December Crafts, Elf Sightings, and Books

Today was a heck of a day - in a good way.  It started out with the girls catching Jingle (our holiday elf) in the act of undecorating the tree.  He had taken every ornament off and dropped them all on the floor.  The girls think he should be on the naughty list.

 

Then we ate breakfast (oatmeal or homemade granola), got dressed, and went to see this at the Marriott Theater in Lincolnshire.

 It was great! I especially liked the question and answer session afterwards, when the audience could talk to the actors and ask them questions. 

Then we went to lunch at a restaurant we had never tried before.  It is called The Tilted Kilt.  Ever eaten there?  Kinda like a Scottish Hooters (which we did not know until we walked in there and were already committed) but with a better menu.  Our server, Nikki, was really nice.  Dan's face was priceless when he got a look at their uniforms for the first time.  Abby asked why their shirts were so short.  Food was good, though.  I would even go as far as to recommend it for lunch.  Super friendly staff!

After our (ahem) interesting lunch experience, we bought Christmas lights and went home to hang them on the house.  Actually, Dan hung lights on the house while I laughed hysterically on the front lawn.  Not sure why I thought Dan on the roof was so funny, but it was.  Seriously, I was thrilled - it is the first time in our seven married years that I have been able to get him to hang light on the house.  Soooooo pretty!

Then we went out to eat (again!) with our wonderful neighbor, Betty.  We think we have found our new favorite pizza place. Bills Pizza.  If you are ever in the area, you. must. go. there. Yum!

After that, we headed home and worked on our first craft of the month.  We got it from Creative with Kids.  It is the first craft from their Creative Christmas Countdown.  We had fun.  Well, at least two of us did.  One of us was a bit grumpy.  Can you guess which one?

We are making gingerbread cards for some special people.  This project is sponsored by Red Ted Art.  Tonight, we traced our cards from a template.

Then we painted it brown with acrylic paint.  Tomorrow, after the paint dries, we will decorate the cards and then put them in the mail on Monday.  Yay!

Finally, we opened our first Advent book from under the tree.  It is a special one from YaYa.  The girls loved it and wanted to hear it again right away.  Thanks, Mom!

The Night Before Christmas (a pop-up book by Robert Sabuda)

We also read this to Abby, who is loathe to try anything new, lest she make a mistake. (This is why she had the grumpy face on during our gingerbread project - she was mad that she could not paint without going outside the lines.)  Whoooo boy - we have an uphill climb ahead of us with this one...

The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein

This is a good book for a few reasons.  First of all, it helps children to realize that life is a lot easier if they don't pressure themselves to be perfect.  Second, it shows them that if they make mistakes, the whole world does not end.  In fact, mistakes can be handled with humor.  Try this read if you have a sensitive, perfectionist type at home. 

More crafts and holiday books tomorrow.

Mindi