Wrapping up 2011...a few more M&Misms

We just got home from a very long drive. The front room is an explosion of packages and suitcases. The back room looks pretty good. I'll stay back here and get these sayings recorded before the clock turns to 2012.

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Dad: "Mackenna, I love you...even if you whine."
Mackenna: "I still love you even if you chew your nails."
Dad: "Does that make us even?"
Mackenna: "Yes, very even."

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Upon arriving in Tennessee from Florida, at nighttime.

Mackenna: "Is this Tennessee?"
Me: "Yes, it is."
Mackenna: "It is dark in Tennessee. I can't see in Tennessee."


Micah: "Mom, the trees look different here."
Me: "Yes they do buddy. How are they different?"
Micah: "They are like branches trees."

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To Great Grandma Snyder:
Mackenna: "Grandma, your hands and skin are all krumply."

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Mackenna: "I want to sit by Audra at dinner. She is a genius."

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Me, Tucking the twins in bed: "I don't want you to get up until morning."
Micah: "Well, if Nana comes in and asks me if I want to get up and watch Curious George with Allison, then maybe I will get up."

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Shopping for some relatives for last minute Christmas gifts:
Micah: "Are Ashley and Cole both boys?"
Me: "No, one is a boy and one is a girl."
Micah: "Oh, so we need one beautiful gift and one cool gift."

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Waking up and seeing snow out the window:
Mackenna: "It snowed!!!! It's Christmas!!!!"

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Very triumphantly, Micah: "Dad, you were wrong. Dad, you were wrong."

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Getting ready to drive back to Florida:
Micah: "I know why it is a long way to Florida."
Dad: "Why?"
Micah: "Because we drove a long way to Indiana.

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After tattling about Micah coloring on table and after Daddy telling him to stop:
Mackenna:  "Thank you dad for dealing with his disobedience."

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Complaining about the snack I offered him, trying to convince me to give him another Lifesaver mint instead:
Micah: "I had Teddy Grahams before."
Me: "Yeah?"
(Micah smiles and pauses, realizes that his logic is breaking down, and decides to lie instead of being illogical in his reasoning.)
Micah: "I haven't had a circle thing before."
(Oh my)

Music Moves

We were driving home after Christmas shopping, listening to Christmas music, and a “fast” song came on. Micah starting shaking his hands really fast almost like he was playing a drum in the air. He stopped and said, “I like fast songs. I like fast songs because I can do my fast moves.” Then he resumed playing the air drum. Mackenna responded moving her arms slowly and gracefully back and forth and said, “I like beautiful songs because I can do my beautiful moves.” A little bit later, Silent Night came on, and Micah said, “Hey, it’s a beautiful song.” Mackenna immediately began her “beautiful moves”.

Please put a penny in the old man's hat

"Christmas is coming" is one of those songs that always runs through my mind as the big day gets closer. Not sure why. I have very distinct memories of me singing that song loudly outside my childhood church after a Christmas Eve service one year. I was so very excited for Christmas. I still am. And it is tomorrow! Yes, Christmas comes tomorrow in the Florida Sharbaugh household. We all are pretty excited. And since it is tomorrow, I figured I should probably record some of these quotes before they get lost in the flurry of what is to come.

- On Monday Mackenna exclaimed, "I'm so exkited to go to Indiana." (Aren't we all. Well, all of us except maybe Jocelyn.)

- After getting one shot on Tuesday, Mackenna yelled to the nurse happily, "I want another one."

- While making chocolate christmas chex candy on Tuesday, Mackenna told me, "I like tasting." Very true, the best part of cooking.

- Some day this week I came into the Florida room and both M and M were on the couch with dolls. I asked them if they wanted to watch a show. Micah told me, "we are. We are watching the beanstalk show with baby Micah and baby Mackenna." They were staring at a dark, empty screen. Easy entertainment I guess.

- The other day Mackenna told me, "Mommy, I like your hair. It is messed up."

- On Wednesday I asked Mackenna if she would still have fun in Indiana if there was no snow. She told me, "Oh, it will snow when I get there mommy."

- After nap the other day, I turned on a Charlie Brown show. Micah exclaimed, "It's Snoofy! We have Snoofy Doo! Now can I have some pants?"

- Micah: "I'm going to take a picture of my baby sister because I love her." A boy after my own heart!

- While Mackenna was talking on the plugged in cell phone to to daddy, "Daddy, you're hooked to the wall."

