Day 9: Living In A Snowglobe

So first of all, today is Brad and my 11th wedding anniversary!!

Man, that went fast. 

We started the morning off right and dumped the kids off to our friend's house so that we could have a date-morning at the firing range. Because what better way to express our love and passion for each other than to go shoot things with rifles at 9 in the morning. 

Actually, this was all kinds of awesome. I've never shot a gun (I mean, a real one, not a Nerf gun or a virtual video game one) and have always wanted to, we own two of Brad's grandfathers' rifles, and an outdoor firing range is literally 5 minutes from the base we live on. So, we brought our own ammunition and targets, and the rifles of course, and spent a couple hours shooting zombies targets. 

For a first timer, I'm not a terrible shot. 

11 years!!

No zombies better knock on my door. I can shoot!

After we were done not killing things, we went to sushi for lunch and picked up the kids. It's still 25 days of Christmas, of course, so I sent them upstairs to play for a bit while I scoured my Pinterest board for a few ideas. 

I actually found three all of which that were related, so I decided to punch them all out in the same day. 

First of all, we read a book called The Snowglobe Family about a tiny family of tiny people that live in a snowglobe (cute story, could have been done better). Then the boys cut out a large circle and kind of weird shaped stand to make a snowglobe, and tore (not cutting, the project was about ripping and making more abstract shapes) construction paper to make a snowman and some snow. Calen added a tiny house to his for fun and both boys used a white crayon to make additional snowflakes. 

I had found an additional project on Pinterest that was geared towards a classroom (I think) where kids drew a snowglobe and answered questions about "if I lived in a snowglobe". I took the questionnaire part and merged it with our torn paper snowglobe and asked the boys some questions. It turned out really cute, the ideas of what they would do and see and smell if they lived in a snowglobe. 

To keep with the snowglobe theme, we made some snowglobe-y type ornaments for our big tree. I took two clear ornaments from Michaels (which are two different sizes because I wasn't paying attention) and we filled them halfway with little tiny styrofoam snow ball things. Then I painted the boys first three fingers with white paint, and had them smush it on their individual ornaments. Once it dried, I used a toothpick to paint little faces and scarves, creating little fingerprint snowman that live in an ornament snowglobe on our Christmas tree. 

Calen left, Cam right. Calen's hands are humongous

We also took a little walk this evening to scope out some of the other Christmas light displays in the neighborhood. Even if they only put up one strand of lights, I turn into Buddy the Elf squealing and pointing "ooooooh LOOK AT THE LIGHTS!!"

I can't help it. Maybe I'm part elf. 

Day 8: Ninjabread Men

Nothing says getting into the Christmas spirit like making cookies. 

Especially gingerbread men cookies. 

Especially if they're shaped as ninjas. 

A couple of years ago I found these NINJAbread men (see what I did there) cookie cutters at a 5 and Below (New Jersey friends rejoice at this gem of a store) and I declared that it was the best invention in the history of ever. So, every year we make Ninjabread men, and the novelty has never gotten old for our family. 

After Ninjabread making we watched Mickey's Christmas Carol and the boys went to bed, leaving me to have a full on Christmas wrapping party with...myself (Brad hates wrapping). So I threw in White Christmas and Scrooge and wrapped all the presents from us for the boys. I love wrapping Christmas presents for some reason, so it was a great night for me. 

Wrap all the things

Also bonus awesome points to Target for having the coolest wrapping paper ever this year. All of Calen's presents are wrapped in this fantastic santa hat-wearing sharks going after candy canes paper, and Cam's presents are wrapped in adorable yeti's that say "stay chill". And those of you that know my kids personally know that the paper matches each kid perfectly.

And for extra extra fun, I added almost matching gift tags of yeti's in a snowglobe and pizza slices that say "warm wishes". Because obviously. 

Nothing says Christmas like sharks and pizza slices. 

Day 7: Date Night 2.0

I seem to be dating a lot of guys lately. 

Two days ago I had a date with Cam. Saturday is my 11th wedding anniversary, and today I had a date with my oldest boy, Calen. 

