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The Last 13 Days of Advent Activities

The first 12 days of our Advent Activities were filled with holiday magic, and the fun continued through the rest of the month, culminating in our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations!Advent Activity Day 13: Going to see cousin Waverly’s school Christmas program. Isla was so excited to see Wavy sing she could hardly stand it! The two girls waved and smiled at each other ecstatically from across the gym. When Isla worried that Wavy looked nervous, she’d wave an enthusiastic “thumbs up” in the air. The love these two share for each other is pretty darn special!
During breaks in the performance, Isla would lean in to me and ask things like, “Will my kindergarten have performances?” And “Will I get to perform up on a stage?” I think this girl is very ready for both!
We put together a bouquet for Wavy and tucked a few of the glittered pine cones from the previous day’s advent activity in among the flowers. We liked it so much we decided we’d make some for ourselves to have at home. Isla couldn’t wait to hand the bouquet to Wavy and tell her what a great job she had done!

Advent Activity Day 14: Home Alone themed night with our other Home Alone obsessed friends. We put together a simple evening with treats inspired by the movie and then ate them all while watching the movie! Easy and SO much fun! We wore comfy Home Alone inspired clothes and ordered cheese pizzas. Our friends picked up some Pepsi and ice cream sundae fixings. They even double checked the part of the movie where Kevin eats the sundae just to make sure they got the same toppings! It’s so awesome when your friends get into the fun as much as you do! This will definitely become a tradition!

Also, great parenting hack: Little Mikey was dying to drink Pepsi, so his parents took an empty can and filled it with a less sugary toddler-approved drink. So clever!

Cole was LOVING his little bites of ice cream! I got my super cozy Home Alone inspired sweatshirt here.

Advent Day 15: Gingerbread Houses with Nana, Papa and the cousins! What Isla also didn’t know was that Santa was making another surprise visit and we were celebrating at the annual Albaugh family Christmas gathering. Sometimes you have so many joyous holiday activities planned you have to combine a bunch into one wonderful, magical day!!!So, a funny back story… Cousin Waverly attended a Breakfast with Santa event one week earlier. We were all a little nervous that she was now old enough to recognize that the Santas were different, but when they walked in to the breakfast event there was OUR Santa! It was a Christmas miracle! She invited him to Nana and Papa’s again, so she was already anticipating his arrival.

When Santa showed up, the kiddos were ecstatic- as in rushing him at the door and jumping all over him! He visited with each of the kids, sat on the floor with them while they opened presents, read books with them, and joined us when we sang carols. It doesn’t get any more magical than that!Isla whispered something into Santa’s ear. She said it was her secret wish and she couldn’t tell us or it wouldn’t come true. Thankfully, I was standing just close enough to overhear, and my heart absolutely melted when I learned what she wanted most. She asked Santa to please make sure our house was all clean and breakfast was ready so that her Mommy and Daddo wouldn’t have to do anything on Christmas morning. Santa looked up at me and then back at Isla and hesitated. He told Isla he would try his best, but that he would likely be very busy delivering presents. Undeterred, Isla’s eyes widened and she smiled. She leaned in again, cupping her hand around her mouth and said, “That’s okay. I was hoping you could just use a little of your magic to do it!” Then she turned to us, eyes sparkling and the biggest smile spread across her sweet face. For days after that she would tell us how excited she was about her big wish, and how she and Santa has a special surprise for us.Promising to leave bacon and beer for Santa on Christmas Eve (a little inside joke from last year’s visit).Opening Christmas jammies from Nana and Papa. Isla thought it was hilarious that there were Santas on them!Thank you for the adorable jammies and new books, Nana and Papa!

After another amazing visit, Santa headed back to the North Pole, and the kiddos got to work decorating their gingerbread houses and ice cream cone trees.

This might be the first year that more candy made it onto Isla’s gingerbread house than into her tummy!Cole was so excited to take part in the gingerbread house decorating this year. He was absolutely beaming! He watched his cousins and then stuck a few marshmallows onto his tree all by himself! He spent the rest of the time sampling the icing and candies… looks like he takes after his sister!Burning off all that sugar with a trip to the park. This girl can traverse the monkey bars with ease now. Go, Isla, go!Cole had an absolute ball swinging and sliding with Morgan!*Gingerbread House Update: We left Isla’s gingerbread house out on the porch and our neighborhood squirrels enjoyed a sweet feast. I can only imagine how wired they must have been after all that sugar!
Isla was a little sad at first, but quickly found joy in the fact that she made the squirrels’ holidays so much more festive!Last week Isla caught us by surprise when she made up an advent activity for us! She drew a little picture and tucked it away in the advent box. She even gave us a present to open! Our activity was to play Christmas music together using instruments, and inside the bag was a train whistle! Ha! We love that doing this advent activity is instilling a spirit of thoughtfulness and giving in our sweet girl!

Advent Activity Day 16: For a girl who is absolutely OBSESSED with Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies, it was pretty much a dream come true to learn she was going to see The Nutcracker!

 

Special occasions call for a little sparkle. Isla was so excited to get dressed up for the Nutcracker.

Before the ballet, we started the evening with a fancy dinner, and the girls had our waiter wrapped around their fingers in about 2 seconds.Before the ballet, we started the evening with a fancy dinner, and the girls had our waiter wrapped around their fingers in about 2 seconds.

