day 20 - reunited

Sitting, waiting, wishing...

for a drum duet, apparently. 

Here's to a great weekend and 12 work-free days. 

day 19 - thirsty thursday

Got to grab dinner with my brother-in-law for Thirsty Thursday tonight. We missed his fiancée (!), but TheBoy enjoyed some time with his uncle. And I was impressed with the amount he knew about the details of the upcoming wedding.

day 18 - holiday extravaganza

TheBoy's first school holiday concert was tonight. 

Adorableness all around.

TheBoy was able to give one gift to a friend, but mostly it was just craziness after the show. He'll pass them out at school tomorrow. 

day 17 - touch it tuesday

I wanted to use tonight to make gifts for TheBoy's preschool classmates and decided play dough would be simple enough. We used this recipe (the one we use all the time, the one I remember using when I was younger). We added peppermint extract into some of it, and glitter into all of it. (My apologies to TheInLaws for all the glitter we'll be finding well into 2014.)

I looked everywhere for small plastic containers with lids, but couldn't find anything good (read: small and cheap), so I opted for snack bags and these cute take-out containers I picked up at Michael's.

The not-so-simple part was that we ended up needing three batches to have enough to go around - two batches more than I really planned on/left time for tonight. So TheBoy helped make all the batches, but only added glitter to, bag, and box one batch - leaving the rest for me to do after bedtime. Whoops.

But worth it. He's going to love handing these out tomorrow at the Holiday Extravaganza.

day 16 - make it monday

Tonight, we advented about Advent. TheBoy's preschool class is putting together a scrapbook, with a page from each family about their holiday traditions. 

TheBoy and I looked through some old photos and chose which ones to include. Not bad for his first homework assignment. 

day 15 - nativity

I really love this Nativity I found on Etsy last year. Makes up for the fact that I passed on the Playmobil nativity I saw at Barnes & Noble a few weeks ago (maybe next year...).

Yes, he continues to refer to Jesus as "Her." And, yes, it is set up in front of Harry Potter. That's what we call winning Christmas. And that's why I'll say a prayer that my more conservative friends and family are not actually reading this. 

day 14 - whatever will be, will be

Going along with this week's apparent theme of things-not-going-quite-as-planned, tonight did not go as planned. Because of the storm, and it being kind of a long day here, we chose to stay home from the Messiah Sing.

Instead, we headed out for dinner...

and hot chocolate.

And then headed home and snuggled in to bed to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Worked for us.

day 13 - family friday

Tonight, we watched Mickey's Christmas Carol while waiting for TheHusband. I forgot how scary it was at times. But we enjoyed it.

"I was sad because I missed you."

This week was harder than last week. We are all much happier now.

day 12 - thirsty thursday

Headed into the city tonight to pick up bib numbers for Sunday's Jingle Bell Run (which will be... interesting, as it's supposed to be stormy and I haven't run since Thanksgiving) and meet our dearest "Hockey" for a treat. It was fuh-reezing, but TheBoy didn't seem to mind, marched down Newbury like he was the mayor.

Bonus: we actually got hot chocolate tonight! As soon as the waitress came over, he immediately ordered it by himself, before I could get a word in. Unfortunately, due to craziness on the T, Hockey was delayed and the hot chocolate was gone before she even got there. Ah, well. We enjoyed brinner and conversation. 

Thanks for fighting the crazy commute and joining us, Hockey!

day 11 - random act wednesday

There was a plan for tonight's "random" act of kindness, but, randomly, I called my brother. We drive by his shop on our way home from work/daycare, and I wanted to see if he wanted to meet for dinner. He said no, but only because our dad was on his way to have some work done on his car. 

TheBoy ended up having a fantastic time watching his uncle work (as evidenced by the blur below - he barely stood still). We ended up grabbing dinner with my dad, and my brother was able to join us for a few minutes too. 

Random. But great. We'll get our act of kindness in tomorrow.

day 10 - SNOW!

I was planning for today's activity to be indoor snow. Apparently, the weather had something to say about that and provided actual snow for this evening.

I am not a huge fan of snow or being cold and have no gloves that are appropriate for playing the snow, so I was particularly missing TheHusband this evening. I borrowed his waterproof gloves (waterproof, but not lined) to help build Ned. Hearing TheBoy say "We're having too much fun!" cushioned the cold, wet blow though.

"Now I'm the snowman!"

We did make the indoor snow after dinner by mixing cornstarch and shaving cream (who comes up with these?). I saw it on Pinterest, but couldn't find the actual pin tonight, so we just mixed a little of each. It was a fun texture, but the scent of the shaving cream was overpowering. It was similar to cloud dough, but fluffier. I preferred the scent of the baby oil in the cloud dough to the shaving cream in this.

