Last week of Christmas Books

Good King Wenceslas - Dec 13

I had really never paid much attention to this song until I read Jocelyn's blog at beinglds.   This book takes the words from the song and illustrates it.  I don't think this book is in print anymore, so I ended up ordering this book used on Amazon.  I think this is Thomas' second favorite book so far.  He really loved learning about the old English verbiage.  Out of all the books, I think Thomas understood the message of giving and helping those less fortunate the best from this book.  I know every time we hear the song we will have a better appreciation for the story.  The pictures in this book look like stained glass and are really beautiful too.  Here is the how to: stained glass

So for our craft we made stained glass ornaments to hang in our window.  We used black foam, seran wrap, elmers glue, and markers. They are simple and even Carter proof!  You can find the how to here: 

The Night Before Christmas - Dec 14

Today we read The Night Before Christmas, illustrated by Jan Brett.  For our craft today, we made sugarplum ornaments.  I realized while we were doing this that Carter really loves to paint.  He is a little messy, but pretty good at it.  I thought that these sugarplums really turned out well.  Here is the how to: sugar plums

Reindeer Games - Dec 15

Since we did not get to do all of our reindeer activities in Utah, I thought we needed another reindeer day. 

Thomas looking in the "Ho Ho bag" for his book and activity

Every day he opens his card that lists what we are going to do that day.

For Breakfast we had reindeer pancakes.

After reading our books, we made reindeer bags for our sunbeam friends.  They were super cute and of course I did not take a picture.  you can see it here:  Little Wonders

We also made the reindeer ball ornaments from that page.

After Thomas  got home from school we made these reindeer clothes pin ornaments:

We also played a reindeer felt game.  The kids really liked it.  The little rhyme that goes with the game helped Thomas with rhyming words and helped Carter with his colors.  You can print it out here: reindeer story

Gingerbread Day - Dec 16

It would not be Christmas for me without gingerbread men and a gingerbread house.  Today we read Gingerbread Baby and Gingerbread Friends.

This year making our gingerbread house was so much fun.  Last year Carter only wanted to destroy the house and eat all the candy.  Of course, Carter was still interested in eating the candy, but he was also interested in decorating the house.  Thomas also got to use the icing bag all by himself, which made it much easier as well.  Every year Ryan and I tend to really get into the house decorating thing and end up helping the kids finish it off.

I can't wait to see what the boys will think of as they get older.  This year our house featured a colorful driveway, which included a sporty car, and a landing pad for santa.

All Aboard, This is the Polar Express - Dec 17

Of course in our family of boys, you cannot forget The Polar Express.  Today, we got to read the book and watch the movie.  For the activity, Thomas got to cut out ticket out of golden paper and write "Believe" on each one

After the movie, we had fun lining up the chairs pretending that it was a train.  Thomas was the conductor and punched our tickets.  He then insisted that we reenact most of the movie.  Afterwards, we made yummy hot chocolate.

Clown of God - Dec 18

Today, we read The Clown of God.  This is not really your typical Christmas book.  In this retelling of an old French legend, a juggler offers to the Christ Child the only Christmas gift he has, his talents.

For our craft we made colorful paint swirl ornaments.  Thomas and Carter both had fun making these.  I think next time I will buy glass paint instead of acrylic though.  Here is the how to: swirled ornaments

Santa Clause came a few days early (on the 22nd) to our house so that we could go spend time with Mimi and Papa V on Christmas.  So Monday - Wednesday we read books that were more centered on the birth of Christ.  Here are some of the books we read:

Room for a Little One

We Were There

Bright Christmas

The Littlest Angel

We also read the account in Luke on Christmas Eve.

Books in Utah

I decided to try to pack up some of the activities and books to take to Utah with us.  So some of the things this week were a little more abbreviated than what I had planned and I did not get as many pictures.  I guess this is the travel version.

Humphrey's 1st Christmas - Dec. 5

Thomas and I read this book on the plane ride to Utah.  I loved how Humphrey the camel changed his selfish ways and in the end gives baby Jesus his most beloved treasure, his blanket.  We also made a paper camel on the plane.  Too bad I did not get any pictures of it.  Here is the link to the blog that has a picture and a link to print it out.  http://beinglds.blogspot.com/2009/12/humphreys-first-christmaschristmas-book.html

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer - Dec 6

My Mom gave the kids an early Christmas present while we were there.  She recorded the Rudolph story for the kids.  I have always wanted to buy one of these recordable story books, but never have.  It is so fun to read this book with Grandma even when she is all the way in Utah!

After reading the book, the kids put together a travel friendly foam reindeer.  I have so many reindeer crafts that I had to leave at home that I think we will have to have another reindeer day before Christmas.  Later that night, the kids watched the older version of Rudolph.  

Home for Christmas - Dec 7

We read Home for Christmas today.  It is about a boy who runs away from home because he does not want to do his chores any more.  In the end he realizes that there is nothing better than being with your family, especially on Christmas.  We drove up to see my sister Jennifer in the afternoon.  She had bought some clay to make Christmas ornaments with.  She helped Thomas make a T ornament and a Christmas tree one too.  They turned out really cute.  I will have to upload some pictures later.