- While doing an art project the other day, Micah said this about the paint, "I'm mixing it up. I'm an artist." He then went ahead to say, "Let's just be done."

- When the 12 days of Christmas song came on the other day, Mackenna said, "It's the my true love gave to me song." Micah corrected her, "actually, it's called a pear tree song."

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Mackenna: "What are you doing mommy?"
Me: "I'm cleaning this junk off the stove."
Mackenna: "Do junk and truck rhyme?"
Me: "No, junk rhymes with trunk."
Mackenna, "Oh, what rhymes with truck?"
Me: "Duck, Muck."
Mackenna: (She went on to list quite a few more rhyming words for truck...including the one that we would have all preferred her to skip. We just moved on.)
Micah: "And Starbucks rhymes with trucks!"  (Again, a boy after my own heart.)

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Last night at dinner, Me: "Micah, please take your legos off the table."
Micah: "But I want to play with them."
Me: "You need to obey."
Micah, in his best pouting voice, thinking he was "winning" this argument: "Fine. I'm just going to eat. I'm not going to play with anything."

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Micah: "Can I go potty and then get some lipstick on?" (referring to his chapstick that he insists on calling lipstick)

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Me: "Mackenna, why did you mix your puzzle pieces with your Rice Krispies?"
Mackenna: "I was pretending to make a rocket pie."
At least it made sense to her.

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And for some nativity set memories:
- The Mater monster trucks had fun playing with their long lost nativity friends. (Reminding me of the year that the wisemen showed up at the manger riding on a circus train. The joys of having more than one Little People interchangeable toy set.)
- Some machine guns joined in on the fun.
- Mackenna pretended to have Mary tell Jesus, "stop doing that. I'll give you a correction."




That wonderful man above took our oldest two shopping for me last night. They had a pretty fun jam session in the car on the way there. I'll let him tell the story, hopefully.

A big day

Today, December 11th, was a pretty big day in the Sharbaugh household. Here are some thoughts and pictures.

- This morning, Jocelyn was publicly dedicated to the Lord, and we publicly committed ourselves to raise her in the way God has commanded us to. She is a real blessing. We know that she is on loan to us from God. He made her, she is his, and he has entrusted her to us to raise for his glory. It is good to be reminded of the truths and recenter my focus.





- It is hard to get a picture of three kids. They love her. We love her. They love being with her. However, pictures turn out better when the darling baby is my only subject.










- I got to hang out with Jocelyn all morning in church. I didn't hear much of either message, but I did get a lot of snuggles. I love her passed out, left arm out limp, head tilted back, dead to the world posture she takes on when she falls asleep cradled in my arms. I know these days of her snoozing with me are fleeting. It was nice to soak those up for a bit.

- She really is a smiler right after she eats. And I think she really likes me.



- The older two darlings had the chance to perform in our church's Christmas Program tonight. They were pretty excited about it. Couldn't wait to wear their Christmas clothes. (Mackenna was very excited to see her friends in their pretty dresses too.)







- I about cried as I watched them walk across the stage to get in place and sing. I just can't believe how big they are. I really wasn't sure if they would sing at all, but they both did. I love the way Mackenna says "glory" while she is singing. Micah didn't take his fingers out of his mouth the whole time, but he was singing if you looked really closely. I was proud of them tonight.





- I totally didn't take my eyes off my kids the whole time they were singing. (Of course I was looking at them through the viewfinder for part of the time, but still at them.) I didn't see any of the darling things that any other cute kid did from our church. I was transfixed by my own little angels. Motherhood is a strange and powerful thing.

- Jocelyn did great through the program. She stayed up front with us the whole time. Her brother and sister need to keep working on learning how to sit still. This is a lesson that we have maybe 20% taught, but I can't figure out how to make it 80% further.



- I walked around with Jocelyn outside tonight. The weather was beautiful - the temperature where you almost don't even feel a temperature. I enjoyed our moments; I sang "Silent Night" to her while I peeked in on my other loves reading "The Grinch." (Singing "Silent Night" to my baby brought to mind a wonderful memory I have of singing that song to my dad as I rode Space Mountain for the first time.)

- This is a beautiful sight to see through my window.

The goose is getting fat

Here are some more ways that we have been celebrating Christmas's fast approaching.

