december daily 21

On the twenty-first day...

Elfy delivered a letter back to the boys from Santa.  It said they are still on the nice list, but he will be watching them closely...hopefully they can make it!

Today was cold day with freezing rain all afternoon so we stayed inside most of the day and played some games.

We were supposed to go to Rudy the Christmas train today at Union Station, but we didn't want to brave the roads that far {maybe next year!}.  However, since we already promised the kiddos that we would see Christmas lights tonight we headed on out for a quick tour in-between freezing rain and the start of snow.  We enjoyed the new Christmas display at the farm and had to make our rounds to the penguin house {the penguins were a little droopy tonight with all the ice on them!}.

december daily 20

On the twentieth day...

Elfy was being a naughty little elf by stealing Bella's treats.

I think the naughtiness was going around today!  We started out with a great morning of pjs, movies, and popcorn snacks.

Then I started working on wrapping presents, while the kiddos helped out.  

There were lots to wrap!

In the middle of wrapping presents I noticed the boys were gone and all was quiet...never a good sign!  I caught the boys in the sub basement sneaking in things little kiddos should not find right before Christmas!!  I don't know how they were discovered, but mama was not happy!  I told them they better write letters to Santa right away because I am pretty sure this would make them on the naughty list!  Avery's says, "Dear Santa, I am sorry for being sneaky."  I hope Santa forgives them!  {Hopefully, the story I gave them about being their friends' things is not disputed.}  We have to continue to believe in our house!!

We ended the night with making some reindeer food...always a favorite activity.  Reindeer food = one scoop oatmeal + sprinkles of glitter

I hope my superheroes make it back to the nice list!

december daily 19

On the nineteenth day...

Elfy was found surrounded by some enemies!

Today's activity was to give a gift to another person.  Which since today was the last day of school before winter break, that means Avery brought his teacher a present {Evan actually did this yesterday}.  And then it was also Avery's winter party today!  Lots of fun with these little first graders.  A great group of kids!

{The class with their principal}

So welcome winter break.  The boys are now off for 18 days, wow!

And just because I only included pictures of Avery today, here's the other two...tormenting Bella with a too small shirt!

december daily 18

On the eighteenth day...

Elfy was hard to find this morning, but we finally found him fishing in the boys' fish bowl.

Today's activity was to make candy canes from beads.  Ours don't really look like the official red and white candy canes, I think they are more the Starburst variety ;).

The boys also both brought home ornaments for us from school today.  Evan's is the one with the little Evan trapped inside :) and Avery made the other two.  I love every ornament they make me, but in a few years I think we are going to need another tree just to hold all their ornaments!

The weather was beautiful this afternoon...not really what I want right before Christmas, but the boys enjoyed their time fishing ice from the pond and making "ice sculptures".  The one Avery called a car really looked like one!

december daily 17

On the seventeenth day...

Legos "Christmas style", was what today was about.  Elfy came to build too!

Fun and easy way to celebrate the season together!

{By the way we love our train table turned Lego table...yes it's a mess, but it's all contained on a table that doesn't have to be cleared off, the boys can continue working on projects, it's a large space, it has drawers to contain the Legos, and the little edge around it keeps Legos from falling off...it works perfectly for them!}

december daily 15&16

On the fifteenth day...

Elfy was caught in the middle of a "snowball" fight with some ducks!

Then I surprised the kiddos with some reindeer and snowman "poop" in the morning that they got to try before church...some yummy stuff!

And since we never got around to doing it before, we took the kiddos to their annual Dollar Store shopping trip for some family members.  They get to decide for themselves what they are buying for each person...the boys are getting pretty good with this, Ellie on the other hand was being a grinch and only wanted to buy for herself that day ;).  I know the family members who get these gifts can't wait to see what they got this year :).

Then...

On the sixteenth day....

It is our "unofficial" Grinch Day today!  {I don't think Avery understood that we may be the only one who celebrates this and try to tell some kids in his class that it was Grinch Day...} 

Elfy started us off with turning our milk green in celebration!

What is Grinch Day you ask?  Well, it's just a day to eat as many green stuff as possible, dress in green, and watch and read How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  Fun times at our second annual Grinch Day...here's to many more!