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas - Dec 8

Today was grinch day.  This was the first year that we have read The Grinch.  We started the day off with Hallie reading the book to Thomas.  It was so fun for Thomas to have Hallie read the book to him.  We then made felt lollipop ornaments that turned out really cute (will upload pictures later).  The kids also got new Christmas coloring books.  It was so fun that we could do these activities with Hallie and Tyler too! That night the kids stayed with my Mom and John and watched the older version of the movie and ate popcorn.  I think they ended up watching it like 3 times that night. This book and movie I think have been the kids favorite this year.  Every night before bed, Thomas picks this book out to read. 

The Light of Christmas - Dec 10th

Today the kids spent the morning with my sister Jennifer.  She made some clay ornaments with Thomas and read The Light of Christmas to them.  I really liked this book and its message.  "The truest gift of Christmas is the gift of self.  The flame of Christmas must first burn from within".  Jennifer met us in Salt Lake with the kids so that they could release balloons for Nana too.  Afterwards, we headed over to temple square to see the lights for our book activity.  It was a perfect night and the lights were amazing.

Christmas Oranges - Dec 11th

When I was in college, this was one of my favorite stories to read around Christmas time.  I was so excited to read this with Thomas this year.  Every year we add a book to our Christmas collection, and this year we bought Christmas Oranges.  I think it was still a little over Thomas' head, but he seemed to like it.  The craft that I had planned with this was to make clove oranges.  It just did not happen.  It was our last day in Utah and we spent the day with family.

Christmas Carol - Dec 12

We flew back to Michigan toady.  We had such a good visit with family.  It was fun to spend time with Ryan's family that we rarely get to see.  It was nice to see my sisters and my Mom right before Christmas too.

Today, the book was A Christmas Carol.  It was such a long day that Thomas did not make it through this book without falling asleep.  I think that we will have to try this book again later.  

We love you Nana!

We found out on Thursday, December 1 that Ryan's Nana was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  I am so grateful that we were able to make a trip out to Utah to see her before she passed away early Wednesday (Dec 7th) morning.  We were all very sad to see such an amazing woman leave us, but are so grateful for the knowledge that she is in a better place.

I know that it has been only 7 years that I have known her and that I have been apart of the family, but I have learned many valuable things from her.  One thing that I will always remember is that she was always happy and smiling whenever I saw her.  I think she had such a positive outlook on life, which is something I know I could work on.  She was also very young at heart and loved to laugh.  Whenever I took the kids over to visit, she would pull out fun books and toys to show the kids.  Last year while Thomas was talking on the phone to Nana, Thomas decided to give her the name "Nana Banana."  It was such a fitting name for her and I know that it made her laugh.

We miss Nana already, but know that we will miss her even more when we go back out to Utah again to visit.  It will be a very different trip not being able to spend time with her.

We released balloons for Nana at the Cemetery.  It was such a beautiful day.

Oh My! More Book Advent

So this task of blogging about the advent days seems a little daunting to me.  It is challenging enough for me to get all the activities ready the day before for Thomas to open, much less recording it all.  I am glad that I am doing it because I forget things very quickly and want to be able to look back on this.  So here it goes.

Day 4 - Christmas Tree Day - Dec. 3

Today the book that we read was, Mr. Willouby's Christmas Tree.  This is a really cute and fun book about how a wealthy man's gigantic christmas tree became a tree for many less fortunate families.  We bought this book a few years ago and we have really enjoyed it and have made it a tradition to read when we put up our tree.

We had two different Christmas tree crafts today.  First, we made popsicle stick Christmas trees.  To make it easy, we used markers to color the sticks and then glued some rhinestones on for decoration.  I was actually really surprised how well Carter participated in this craft.  He was very adamant that he do it all himself and I think it turned out very cute.

While Carter was sleeping, we did the second Christmas tree craft together.  This tree turned out very cute, but requires assembly before hand.  Thomas had fun coloring the star and decorating the tree with rhinestones.  Here is the link on the how to: http://www.thatartistwoman.org/2008/11/how-to-make-mini-christmas-trees.html

Day #5 - True Meaning of Christmas - Dec. 4

Since it is Sunday, I thought we should do something that is centered more on the Savior and the true meaning of Christmas.  So, today we read, Mortimer's Christmas Manger and Christmas in a Manger.  I absolutely love Mortimer's Christmas Manger and think it is a great Christmas book for kids age 4-6.  It is about a mouse who decides that his little mouse hole is too cramped and needs a new home.  He ventures out into the living room and finds a creche that the family had set up.  Mortimer thinks that would be the perfect home for him and moves all of the statues out, including the baby Jesus.  He even makes the manger his bed.  Mortimer eventually realizes who baby Jesus is and feels badly about taking his bed.  Every time Mortimer moved the statues out, Thomas would say "thats not nice at all."  In the end, Mortimer puts baby Jesus back in his bed and begins to search for another place to live.  He was very excited when he finds a gingerbread house just his size.  It was really sweet when Thomas told me that Mortimer was blessed for doing the right thing.  I also think that it illustrated how we need to show reverence when we are thinking and talking about the Savior. 

For our craft today we made a clay pot Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus.  I let the kids paint the pots and the heads and then I had to assemble it.  It was so cute watching them carry all three figures up the stairs to put in their room.  Here is where I found this idea: http://www.latter-dayhomeschooling.com/2010/11/clay-pot-nativity.html

Thomas insisted on making his own faces.  

Carter's set he made.