Before we left the restaurant, the girls came rushing up to us with these flyers and said, “Look! Sugarplum fairies!” We were absolutely dying; it was an ad for a NYE drag show!

Isla was absolutely captivated through the whole show. She spent about half of it standing at the balcony and the other half on my lap.
When the prima ballerina first appeared, Isla couldn’t contain her excitement. She gasped loudly and just HAD to hop up and twirl around once. Everyone near us in the audience began to giggle. It was the sweetest moment!
We left the ballet with such happy hearts. The experience was every bit as magical as I’d hoped it would be!

Earlier this month we were all in the car, and Isla said very solemnly, “Mom, Dad, I want to tell you something.” Intrigued, and a little worried by the seriousness of her tone, we turned down the Christmas music so we could listen. “Next year, when we do the advent activities-” She added a long, dramatic pause. “I want one of the activities to be going to space.”Advent Activity Day 17: Cookie Baking!!!
I found this sweet “Santa’s Little Helper” apron on sale for $1.50 at Craft Warehouse last year and have been saving it for some messy holiday fun. So, I wrapped it up so that Isla could have the joy of opening it. She couldn’t wait to put it on and get baking!Preparing the graham crackers for the magic bars with Uncle Ian.This epic battle also happened during our cookie baking night! Every Christmas since Isla was born I have managed to capture such meaningful photos of her with Uncle Tristan. He’s actually my cousin, but he has earned the title of Uncle a hundred times over! We are always amazed by how much time and effort my cousins pour into playing with Isla. We realize leaving the adults to go and play with kids is not always appealing to most people. Every time we’re together, one of my cousins takes the time to indulge Isla in a game of make believe, to dance and sing with her, or in this case, to help her build a cardboard robot costume and then have a massive, giggle-filled pillow fight. We are SO grateful for the time and effort they put into building relationships with our children, and for the joy they bring to their lives.We were thrilled to have Auntie Lizzie and Uncle Chaz home from Copenhagen for a few days this holiday season! Isla and Lizzie were in charge of putting the kisses in the peanut butter blossoms on cookie baking night. Our friend, Helene, taught us to use caramel kisses… seriously, wow! If you haven’t tried peanut butter blossoms with caramel kisses you are in for a BIG treat!Advent Activity Day 18: The festivities continued with our early Christmas celebration. Cole joined the annual whiskey tasting (with a sippy cup and water) and lead many rousing rounds of cheers with everyone. I’m not sure there is a cuter sound than Cole’s enthusiastic, “Cheers!”Cole and Gruncle: BFF’s.Apparently it’s not a party until the feather boas come out! Isla and Great Uncle Mike played a little dress up before dinner.The evening was absolute perfection. Amazing good, wonderful company, thoughtful gifts, and even the cutest little shirtless piano player providing us with endless entertainment!Grandma DJ gave Isla her first REAL tea set and Isla could not have been more thrilled!Isla made Grandma DJ a bookmark using the flower she had pressed with the flower press DJ had built for me as a child!Many rousing games of Sorry were enjoyed and Isla brushed up on her trash talking skills!Merry Early Christmas!Advent Activity Day 19: Eat dinner by the Christmas tree. This is a great activity for when you’re short on time and/or energy. You’ve got to eat, so why not do it in front of your sparkly Christmas tree? Cheers to making the mundane a little more memorable!Advent Activity Day 20: Watch a Christmas movie. This is another simple, relaxing, zero-prep advent activity.Advent Activity Day 21: Go see the Christmas lights at Peacock Lane! This is one of our favorite holiday traditions Clearly excitement levels were high as we set off to see lights at Peacock Lane! We feel fortunate to live so close to this iconic street, and since the rain had taken a break, we decided to bundle up and walk. We had the best time and will definitely walk there in future years. Our first stop was to pick up warm holiday drinks. Then we meandered through our neighborhood admiring all the twinkly houses until we reached Peacock Lane. Christmas music played from the phone in my pocket, and the whole experience felt so wonderful and festive! Love, love, love this wonderful neighborhood of ours!Isla is ALL about the colored lights this year, so when I asked her which house on Peacock Lane was her favorite, she immediately responded, “The one with the colorful lights!” It really was beautiful.
I’ve already picked up a box of colored twinkly lights to string on Isla’s tree for next year 🙂 Make sure you check post-Christmas sales for lights and ornaments. I found boxes of lights for as little as $0.34 and ornaments for $.050!Isla absolutely loved this big gingerbread man! Plans are already underway to create our own next year… because that’s how things go when you’re a family full of dreamers. Time to start working on our jigsaw skills!Cole was every bit as enchanted by the lights as we thought he might be, and it was absolutely heartwarming to see his eyes widen and hear him excitedly shout, “Oooh!” We ended up spending a solid two hours walking around the neighborhood and Peacock Lane that evening, and Cole, bundled up in his reindeer outfit, was happy as could be the whole time. It helped that we brought two giant bottles of milk along too… it’s all about having enough snacks, am I right?!

Our little family after our walk through Peacock Lane; full of cocoa and happiness and holiday sparkle.