What can I say, I get around. 

Just like my date with Cam, this carries our annual tradition of me taking each kid out individually for a date of hot chocolate at Starbucks, then shopping for one special present for his sibling. I absolutely love taking them out 1 on 1. Their true personality really shines when they aren't showing off, 1 upping each other, or talking over each other. 

So Calen and I sat down and enjoyed hot chocolate and a cake pop (and some of those Bantham bagels they sell, because CARBS man) and chatted for a bit before marching off into Target to go shopping. 

Calen was much easier than Cam in this department. He was very thoughtful and instead of thinking about himself (very much), he would look at things and go "Oh!! Camden LOVES Star Wars" and after a long debate between three gifts, picked the one he thought Cam would love the most. 

We also had a minor wrapping paper roll battle in the Christmas aisle, because we are both immature children. 

And we found a photo booth

After we terrorized Target, I decided the date wasn't over yet, since he's the oldest and all and deserves to stay out a little bit later. So we drove about a mile over to this really cool house completely decorated balls to the wall for Christmas, and the lights moved based on what SONG was playing on a certain radio station. So we sat in the car with the windows open, tuned in to 88.7FM (their specific station), and watched the show for about 20 minutes. 

Decorating goals, y'all. 

It was a great day and I'm so glad I got to spend some quality time with my biggest little. 

Endnote: This morning when I woke up and came downstairs the boys gleefully announced that they had fixed Daddy's glasses, which had broken in half the day before (by pulling off a sweater?!).

With scotch tape. 

Brad couldn't let them down so he wore his glasses like that for a solid 5 minutes before getting too dizzy from the crooked lens. I love them. 

Day 6: There's No Paint Like Snow Paint

I was a little more on track today. I woke up on time, the kids weren't late for school, and I got to drink my entire cup of coffee while only having to reheat it twice. 

Yay, me!

The boys' school had an assembly today, and I had heard from the office a few days ago that somehow by coincidence both of my kids had been selected by their teachers for Stars of the Week. So, Brad left work for an hour and we went to their assembly to see them awarded, and then surprised them with new blankets for their new beds and a bag of chips and (*gasp!*), a SODA (root beer and orange soda), which is a very rare treat for them. 

My little Stars of the Week! Also Camden stamped his face with a stamp before the assembly. Because of course he did. 

After that Brad had to go back to work and I had a solid 3 hours before I had to work, so we crammed it full of as much Christmasness as we could. 

First, we tried our hand at a fun looking Pinterest baking recipe. They are tiny little "hot chocolate mugs", made with sugar cookie (the cup) a mini candy cane (the handle) and chocolate pudding (the cocoa). It's supposed to look like this:

And actually ended up looking like this:

Welp. 

Look. I can basically do just about any paper craft that is thrown at me. But when it comes to cooking, especially fancy baking, I just lack talent. It's just not there. 

For the record, they did taste good. 

So once we tossed that Pinterest-strocity aside, we went back to something I'm actually good at, crafts. 

This is actually two crafts that I merged into one day because it requires the same (bizarre) material: homemade puffy snow paint. It's easy and cheap and only a little messy. 

First, to make the snow paint! Instructions here, taken and adapted from a couple different Pinterest posts:

1. Take a full bottle of Elmer's (or whatever brand) white blue. Put it in the fridge for a couple hours or two to make it "cold". Pull it out ten minutes or so before your craft. 

2. Squirt entire bottle of glue into a mixing bowl. Add equal parts cheapo white shaving cream (I used Barbasol).

3. Mix!

4. Add white glitter for extra fun. 

That's it! It's cold and snowy and dries puffy. Super fun and weird texture. 

Now once you have your paint, you can do all sorts of fun stuff with it. The first snow paint craft we did was make a "melted" snow man, complete with construction paper body parts. This is nothing more than slopping some snow glue on paper and smearing it around (not spreading it too much, or it won't be puffy!) The blobby-er, the better. Then, I had them write out why their snowman melted. It was fun to see their little minds go to work on that. Calen said his snowman melted because someone lit a torch on his head (rude). Camden said his snowman melted because he went inside the oven (lol!). 

