Happy Solstice 2010!!!

On Tuesday we celebrated the Winter Solstice.  In the morning when the kids got up, we all opened our presents.  They were pretty excited!  

Here are pics of their favorites.  The rest of the photos will be in a Facebook photo album.

Leo's favorite was his Lightening McQueen "Shake and Go" car.  Leo also got puzzles, a recycling truck, tub toys, a new bedding set, and books. 

Here, Flora is dressing her Polly Pocket.  This was definitely one of her favorites, but it was a toss up between Polly, Princess nightgowns, and a pretty pink dress.  She also got puzzles and books, as well as a DVD, slippers, and dishes for the play kitchen.

Tom got a new travel coffee mug and a alarm clock/dock for his iPhone.

I got a travel coffee mug, a necklace, a bracelet that says,"a mother holds her children's hand for a short while, but their hearts forever", and prenatal yoga classes.

For the rest of the morning, the kids played with their new stuff.  Then it was lunch time, then nap time.  

Since they both decided not to nap that day, Tom(I was out running errands) decided to get them out of bed and geared up to go play in the snow fort he created for them(see pics in the Facebook album).  

When I got home, I made "Penne with Asparagus and Mushroom Cream Sauce" with a little salad on the side that Tom made.  It was pretty tasty! 

After supper we snuggled up on the couch and watched the new movie the kids got, "Despicable Me". Then it was early bedtime seeing as the kids didn't nap.  

Overall it was a pretty relaxed day.  

Hope you had a Happy Solstice!

(Too bad it was too cloudy to see the lunar eclipse.  I find it really interesting that the full moon, the eclipse, and the Solstice all fell on the same day.)

6 Days before Solstice...

In the morning we made these:

And a bunch of other yummy goodies!

The kids really enjoyed the eating it part, as you can tell!

After supper, Tom helped the kids frost the cookies they cut out the other day.  I guess they weren't too enthused.  Leo dumped sprinkles in the frosting.  Flora frosted and sprinkled only a couple of cookies and then got bored. Oh well!  At least they tried. :)

On the 8th Day Until Solstice...

We made gingerbread cookies!

Last night we rolled, cut, and baked the cookies.  I think frosting and decorating might have to wait until tomorrow, because tonight our activity is: "buying a gift for a needy family".

Flora's school has a giving tree with ornaments that have an item on them to give to Harbor House.  They offer this instead of each child buying the teachers a gift. I thought that was a good idea.  When I was a daycare teacher, I got a lot of mugs and a lot of "stuff" for the holidays.  Most of which I have not held on to.

So along with finishing up other holiday shopping, we will be buying towels for Harbor House. :)

This last picture was taken today while making Danish Christmas Cookies.  Leo likes to stir, but it's kind of hard for him(he HAS to do it!) and he has his own agenda.  He likes to scoop what he's mixing and put it in other bowls.  He also tends to be messy, saying. "oopie" every time he flipped some out of the bowl.  That's why I normally use the biggest bowl we have when the kids help stir, because Flora does it too. :)

Stay tuned for more "Twelve Days of Solstice fun"!

The Twelve Days of Solstice

Last week we started what I call the "Twelve Days of Solstice".  It's like an Advent calendar, but everyday we look in the stocking or mitten and there is an activity or craft to do.  We started at 12 and will count down to Solstice.

So, our first activity, on Thursday, was making gift tags.  I cut up our holiday cards from last year and we used all kinds of glitter and glue to decorate them.  Flora also used a stamp to imprint the "To:" and "From:" on the back.  It was good messy fun!

'Tis the Season... to Decorate and Create!!!

We've been busy in the last week "decking the halls"!  On Wednesday we put out some of our holiday decor and the M&M lights in the playroom(the kids loved them!).  Saturday it was too cold to go for a walk, so we got a little crafty and made some gingerbread paper dolls.  Flora and Papa really got into it.  Leo was into it for a little while, but after a while, he just kept getting into all the stuff and making a mess instead.

Working hard!

The finished results

Last night we set up the tree.  Isn't it a beauty?!?  AND it fits just right in our living room!  A real Charlie Brown tree.  Ed got it from Up North.  This was the type of tree I wanted last year, but we ended up buying one instead. The kids really wanted to "help", but since the tree is so skinny and the branches were so thin, it was a "parents only" kind of a project.  They still had fun checking out all the ornaments. 

We did celebrate St. Nick by giving them stocking stuffed with books, colors, socks, puzzles, and just a little bit of candy. They got their stuff on Sunday morning, so Tom could be there, too.  They really enjoyed it!

Today Finn was here and we made some cute reindeer.  Finn's was a birthday card for his mom, since it is her birthday today. :) 

Funny that Leo's hand isn't much smaller than Flora's!

I'm sure we'll be crafting, baking, and decorating more in the weeks to come, so stay tuned(and warm)!