The Gift of Time

This year for Christmas I wanted to give the gift of time to the kids. Each day I have planned out an activity, that is usually free or cheap, for the kids and I to do. It has been so nice to spend some good time with them and have some fun. Each morning we are opening a little bag that has an ornament that represents part of Jesus Christ's life. It has been so nice to be able to learn about Jesus Christ each morning. After reading about Jesus Christ's life, we open a wrapped Christmas book. The kids have been loving it. We missed some of the days between traveling and such, but it was such a fun month. Here are some of the activities we have done this month.

1- December 1st Party. This was received so well. The kids loved it. I wrapped a big present with lots of little presents wrapped inside of it. I just wrapped up hot chocolate, and some candy boxes, and some Christmas pajamas. They unwrapped everything, and we got them in their new pajamas and we watched a movie with our popcorn and treats. The whole month they would tell everyone about how we had a party. It was sweet. I think we will do it again next year.

2- Watch the Christmas Devotional and Feed the Missionaries. On Sunday the 2nd of December we fed the missionaries and talked about serving others like Christ did. After the kids were in bed I watched the rest of the Christmas Devotional. It was a nice night.

3- Make and Ornament. I got some clear ornaments and we put several different color paints in the ornaments and let the kids move the paint around to paint the ornaments. They actually turned out pretty cute.

4- Make snowflakes. I think in a couple more years the kids will like this one more later, but it was still fun. I did most of the cutting, okay all of the cutting. But when we put them up on the wall it really added to our decorations. It was fun.

5- Christmas Cards- I wanted to have Camille put the stamps on the Christmas cards that we sent out, but I wasn't prepared enough. So I ended up doing most of these by myself when the kids were asleep. But Camille made her own Christmas cards and we sent them to all of her grandparents and great grandparents. They were sweet and she loved sending the letters to them.

6- Paper Christmas Tree Craft. I put up on butcher paper and drew a little Christmas tree on it. I let Camille and Jason decorate it with some felt and crayons.

7- Gingerbread House Decorating. This year I bought some gingerbread house molds so that we can do this every year. I learned a couple things while making it this year though so hopefully next year will be better. This year the roof kind of sunk in a little because it was soft when we put it together. But even though it might not have been a picturesque gingerbread house, the kids loved decorating it and snacking on some candy. I am already excited to do it next year.

8-Game Night. Before bed we played some Sneaky Snacky Squirrel game. The kids love it, and it is the only game we had. Jason really loves this game, and I enjoy it as well.

9- Read Christmas books by the fire. This year I got a lot of Christmas books from the library and we read a lot of them. Reading books is such a fun thing to do with the kids.

10- Neighbor gifts. For neighbor gifts this year we got little clam shells of blackberries and handed them out with little tags that said "We are BERRY grateful for friends like you. Merry Christmas!" It turned out good enough for this year I think.

11- Temple Square. You can read more about this on a different post. But it was fun and I am glad we were able to go.

12-Sibling Sleepover. I thought this year it would be fun to do a sibling sleepover out by the tree. We pulled out all the mattresses and watched a movie and read a book then tried to fall asleep. The kids didn't go to sleep too well, and the spare mattress I was on was so uncomfortable. It mostly ended up being a really bad night of sleeping, but I think the kids had fun. Hopefully next year the kids will be a little older and can do it by themselves if they want.

13- Drive around and see the lights. Layton City had a fun little display of lights that you could drive around. You could walk around it too, but I didn't know that and we didn't dress for walking around. We drank hot chocolate in the car and drove around and looked at all the many lights. Camille and Jason loved it. I hope wherever we are next year that we can do that again. It was so fun.

14- Time capsule. I had the kids answer a questions sheet and we made a time capsule to be opened in ten years. It was so fun. I really like making time capsules. And I really like opening them. I can't wait to see what happens in the next ten years.

15- Sing Christmas Songs. This is one of Kevin's family traditions so I am trying to make it one of our traditions. It would be better if we could play the piano as good as Kevin's parents, but it still was fun. I am excited to keep this tradition going.

Between these things and Christmas Eve, going to grandparents houses, and Jason's birthday, we did something pretty much everyday. I It took a lot of work planning this last month, but it  totally worth it. It was wonderful. I love spending time with my family.