This craft was almost too quick, so I quickly added the second craft. Let's make a snowman that isn't melted. 

Same concept, blob some snow paint on some paper and shape it like a snowman. Again, more blob the better. The kids took the reins on this one and Calen started cutting out all sorts of construction paper accessories for his snowman to make him "cool", including a boom box strung around his neck, a sideways hat and crooked stick arms to make him look like he's laying down listening to music. Cam gave his a backpack "full of Star Wars guys" he said. 

Cam's snowman on the left (with backpack), Calen's snowman on the right (with boombox)

The cleanup kind of sucks but not enough to deter me from doing this again. Super fun. 

Day 5: Improvising

Today kind of went exactly the opposite of how I planned it. 

I planned a nice, relaxing day off of work, sending the kids off to school in the morning, a couple of errands to take care of, then pulling out some perfectly planned Christmas craft from Pinterest out of my ass. 

But it didn't really work out that way. 

I woke up, and it was too bright. You know that feeling? When you wake up and you don't even have to look at your clock but you know it's TOO BRIGHT which means it's later than it's supposed to be. 

To give you reference, my alarm is supposed to go off at 7am. The kids leave for school on their bikes at 8am sharp. The bell for school to start is 8:25. 

I woke up, and my phone said it was 8:23. 

And suddenly, you're AWAKE. Flying down the hallway with pants in your hands shouting downstairs "WE ARE LATE!!!! GET YOUR SHOOOOOOES!!!" followed by panicked screams of your kids who think that the world will actually physically combust into flames if you're late for school. Luckily, they were already dressed, teeth brushed, and had eaten what might resemble a breakfast (a granola bar and a banana). I literally threw some Lunchables at the kids and we got into the car at 8:27. They ended up only being 10 minutes late for school which, much to their surprise, isn't actually the end of the world. 

Then, I went home to drink a cup of coffee, because my heart wasn't beating fast enough already. And halfway though my cup, I get a phone call from work. Can you come in and work today? Like, right now?

Sure. I haven't had an unplanned enough morning. I'll be there in ten minutes. 

So I worked a full day today. Which is good actually, because post-Disney + Christmas = no money. But I somehow managed to pull something in my back, which I didn't really notice until the end of my work shift. No big deal, just annoying. 

I go to pick up the kids from school, and instantly we drive to Costco to do those errands I needed to do this morning. And by the time we got home, my back was truly hurting, and my head was pounding. Christmas activities were NOT going to happen. 

So, I gave the kids some of those gel window sticker things to make a snowy scene on our big window, and threw in Home Alone on the DVD player. There, it's Christmas. The end. 

The kids were thrilled, so I'm thrilled. Tomorrow is a new day. 

The fruits of our labor today

Day 4: Date Nights With Cam

Today's Christmas activity was slightly different, mostly because we had an emergency repair of our front lawn decorations that were ravaged by the windstorm earlier today, and by a certain 3rd grader in the house that decided that showing off and being the clown in class was cooler than listening in math. So, we divided and conquered. Calen (said 3rd grader) and Dad got to go to the hardware store together to get some supplies to save our pallet trees from crashing down and our Narwhal from flying into the next block. Camden and I took to opportunity to go on a one on one date to Starbucks for hot chocolate and Target so he could pick out a special present from him to his brother. 

This is a tradition I cherish every year with each of the boys. It's fun to just go out with only one of them, chat over a cup of cocoa and let them focus on giving rather than getting (which, let's face it, is really difficult at this age). 

Cam must have sensed that this was a date, because he insisted on carrying my purse and even asked to "pay" for the cocoa at Starbucks, so I allowed him to insert my card into the reader but NOT see my pin number. Because can you imagine the binge he'd go on. 

We sat and talked about school and any other wild randomness that comes through Cam's head (see #ConversationsWithCam on Facebook), and then he announced that "I can drink this while we walk". He had officially been sitting for 5 minutes and his "sitting still" clock had expired. 

