We have FINALLY completed our tree picture frame crafts… I figure we will either have some art made to fill them or print out some pictures. VERY sparkly (due to the rhinestones I bought at Dollarama) and very fun to make. You can find the instructions for these here. Very simple and the kids enjoyed all the steps. Though we DID exchange corks for cardstock and string hangers out of necessity.

Two of the trees

 The 9th day of Advent had a penguin theme! I had to giggle a little at the colour by number (black and orange). Penguins are a favourite around here… after all Emanuel wanted to be one for Halloween and the kids do love a good penguin show or story. 

The 10th day of Advent we coloured a train station and I had DOUBLE the laminating as I slacked off on Friday night – with good reason I am sure you will ALL agree (and why this is a two day post after my careful daily Advent storytelling…). We had our SECOND mini Christmas get together – though this one spans the whole weekend! We started Friday with She Chris getting into town, stopping by and then going out to look at some local rentals (they are moving here too!!). We went to the mall, shopped and had lunch. We tried a new place – Umi Sushi Express… YUM and the portions are lovely. (I actually had my leftovers for lunch today!)

Mini Bento

My date

After shopping and eating and hanging out we headed back to the house to put miss Echo to nap AND to meet up with Kathy. After some visiting (and some owls chosen to fly the nest! 5 in fact!) Kathy, Karyn and I went back out – this time with TRINITY in tow and did a bit of shopping… gotta get those stocking stuffers for Ken after all! Then it was back for chili with the Chris’ plural. AND our first received Christmas presents of the year! I was told I HAD TO open mine Friday instead of waiting until Sunday… time sensitive! Talk about a surprise… I will let the picture speak for itself!

Ta.... Da!!!

The kids were excited to open THEIR first presents – the cutest ever pillow/toys!!! We have a bumblebee, panda, ladybug, dolphin and puppy. EVERYONE was happy! And KEN got a bag full of chocolates and a camera case to fit my camera (we are sharing my gift). 

Snuggly presents

There was more fun to be had and this time – KID FREE! Kathy had won a gift certificate to Moxie’s for her Halloween costume this year (I think she won LAST YEAR as well!) from work so we took that, She Chris’ van and all the womenfolk and headed off for a visit. (new camera in tow of course!) We decided to each pick an appetizer and then go nuts! Let’s see… dry ribs, salt and pepper wings, sweet potatoe fries and something called Med-Bread… lots of dips to try and even a couple of drinks… So much fun and with the gift certificate the most affordable fancy meal out I have had in ages!!

Food

Pretty drinks

Desert

Today She Chris and I went out for a little shopping… I am down to 2 pairs of pj’s to buy… I brought home a craft for the kids – making bell necklaces with a Christmas theme to make up for Ken working the whole day so he can have tomorrow off. Though those bells sound like the set of bells I put on our front door so I kept thinking someone was coming in..

Crafting

So there has been visiting, snacking, presents… so much fun! And tomorrow is the kids’ Christmas pageant! The twins know their portion of the bible passage pretty well and the little ones their lines… the camera is primed and ready to video and Chris and Chris have theirs to take photos. So we should be all good! 

Piglet

And cuz it is just too cute

I figure with TWO days of Advent we need TWO videos… so I am going to end today’s installment with one the KIDS loved… note I said the KIDS! 

4 restless kids, worn out parents and a cranky infant… what is the answer? COOKIES!!! I made cookie dough a day or two ago from my mom’s sugar cookie recipe. It has to refrigerate for a while anyway so we cleaned the table, swept the floor, washed the hands and let the kids go nuts! Topless cookie making for the little ones (the flour splash zone is rather vast) but lots of fun!

Making cookies

Echo had Ken up BEFORE the crack of dawn and I was up late working on a gift for one of the kids so our morning was rather shot even before we got going. But we made do. Today’s Bible passage was about the angel telling Zachariah about the impending birth of John. We counted our days left… found our hidden object and then it was time to play for a while. 