We made these cute little name snowmen to hang on the door. An easy, fun, even somewhat educational craft. I think we made it through this one with no panic attacks from our daughter. I wrote the letters of their name in pencil and they traced over it with marker. They really enjoyed handing them to me in order to hang on the wall. Mackenna thinks it is pretty cool that she gets to be so tall.





We also did this fairly failed craft:


I saw it on Pinterest. It was a mixture of half glue and half shaving cream - it was supposed to dry puffy. I think it might have worked better if they would have been willing to paint it on think. However, they wanted to smooth it out. She also got really frustrated when she didn't make it perfect. She wants her abilities to be higher than anyone else expects them to be, that is for sure. Needless to say, it looks a little more like a melted Florida snowman than anything else.

Tonight we made salt dough ornaments. We used the recipe from here. It was basically flour, salt, and water mixed and kneaded for quite a while. We did handprints for each of the kids and then they each got to cut out some cookie cutter shapes as well.





They looked like this after they were baked.



Tonight we painted the handprints. The twins painted the white and red parts of Santa. Curt added the faces and lines.









I like the way they turned out. You can see the three year old aspect to the art; I didn't want to take away from that. But the added lines and details make them something the kids will really be excited to have on the tree.

We had also done an extra handprint of Jocelyn, and Curt made this family ornament to celebrate our first Christmas as a family of five.



I love having an artist for a husband!

The best job in the world

The kids asked where daddy went yesterday. I told them that he went to work. The conversation somehow went to what would happen if I went to work also. I asked them if they would stay home by themselves. That was the end of it - I thought. Today, as Micah and I were taking a trip to Walmart, he turned to me and said, "I think if you and daddy both went to work, someone else would take care of us." I'm so thankful that I had the time to look him right in the eye, touch him, and say, "I'm so thankful that I get to stay home and take care of you. It is the best job in the world. I love being your mommy." I need to tell him more often.

Being their mom really is a blessing - getting to stay home with them is just the icing on the cake.

I get to see things like this:



And this:



And hold things like this:



And hear things like this:
"Thank you for the kiss mommy." (After I had kissed Micah's head while laying down with him during rest time. A nonsolicited thank you.)


And say things like this:
"Don't panic."
"Who has to go potty?"
"Don't pet Jocelyn."

A girl of two extremes

Is Jocelyn more like Micah or Mackenna?

Well, she looks like Micah in the mouth and chin, for sure. Especially when she is smiling or crying. However, she has a head size that is in a lower percentile than her weight, so that isn't like her brother. There is something different about Jocelyn's eyes than Micah's, but I can't quite figure out what and I'm not sure if it is because they are Mackenna's eyes or if it is something different.

She seems to be like Micah in her introvert/extrovert tendencies. She thrives on people talking to her, making eye contact with her, smiling at her. Mackenna was content to sit in the corner by herself; she still is (as long as she has her books).

However, she does seem to be more like Mackenna when it comes to extremes. She gets really really really angry sometimes. And she is really really happy sometimes. And we are talking ANGRY. Monday she spent most of the day screaming. Who knows if it was pain, general exhaustion, or a combination (we actually considered that she may have a broken bone that's how mad she was). Today, she was happy and content. She napped well (albeit, her afternoon nap was in a swing). She didn't scream. She ate well. Strange.





Here are some things that were the same in both days: She was adorable. She was loved. She slept well at night. That is something that she has been doing fantastically and consistently well with. (She has been sleeping from about 9:30 to 5:30. Blessed little girl.)

Getting back on the wagon

I have been waiting for a better post - so much to say. But it is probably best to just get some of this stuff out there.

Micah and Mackenna are as wonderful as ever. Mackenna is back to being extra emotional. We have some really really good days - she wakes up in a really great mood sometimes, she loves wearing jewelry, she loves going places, she loves reading new Christmas books. These are the days that I try and soak up to make up for the other days. Micah is mostly even keeled, except when he is running away from me in the grocery store or falling asleep during bedtime stories because he didn't nap.

Here are some things I have heard them say in the last month...

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Micah: "I love having a baby sister, mommy."

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Both of them have said this, recently: "I love my baby sister."

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Micah's standard Jocelyn comment: "She's so little."
Me: "But she's getting bigger, huh."
Micah: "But she's still little."
Good reminder, buddy. The only thing that would have made this cuter is if he would have preceeded this comment by saying one of his now characteristic "well, actually, mommy...."

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Micah: "I can only see that picture on facebook."

