Christmas Activities

Dalan and I made an activity advent calendar for Quinn this year. It is our way of making sure we fit in all (or at least most) of the activities we want to do during December, and if you know Quinn, you know her "charts" (advent calendars) are her favorite part of the holidays.  This year she had a chocolate chart, an activity chart, a magnetic tree, and Dalan had a Lego chart. A bit overboard perhaps, but a ton of fun.  

The activity chart is mostly simple, holiday preschool appropriate activities for each evening- read a Christmas book, make cards, write a letter to Santa, bake treats, color a picture, sing a song, etc. However, we did do some big ticket events too. 

We sat on Santa's lap.  Twice. And Quinn got a cookie both times. She now is convinced that is what Santa is bringing her as her gift. 

Quinn had her annual Christmas party for her friends. I took one photo, before the party even started. That is a common problem this year as I am constantly battling having enough memory on my phone for photos. Thanks for the photos, Becca! 

We went to Zoo Lights. I think this was Quinn's favorite.  She would pull the tag from her chart and say it read " go to the zoo and see the lights" for weeks after we went. 

We went and saw the elves at Gardner Village. So fun. Quinn is totally elf sized!  

We went to some family parties.   She loves playing with her cousins. 

We made a gingerbread house.  I was going to skip this one, but Quinn saw a kit at Target, and wanted it so bad. It was a blast. I am glad we did it. 

(Eating it the next day.)

Quinn got a letter back from Santa! 

Things not pictured-

We also went downtown to see the lights and the candy windows.  So fun! 

We went for a drive to see Christmas lights. Quinn loved it, until she fell asleep half way through. :-). 

Big Surprise

When we arrived at my parents' house for dinner tonight, they had a big surprise for us- A NEW SISTER!  Well, a new canine sister that is. 

Her name is Chloe and she is about as sweet and mellow as they come. And smart!  

She is about two years old, and a rescue dog that needed a new home. She weighs about 50 lbs, and I would guess that at least a third of it is her head. 

We were so excited to meet her and get to love on her all evening!  Well, most of us were excited. Piper and Hazel (????) took some time to adjust!  

12 for 12 December

Well, I did it!  I finished up the year, and I can't say I enjoyed it much. Maybe one day, I will look back and appreciate a monthly peek into my day to day life in 2013. I mean, hopefully, right?  

Here is what Sparky, the elf on a shelf, in my classroom was up to on the 12th. 

I have a "man" cold. I don't know how else to explain the fact that I am taking this cold so hard, except that I have grown soft and wimpy. 

Quinn likes to pretend that cartoons are her real life friends. Lately, it is Megamort.  He is a bad guy from one of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episodes, also known in the Mickey Mouse world as Mortimer Mouse. She is obsessed with these adventures she wants to go on with Megamort. Here is a text Ali sent me while she was watching Q before preschool on the 12th. 

Speaking of colds, my class is doing an experiment with potatoes and germ spreading. So far, the results are leading to wash your hands with soap and water. Hand sanitizer doesn't seem to be cutting it. 

Before I left school, Sparky took an "elfie". I thought it was hilarious. The kids, not as much, when they saw it the next day. 

On the 11th, I gave Q some fun peppermint soap in the tub, only to discover she had rubbed it furiously all over her face and mouth. It was bad. (It is also what Ali was referencing in her text.) she was rashy and blotchy. I couldn't tell if it was an allergic reaction or just irritation at first.  

Here is how she looked post bath on the 11th. 

And on the 12th

That night we went to my mom's house to make Christmas treats. I passed on the actual baking.  :-(  I didn't feel well, and didn't want to spread germs. Everyone else had fun baking. 

My dad fell asleep. Sitting up. Legs crossed in a classic Carlson position. 

Here is my mom's original elf on the shelf from the 50's or 60's. 

 

Ra-hoo!

Our elf on a shelf returned on December 1 for another year of wackiness. Quinn called him elf and Ralph for the first few days as she couldn't remember/ pronounce (our little gringa) before settling on Ra-hoo.  

She goes back and forth between thinking he is hilarious and so silly to being mad that either she can't touch him or that he is playing with/has something she suddenly must have right then. 

Raul kicked off the Christmas season with a note and a donut for breakfast. Quinn was a big fan of the icing. 

He took a nap in the tissue box. Quinn wanted to wake him up all day, and Piper ended up eating his tissue blanket right off of him. 

He also took Quinn's Fisher Price airplane for a spin. Quinn thought this was pretty silly. 

He toilet papered our tree. Quinn declared Ra-hoo was so silly!  

He hung upside down on a picture. This may be Quinn's favorite to date. She thought it was so funny he was upside down on a picture of her. 

He hung out with Santa. 

And then I missed getting a photo of him hanging out on our bell. 

Next, he went fishing. Quinn thought this was silly too. She also thought he was going to get a tummy ache from eating too many fish. 

Next, he stole a cookie and was caught eating it on the picture frame.  Quinn was so mad. Those were her cookies!  And needed one of her own right away.

Then, Minnie took Raul for a ride. Quinn was not happy about this either. She wanted to play with Minnie right then!  

Today, Raul was hanging from our fan in the kitchen. Quinn thought it was silly, but worried he might fall and wanted to get him down. 

Who knows what kind of trouble Raul will get into over the next two weeks!