Advent Activity Day 22: Christmas music dance party. This kid was all in!dvent Activity Day 23: Our Annual Prawns and Champagne night! December 23rd is the anniversary of my grandmother’s passing, and over the years our family has created a tradition where we gather in her honor to celebrate togetherness and express gratitude. A fire crackles behind us in the living room fireplace as we sit around the coffee table and eat Cajun prawns. Our glasses clink as we toast with champagne. We each take turns expressing appreciation for the gifts and experiences that have shaped us throughout the year. We laugh. We cry. We laugh again. It is a very special evening, and we look forward to it with great anticipation all year long. This year we had an almost comically large magnum of bubbly to enjoy throughout the evening. It was so heavy it took two hands to pour!For Christmas, Isla considered Cole’s favorite things (cars and snuggly things) and decided she wanted to make him a “beep beep” blanket. I love her thoughtful heart so much!!! We made a special trip to the fabric store and she selected two flannel fabrics with car prints all by herself. Grauntie assisted Isla in sewing the fabrics together- she ran the pedal while Isla guided the fabrics through the sewing machine. I absolutely love how much thought and care Isla put into this sweet gift. Cole’s enthusiastic response to his blanket on Christmas morning was pretty wonderful too! More on that later…Coley, the other reindeer!“Chee”
“Yights”
“Stah”
Cole’s Christmas vocabulary grew steadily this season. Of course, “Mommy” is my favorite of his recently acquired words, but tree, lights, and star are pretty great too. Celebrating with Daddo when he won his fantasy football league! 2nd year in a row!One Christmas Eve morning Isla helped Grauntie make biscuits. She then used the leftover dough to make her own special treat. She added dried cherries and cinnamon and sugar. Nana and Cole started off the morning with some Christmas music on the piano.The proud smile on her little face as she sliced and handed out her treat at breakfast will remain ingrained in my mind and heart forever.Present time! Cole could see the fin of his stuffed shark sticking out of the bag and was so excited he started snuggling it!Needless to say, the shark was a HUGE hit!Fun tool belts from Uncles Tristan and Ian.More beep beeps!Isla was thrilled to receive her own cash register!

Everyone joined us at Nana’s in the evening for spaghetti and meatballs, and the thoughtful gift giving continued.
Cole gifted all his grandparents a sweet silver bells footprint craft. Everyone was absolutely floored by how big his footprint was!Her own green dollars!

The beep beeps kept coming…. and Cole was LOVING it!We helped Isla have her first book, “Gardening with Nana” printed for Nana. She wrote all about their time together in the garden, the things they planted, what she enjoyed most about gardening, her own recipes, and listed the fruits and vegetables she hoped to plant next year. She also created all the illustrations and they are SO darling! To go with the book, she made a bookmark out of the leaves and flowers she and Nana had pressed together that summer. She was strategic in selecting each item for the bookmark; Nana’s favorite green hydrangeas, strawberry leaves from the plant Isla had given her, a flower from their pea plant, Isla’s favorite mint leaves. These were all items that would remind Nana of their time together.When will we parents wise up to the fact that the boxes are ALWAYS more fun than the presents themselves?!We wrapped up Christmas Eve by Isla reciting ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas to us all. She was so proud!Given the hustle and bustle of the season, it wasn’t too hard to ensure the house was a bit messy when Isla went to bed. But, Santa’s magic was stronger than the clutter, and in the morning Isla was thrilled to find a sparkling clean house, breakfast on the table, and Santa’s bacon plate and beer were empty!She checked out the stockings as she patiently waits for Cole to wake up. Those first quiet moments of Christmas morning are so, so sweet.
Isla is the only kiddo I’ve ever known to be absolutely ecstatic about celery in their stocking! She had asked Santa for her own fruits and vegetables, and he delivered with some carrots, celery, and a mango!Christmas morning 2018 was one for the books. Our time together opening presents was filled joy, excitement, and appreciation. Every second was wonderful, and we are so very grateful! Our hearts just about exploded watching these two enjoy Christmas morning together. We love that they are making such precious childhood memories and can’t help but imagine how wonderful it will be to reminisce about these moments with them when they are grown- not that we are wanting that to happen quickly!
Cole received treasured new beep beeps and beep boop beeps.
Isla was thrilled with her new Alexa dot and science gear. Both kiddos took time to admire each gift and express appreciation- which honestly was the GREATEST gift to us!While there were countless special moments, my favorite was when Isla opened her new swim goggles from Santa. Absolutely giddy, she jumped up and down, squealing and hugging the goggles. Then she paused, turned her gaze upwards and mouthed “Thank you.” Oh, my heart!!!In honor of Cole taking his first steps to reach the flashing police cars, Santa brought Cole a beeping, flashing police car of his own.We paused in the middle of presents to go and have breakfast- thank you, Santa, for having everything ready for us! Isla cut up her Mango from Santa to add to our breakfast spread.Little did we know, Isla gifted both of us beautiful snowflake art!Cole absolutely loved the beep beep blanket that Isla made him for Christmas. When he saw it he exclaimed, “Oh! Beep beep!” He wrapped it around himself and snuggled the soft fabric against his cheek. Isla watched him, beaming with pride. We are so hopeful that practicing the act of giving from an early age will help Isla and Cole learn to think about what they can do for others.Isla was thrilled about her science kit, lab coat, goggles, and light-up magnifying glass. She set straight to work examining anything she could.Cole’s interest in this pretend fab lasted all of 10 seconds. Apparently, he is a purist! Oh well, you win some, you lose some… Cole made Daddo a bookmark out of one of his paintings.Horay for new beep beep books!We spent such a special Christmas Day with the Marshall family. More incredible food, sentimental gifts, happy conversation (this year, surrounding the Enneagram Personality Test!), and SO MUCH cousin play time! Earlier this month Isla spent one morning working away with her play dough. It isn’t uncommon for her to spend a few hours crafting, but she seemed particularly focused on this project. When she finished she proudly shared with me the sculpture of the nativity she made for Nana and Papa. She was SO excited to give it to them on Christmas Day she couldn’t wait more than about 5 minutes after we arrived!The kiddos enjoyed our annual egg bake and cinnamon roll brunch from their own little table. Thanks, Nana!Nana and Papa worked with Isaac to create a gorgeous Marshall Family photo book for each family! It was such a sentimental and meaningful gift, and we all sat around flipping through the pages, reminiscing about old stories, laughing at silly hairstyles and awkward shorts, and feeling so much happy nostalgia. Inspired by this project, Nana went a step further and created photo albums for each of her kids with their childhood photos. We are so very grateful for such loving, thoughtful gifts that will continue to bring our family joy for the rest of our lives! How cute is that little guy?!That photo on the right of baby Isaac snuggling a kitten is my new most favorite photo of him EVER! Cali opening the play dough we got her was the best, most unexpected reaction of the day. It filled our hearts to overflowing!

