december daily 7

On the seventh day...

This morning Elfy was caught taking a family picture, I only hoped my Christmas card picture would turn out as well.

This morning was the dreaded day...I so don't look forward to every year...the taking of the Christmas card picture.  In the past it has been almost impossible to do with three little kiddos!  This morning started out no different when a little princess started throwing a fit for a good 45 minutes that she was not going to wear the outfit I bought specifically for this...oh no,+ she was not going to get out of this one...she finally calmed down and decided to put it on.  The boys luckily were not a problem this year!  After that fit it actually went pretty easy this year!  Hallelujah!  I am not going to give away the "winning" picture for our Christmas card yet, but here are the outtakes.  

{Avery actually took this one!}

Then we rushed out the door for one of the kiddos favorite days...seeing THE Santa.  Yes, this is the real one!

The real Santa comes to Zonkers once a year for Garmin's Children's Holiday Event.  It gets crazy busy with all the employee children so you have to arrive early!  I think they took one of the best Santa picture to date too!  Maybe they are realizing you can't fight Mom and taking pictures...finally ;).

Here's a look back at the past four years.  My favorite has to be the second picture with Ellie crying and Avery's scary face...good times...

Then it was time to play!

Fun day!

december daily 6

On the sixth day...

Elfy shows up ready for family movie night with popcorn and the remote!

We snuggled up on the family room floor for Christmas style movie night.  The movies chosen were A Christmas Story and The Rise of the Guardians, both mainly chosen by Avery...the "real" movie watcher out of the three.  

The highlights of the night...three kiddos sweetly snuggled together, Avery telling me out of the blue he loves me {I don't get that a lot from this boy}, Evan saying he really wanted to own the pink bunny suit from A Christmas Story {only Evan would say something like that :)}, eating a "snowman" pizza,  Ellie saying Avery & Evan were her best friends, and having Evan and Bella chase each other around the room...fun times!

december daily 5

On the fifth day...

Elfy got a little crafty and made some miniature cards for the kiddos!  He can never clean up after himself!

We woke up to a tiny dusting of snow this morning.  It was Bella's first experience with snow!  She didn't know what to think of it.

It made the kiddos excited!  I am ready for some real snow!

We also finally got the boys' new ornaments, so we finally hung all their ornaments on the tree!

I don't know what is up with Avery's crazy pose :)...Evan's pose I know too well {I don't want to take a picture mom pose}...

Yeah we can't ever get a normal posed picture...I am not looking forward to the dreaded Christmas card photo!

Elfy must have known what our activity was today...making cards!  It was helpful having all the supplies out already!

Card making turned into crown making...

Avery's sweet flowers he drew for me!

I don't think this boy has ever sat down and made a pretty picture on paper...he is more about making projects out of paper...

First it was this...

Then it turned into this...that was later transformed into a holder for nuts and seeds he had collected from outside several weeks ago.  So much for card making with this boy :).

Avery made a card for Santa and Elfy.

Avery also made a green ninja hat for his sister...so sweet, right?!

Although a lot of Christmas cards weren't produced, the kiddos still had fun tonight being crafty!  

december daily 4

On the fourth day...

Elfy showed up this morning in the boys' room playing with all their Skylanders...or maybe the Skylanders were trying to attack Elfy because he seems a little scared :). 

This afternoon was a little crazy...

I am starting to realize it can be tricky fitting in our Advent activities in the small amount of time I have with all 3 kiddos in the evenings, especially when we have something else to do after school.  I did plan ahead on this one and tried to make it a super easy one, but we were still a little rushed trying to fit it in while getting dinner on the table at 6:45 since we had been gone since picking up Avery after school.  After school time is so valuable!!

Today's activity was to make "Grinch Kabobs".  Easy enough...you are just supposed to stick a toothpick through a green grape, banana, strawberry, and mini marshmallow on top and you have a cute little snack that looks like the Grinch's head.

Awesome right?! 

 Well the problem started at the grocery store when they didn't have strawberries...so we improvised with cranberries and purple grapes...well I don't think those things are equivalent...

Haha....NAILED it right??!!

I think this would fit under a Pinstrosity....

At least the boys had fun stabbing fruit with toothpicks!

Some other news...

After school today Avery's Cub Scout den went to a radio station and got to sit in while the DJ did live broadcast on air.  They also got to record themselves saying the Pledge of Allegiance, which will be played on the radio on a different date.  It was pretty interesting to see the inside workings of a station.

december daily 3

On the third day....

We were so relieved Elfy moved this morning to a new spot and had returned with a letter!  You see, there was a little mishap last night when the kiddos were telling Elfy what they wanted for Christmas {this is the way I heard the story being told after two boys calmed down} was that Ellie hit the blinds right behind Elfy and Elfy fell over.  The thing that upset the boys, especially Evan, was that they weren't sure if Ellie had actually touched Elfy...causing him to lose his magic :(.  After telling Elfy and Santa that they were sorry and sending a little prayer to God...it turns out that there was no harm done!  That was a close one!  Elfy said he would be more careful where he hides from now on.

Today we worked on making a hand print Christmas tree.  The end result is pretty cute, but it's always pretty stressful to get three kiddos hands on paper and not making a mistake!  Let me also say 4:30 pm is never a good time to try a craft...they might have been bribed with candy :).  The hands went well and then we tried putting the red fingerprint "ornaments" on...we should have stopped with the hands...because kids will randomly dot a painted Christmas tree as well as they will hang ornaments on a real Christmas tree...if you know what I mean.  Luckily, the red paint both Evan and Ellie tried to smear on the sides of the tree came off well, Ellie's top hand had to be a little repainted...my OCD sometimes doesn't work well with crafts like this :).  We survived in the end and will now have a cherished keepsake for years to come!  

{Avery was my photographer :)}

We did end the night on the right foot with cuddling with our Christmas book for the day!

{Yes, Ellie does have a little scratch on her face...No, she doesn't need a large band aid on her face for it...she just enjoys wearing them...}