We got our first snow the day before Thanksgiving. The kids were anxious to get out to play in it. I was glad to let them as I was cleaning and preparing for Kensley’s arrival! I think they stayed out in it for a good two hours!!
We try to have a few Family Home Evenings with lessons about the birth of Jesus Christ throughout the month of December. Being a constant crafter, Jade decided to come up with her own little game: a nativity puzzle of sorts.
I think it’s pretty cute the way kids crowd all the ornaments in one place on the tree. What I don’t think is cute is how Tanner not only pulls the ornaments off the tree, but he also chucks them down the stairs. We have a pile of broken ornaments in need of some super glue love. Cody came up with a solution: stuffing the tree in a corner and barricading it off with chairs and tables. Oh what an aesthetic arrangement!
Back in October I was asked to help with the Community Crèche Christmas Celebration. I headed up the table designs. Basically, I recruited a couple dozen Relief Society sisters to come decorate tables, as well as decorated several tables of my own. I was at the church a couple days before and after Thanksgiving setting up.
This is before our “designers” came in:
This is after:
The event turned out beautiful! Wouldn’t you know, I took so many pictures during setup (for reference in future years), that I didn’t take any during the actual event! Except for of my own kids. I’m sure part of the reason for that is Jade was busy running around doing the scavenger hunt with her friends while I was busy running around making sure Ridge didn’t
That is until I told Ridge there was a children’s room. Then we stayed there for pretty much the rest of the time!
Ridge was so excited to be able to touch the toys, he couldn’t take his eyes off them to look at the camera!
Not only were there several kid-friendly nativities to play with, there were also several crafts and activities. Jade made sure to do every single one!
Right before the final live nativity began, we pried the kids away from their activities to go watch. It brought back a lot of memories from last year!
The local library is a short couple blocks from our house. We frequent the story times, read to a dog, and other children activities a lot. It is a really great library with lots of great children’s programs! Right after Jade earned her doll, I pulled up the December library calendar to make sure we didn’t miss anything fun. Wouldn’t you know, they were hosting an American Girl Holiday Party the following Tuesday! You should have seen Jade’s face when I told her! Of course, she wanted to get dressed up and be twins with Isabelle. We also met up with one of Jade’s school friends, Kayla, at the party.
Jade was so sweet to tell Ridge he could take her Bitty Baby doll to the party. He was the only boy there, but didn’t seem to notice. He was thrilled to be involved! The party started with a short reading from one of the American Girl books, followed by a craft, Bingo (Jade was the first to win and received an American Girl book!), and treats. It was really cute! I love our library!!
Every December for 23 years, the Frelinghuysen Arboretum hosts a Gingerbread Wonderland where people from the community display their gingerbread creations. The event is only open until 4:30 on weekdays, so we headed straight over there after school one day.
The kids were pretty stunned by all the displays!
I sure don’t blame them. Boy, there are some talented people out there! These were some of our favorites:
While we were at the Gingerbread Wonderland, I told Jade to get some inspiration for her own gingerbread house. The next day we made our own with our friend Caitlyn.
Ridge said he wanted to make a pirate ship… I told him I didn’t know how to do that, so he settled for a
After it worked so well last year, we continued the tradition of using Halloween candy to decorate the houses. Immediately after Halloween, Jade was actually anxious to choose candy to set aside for her gingerbread house! This way the kids have a variety of candy to decorate with and it’s no extra cost and no extra sweets!
Even I had to get in on the fun and make a house!
I rarely go to the mall. I even more rarely take my kids to the mall. In fact, I try to avoid any unnecessary errands and shopping with kids that I can. Other than the inescapable grocery trips, I don’t go out shopping with them too often! Then December hit and I had to do a little Christmas shopping for the husband. I was a little nervous to have both boys at the mall with me!
And then we walked into the mall and I remembered who my boys are. They are happy and fun and sweet! Tanner drank his bottle and went to sleep. Ridge was a complete riot almost the entire time. He had a little bit too much fun running in between the clothes at Macys and it took a few attempts to get him to leave the toy store (my bad for letting him go look in the first place). Other than that, he was great! As I was paying at Express, an older woman even commented about how patiently he was waiting by the door. She said her grandson would have taken off running!
Ridge was so cute and funny on the mechanical toys. A life-size motorcycle and sports car? What little boy wouldn’t be in heaven?!
He danced and strummed his air guitar to the Christmas music as we walked down the corridors.
Then we spotted Santa! With no line! We walked right up and Ridge had a little chat with him. I asked, “did you tell him what you want for Christmas?” Santa turned to me and said, “a camera.”
My boys turned out to be some pretty great companions at the mall. They actually made the trip more fun than it would have been without them! I may even consider taking them back… but not too soon…
Our ward had a Christmas brunch this year instead of a dinner. The gals in charge made it really cute with a Polar Express theme, even inviting the children to come in their pajamas.
During the program, the primary kids were invited to come to the front to sing. Being the rule-follower that she is, Jade told Ridge—who had followed her to the front—that he couldn’t be up there because he wasn't in primary. I told her it was okay, so she let him stay. As the kids sang Away in a Manger, Ridge didn't mind that he didn't know the words. He simply started improvising with his own actions! It was pretty funny!
At the end of the program, Santa made an appearance to hand out candy canes to the kids. When it was over, we quickly changed the kids and rushed off to a real Santa train ride! I kind of thought it was perfect they both landed on the same day!
The following week we had our Relief Society Christmas dinner. Now that one I was in charge of. My calling was Relief Society Meeting Coordinator—the person who plans the mid-week activities. Then at the beginning of December, I was called to be the Relief Society 2nd Counselor—the counselor over the mid-week activities!
Lucky for us, the former Relief Society President wanted to host the Christmas party in her home. She likes to take a few days (on her own) to set up beautiful tablescapes throughout her home. Each sister had a gorgeous place setting with real dishes to eat on! All our committee had to do is provide the food! It was a lovely evening.
The RS dinner was my last major feat for the year. I felt like everything was done and over and I could relax after that! The next night our good friends had us over for dinner. She decorated beautifully and wanted to do all the cooking! It was a wonderful, relaxing evening with friends.
At this point, all our Christmassy events were over and we were ready to bring on the real thing and hibernate at home in our pajamas for a few days!
No comments:
Post a Comment