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Mackenna: "Let's play weebles."
Me: "Why don't you pick up the ponies first and then play weebles?"
Micah: "Okay. Why don't you take this and put away my yogurt and then I'll put away the ponies."

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(To me, after I successfully switched a transformer), Micah: "You did it mommy. See, you didn't need daddy."

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Micah: "Just walking along with all my stuff."

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Micah: "Let's go to the mall. That is one of my favorite places to go."

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Mackenna: "Mommy, your belly is so big because of all the food you ate."

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Jocelyn started crying during nap one day. The sound came through the monitor. I was in the middle of something, and I told Mackenna that I was going to get her in just a minute. She went over to the monitor speaker and started talking into it, saying, "It's okay Jocelyn. We're coming soon Jocelyn. It's okay sweetie."

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Micah, referring to this weird remote thing for a toy: "I'm going to keep all my work in my lunchbox and I'll put my stuff in my backpack."

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Micah, bringing back a blast from the past with the "when I get bigger comments": "When I get bigger, I can wear a Spiderman costume and get a really big Spiderman monster truck and drive it and not fall."

Mackenna: "When I get bigger I can wear an Ariel princess dress, and I can swim in the sea, and I will marry a human."

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Micah, to his parents: "But I don't want you to relax."

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Micah: "I'm tired of swimming, I want to sleep." (Music to mama's ears)

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It is crazy what they are learning. Micah is really starting to be able to sound out words and say what letter they start with. Of course, we still have some things to learn....

Micah: "C doesn't start with cat. They should have put a different picture on that letter card."

But they definitely think that learning is fun. He does stuff like this on his own...

Micah, eating his m&m's: "1,2,3,4,5" eat one "1,2,3,4" eat one "1,2,3"....

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When Micah gets in a one on one situation, he talks nonstop. Even in the potty. Like this "conversation" he had with me in a public restroom...

Micah: "I ate my food all gone. Well, there was some left, but it would have taken a long time to eat it all gone. I need a little place, that was a big plate."

I've been told that he also says things like "I'm working on some big poopies" and "there are 5 poopies in there" while with daddy in public restrooms!

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Mackenna, to me: "Will you think about what you got me for Christmas?"
Me: "Okay, I'm thinking."
Mackenna: "But your hand isn't on your chin."
Me: "What do you want me to get you for Christmas?"
Mackenna: "A princess, a princess dress, or a wheel."

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Me: "You can give Micah a gift to make him happy."
Mackenna: "And he can give me something to make me happy."

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Micah: "What is God? What does God look like?"
Mackenna: "God has a mustache and a beard."

Christmas is coming...

December and Christmas are in full swing around here. The kids are so excited! Christmas books, nativity scenes (sacrilegious role playing and all), and Christmas jammies (when it is "cold" enough to wear them).

We have started our advent countdown activities too.

We made nativity scenes, based on an idea from here. Curt cut out the pieces and the kids picked where they would go on the page and did most the gluing. (If I were to do this again, I would hot glue the candy canes on before we began. The Elmer's glue made the candy canes kind of dissolve.)

We also made this handprint Christmas tree from here. Micah and Mackenna contributed on the tree, and Jocelyn created the footprint tree trunk and handprint star. Budding little artist.



More to come...

(And probably some pictures of our decorated house...with my new camera!)

Big News for Miss Jocelyn

1. She met Santa Claus.
2. She weighs 11 pounds 11 ounces (in the 11th month of the year 2011, 11/29/11 to be exact).
3. She slept through the night for the first time last night - 9:30 PM to 6:30 AM. Wowzers.

Another month to be thankful for

Dearest Jocelyn,

I am a few days late writing your two month letter. It is actually the 24th of November, Thanksgiving Day. I'm kind of glad that I am writing it today, because I am so so very thankful for you. In fact, I am fighting the urge right now to go get you out of bed so I can get in some Jocelyn snuzzles on this early Thanksgiving morning. However, you are sleeping, and I will choose to let you sleep and write this instead. I can't wait for you to wake up and give me a big, happy, sleeping well at night smile though. Yes, that is right, you are sleeping well at night. And, yes, that is right, you are full of smiles recently. You really are turning into a happy baby. I used to feel bad when people would ask me if you were a "good baby." I never knew how to answer that. I was so thankful for you and in love with you, and choosing to focus on all your many positives and our blessings, but you weren't really a good baby in the way they were asking the question. You were a blessing baby, a loved baby, a snuggled baby, a healthy baby, but not really a happy baby. For whatever reason, whether it is my diet change, the acid reflux medicine, or you sleeping more, you are much much more content, happier, and I would now call you a "good baby" in every sense of the word.

