A Few of Our Favorite Things ...

Samantha helped me with the stamps, stickers and address labels on our Christmas cards this year.

*******************

Our favorite Christmas countdown ... we have been using this for years to countdown the days until Christmas.  The kids take turns (one each night) choosing their magnet to cover up the days.  It hangs on our fridge, but Jack was kind enough to hold it down lower for Jimmy when it was his turn.

********************

I love crafting with the kids and decided to make hot cocoa ornaments as the project at Sophia's classroom Christmas party.  We tested it out at home first (always a good idea!) and it was a success -- both with Sophia and later with her classmates.

The students took their ornaments home filled with hot chocolate powder and whatever else they chose to add (marshmallows, sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, peppermint pieces).  The idea was that they would dump it out into a mug of hot water and stir with the peppermint candy spoon that I provided.  They could also hang it on the tree if they so desired.

********************

Jack helped make cookies with me this year while the girls were playing with their friend and Jimmy was napping.  It was such a sweet time with just him and myself, and I know that he treasured a little one-on-one time.

First up -- gingerbread cookies.

And then sugar cookies.  He was a pro at maximizing his dough space with the cookie cutters.  He's an engineer at heart.

********************

The next day, I set up the family room for frosting the cookies.  Again, Jimmy was napping and it was fun to focus on just the three older (and more independent) kids.  Maybe next year, Jimmy will be ready to join in.

Lots of focus on details this year.

Sophia is still learning the "less is more concept."

So serious.  Again, it is the engineer in him.

Partway through, we  paused for a hot cocoa break.

Some of the finished cookies.

********************

More hot cocoa.  And when you have it in an initialed mug, it makes it taste even better.

Yup, a nice ending to cookie decorating.

********************

As is our tradition, the kids put together their reindeer food bags in time for the Christmas Eve sprinkling on the front lawn.

I always laugh when I watch them assemble their bags.  Their personalities seem to match perfectly with what they put inside -- that is, the quantity and the choice of material.  Sophia and Samantha fill their bags to the brim, practically.

And Sophia's is primarily glitter.  That girl never met a sequin that she didn't like.

Jimmy's was lacking in substance in the end because he opted to consume a lot of the products, mostly chocolate chips.

And Jack was strategic about his content.  He almost measured each and every item.

Christmas Eve night, sprinkling it on the lawn.

I'm not sure if Jimmy completely understood what he was doing, but it was fun to be outside late at night and to sprinkle the lawn.

Sophia's bag was so full that it burst at the last minute in the hallway and we had to put it in a bowl instead.

********************