Wow, did you make it all the way here?! That was quite a recap. We are so graeful to have enjoyed such a special Christmas season and such fun, meaningful, intentional advent activities. Only 10 months to go before we gear up for next Christmas!

Posted in Celebrations, Christmas, Christmas Advent Activities, Holidays

The First 12 Days of Advent Activites

On the first day of advent activities, my parents gave to me, a snow day at Mt. Hood!

Haha! Okay, that song is going to get old real fast, so we’ll just tell you all about our first 12 days of advent activities this year. We planned a variety of activities that encouraged quality time together, creativity, and celebrating the magic of the holidays.

Advent Activity Day 1: Snow day at Mt. Hood!  Isla LOVES, LOVES, LOVES playing in the snow, so starting off the month with a trip to the mountain was a huge hit! Isla needed new ski boots, so we wrapped them up for her to open to add to the excitement.Me, as we were driving home that evening: Isla, what was your favorite part of our snow day?
Isla: (instantly) Eating the snow!

Clearly!

Isla even did her part to ensure Cole enjoyed eating the snow as well.He wasn’t so sure at first! His unimpressed face just kills me! Isla’s persistence paid off, however, as it wasn’t long before Cole was picking up snow, taking a bite and saying things like, “Mmmm!” and “Num num!”

This was Cole’s second time in the snow, but the first where he really had an idea of what was going on. Looks like he shares his sister’s love for the snow!

Our first advent calendar activity was absolutely wonderful! An afternoon in the snow was the perfect way to welcome December!Advent Activity Day 2: The kiddos opened their new Christmas books!

We LOVE adding books to our library, especially holiday stories! We make sure to open our new Christmas/winter books as one of our first advent activities so that we can enjoy them all season.

This year’s titles are:

•The Great Spruce
•Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree (Isla LOVES book and asks to read it every day!)
•Over and Under the Snow
•A World of Cookies for Santa
•Christmas Songs (this is a book that plays songs, and Cole was absolutely crazy about it.)

Cole’s musical book, Christmas Songs, was a HUGE hit! He thinks pushing buttons is great fun and he loves music, so it was the perfect combination. While he has played with musical books before, there was something about this one that totally captivated him. He started doing this hilarious dance we’ve never seen him do before, where he wildly swung his arms back and forth! He must have danced for a solid 15 minutes! It was SO great!Cole the Reindeer discovered the advent calendar one morning. He stretched way onto his tippy toes to reach it, and then proceeded to pull out as many of the drawers as he could!Advent Activity Day 3: Isla opened her Christmas Craft Box!Inside this year’s Christmas Craft Box:
• jingle bells • sparkly pipe cleaners • felt • snowflake decorations • peppermint candy beads •tape • festive ricrac • popsicle sticks • clothespins • a wooden tree ornament to paint • sparkly pom poms • Lastly, I like to tuck an inspiration page of holiday/winter craft ideas I think Isla might enjoy (I referred back to our winter kiddo art projects inspiration board on Pinterest!) into the box. The crafts on this page all use the supplies I included in the box. Sometimes we replicate the crafts, and other times we use them as a jumping off point for our own projects!Aaaaand, just like last year, of all the wonderful sparkly treasures in the craft box, Isla was most excited about her own scotch tape!!! She gasped and then excitedly shouted, “My own scotch tape?!” What’s even more hilarious is this is the same leftover roll from last year! Isla got straight to work crafting! First she made jingle bell and peppermint candy bead necklaces. Next we made the sweetest, simplest window ornaments using my laminator. Last year I asked for a laminator for Christmas. Yes, seriously. I had a bunch of project ideas floating around in my head, and so it seemed like a completely logical gift request

We traced circles onto the lamination sheets with a sharpie and Isla filled the circles with squares of tissue paper.


