Day 6: Make a Plate for Santa

I wanted to have a 'special' plate to leave cookies on for Santa Claus this year.  I figured Austin would finally get the whole idea of leaving cookies and milk for him. So, I browsed around Pinterest and Facebook for some cute ideas.  I ultimately decided to use the boys' footprints and turn them into little elves or something.  It came out okay.  I still need to seal it, so that I can actually put food on it. :)

And sorry there's no pictures of the 'making' of this project.  Anytime there's paint involved, I don't have much time to grab the camera!

Day 5: Coloring a Christmas Picture

Tonight's activity was pretty mellow.  I printed off some coloring pages for Austin to pick from and color.  Even Mommy and Daddy got to help color. :)  Chase didn't want to color, but instead would rather scale the furniture!

Day 4: Letter to Santa

Tonight's activity was to write a letter to Santa Claus.  And we all know how this one ends up:  Mommy writes a short letter and Austin scribbles all over it with crayons.  Yep, exactly.  But he got excited about it, and we even put it in an envelope to send off to the North Pole.  I'm thinking Santa might need to reply to this one, just to be sure that our boys are extra good for the remainder of the month. :)

Pictures with Santa

Last year, our visit to Santa didn't go so well; Austin was not happy at all to see the jolly fellow.  And then Easter rolled around and he refused to even go anywhere near the Easter bunny.  Needless to say, I was a little skeptical about how things would go with Santa this year.  We've been talking about visiting Santa for a few weeks and how it was important to tell him what you wanted for Christmas.  He seemed eager to go visit him, so we visited our local Bass Pro for pictures with Santa last week.  We opted to go on a week night, at 5pm this year, because last year we waited nearly 45 minutes and only contributed to the meltdown once it was our turn.  Excellent planning on my part, because there was no line whatsoever.  We walked right up and Austin climbed up on his lap, and I quickly handed Chase over to get the perfect shot with both boys.  They did great! And Austin told Santa what he wanted for Christmas.........to dance! Ugh, this kid is out of control! He's been on this kick of listening to music, playing his guitar, and dancing around the house like a maniac.  I'm sure Santa will be able to accommodate his request.

After visiting with Santa, we enjoyed some of the other activities they had to offer:  making a Christmas ornament at the craft table, racing remote control cars, shooting a bow & arrow, and watching the fish in the giant tanks.  Overall, it was a successful meltdown-free trip to the North Pole, so I'm satisfied. :)

Day 3: Jingle Bell Necklaces

Tonight's activity was to make some jingle bell necklaces.  Once again, I snagged a cute (and cheap) craft from Michaels.  I remember making these necklaces at daycare when I was younger, so they caught my eye.  Anyways, here's the pics.  Short post, but that's all I got time for. :)

Christmas Card!

Family Snowfall Holiday

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Day 2: Gingerbread House

Tonight's task was to make a gingerbread house.  I snagged a good deal on one at Michael's the other day for about $8.  Austin was excited as soon as I pulled the box out.  Anything that includes icing, candy, and Mommy, he's all for it. :)  It went together rather smoothly.  Although, I had to keep covering up areas where there were fingers swipes from a certain little boy wanting to taste the icing.  And then he was eating all my gumdrops!  Oh well, we had a good time, and it came out pretty cute.