Yet more ornaments, indoor lunch, a tree story...and a giveaway!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008 at 02:34AM First off, for the giveaway info, you'll have to read to the end of this post. Don't worry, I didn't forget. ;)
So, are you tired of ornaments yet? ;) Here are days 11, 12 and 13...on day 11, we made jingle bell Santa's from a little kit (okay, I did much of the making since this involved a hot glue gun, but the boys directed and loved adding these to their trees). On day 12, I let the boys do a bit of free-form ornament making...gave them a length of (coated) wire and a heap of beads. They liked making these spin so all ended up making similar ornaments. And on day 13, we brought back an ornament we made in 2003. Noah actually came up with the idea...well, he (at 3 year old, when we were doing these) saw a wooden train in a catalog and loved it so much it became the inspiration for our holiday ornaments that year. Here's the "plain" version (personally, I like the plain ones and this is what we did in 2003):
This year, though, the boys opted to paint their pieces before assembly...gives 'em character, don't you think? :) So, here are Asher's. He had fun mixing red and blue paint:
Here are Noah's:
And here are Micah's. I love how his train turned out (after considerable drying time...who knew paint could be lumpy? LOL):
In other news, I survived Monday's lunch hour. :) Fortunately, there were about 6 of us there to corral kids. We ended up letting them mostly do their own thing inside while monitoring for safety issues.
Also, we finally got our tree decorated! We picked it up on Sunday...well, Nathan and Asher picked it out. See, we got to the place (where we've gone every year but one since living in CO...nice local trees, freshly cut...good prices and nice service). We got out and wandered a bit and immediately decided we were not bundled up enough, despite the snow boots, double layers, winter coats, scarfs, gloves and such. It was about -2 degrees I think. Maybe a bit warmer but with the wind chill definitely colder than that. Anyhow, Noah then declared that he simply *had* to use the bathroom. That seemed like a good enough reason to get out of the cold so we trekked back to the van and over to the nearby McDonalds...at which point, Noah, Micah and I opted to stay indoors while Nathan and Asher went back to get a tree. They picked a good one. :)
So, we got it set up and got the lights up Monday. Tonight we got the ornaments on and decorations around the rest of the house, finally. Yay!! Will try to take some pictures later.
And. (Yes, finally, this is the giveaway part of the post, lol.) Since I'm in such a Christmasy mood now...and since I finally got my copies of my book today (Tuesday)...and since I just like you all...who wants a free copy of my book? Leave a comment here...tell me how you like today's ornaments and whether you've shipped all your Christmas packages yet (I'm nosey and it'll make me feel better if you haven't either, LOL). I'll pick a random winner Thursday at noon-ish. Woohoo!
Oh, and be sure to check back to see if you're the winner...the way this site is set up, you'll need to email me with your info. :)
Reader Comments (49)
I really liked the mixed color look of Micah's tree ornament. I mailed everything out & am waiting anxiously to hear that they received it. Wouls love to have your book!
the train ornaments are adorable and SO doable.
and no way have i sent all my packages yet. the power was out for 5 days! i'm just beginning to remember what the internet is:)
and your book looks great!
so fun with the boys. I just started a 3rd generation of doing fun ornaments for christmas. It will be fun to watch the ability as the grandson grows (and with hope add a few more grands . . .)
Cindy
My son would love those train ornaments! Shopping is done, but I still need to mail a few gifts, wrap quite a bit more, and get my Christmas cards done.
I think the train ornaments are super cute... next year I'll have to try some out with my boys. (PS: I had emailed you a few days ago regarding where you get the ideas -- thanks for responding!)
Hey Amanda! I am so excited to get your new book...you will have to autograph it for me ;)
I love the wooden trains- Reiley and I made some wooden mushrooms tonight. We are doing a woodland type of tree for my scraproom.
I don't think it will be done for this year though.
I have 95% of Christmas shopping done- no mailing for me though!
I mailed out all of my Christmas cards super early (so I could get some this year because of the new address!)
Hi Amanda
My class of 5 year olds made those cute little reindeer you and the boys made last week. Only, oops! I forgot to give them out to the kids before letting them go for Christmas. School doesn't begin again for 6 weeks (we are on summer holidays here).
I hope you find many a warm place this Christmas, and, I'ld LOVE a copy of your book!
Kelly :-)
Those trains are just awesome - I love the way your boys colored them. Doing an ornament a day is a great idea. As for me - I just shipped the last of my Christmas packages today so everything is postal, finally. Shopping is all done ans has been done for awhile - I just need to wrap them all.
This would be a very fun tradition! I love traditions at Christmas. Your blog is very fun to read and of course I think your family is like the cutest ever!