After running the sheets through the laminator, we cut out the circles. Then we glued a little square of glittery paper onto each (the ornament topper) and attached a sparkly pipe cleaner hook with a dab of hot glue. The ornaments look so bright and festive on Isla’s windows! This was such a fun and easy project. Get yourself a laminator!

Advent Activity Day 4: We went to go see the new Grinch movie with cousin Waverly!Isla recognized the words, “the Grinch” all by herself and was so excited! THIS series, however, shows her reaction when she learned we were going to the movie with Waverly. This girl sure loves her cousins!

In preparation for the movie, we made a green Grinch-inspired popcorn treat. We drizzled while chocolate and green sprinkles over the popcorn and then tossed it with holiday m&ms. So festive and tasty!

Advent Activity Day 5: Open a Christmas Game!

Isla unwrapped this cute deck of Santa playing cards (from the Target dollar section last year) and we used them to play memory! I’m looking forward to using these cards to teach her a few new games, like slap jack and war. Advent Activity Day 6: Write a letter to Santa.Isla worked hard on her letter…while Colina dressed up in her jewelry!“Dear Santa,
I think you worked really hard on making the toys. Good job! I wish you a merry Christmas.
For Christmas I would like a playhouse and a small orange kitty, my own real fruits and vegetables, diving goggles, my own Alexa (I can tell it to play Christmas music or lullabies. I can tell it to play anything!), a science lab coat, a science kit, and science goggles.
I think Cole would like his own coloring kit, bears, beep beeps, and his own beep boop beep (remote). He likes to play with stuff that beeps.
Good luck on Christmas. Thank you for everything.
xoxo,
Isla”Isla addressed the card herself. I melt!!! The excitement in her sweet little face as she mailed her letter to Santa was just the best!

Advent Activity Day 7: make birdseed ornaments for the birds! This is one of our favorite ways to practice thinking of, and providing for, others.

Last year I found this sweet angel ornament at an after Christmas sale. I stored it away, then wrapped it up for Isla so that she could have the excitement of opening it up. Pat! Pat! Pat! Isla had so much fun making birdseed ornaments for our neighborhood critters with her friends, Luke and Bellamy. We spent the evening with their family, listened to Christmas music, and ordered Teriyaki take out to keep things simple- we love how these advent activities help us spend even more time with people we love!  Thirty seconds after I handed Isla her birdseed ornament, she dropped it. I’m not going to lie, my initial reaction was to be annoyed. But then I quickly reminded myself that life happens! Since the ornament was no longer stable enough to hang, we decided to place it on the ground in an area where we’ve seen a lot of squirrels recently. Flexibility and problem solving: good life skills for kids to learn and grown ups to remember!Advent Activity Day 8: The Keizer Christmas Parade with Nana, Papa and the cousins!The cutest little row of parade-goers.While waiting for the parade to begin, Cole was so fascinated by the police cars blocking the start of the route, that he started WALKING towards them!!! We were totally shocked, as he has shown little to no interest in walking so far. He has maybe taken 2 or 3 teeny consecutive steps in the past, but nothing like this! We all cheered Cole on, but he kept his eyes fixated on the cars, calling out, “Beep! Beep!” It was absolutely amazing!!! The milestone was made even more meaningful being surrounded by family. Cole walked all the way to the police cars, where the officers greeted him enthusiastically and told us they had been watching him walk. So sweet! This progression of Isla seeing Santa at the parade is EVERYTHING! How do we bottle this precious sense of wonder and keep it forever?!Advent Activity Day 9: Ice skating with Wavy!The girls and dads had a great time on the ice together, and Isla was so excited to show her cousin all she’s been learning during her ice skating lessons.Cole is always intrigued by the ice skaters. Recently, however, Isaac introduced him to one of those coin operated car rides near the ice rink, so now after a few minutes of watching Isla skate, Cole turns to me, eyes wide and hopeful, and asks, “Beep, beep, car?”Advent Activity Day 10: Painting candy cane nails! I felt pretty worn down on Monday and actually spent most of the day in bed resting, so I was needing a simple advent activity that evening. Painting candy cane Christmas nails was just perfect! I had just planned to paint Isla’s nails, but she asked to paint mine for the first time and she was so excited about the idea I couldn’t say no!Advent Activity Day 11: Reindeer Pancakes with Piper!We made reindeer pancakes for the first time last year and it was such a fun and simple activity. Make large circular pancakes for the head, medium circular pancakes for the muzzle, and small oval pancakes for the ears. The kids can decorate their reindeer with chocolate chip eyes, cherry nose, and bacon antlers.The parents decided it would be fun to treat ourselves to a decadent brunch for dinner. We made fried chicken and waffles with maple syrup, bourbon whipped cream, and candied bacon. All served alongside festive forties! It was AMAZING! We all agreed a new tradition was born that night!Teaching Cole to play Shut the Box. Advent Activity Day 12: Make Snowy Pine Cones! A little messy, but a super simple, sparkly, and quick winter craft. Use little sponge brushes to paint Elmer’s glue on the edges of a pine cone and then douse it in glitter! We put a large, shallow cardboard box (this time of year we all have extra Amazon boxes laying around, right?!) out on the craft table and set all the supplies inside. It helped us keep the glitter and glue mess completely contained.We had so much fun using a few of these pine cones in another fun craft we’ll share with you soon!

