Christmastime Fun

We have been busy just about every day in December!  As the kids get older, it is really fun to be able to do more and more activities with them, especially around the holidays!  We started December off by celebrating Levi's birthday.  The weekend after that, the girls hosted a Christmas party for some of their friends.  They made bracelets and Christmas ornaments, baked cookies for their families, and decorated cookies to eat.  It was really fun and a great way to share Christmas with special friends!

Bracelet making.

Concentrating on getting the beads just right.

Eating their decorated Christmas cookies.

Last week, Erika went to a retirement center to sing Christmas carols with her Girl Scout troop.  She had a really good time!  I think her favorite part was ringing her jingle bell while singing!

Caroling.

Handing out Christmas cards to the residents.

The last week of school, we woke up on Tuesday and discovered it had snowed and school was cancelled for Erika!  We bundled up quickly and headed outside to play in the snow (it wasn't much at all) before it started to melt.

Watching the snow fall.

Throwing snow against the garage.

After playing for a while, we headed inside for some hot chocolate.

One day after school, we went to Aunt Sarah's for lunch and a quick rest before visiting Santa at the mall.  I assumed all the kids would be excited to see him.  And they were....from a distance.  Levi would not go near him once we were in the front of the line.  So, he just gave Santa a hearty wave and went on with his day.

My little cuties in front of Aunt Sarah's tree.

Excited about standing in line to see Santa.

And this is as far as Levi made it to the big guy's chair.  He wouldn't move from the floor.  He just kept saying, "No Santa" and that was that.  Maybe next year he will be ready.

That night, I baked gingerbread and prepared a gingerbread house for the kids to decorate.  It was our first gingerbread decorating experience as a family and it went really well!  The kids did great sticking all the candy on.

Our finished house.

Erika's class also decorated graham cracker houses as part of their Christmas party.  She invited Aunt Sarah to be her special guest and help her decorate.  There was a lot more candy and a lot more mess, but still fun!  Now, Erika is out of school for two weeks and I am looking forward to having time with all three kids in the house and not having to rush in the morning to get anywhere on time.