Christmas Fun!!

So this year I really wanted to be done with my Christmas shopping by the beginning of December so I could really enjoy the holiday season. I am happy to say that except for a few small things I am done and it really feels good to be able to relax and enjoy the month more. I wanted to come up with some fun activities to do with the kids this month to make it really enjoyable for them as well. I looked around at several different advent calendars to make and came up with this one. They are count down bags that have different, treats or activities and such in them. I think they turned out great, and the kids absolutely love them. They are so excited every morning to see what their surprise for the day is going to be. Thanks again Liz for your help with the project.

For day one our activity was to set up and decorate the Christmas tree. What better way is there to get you in the Christmas spirit than to decorate a tree. The kids were really excited and did a great job.

Another fun activity we did the first week was go to the festival of trees. Lauren saw a commercial for it on TV and really wanted to go. We met our good friends Jacqueline, Anna, and baby Juliet there and had a really great time. It was so neat to see all the decorated trees and decorations. I could have spent all day there reading all the stories of all the people who's names the trees were donated for.

This was the tree I was most excited to see. This is Gracie's tree. Gracie is a little girl who past away this last year. I followed her blog for a year watching as she waited for a new heart. When her day finally came to recieve her heart things just didn't work out for her. Reading about her and her family made me shed many tears but it made me so grateful for my children and their health. Gracie's tree was beautiful and a favorite of mine and Lauren's.

The next day for our surprise, it was our niece Ellie's birthday so we surprised the kids and drove up to Logan to spend the day with her for her birthday. Heidi had made her this really cute barbie cake but I forgot to take a picture before it got cut into so this is what was left of it.

The kids also got to make gingerbread houses again, which of course is always a big hit.

Heidi and I had also planned to make suckers that day. Sadly out of four attempts, only one of them turned out. I was planning on coming home and trying again, but I decided to call it a failure for this year and move on. Maybe next year we will try again.

Ellie got some new books for her birthday and here is Lauren and Ellie sitting on the chair together reading them. Aren't they so cute!!

For another fun surprise, we had a pajama party with some friends. Awhile ago me and my friend Liz went to Costco together and ended up buying our kids the same pajamas. I told her daugher Gayle that it would be fun to have a matching pajama party sometime. So here it is, matching pajamas, christmas movies, and lots of goodies. Even Liz and I both had on polka dots jammies. Our husbands were both gone that night, so no matching jammies for the daddy's darn it!

We are really enjoying this holiday season and are looking forward to many other fun and surprising activities.