The first 12 days of our advent activity allowed us extra time together and with so many of our loved ones. We cannot wait for the fun and togetherness that awaits during the next 13 days!

Posted in Celebrations, Christmas, Christmas Advent Activities, Crafting with Kids, Holidays, Live Creatively

Christmas Stories Across Generations

There are few things I enjoy as much as cuddling up with Isla and a stack of great books. It is such a cozy time of connection for us.

When I was little, my mom spent countless hours reading to me. On warm summer days, stacks of books surrounded us as we stretched across quilts beneath the trees in our backyard. On colder days, we’d snuggle inside together on one of our beds and read for hours. These were treasured times. I vividly remember how my heart would race each year when we opened up our holiday bins and I rediscovered our Christmas books. Seeing those beloved familiar stories, tucked between festive ornaments and sparkly decor, was so exciting! Now I have the joy and excitement of sharing some of the very same holiday books with Isla that I loved so dearly as a child. My heart nearly bursts when we bring the Christmas bins out each year and I see her eyes light up as the books are unpacked.

I wanted to share a handful of favorite Christmas stories from my childhood that Isla is enjoying now, in case you’re looking for some fantastic new titles for your library.

First up, my favorite Christmas book of all time, hands-down! A Christmas Card for Mr. McFizz embodies all of the qualities that make a picture book absolutely magical to me: a beautiful lesson, brilliantly witty writing, and stunning illustrations. Mr. McFizz, a fastidious and fussy (but good-hearted) critter, learns to overcome loneliness and jealousy after a family of pack rats moves in next door. Just seeing the cover makes my heart all kinds of warm and fuzzy! The above photo shows my mom’s favorite page of the book. I don’t think she’s ever read this line without completely cracking up and commenting on the genius of the writing. I now find myself joyfully anticipating this line as I am reading to Isla.A Christmas Guest gives me a lump in my throat every time I read it. It is the story of a how young boy and his mom help an elderly woman who appears at their door on Christmas Eve. It is such a beautiful reminder of the importance of giving to others.What is it about Little Golden Books that instantly evokes such strong childhood nostalgia?! The Biggest, Most Beautiful Christmas Tree was one of my most read and highly treasured Christmas books, as you can clearly see from the well-loved cover. It’s a sweet, simple tale about a group of critters who were sad that Santa never came to their tree. Great Aunt Mim came for a visit and inspired them to decorate their home, turning it into the biggest, most beautiful Christmas tree, in an effort to catch Santa’s attention.We love all the Mousekin books! I was so captivated by the illustrations when I was little, and Isla is now. Mousekin’s Christmas Eve follows Mousekin as he unexpectedly searches for a new home and settles in the coziest place.Speaking of illustrations, aren’t Tomie dePaola’s so stunning?! We have a number of his books, but our favorite is The Friendly Beasts. It tells the Christmas story from the perspective of the animals of the manger.In Sophie Windham’s version of the The Twelve Days of Christmas, her illustrations are so charming you don’t mind the reading through the whole repetitive song! Ha! Isla loves lifting every single flap on each page, and I remembering spending so much time doing the same when I was little.

Lastly, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It’s a classic. Isla is crazy about this book and asks to read it every day. It has even inspired some of her recent artwork!

“Every who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot.”

We hope you often find yourselves under the glow of twinkly lights, snuggled up with loved ones, and surrounded by piles of heartwarming stories this season! If you end up adding any of these books to your library we’d love to hear what you think of them!

Posted in Celebrations, Favorite Books

Simple and Stress-Free Advent Activity Ideas!

We are so excited to share our simple and stress-free advent activity ideas with you all today!

The holidays are upon us! Hooray! We can’t wait to take part in the traditions and togetherness our family holds dear to our hearts during this sparkly season. One of our favorite holiday traditions is our advent calendar. Rather than filling the calendar with treats or toys, we plan for a daily outing or activity that encourages time together, creativity, thoughtfulness, and joy… okay, a few gifts sneak in there too.

Our Strategies for Simple and Stress-Free Advent Activities:

  • First and foremost, these advent activities are meant to be a fun experience for your family, so there is no need to make every one a giant production (although a few giant productions can be great!). We know the holidays are a busy time, so if you plan to do an advent calendar, we encourage you to keep things simple and focused on togetherness. Create advent activities around things that you would already be doing, such as decorating, enjoying a tasty holiday treat, or planned outings.
  • Plan your advent activities ahead of time (I keep a list going on my phone all year in case a random moment of inspiration strikes) and keep them organized on a calendar. We like to have a general plan for the month, but we keep the schedule flexible in case of last minute changes. This means we don’t have a concrete plan for every day at the beginning of the month, but we do have plenty of activity ideas to fill the days in as the month goes along.
  • Use the advent activities as an opportunity to spend time with family and friends! We plan activities, like ice skating, cookie making, and seeing the lights, with different loved ones. We put these events on the calendar first. We also keep most of these activities secret until Isla opens the advent calendar for the day, as it adds to the excitement and helps us avoid a meltdown if the plan falls through.
  • Plan more activities than you need so you have flexibility. Make sure to include a variety of super simple activities you can choose from on busy days, or days where plans have changed.
  • We do give a few gifts (books and Christmas craft supplies) as a part of our advent calendar, as they encourage us to spend time together as a family. To get as much use out of these items as possible, we gift them during the first few days of December so that we can enjoy them as much as possible through the season.