(Your sweet big sister just joined me in the chair. She loves you so very much. There are many times when I tell her to go do something and she responds, "but I'm talking to Jocelyn." For that matter, you are much less bothered by your siblings in general. You have locked eyes with Micah, following him across the room, flashing a big smile his direction. When they are continually in your face, you don't seem frustrated. You are fitting in quite well with the chaos of the family.)

You seem to like your parents too. You are starting to talk with daddy a lot. You love to make noises back and forth with him; he loves it too. You still like to be held out in daddy's arms, facing his body, being bounced. You are getting bigger though and aren't fitting in his arms quite as well. You will stretch out sometimes with your legs and almost jump out of this position. I'm pretty happy too, because you seem to really like me. I can usually calm you down if you are fussy - you like your bottom patted if you are held in a cradle position and you like your back patted if you are held upright on my shoulder. You also like to lay across my arm facing down and out. In general, you like to be with your mama and your daddy. We like being with you too.

You still like to "run run run" while mama moves your legs. You are interested in your two favorite toys - the Baby Einstein sound and lights gym and your Tiny Love mobile (two amazing purchases). There are many times after eating that you are content to lay and play looking at "nothing," but when this happy contentment wears off, your toys will occupy you a little longer.

You usually go to bed between 8:30 and 10 and will usually sleep until 3:30 or 4:30 before waking up to eat. Then you usually eat again around 6:00ish and sleep again until about 8:00. You are going to be one very clean baby as your sleeping got drastically better and has stayed great ever since we started bathing you nightly. During the day, you generally eat, then are awake for about an hour or more, then you sleep for about an hour and a half before you wake and eat again. You like to sleep on your belly during the day. You seem to be a sound machine addict. This addiction was starting before, but sleeping with a humidifier pretty much clinched this deal. Your eyes start to close as soon as you hear that noise. You sometimes will fuss yourself to sleep within five minutes or so - which is good, because that is pretty much as long as your mama is willing to let you cry right now. I'm okay with "spoiling" you right now. You are my baby. We love you; we are so thankful for you, sweet Jocelyn Raeanne.

Love,
Your Mama

Season of Gratitude

Micah gave me a good little reminder today during this season of thanks. We are preparing to have some people over for our second annual Pie Night tonight. A chance to get to know some new faces and to reflect on how we have been blessed in this past year - and to enjoy some pie! We rearranged some stuff in the house to accomodate the number of adults and children that will be coming. I was telling the kids that they would play in their room with their friends tonight (not the living room). Micah responded by saying something about how that is because our house is so big, we have room for all of our stuff, and we have all we need.

So so so very true. We have all we need - and so very much more.

Some random Friday thoughts...

- Someone ate "Tasties" in my bed today. Great. What are tasties, you ask? Mini Chocolate Frosted Mini Wheats. Not exactly "mom and dad's bed" kind of food.

- Mackenna peed on the sidewalk outside today. I was actually excited about this. I don't think this says great things about my state of mind.

I had just come around the corner from getting Micah dressed in his room. I realized the front door was open and Mackenna was gone. I was getting ready to talk to her about not leaving the house without me. I then heard her say "mom, I'm peeing" (three words that send chills down my spine). When I saw the puddle, I decided that I was thankful she had left the house and was only peeing on the sidewalk, not someplace where I had to clean!

- The kids were singing the Cubbies theme song in the backseat. They were talking about the fact that God loves them. Micah added, "God loves Jocelyn, too." Yes He does buddy. We are so thankful for that.

- Here is a mothering tip I have learned. If your kids aren't good at waking up from nap, I have learned some magic words that will help. Just say, "hey buddy, you ready for a piece of candy. There's some waiting for you in the other room." Yup, works everytime. And yup, I am an awesome mother.

Getting ready for a playdate

While we were waiting and getting ready to go over to a friend's house today, this is what I heard (in addition to the whining)...

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Mackenna: "When are we going to Elliana's?"

Me: "After Jocelyn wakes up"

Later...

Mackenna: "When are we going to get Miss Jocelyn up?"

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(Talking about Elliana's family) Mackenna: "Miss Rachel is Elliana's best mommy. Mr. Ryan is Elliana's best daddy."