Baby in a Box

This evening was special… Sugarplum storytime at the nearby library branch AND our mini Christmas with Victoria (and then my camera had ANOTHER issue and I had to have a minor pout… the piece holding the battery in… broke… which is odd as I don’t remove the battery EVER! Here’s hoping Ken can gimmick it and it is under warranty). So we had the kids snack BEFORE library program at 7 and off we all went. It was great fun… there were stories, songs, crafts AND candy canes! 

Crafting

In front of the tree... thank you Victoria for the emergency use of your camera!

We had a snacky post library dinner type thing, hung out and chatted and generally had a great time. AND we were able to give Victoria her Christmas present – my first gift giving of the season!!! I have added to her owl collection! 

Present time!

It was a great start to really celebrating Christmas. Tomorrow is supposed to be full of company and hopefully us finishing our Polar Express lapbooks (we did one part today which leaves I think one more part tomorrow). They read that story at storytime today as well! I have to share this video… this is THE Christmas carol I remember from Reinsch Christmas parties… sung in harmony with my Uncle Brian doing the boom boom boom…

So beyond the camera issue (when do I NOT have a camera issue? I think I need to start a fund for a DSL and let me change grow over time!!!) it was a rather good day!! 

Story Time!

We have gotten the news… my beloved (and relatively new) camera now dubbed Blotchy Screen shall be going on a trip to the Olympus repair centre that may just take 3 weeks! GASP! But fear not, Old Grindy is here to fill the spaces with 8 mega pixel (GASP) pics… oh the horror! No, seriously though, they want us to ship it there and then if it is NOT deemed an issue due to dropping it it will be fixed under warranty. The person on the phone was hopeful so so are we! In the meantime, I took the opportunity to photography the first of my owls to fly the nest… AND his little ladybug chum! 

Ready to fly the nest!

We had another reading morning with everyone picking their own book. Echo is still in a bit of a cranky mood and now Emanuel is runny nosed and slightly miserable. So we added comfy blankets to the mix and curled up on the only bed upstairs big enough to hold six. I figure until we are 100% we will work on our enjoyment of books… so we sit and read as a family and then send those that need to to nap and rest and others to work. 

STORIES!!

Activity of choice – playing Starfall! They have changed their backgrounds to suit the seasons which has everyone absolutely excited about RECHECKING the site out! 

Time for Starfall

I made myself some korker ribbons of the Halloween theme…  We worked on worksheets printed from education.com and had to contact our contact email there to get an answer on a “what it” for a dot-to-dot… the answer, an unexpected one – a TAPIR! I really do enjoy education.com and would highly recommend them if you are looking for a variety of worksheets!

A Tapir!

Today was quite the day for mail! I got my Velcro from the baby store I buy my diapers at… so starting tomorrow I have to start replacing the worn with new… by hand of course! I need to find my stitch ripper it seems. 

Velcro

Trinity’s ribbon came from eBay – Hello Kitty themed of course! I figure she would love a little bow for Christmas with it. And I am sure I will have enough  for a few other little girls!

Ready for Crafting

And then there was the surprise envelope – apparently I have been doing the scanning with nielsen for 2 years now! They sent a lovely pen. We can always use another pen!

New pen!

We also sent Ken out on a special mission – someone on Freecycle had some boardbooks up to about grade 1-2 books they wanted to send along to another family! Well we are ALWAYS all for that. Storytime tomorrow will be all books we have never read before as a family! And Echo inherited a nice pile of boardbooks  to play with. We are always happy to add to our library – new or used.

 To fill our time there was some play with markers… each child made their own special picture! And for once with minimal marker mess on themselves!

Emanuel's artwork

Trinity's - note the hole in the middle where she over coloured!

Zander's campfire

Gavin's train station

We also did some beading with our new (thanks got Grandma) pony beads. Those are to be tied tomorrow morning by daddy and worn proudly I am sure!

Making necklaces and bracelets

Now to return to the world of crafting, cleaning and hunting for printables online. I have to gather my receipts and tomorrow work on my expense form for our school board, get a bit of shopping in to complete our receipt listing. Oh and then there is the dreaded camera drop off… oh well it is all for the greater good!

Playing with ABC magnets