Advent activity outings with family from last year!

Making birdseed  ornaments for the birds and squirrels is one of our favorite traditions! Activities like this help teach our kids to think of practical ways to help others.

Our advent calendar is a box with little drawers. Isaac writes the activity for the day on a piece of paper (and if time allows and inspiration strikes, adds a few fun illustrations) and tucks it into the appropriate drawer.

Christmas crafts “wif” Mom (Written just as Isla would say it. Oh, my heart! I love that Isaac chose to do that. I can hear her little voice, before the “th” blends were mastered, whenever I look at this photo!).

Taking 2 extra minutes to put some chocolate chip “eyes” and cherry “noses” in bowls before breakfast leads to festive reindeer pancakes! Isaac made small, medium, and large pancakes, which we stacked to make reindeer faces. Then we broke the bacon into pieces to make antlers. It’s amazing how a few tiny tweaks can turn the everyday into something really special and memorable.

This is a screen shot of a simplified version of our calendar. We color code everything- even our advent activities! You’ll notice about half of the month is planned already, but the other half is open so we can choose activities as we go along that work well with our schedule.

 

Below is our 2018 list of advent activity ideas. It is likely to grow and change as the month goes along and we find new inspiration. We put a * next to the super simple, flexible activities.

  • *Open new Christmas books
  • *Open Christmas Craft Box (have photo examples from Pinterest available as inspiration)
  • *Open Christmas game (Santa playing cards)
  • *Open new ornament/decoration
  • Make Christmas cards and write letters of appreciation
  • Make Christmas cookies
  • *Make Christmas crafts
  • Make reindeer pancakes
  • *Make snowman soup or peppermint cocoa
  • *Make Christmas wrapping paper
  • Make holiday pizza (snowman, wreath, candy cane)
  • Make birdseed ornaments and/or gingerbread birdhouses
  • Decorate a gingerbread house (with the cousins)
  • Donation project with Isla (Rose Haven Women’s Shelter)
  • Toy clean out/donate
  • Go to Zoo Lights
  • Go to Peacock Lane/look at neighborhood lights/peppermint cocoa
  • Go to visit Santa (with the cousins)
  • Go to the Nutcracker
  • Snow Play Day/Make snow ice cream
  • Home Alone/cheese pizza party
  • *PJ/Christmas movie day
  • *Grinch movie/craft
  • *Dinner by the Christmas tree
  • *Winter walk collection
  • *Paint Christmas nails
  • *Christmas music dance party
  • Go ice skating
  • Christmas footprint craft
  • Make snowflake crafts (paper snowflakes/popsicle stick snowflakes)
  • *Write and mail a letter to Santa
  • Prawns and Champagne Night
  • Christmas Eve
  • Christmas Day

We can’t wait to kick off this year’s advent calendar on December 1, and we will be sharing highlights each week. If you were planning to do advent activities with your family, we hope these strategies and tips were helpful. May your holiday season be happy, magical, and filled with lots of quality time with the people you love most!

Posted in Celebrations, Crafting with Kids, Live Creatively

A Texas-Sized Texas Post

It’s a Texas-Sized post from our recent trip to Texas! It was a bittersweet (but heavy on the sweet) experience. We came together with family for my father’s memorial, and then our little family of four did some traveling and catching up with wonderful friends.

Both of the kids were champs throughout all the travel. Isla knew the drill and moved through all the transitions of packing, airport procedures, loading/unloading effortlessly. We weren’t sure how well Cole would do with the confinement on the plane, as he likes to keep moving and hasn’t proven to be quite as flexible as his big sister yet, but he did great! A little wiggly and resistant to napping on the plane (Mommy snuggled him into submission- ha!), but otherwise he was totally happy and easy going. Well done, little wayfarer!

Brush your teeth! Ch-ch-ch-ch…ch-ch-ch-ch-ch! Cole thinks brushing his teeth is one of the greatest pastimes in the world.

The first evening we were all together, we met for a long dinner. It was a wonderful time to come together and catch up on life.

Isla playing the maracas- and loving it!

Cole bonked his head and was trying to be so brave about it! His little lip!!! Luckily, Uncle David gave him lots of comfort.

Snuggles and fireside storytelling with Uncle Mark!

Cole thought cousin Matthew was just the best! The night they met it took Cole only a few minutes to feel comfortable enough to steal beans off of Matt’s plate!

Isla and cousin Clara became fast friends and played non-stop while they were together.

Everywhere we go, she is collecting. This is Papa Sam’s Memorial Weekend Collection. Agates and a snail shell from the gravel at the cemetery parking lot, pecans from Isla Avenue, and crystals, acorns, and pine cones from our walk with Auntie Mary and Uncle David.

