Growing up my extended family did not live near us. Often times holidays were spent with just my immediate family of my mom and dad, me, and my sister. My family developed strong Christmas family traditions because it was just the four of us. Christmas Eve wasn't Christmas Eve, it was my dad's birthday. For as long as I can remember we'd get him a puzzle for his birthday each year. We'd spend the day (and the week after Christmas) putting it together as a family. For dinner my mom made a spread of appetizers and we'd snack while playing games. One of our favorite games was Uno. "Blue to you" became a family joke and a "disease" my sister often got as she never had blue cards. Instead of birthday cake we'd eat Ice Box Pudding, a traditional birthday desert handed down my dad's family for five generations. Christmas Day my sister and I would wake early and open our stockings. We'd then go wake our parents and eat Christmas Morning Sticky Buns for breakfast. After breakfast, … [Read more...]
9 Unique Advent Calendars
Thanksgiving is just a few days away and that means that Christmas is right around the corner! 'Tis the time to start thinking about The Elf on The Shelf and advent calendars. Just like The Elf, calendars can be as boring or creative as you want them to be. I've done some searching for ideas for my family and found these nine unique advent calendars... This DIY Paper Ornaments Advent Calendar by Sweet T Makes Three fascinates me. I can't decide if it would be more fun for my girls to make the ornaments or to open them! Hang these as a garland if you don't have a tree yet. How cute is this DIY Christmas Bulb Advent Calendar by The House That Lars Built?! Even if you don't make these bulbs as a calendar, you can make them to hang on your tree or just around the house. What I love about this Magnetic Bottle Cap Christmas Advent Calendar by Third Stop On The Right is that there are no gifts needed. It's just a simple count down to Christmas. How can you go … [Read more...]
Christmas Activity Printable
A few weeks ago I made Thanksgiving activity printables. I had a ton of fun making them and my girls thought they were fun to do so I thought I would make a Christmas activity printable too. Unlike the Thanksgiving printables, I only made one version this time. I've been extremely busy this past week with our new dog Bentley. I haven't been able to keep up on housework let alone blog stuff! My 6 year old didn't have too hard of a time doing the activities on this printable though. The maze was a bit hard for both the girls until I made a minor adjustment to it :) Click on the photo above to download this Christmas activity printable for your kids. I hope they enjoy it as much as mine did! … [Read more...]
15 Must Do Family Christmas Activities
It seems like every year Christmas creeps up faster and faster. Life gets super busy with the hustle and bustle of the season and you forget to slow down and spend quality time as an immediate family. We've got 15 must do family Christmas activities to encourage you to stop and have some fun. 1) Cut your own real Christmas tree. Take your family on an adventure to a Christmas tree farm and enjoy the hunt for the perfect tree. It's definitely more fun than you think! 2) Go ice skating on an outdoor rink or on a lake. When was the last time you bundled up and went ice skating outside? Get outside and enjoy the fresh air! 3) Go Christmas caroling in the neighborhood next to yours. Grab some friends and neighbors and spread Christmas joy with the lost art of caroling. No one will care if you can't sing. 4) Go shopping for toys to donate. Teach your children the importance of giving in this time of "I want..." by shopping for those less fortunate. 5) Have a family movie … [Read more...]
Christmas BINGO- Free Printables
BINGO is such a fun and easy game for kids to play. I thought it was a good idea to make a set of BINGO cards for Christmas parties and print them off. I'm sharing them with you today and hope you like them. Simply click on the photos and print them. Easy, peasy, lemon, squeezy! The first photo is for the cut outs, simply print and cut out each photo for the game caller. The Merry Christmas can be used as a Free Space if you chose or it can be a regular game play. Card one Card two Card three Card four Card five Card six Card seven Card eight Card nine … [Read more...]
Dollar Store Advent Ideas
For $24 you can create your own Advent Calendar. I have done something similar each year with my kids. Last year we purchased 24 books and wrapped them all and let them unwrap one each night. It was so much fun. This year we decided to hit up our local Dollar Store. Here are 24 ideas for creating a Dollar Store Advent. 1. Rainbow Loom bracelets are all the rage right now. Dollar stores across the country have the rubber bands! 2. Flash Cards- just because they're on vacation doesn't mean the learning has to stop! 3. Foam balls are a huge hit in our house. 4. You can never go wrong with bubbles! If it's cold enough try making some frozen bubbles. 5. Jump Rope- seriously classic toys are still the best! 6. Another classic, paddle boards. 7. Add a little sunshine to a gloomy December day! Bendable flower pens! 8. Coloring and activity books are always a hot commodity in our house. 9. Every year they come out with new Holiday and Christmas books...for a dollar a … [Read more...]