Regardless of the terrible scent, TheBoy enjoyed making hand and arm prints and making his own snow fall down from his snow-cloud hand.

day 9 - cinnamon ornaments

I couldn't believe that I hadn't done this as an Advent activity yet. The ornament I made with this recipe in 5th grade (thank you, Miss Hayes) lasted for years, smelling heavenly. This could have counted as a sensory activity, too. TheBoy had fun mixing and crumbling the dough. While I was trying to clean up, of course.

Because I couldn't remember the exact recipe from 5th grade, I used this one (thank you, Pinterest) because it didn't include glue. But I kind of wish we'd tried a glue recipe, because these seem a little crumbly. Hopefully they'll stick... 

day 8 - nativity activity

We got HA Rey's (author of Curious George) A Christmas Manger last year, but forgot all about it. I was happy to find it this year, still in the bag. We had fun punching out all the characters, setting them up, and reading the story tonight.

I gave Baby Jesus to TheBoy and he said, "I'll just put her in the manger." I swear I haven't been reading any Anne Lamott to him. 

day 7 - into the city

Played tourists tonight around Faneuil Hall.

keepin' it real

TheBoy wanted to play in his room by himself this morning.

TheHusband found him a few moments later. The lights halfway off his tree. And the Advent calendar completely dismantled. Yup. 

day 6 - family friday

Spent the evening waiting

for this:

TheBoy looked right at TheHusband and said, "I'm so glad you're home."

day 5 - (not so) thirsty thursday

We spent some really nice time with friends tonight. The boys played so nicely together and enjoyed candy canes. My friend and I sipped coffee and chatted.

It was so lovely that we forgot to make hot chocolate for the kids. Which was fine right up until it was time to leave and TheBoy remembered we talked about having hot chocolate. Whoops. It was pretty much all down hill from there. But whatever. You can't win them all. And I'm pretty sure 3-year-old Jesus had hard days too. 

day 4 - random act wednesday

Usually we do our Advent activity after dinner, but this afternoon we stopped at Barnes & Noble on our way home for their book drive to benefit Cradles to Crayons.

They had displays of books to purchase, so TheBoy was able to make his own choice about which book to choose to give to someone who needed it. 

We also had to purchase a gift for a friend's birthday tomorrow. It was tough to buy something for other people and not get something for himself, but he did a great job.

Bonus: Activity done early means decent bedtime - for both of us. Much needed. 

day 3 - buggy ride

Well, it was advertised as a hay ride, but there was no hay, which kind of put a crimp in the "touch" portion of "Touch It Tuesday." But we did come up with: the benches were cold, the blankets were warm, and the horses were stinky.

This is an activity that we did last year, but it was simple, fun, and free. If you are local, Derby Street Shoppes in Hingham is hosting these rides the next two Tuesday evenings from 6-8. You could make an evening of it and get dinner or hot chocolate at one of the restaurants. We decided to go at the last minute, while I was cooking dinner, because it wasn't too cold tonight.

TheInLaws were there and met up with us for the ride before they finished some shopping and we headed home for bedtime.

the calendar

Three days in, and I've finally finished the actual Advent calendar:

Similar to last year, each day of the week will have a theme:

• Make It Monday - making a simple craft or gift
• Touch It Tuesday - a sensory activity
• Random Act Wednesday - random acts of kindness or gift giving
• Thirsty Thursday - sharing a toasty drink with friends
• Family Friday - low key nights waiting for TheHusband to get home for the weekend
• Saturday Excursions - venturing out
• Simple Sundays - more low key family time and Nativity activities

Because the weeks are especially busy now with TheHusband away, my full-time work, and TheBoy in childcare everyday, I haven't scheduled specific activities for too many days. Instead, I have a list of activities for each theme that we can choose from based on time, mood, weather, life...

I asked TheBoy to take down the 3 tonight, and he responded with, "Simple enough!" So I guess he likes it.

Thanks for joining in on the fun!

day 2 - happy hanukkah!

Tonight we celebrated by making a paper menorah. And practicing cutting and gluing. And reading Curious George - of course. He is definitely a favorite.

Best part: he kept saying, "Happy Lighting Candles!" rather than "Happy Hanukkah!" Close enough. 

day 1 - the tree

We picked out a little tree for TheBoy's room. Since we are living with TheHusband's parents, we use this little tree just for us.

Got to decorate the tree after dinner, while listening to Christmas music, and trying to capture a shot for our holiday card. It was a lovely way to spend TheHusband's last night at home - he leaves in the morning for training for his new job and will be gone Monday-Friday for the next few months.

2013

It's coming ...