Over the weekend I faced so much of the sadness I had been able to push down and avoid this past year. I cried every time we drove through my dad’s neighborhood; the realization that those familiar roads would no longer lead me to him was incredibly painful. Standing alongside my dad’s grave, hearing my uncle read the Lord’s prayer, and my mom share a loving and honest eulogy that highlighted Dad’s goodness and struggles, solidified the painful reality that he is gone. My heart breaks knowing I can no longer call to see how he is doing or share the details of my life. We’ll never talk about photography or travels or reminisce about our happiest days spent hiking, skiing, movie watching, and adventuring together. I’ll never hear his hearty laugh again. That really, really hurts.

Thankfully, along with the sadness, I experienced so much joy during those few days. The time I spent with my sister and brothers was absolutely priceless. We shared stories about Dad and caught up on each other’s lives. My heart nearly burst watching them meet, and dote on, Isla and Cole! I was blown away how quickly both of the kids connected with them. I met my uncle, my dad’s only brother, for the first time and marveled at the incredible wonder of genetics. My dad and uncle haven’t spent much time together since they were teenagers, yet they shared so many similar traits and mannerisms! Their hands were identical, and their posture, movements, and phraseology were surprisingly similar. The first time I saw my uncle shake is head in disbelief and exclaim, “Really?” I nearly burst into tears, because I’d swear I was staring into my Dad’s face. These glimmers of my dad, through my uncle, were such precious gifts to me this weekend. The way we all connected as a family was really amazing. It filled my heart with so much love, and I know it would have made Dad so, so happy.

As we were arriving at the cemetery in Beaumont, Texas, we were absolutely shocked to drive past an Isla Avenue! We made sure to stop for a photo before we left.

As a little tribute to my dad, I made this shirt for Isla. My dad always called her, “Isla Wila, sweeter than apple cider.” It sounded more like a rhyme with his southern drawl! I absolutely loved that he made up this sweet little nickname for her, and that even as his memory faded, it was something he remembered. Isla wore this to his memorial, and it brought a smile to my face every time I looked at it. I have found myself unintentionally using this nickname with Isla all year, and I love that it has helped her maintain a connection with her papa.

Isla had so much fun playing with (and teasing!) her Uncle David.

Walk and lunch with Auntie Mary!

We rounded out the weekend with a dinner with Mom. Emotionally, we were exhausted, but also energized. Our eyes were puffy and tired from the tears, but our hearts were so full from the time we spent together as a family.

The next day, our family of four headed to Galveston to visit Moody Gardens. I have such happy memories from Moody Gardens when I was a child, and I couldn’t wait to share the magic of the aquarium and rainforest pyramids with Isla and Cole.

The experience was every bit as magical as I had hoped it would be- if not more! There is really nothing more heartwarming than seeing the wonder in your children’s eyes as they explore something new. This tank alone- literally the very first thing we saw- captivated the kiddos for a solid 15 minutes.Go ahead and add “stingray whisperer” to Isla’s list of magical traits. These cow nosed rays kept coming back to her for pats, and were jumping out of the water towards her. Even the volunteers commented on how much they liked Isla.

Isla was absolutely captivated by this moon jelly touch tank! She described them as, “kinda slimy.”“I don’t want to be anything when I grow up. I want to be a little bit of everything.” Isla Grace Marshall

Up next was the rainforest!Isla was tickled pink to see these salmon colored birds.Cole kept calling out, “Caw! Caw!” when he would hear the birds.

Isla drew a picture of us in the rainforest, looking at the pink birds.

The next day we visited NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Isla watching a launch simulation. Love that sweet little face!Mission to find resources on Mars. Success!Just taking brother for a spin in a Mars Rover. No big deal.

Isla taught herself to draw cylinders on the trip!

Next up, was a trip to Waco to visit all of the Magnolia stops.We enjoyed lunch at Magnolia Table. It’s just as beautiful, tasty, and wonderful as you’d expect it to be!

The cupcakes were divine!

The light was so beautiful in the common area at The Silos I had to run to the car to get our good camera. Isla befriended a group of kids almost instantly, and they spent a solid hour running around together, giggling and playing soccer. Cole found this extra ball and was in love! He kept hugging it and saying, “Oooh. Ball!”I can’t get enough of this little guy in his badger outfit. I’m pretty sure every baby outfit should come with a tail!

Cole is all about cars these days! The minute he sees one, his eyes grow wide, he points, and enthusiastically shouts, “Beep! Beep!” He can say car, but I love the fact that he prefers beep beep. Side note, he calls remotes (or any technology with buttons) a “beep boop beep.”“I took a deep breath, and from determination, I won.” -Isla

After our day in Waco we moved on to Austin for the remainder of our trip.

We connected with our photographer friend, Amanda, and her darling daughter, Allie, for a playdate in the park and enjoyed an impromptu pigeon hangout as well.

One of the biggest highlights from our stay in Austin was our visit to Thinkery. What a fabulous children’s museum! It was incredibly engaging, with countless opportunities for hands-on learning. Plus, everything was SO fun! We all played happily for hours and hours.

Isla absolutely loved the sewing center. First she practiced her hand stitching and then used the sewing machine- all by herself! I see a new passion developing!This room was pretty much a giant lite-brite. We were all mesmerized!

We wrapped up our stay in Texas with a weekend at the Johnston’s. Our time together was filled with heartfelt conversations and creative inspiration. So grateful for friends who are family.

Thank you for a wonderful stay, Texas loved ones. See y’all next November!

Posted in Family Travel, North America, Texas, Travel