So, we walked through Target, laughing at "boobs" as we walked by (the bra section) and checking out all the cool Christmas stuff. Cam found a Santa phone decoration where it rings and you pick it up and Santa talks to you. In true Camden fashion, he announced (loudly), "MERRY CHRISTMAS YOU FILTHY ANIMAL!" on the phone, causing only 3 other families to look over. Whatever. 

Then we found this excellent display

It took a little work to get him focused on his brother but not himself, but Cam finally picked out a cool Star Wars Lego set that Calen had been cooing over. 

Super fun date night with my littlest. I can't wait to take Calen in a few days. 

Day 3: When There's A Fork In The Tree, Paint It

Today certainly wasn't as exciting as yesterday, I had to work and Brad spent all day building new beds for the kids (more on that later). But, we still made sure to take some time to do something Christmasy. 

As I scrolled Facebook when I woke up this morning (this generation's morning paper), I saw a craft someone posted that was stupid easy and required little materials. That's it! The activity of the day. 

So you take some green paint (bonus points for two shades of green), some other colors of paint of your choice, two small paintbrushes, a piece of paper, and a plastic (disposable) fork. Bonus material: white glitter

Dip the entire end of the fork in the green paints, and then "brush" it diagonally from the center and out to make a tree shape. Then use the paintbrushes and other colors (we used red and blue) to make dots on the trees for ornaments. And, if you happen to have some, sprinkle white glitter on the wet paint for "snow". 

Done, done and done. 

These were SO fun turned out pretty and actually took slightly longer than 15 minutes to complete so it kept them busy for a second or two. 

So about those beds. For weeks and weeks and weeks now, the boys have been begging to share a room. Why, I have no idea. But Cam cries every night if he can't sleep on the floor in his brother's room (which we allow on weekends) and even Calen begs for Cam to be with him. There would be no good feasible way to do this without buying a bunk bed, and we didn't really want to buy a bunk bed and be committed to them sharing a room (after all, what if they suddenly decided they hated sharing a room? What if they are turds and keep each other awake all night and CAN'T share a room? So we were stuck kind of wondering what to do. 

Then suddenly on our local swap meet Facebook page, someone posts that they are getting rid of a twin bunk bed that separates into two stand alone twin beds if needed, FOR FREE. 

PICK ME!!!! PICK ME!!! I WANT IT!

We got the bed today, so Brad worked away all day rebuilding them while the boys assumed they were just getting new bed frames for their rooms. We surprised them after I got home from work this evening and they SQUEALED with joy. Of course now they're fighting over the top bunk but you can't have everything in life can you. They now sleep in Camden's room, and Calen's room (the biggest room) is the playroom. More photo updates on that later when I'm done. 

Day 2: Hey Griswold, Where You Going To Put A Tree That Big?

I have a confession to make. It's a big one. 

We got a fake Christmas tree this year. For the first time ever. 

*Gasp!* *Shock!* *Horror!*

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. 

Look, live Christmas trees while living in Washington State is a no brainer. The trees are like, actually alive, and green and lush and full and beautiful and last forever. 

In California, where there's been a drought since, forever, and fir trees aren't actually created to exist in such a geographical part of the world, you struggle to find a tree that isn't short or skimpy, or completely and totally dead on one side. And then once you do find some lame booby prize of a tree and cut it down, it might live 4 or 5 days. Might. Then you spend the rest of the holiday season siting on your sofa staring suspiciously at your Christmas tree waiting for that fateful moment where your tree just spontaneously combusts right in front of your very eyes. 

So, we took the stress away this year and bought a really, really, nice fake tre. And we stuffed it with smelly pine sticks and it looks real enough I actually went to water it the other day. And then we put a motorized Disney World Monorail around it. Because OBVIOUSLY. 

Our totally real tree. Okay fine it's fake, don't tell Olaf. 

Who needs a train around your tree when you can have a MONORAIL

Great fake treeness aside, we were already missing out on our tradition-since-forever of taking the whole family to the tree farm and cutting down a tree. 