Me: "Who is your best mommy?"

Mackenna: "Mama"

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Mackenna: "Elliana is my best friend."

Me: "You know, Miss Rachel is my friend too."

Mackenna: "Do you play with her?"

Me: "Well, we like to talk and shop and drink coffee. That is what grown ups do with their friends."

Mackenna: "Oh."

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Mackenna, pretend reading the birthday card that I had just written for Rachel, in her high-pitched "reading" voice: "I love you Miss Rachel."

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Me: "We need to do ___ and ____ before we go to Miss Rachel's."

Mackenna, correcting me: "You mean to Miss Elliana's."

Advent Activities

Here are some of my favorite Christmas countdown activity ideas that I've found on Pinterest thus far. My goal is to make my schedule and get all the supplies while it is still November, so that December can actually be fun.

This wreath can hold Christmas cards, or you could use 25 clothespins and use it to hold your countdown numbers and ideas. We might do this for a family activity and then keep it or give as a gift.

Source: gwennypenny.com via Laura on Pinterest

These cute reindeer cups could be made and then filled with popcorn for a ride on the "Minivan Express" - looking at Christmas lights.

Source: confessionsofahomeschooler.com via Laura on Pinterest

Love this artwork. I'm going to use the art we make this month to fill the existing picture frames on our walls (making sure paper is the right size and orientation before we start). Then I can pull it out each year and make my walls festive!

Source: ucreatewithkids.com via Laura on Pinterest

So Cute!

Source: creativeholidaygiftideas.blogspot.com via Laura on Pinterest

Source: mydeliciousambiguity.com via Laura on Pinterest

Preschool Letter Matching Activity

Source: 1plus1plus1equals1.com via Laura on Pinterest

Patterning Activity with a "J is for Jesus"

Source: 1plus1plus1equals1.com via Laura on Pinterest

Edible Christmas Tree

Source: squidoo.com via Laura on Pinterest

Santa Hand Ornament - there are other links on Pinterest for a salt dough to be used with this

Source: clayfulimpressions.blogspot.com via Laura on Pinterest

Printable Nativity Scene - another link on Pinterest talks about making this magnetic for use on a cookie sheet or a fridge

Source: makingfriends.com via Laura on Pinterest

Coloring Activity

Source: catholicicing.blogspot.com via Laura on Pinterest

Source: happyhomefairy.com via Laura on Pinterest

Source: fullofgreatideas.blogspot.com via Laura on Pinterest

Source: marcheseclowns.blogspot.com via Laura on Pinterest

And here is a list of general activities that I compiled a few years ago.

1. Play a game together as a family, the winner gets to put the angel/star on the Christmas tree
2. Decorate the Christmas tree together
3. Each person gets to write a wish list of Christmas presents they would like to receive
4. Drink hot chocolate with marshmallows while listening to Christmas music
5. Make Cut-out Christmas Cookies
6. Decorate Cookies from yesterday
7. Take a plateful of the cookies to someone in your church or neighborhood
8. Read the Christmas story from Luke
9. Read Mary's Song of Praise in Luke 1 - the Magnificat
10. Learn the words to a Christmas carol
11. Call a grandparent and sing a Christmas carol
12. Read a Christmas story by the Christmas tree
13. Camp out under the Christmas tree
14. String some popcorn or other homemade garland
15. Make homemade wrapping paper
16. Address the Christmas cards together - the kids can write notes to stick in or color pictures
17. Go see a Christmas concert or play
18. Make a homemade Christmas card for the grandparents
19. Buy a Christmas gift for a less fortunate child
20. Go to the dollar store and buy something for your sibling
21. Cut out snowflakes
22. Make an ornament - make sure and date it!
23. Make a gingerbread house out of graham crackers (and a milk carton)
24. Take goofy pictures by the Christmas tree
25. Act out the Christmas story
26. Make red and green pancakes for breakfast
27. Watch a Christmas movie together as a family - don't forget popcorn!
28. Wrap Christmas presents
29. Record a video clip of everyone in your family singing a Christmas song
30. Play Christmas pictionary
31. Make a Christmas craft
32. Make some kind of munchie snack that the kids can help with - puppy chow, peanut butter balls, no bake cookies, etc.
33. Come up with a list of Christmas things for every letter in the alphabet
34. Go drive and look at lights
35. Have a contest to see who can find the most snowmen (or other Christmas item) throughout the day

Now to pick the 25 for this year....