Caroling at Park Club Nursing Home

We had a nice time singing a few carols for the seniors at the home.

Creative uses for holiday cards..

The hostess of this playdate had the great idea to re-use holiday cards and cut them out, arrange them like a stable / manager scene and add some fun decor.

Wonderful activity for fine motor skills.

I didn't get a picture of the final product,

but you can see Julian working on his above.

Open Ended Art - Christmas Stocking

I was in crunch mode yesterday studying for my final exam (ugh!) so their craft today was open ended art (Click here for an explanation of what open ended art is for kids).

Yesterday, I set out green & red paper, christmas scrapbooking paper, cotton balls, crayons, markers, paint dabbers, glue and scissors and I let their imagination take off.

I always like Open Ended Art because it takes them time to complete their project (thus giving me time to study).

Julian's stocking...so cute.

Candy Cane Lane

We went to a playdate called "Candy Cane Lane". It started off with the host reading a book called J is for Jesus (you can find it here on Amazon, I highly recommend it).

Then, the kids made a candy cane craft and had some cookies (candy cane of course).

Christmas Parade

We got our spots early and camped out like it was the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. LOL

Cookie Cutter Kids

At this playdate, the kids had the opportunity to roll out cookie dough (and eat some too) and use Christmas-y cookie cutters.

Holiday Walkabout

The first activity in our Advent Calendar was to go to the Holiday Walkabout in Lakeland.

Holiday Walkabout is the official kick off to the Christmas season.

Julian standing in front of our house, which he is now calling candy land because of the candy canes.

Munn Park during Christmas

We couldn't leave the Holiday Walkabout without visiting the ponies and taking a ride.
We also rode this wagon pulled by two big beautiful horses.



Julian had a healthy fear of the grinch. LOL

O Christmas Tree

First off, let me apologize for the poor quality of pictures. I bought a really cheap camera on Black Friday and it produced cheap pictures! So I returned it and got a better one. (SORRY!)

Monday, the kids made a Christmas tree using our bingo dotters and then painted a star (cereal cardboard). We practiced singing "O Christmas Tree" to get ready for our Christmas caroling later this month at the nursing home.

The bingo dotters are perfect for Claire's hands to hold.

The finished product turned out very cute.

Advent - What is it?

I have never celebrated "advent" and this year, I decided that Julian is old enough to understand and really communicate to him why we are going to start celebrating Advent.

The meaning of Advent is a season of waiting and prepartion for the celebration of the nativity fo Jesus. To look beyond the commercial Christmas and find the true meaning of Christmas.

This year, I have lots of activities planned for Advent including ice skating, Holiday Walkabout, making Christmas cards together, baking cookies, giving a toy to charity, going to see the Christmas play at church, making Christmas playdoh, having lunch with Santa, caroling at the nursing home, Christmas party with PALS, make Jesus a Happy Birthday Card, etc.

My Advent Calendar looks like this:

There is one card for every day until Christmas. Attached to the back is a message with what to expect for the day. I can't wait to start.

Today we are heading to the Holiday Walkabout...I will post pics tonight.

Enjoy the season, give thanks for what we have beyond Thanksgiving and seek to help others all year long.