Thursday, December 20, 2012

CtC - Day Twenty: Go on a Christmas Lights Drive

Day Twenty - Lights!!!

I have been waiting for this one to come up on the cards!! I love love driving around and looking at all the decorated houses. We lucked out and found some great neighborhoods just a few streets away!! One neighborhood banded together really nicely and all decorated trees with green trunks and red lights up on top. So pretty!! The boys seemed to enjoy it too. I'm glad they are getting old enough to have their interest maintained and not get bored with mom and dad just aimlessly driving around. :)







Wednesday, December 19, 2012

CtC - Day Nineteen: Play Christmas Music and Sing Along

Day nineteen - Christmas carol sing along!

This one was a little tough to make special since from Thanksgiving all the way up thru Christmas there is near constant Christmas music playing in our house! So turning on some Christmas tunes and singing along is a near daily event!

So lucky for us, we did have a special little impromptu sing along come our way thanks to Ezra! He seems to rather like "Up on the Rooftop," and really digs the "ho ho ho" part. So here's a little peek of Ezra singing his song. :)


Tuesday, December 18, 2012

CtC - Day Eighteen: Have a Pajama Jam

Day Eighteen - dance party!!

Tonight's activity was to have a pajama dance party around the Christmas tree. Caiden wasn't quite sure what that meant at first, but he got right into it once the music started! This one was a lot of fun, and I think it will become a regular weekly addition in our house! :)




Monday, December 17, 2012

CtC - Day Seventeen: Play a Game Together

Day Seventeen - yay gameday!!

This was a fun and easy activity for us as Caiden and I often play games together. Caiden picked out Candy Land which is a favorite of ours, and he usually beats the pants off me! Today, however, victory was mine! LOL


Sunday, December 16, 2012

CtC - Day Sixteen: Donate a Gift to Charity

Day sixteen - toy donation!

In our pursuit to teach the kids that Christmas is about giving, Caiden got to donate a toy to charity. Normally I'd like for the kids to pick out the toy at the store, but we were tight on time, so I chose something that I thought Caiden would be likely to pick while I was out. When we showed him what it was, he told us that another kid "is going to be very proud to get these toys for Christmas!" Then he wanted to pick out some of his own toys to donate too. I had to explain that this donation place only takes new toys but that we could donate some of his toys on another day. :)





Saturday, December 15, 2012

CtC - Day Fifteen: Shop for Food Pantry Donation

Day fifteen - donation day!

Last year we started the tradition of shopping for a donation to make at our local food pantry. I think this really stuck with Caiden as he often mentioned it when we went back to the store where we made the purchases. I am thankful that we have enough so that we can give to others who are in need. I am also thankful that we can start instilling this desire in our children. I want them to learn to embrace that Christmas is more about giving than it is about getting.

This year it was a boys trip out. Brian when with Caiden and Ezra while I took care of some things at home. They checked online what was needed at the food pantry before journeying out in the wet weather.

On the way out of the store, Brian's box broke open and he was trying to wrangle the kids and gather up the spilled items in the rain. Fortunately, two kinds souls quickly lent helping hands and they were able to get everything gathered up quickly.

Unfortunately we've been stymied by the limited drop off schedule at the pantry. However, we can drop off the items at our church and they will be delivered before the holiday. :)


Friday, December 14, 2012

CtC - Day Fourteen: Pick Out a Gift for Your Teacher

Day fourteen - teacher gift!

Today we get to pick out a gift for Caiden's teacher! To be honest, he's still a little too young to pick out gifts for adults, so we went over to our fall back teacher gift store - The Chalkboard. I picked up a gift certificate while the boys played with the train table and trucks. :)

Sadly, Caiden couldn't give his teacher his gift in person because he stayed home sick on the last day of school. Luckily whatever was troubling him passed quickly, and he was back to himself within a couple of hours. To make sure his teacher got her gift on time, we sent her card and certificate in the mail.


Thursday, December 13, 2012

CtC - Day Thirteen: Watch "A Charlie Brown Christmas"

Day Thirteen - Watch Snoopy and the gang :)


This one came up on Brian's birthday, and we had plans in the city. But I told Caiden it could be a special activity for him and Ezra to do with Aunt Cathy who was babysitting that night! So I don't have a photo of the actual activity, but I can tell you that Caiden and Uncle Bryan got to watch it together and Caiden thoroughly enjoyed this one! He couldn't even be interrupted when Aunt Cathy tried to sit with him on the couch. Then he told me the next morning that Linus has the same color blanket as he does. :)

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

CtC - Day Eleven: Make Holiday Greeting Cards for Our Friends

Day eleven is making cards!

My mom's group set up a great activity for the kids. We had the opportunity to sign up to send and receive cards for the kids so they could get in on the fun for the season too! I picked out some fun holiday cards and Caiden and I set to work signing them. I particularly like how this one turned out.


Of course, Caiden wanted to give a card to his cute little friend from school, Peyton. She is coming over for a play date on Tuesday, and HE CANNOT WAIT! He's even picked out what he is wearing already. :)

We're looking forward to getting lots of cards from our friends!

Peyton's card written in purple - her favorite color :)

Monday, December 10, 2012

CtC - Day Ten: Write a Letter to Santa

Day Ten - Time to write the guy in red a letter!

Today's activity was a fun one! I knew Caiden wouldn't quite be up to writing a letter on his own to Santa, so I helped him out a little. First I had him dictate his letter to me, I wrote it in big clear letters and then he copied what I wrote onto his own page. It worked out surprisingly well! And it was just short enough to keep his interest and keep him from getting too frustrated. Yay!




Dear Santa, I would like a recycling truck side grabber and a backhoe please. Love, Caiden