Thursday, December 29, 2011

Christmas Day



















We had church at 8 am, so we kept the kids from going into the front room where all the Christmas stuff was. I knew it would be impossible to let them see what Santa brought them and try to get to church on time! They actually slept in and so it wasn't that difficult. When we got home they were so excited, especially Eli. It was fun to see their faces as they saw the play kitchen and race car track set up. I had so much fun turning our old entertainment center into the kitchen for them! I still need to put some paper down inside the shelves, but it turned out just how I wanted. And I even made them aprons and hung them from a hook on the side. It was a big hit and they have played with it constantly since. We opened stockings and then my brother got skype up with my Aunt Jill & grandma who were back in Idaho. The kids had fun holding up their gifts for them to see. Eli saw Kaelub use a knife to cut through some tape on one of the boxes, so then he had to get his play knife to use when opening his gifts. I loved that my mom & brother were here with us! Thank you so much for coming & making this such a special Christmas for us.

Twas The Night Before...





We kept our Christmas Eve program simple this year with a few songs & a story the kids could make it through. We set up the kids' nativity so they could follow along with the book. I hope they will always remember the real reason we celebrate. What a special time of year it is.
Then we let them open their new pj's to wear to bed & set out some cookies & milk for Santa.

Brithday Time















I always get people asking me if I hate that my birthday is on Christmas Eve. But I've always liked it on this day. I love this time of the year and that I always am surrounded by family on my birthday. This year since my mom and brother came here for Christmas, we went to joe's for my free birthday meal & then ate at a park nearby. The kids had so much fun playing with Kaelub & their Uncle Aaron!

Ward Christmas Party




This year the Relief Society was asked to do decorations for our ward party. We decided to do a "Christmas Tree Lane" and have each auxillary decorate a tree. It was so fun to see them! The Primary's tree was so cute! Each of the teachers had their classes make ornaments. We did "Charly Brown" trees for table decorations. We took tree branches and put them in a brown paper sack filled with rocks and a piece of foam. Then tied twine around it and hung 1 ornament from the branch. They were so cute! Eli was in the nativity as a shepard (but he told us he was a cow). It was so cute to watch him up on the stage.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Eli's Preschool Christmas Program






I forgot my camera when we went to Eli's preschool program, but it was so cute. They were dressed in their aprons and chef hats. After they showed us to our seats they brought us a menu with things like "run away men" (gingerbread cookies), "reindeer snacks" (mini chocolate chip cookies), "snowman drippings" (water), & "santa's special" (chocolate milk). While we ate they sang songs & danced. My favorite part was at the end. Mrs K. had askeded the kids questions and then wrote down the answers they said. They each held up their paper with the answers. First question: What should daddy get mommy for Christmas? Eli said toys....cupcake toys. Second question: What should mommy get daddy for Christmas? Eli said Christmas lights. Third question: What is the elves most important job? Eli said go to work and buy and get the bad guys. So funny! When we got home I tried to get Eli to hold his signs so I could get pictures of them, but he wasn't in the mood. So Ava helped me out. Then Eli finally decided to hold up his book Mrs. K gave him.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Christmas Crafts






I always love pulling out my Christmas decorations. It makes me happy! We got them all up the day after Thanksgiving because Eli kept asking to put up the tree. I wanted to make a Christmas wreath this year so I looked online to find ideas. I saw several tutorials on Christmas ball ornament wreaths, so I hit the dollar spot at Target and found containers with 8 ornaments for just $1. Then I went to my closet and found an old wire hanger. You just take the wire hanger apart and form a circle, take the tops off the ornaments and hot glue them back on, thread them on the hanger, and cut the extra wire off you don't need. Then I used craft wire to wrap my hanger ends together and tied on some ribbon. Love it! I also made a couple of banners to hang. One with scraps of fabric & mini felt stockings I also found at the Target dollar spot. (Love that section!) Another with scrapbook paper glued to triangles I cut from empty cereal boxes. Just ink edge the paper, punch some holes, tie with twine, and hang! My most recent project I just finished last night was the tree skirt. I had an old tree skirt I didn't love anymore and it didn't match my green, red, & white tree too well. So I found a tutorial for this cute ruffle tree skirt where you don't even sew! Just some hot glue & time.(Visit The Crafted Sparrow blog if you want to make one too!)

A visit from Santa



A week or so ago we had a special visitor come to our house. When Eli answered the door he was so excited to see Santa! Kelsey's father-in-law was nice enough to make an extra stop at our house. Eli sat on his lap and told him he wanted toys. Ava didn't want anything to do with him.