Day 22 - Christmas Cookies!

Yesterday we decorated Christmas cookies. Delish! I was impressed with how long the boys actually stayed to help. Colin kept saying that his hand was getting sore, but when I told him he could stop, he insisted that he wanted to continue. Everytime Eli started getting bored, he would ask for a different color frosting and his interest would be renewed. Of course, by the end, he started mixing all the colors together which drove this mama a little crazy, but I'm learning to let it go. :) I think the most amazing part about decorating the cookies is neither boy tried to eat any of them or the frosting. They both waited patinetly until after dinner. *I* didn't even have that kind of control.

 Eli's Cookies

 Colin's Cookies

The Whole Lot

Day 21 - Little Elves

Today the boys (OK, it was just Colin, Eli watched) helped me wrap gifts for their cousins. He did a great job putting the tape where it needed to go and attaching the tags. At first it was challenging to pull him away from his playing, but once he started he got really into it. He kept telling me to use enough paper to cover the gifts so nobody could see what they are. He also kept telling me that he wasn't going to tell anybody what the gifts were so they could be a big surprise. Love it!

Day 20 - Lights at the Zoo

Last night the whole family went to the Toledo Zoo's Lights before Christmas display. It was beautiful and so much fun to walk around and look at all the different lights. Every year since moving down here, Chris and I have talked about wanting to go, but this is the first year we've actually done it. We're hooked. And can I also mention that once again our zoo membership has proven to be one of the best investments we've made.

The kids also loved it. Although I think Eli was a little frozen by the time we left, despite being dressed like the kid brother from "A Christmas Story". Colin was so excited to be out after dark and kept talking about how it was past his bedtime. Don't get me wrong, we were home before 8 PM so it really wasn't that much past his bedtime, but I didn't have the heart to tell him that. The only disappoinment was that Colin wishes he could have seen more animals. Thankfully we have that membership and can easily go back some time during the day to check out all his favorites.

 

Day 19 - Making Peppermint Play Dough

Today we made peppermint play dough. It was very easy to make, smelled delicious, and the boys had a great time helping cook it up. They really love helping me in the kitchen. Well, I think what they really like is the opportunity to stand on the chairs! After it was done, Colin had fun playing with the play dough and pretended to make pizza and cookies. Eli, on the otherhand, wanted nothing to do with it and ran away. I did get one shot of the two of them near the play dough so it at least kind of looks like they're both having fun. :) Really Eli's eyeing the dough like it's about to jump out at him and he ran off about 2 seconds after I took the picture.

Days 17 & 18 - Christmas Coloring and Even More Books

On day 17, I had the boys color pages out of some Christmas coloring books that we have. Sometimes we all need easy, low-key days.

On day 18, Colin woke up begging to go to the library. It *had* been awhile since we last went and the kids really do love the library. So, we turned it into a Christmas activity and in addition to Curious George and Flat Stanley, we also looked for wintry and Christmas books. The boys had a blast, picked out tons of books, and made new friends.

Day 16 - Colin's Christmas Program

Colin and his preschool class put on a little Christmas program and it was so cute! Colin was a shepard during the "play" part, got to ring bells during some of the songs, and put a camel on the felt board as his teacher read the Christmas story. I was really impressed with how different he behaved during this program in comparison to his Halloween program. He didn't sing very much but he did a lot of the movements, he smiled, and he looked like he was having fun. At Halloween, he just looked lost. It was also really special because both sets of grandparents got to come down to watch him. I think that helped encourage him to participate more.

Day 15 - Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock

Today the boys and I turned on Christmas music and had a dance par-tay. Very fun and a great way to get their energy out since we've been spending a lot of time indoors due to the bitterly cold weather.