December 6th

Almost a week in, Charlotte is on the mend, Lily is ill, and we were stuck at home all day today...again.  Sometimes I forget on how much I rely on my little outings, playgroup, preschool, they really feel the need that I have for adult conversation (since Tyson is gone so much) and going without them for the week has really worn me down.

Anyway, after nap, when they are at their happiest and least sick, we did our calendar.  We started of course by reading our scripture, which today was Isaiah 7:14 and I explained that the prophets knew long before Jesus' birth that he would be coming.

Our activity today was to make cinnamon ornaments.  And when I say cinnamon I mean it, no flour in these suckers, just cinnamon, applesauce and glue.  Since the dough had to sit for an  hour after making it I did that earlier and then we gathered at the table, picked out some cookie cutters and went to work.

We ended up with quite a few cute little ornaments that are bound to make our artificial tree smell like cinnamon for the next month. I'd better make sure that my Scentsy warmer in the living room has a complimentary scent in it or it could be bad.

 

 They weren't all dry in time to decorate them, but we did manage to get the snowflakes covered in glitter and hung on the tree.

P.S. Lily wore her jingle bell bracelet again all day today...I might have to hide that thing fairly soon if this keeps up.

December 5th

Just when Charlotte was starting to feel better (still teething, but the fever and vomiting are gone) Lily decided to catch the bug and is now ill.  I'm actually glad that we have these little activities to do every day because we are stuck at home, no playgroup or other outings for us until the kids are better.

Today is day 5 and our scripture was Matthew 1:18-19, and while my girls can't quite understand it yet, I just explained to them that Joseph protected Mary and took care of her while she was expecting baby Jesus.

Our activity this morning was making jungle bell bracelets.  For my girls who love to accessorize this was a big hit!

I was surprised at how well Lily did stringing the bells on herself.  I only added the last 5 for her because she was having trouble adding more without losing the ones that she already had.

 I think that they sure turned out cute.

 Charlotte was excited when she realized that clapping her hands made it jingle.

I'm pretty sure that this will be all that I hear all day long!

December 4th

We started out the day with our advent calendar this morning.  Our scripture this morning was Luke 1:26-33, which is the Annunciation.  We talked for a minute about how Mary was told that she would be having a baby, and that he would be very special.

Afterwards, our activity was making borax snowflakes.  It was a quick and simple project, just 1/3 cup of borax in the bottom of a pint mason jar, then you fill the jar with boiling water.  Create your snowflake out of a pipe cleaner and then hang it from a string in the water and let it sit over night.

We started ours first thing this morning so that they would be done tonight rather than having them sit over night.

Charlotte didn't quite understand what to do with the pipe cleaner.

Lily was so excited by her shapes!

Our snowflakes, though none of them are shaped like snowflakes.

4 hours later

They turned out so pretty!!!

December 3rd

Another day, another advent calendar post.

Today we first read our scripture from Isaiah 9:6-7 and talked a bit about how the prophets before him and spoken of Jesus' coming.

We then moved on to our activity, which was short and sweet; we wrote letters to Santa.  I found a great pin the other day and had to save it.  It was a template for a letter to Santa, and in addition to being cute, it had great prompts.  I loved to watch Lily think of ways that she had been nice this past year.  She had trouble picking an item that she needed, I'm not sure that she understands the difference between a want and a need yet (better get on that), but we had fun filling it out.  Lily even helped me to fill out Charlotte's.

December 2nd

It has been a rough day in the Hansen house.  Poor Charlotte is just as sick as can be with a stomach bug, she can't keep food down, has been running a fever, and has been sleeping most of the day.  This afternoon, after a good long nap on the living room floor (her choice, not mine) she woke up and smiled, so I got our advent package down for today.  We read our scripture, Malachi 3:1 and talked a little more about who John the Baptist was.

Our activity for the day was to learn a new Christmas song.  They were not cooporating on video mode, so you will have to settle for a still image.  I taught Lily the words to Christmas Bells and I think that she almost has it down.

Christmas bells are ringing,

Hear what they say to you,

Jesus is born, in Bethlehem.

 Short, simple and to the point!

 Afterwards the girls spent some time coloring in the Christmas coloring book that Grandma Hansen gave them last year.

 I found this great pin a month or so ago and printed the images out, laminated them, and the applied a magnet strip to the back.

 The girls loved it!  Hours of play this afternoon with some pretty interesting story lines.

Advent Calendar: December 1st

Some of you may remember the Advent calendar that I did with my girls last year.  We had such a great time with that project that we are doing it again, but a little differently.  Last years was rushed, I only decided to do it on November 28th so there wasn't much time to think up activities or create a cute calendar.  This year I put our activity list together a couple of months in advance, but again left actually making the calendar for the last minute.  I came up with decorate baggies strung along a ribbon. 

 Inside each bag there is an activity for the day, a scripture to read as a family, and new this year a Christmas song to listen.  There are also a couple of chocolate kisses in there; sweets for my sweeties.

  Today's activity, just as last year on the 1st, was to decorate the Christmas tree.  Pay no mind to how they are dressed in this photo, I left early this morning and dressing them was up to Tyson.

Our scripture for the day was Luke 1:11-17.  We are starting out talking about John the Baptist and how he prepared the way for Jesus Christ.

Lily was so excited to put up the tree, and the lights and the star that goes on top.  She kept calling the ornaments the ingredients, but she loved hanging those all over the bottom 3 feet of the tree as well.  Charlotte didn't get to participate much because she became rather sick this afternoon and didn't feel up to doing much more than cuddling.

Charlotte's First Haircut

It was time.  Charlotte is 21 months old now, it was about time to trim her hair, not because she has a lot of hair, but rather because the way that it was growing in.  The girl had a mullet, and it had to go.

I had to search through pictures to find a good "before" shot.  Thankfully Lily had taken my camera and gone on a spree and along the way nabbed this one.  This photo is a couple of months old, so it was longer.

 Overall she was good about letting me trim it.  The girl is not great about sitting still so it was a job to get her to sit still long enough to make just a few simple cuts.

 Every time I tried to take a picture of the back she would throw herself backwards on Tyson's lap and laugh.  She thinks that it is funny to drive me nuts like this.

 I finally managed to get a picture.  Nothing fancy, just a straight trim along the back.  Hopefully I can let it grow for a while now.  I'm not expecting much though, it takes a while for my girls' hair to grow.

Speaking of hair, Lily finally has enough for my to really get to play with.  I'm loving it...and she tolerates it well.