Advent is Over 1/2 Done!

For Christmas this year I decided to do an advent calendar of activities with the kids!  I've been ambitious and made a few of the activities more 'work', haha.  But the kids love them!  This is the list of activities I decided on doing.  Some of them will get their own post (with photos... cause I love photos!)

Day1:  Play outside in the snow at a park
Day2:  Make candy necklaces
Day3:  Help the toys get ready for Christmas (we did an MLP toy scene with them decorating the tree)
Day4:  Christmas baking!  We made white cookies (or grandma cookies) in Christmas shapes.  the kids helped me pour in the ingredients, cut a few shapes, and lick the beaters.
Day5:  Draw ourselves on paper.  I actually forgot we were going to an annual meeting so we were away from home through the 7th, but the kids got to draw, paint, work with perler beads and whatnot... not to mention swimming!
Day6:  Make ice balloons!  I have to put a pic of this one.  The kids watched (and picked colors) as I put food coloring and water in balloons to place outside to freeze.  Once frozen, we peeled off the balloons from the ice and they are now decorating our windowsill outside.

 

Day7:  Go to a Christmas Concert.  My sister and her husband had one in town, but we couldn't get away from the farm in time, so instead we did the balloons that day, since we weren't home at all on the 6th.

Day8:  Help at Christmas Giveaway.  The kids got their faces painted.  There wasn't much work there for us to do, but we went to help.

Day9:  Deliver Christmas Goodies.  I made a bunch of baskets with the kids using yogurt containers. scrapbooking paper, my new BigKick (made a bunch of labels) and stamps, and pipe cleaners (for handles).  I was thrilled to use my cropadile to punch holes in the yogurt containers to put the pipe cleaners through as handles, and the kids decorated a bunch of papers cut to size which I put on the containers themselves.  Well... they say a picture is worth a thousand words...

Day10:  Make a fort.  We made one with blankets and pillows under the table.  The kids had a grand time!
Day 11:  Decorate a gingerbread house.  I attempted making our own from scratch.  My son wanted a gingerbread train as well (he saw the train kits at Superstore and wanted to make one).  I baked them on Sunday, assembled them on Monday, and we decorated Tuesday.  We're eating it already... couldn't resist (tastes so much better than the ones you buy in kits).

Day12:  Take a pic at 12:12 on the 12th of the 12th month 2012.  Yup.  We managed... barely...



 

Day13:  Enjoy some Hot Chocolate.  We went to a local tree lighting, had hot chocolate and saw Santa! 

 

Day14:  Today was making popcorn balls.  I'm suprised at how well they turned out!  I've never done these before and was told they could be tricky.  A bunch are now on our tree.

 

Aren't they pretty?  I like them.  They taste good too! 

We'll see what else is up in the next 10 days.  Wow.  Is it really 10 days?  Goodness, but I have lots to do!