room" ...?????

And for the sake of catching up....we also started "Elf on the Shelf" this year.  Isaac named the elf "Bernard." I almost failed on the first day because I forgot to move him before he woke up....oops! But Isaac thought it was SOOO cool to receive a package from the North Pole that was addressed to him.  It was on our doorstep and as he looked closer he realized it had his name on it and his reaction was priceless!! However, now he asks every time when we get the mail if there is a letter addressed to him!