SOooooo, since we don't have enough decorations up inside and out, we decided that we'd go to the tree farm this year and cut down a little tree, to put on the landing of our stairs (for no other reason than we legit don't have room anywhere else). The kids get to pick the lights and the ornaments and do whatever they want to do with it. 

Today was tree farm day! We went to one of the farms we visited last year in Sebastapol, a cute little place with a good sized hill full of fir trees. The kids ran up the hill and had no trouble finding lots of good candidates for our stairs. Finding little fir trees that are alive is easy. 

Tree candidate #1 (not selected)

Calen liked the "blue" trees (too fluffy)

I don't think that one will fit on the stairs, Cam

We have a winner! Sonic joined us today too and had to be hipster like the boys

Brad and the boys cut it down and Calen carried the tree by himself down the hill to the car. Then we picked out a live wreath for our front door and called it good. 

Also let it be known that Camden insisted on wearing his suspenders and bow tie to the tree farm. Insisted! Who am I to say no. 

When we got home, I strategically placed the little tree in the back yard for the kids to decorate. For a photo opportunity, of course! The boys decorated the tree exactly how they wanted it, using colored lights (the family tree is white), handmade ornaments and a classic little star on the top. It's now happily sitting on the landing of our stairs welcoming us to the bottom floor, and it smells like tree and is just lovely and adorable. 

Because we didn't get enough Christmasness today, we had an early dinner and headed back into Petaluma to attend the free tree lighting bash in the town square. The boys mailed their letters to Santa in the designated North Pole mailbox at the square and we stopped into the candy store for a treat to enjoy while watching live music play Christmas carols. It "snowed" from the tops of the buildings and then there was a countdown for the lights to turn on, and Santa himself flipped the switch. The boys got to visit Santa, though as a family we all agreed he was most likely a "helper" that the real Santa appointed for the occasion, and the real Santa will be visiting Petaluma in a couple of weeks. 

It started to "snow"! 

Awesome, awesome day. This time of year is the absolute best. 

Day 1: Dear Santa

It's December 1st!! It is now officially, really, acceptable to talk about Christmas. Even though in MY book it was acceptable to talk about such things once you finish digesting Thanksgiving dinner mid-afternoon, but some other Grinches might poo-poo such talk. 

You can ignore the fact that my house has been (mostly) decorated for Christmas since we came back from Disney in mid November, if it offends you so much. 

Anyways. 

I really, really tried to do 31 days of Halloween, and failed gloriously and beautifully. I think we did maybe 7 days of Halloween. Which is still pretty good I guess. But it was also baseball season, and I work, and the kids had homework, and and and. But now it's December 1st and I really, REALLY want to do 25 days of Christmas. I'm prepared! I have Pinterest boards! And glitter glue! And construction paper! I'm ready! Let's do this. 

We'll see. At least there are no sports seasons going on right now. 

Today at least, was easy. Our house is already totally decorated on the inside AND we finished the outside today, while only blowing the fuse twice last night. 

We added a narwhal this year. Because obviously. And our next door neighbor bought an accompanying llama. 

As for our activity today, we started off right by writing letters to Santa Claus. This has double meaning in our house. First of all is the obvious, Santa has to know what they're asking for, right? It's also the point-of-no-return in gift requesting. Once those letters are mailed off, no takebacks, period! Because Santa is usually done Christmas shopping preparing by the second week of December and we can't have little turd faces reading catalogs and doing something absurd like changing their minds last minute, now can we? 

Cam's current obsession with floppy ear hats is hilarious

In our household, the boys are allowed to ask Santa for 3 things each. That does not mean they usually get all 3 things (they rarely do), but usually Santa will bring them one of the things on the list. I already told them that I've already told Santa no "cell phones with games on them" (Camden's request) and he probably won't let you have a real crossbow (in case of zombie attacks), either. 

Their finished letters! I love their handwriting so much. 

Tomorrow we will drop off the letters to a special mailbox in downtown Petaluma. That way it might reach Santa before we visit him in person in a couple of weeks. 

For the record and much to my surprise (and delight), Calen, at 8 and a half, is still a firm believer in Santa this year. He doesn't seem interested in "solving the puzzle" about Santa either, he's just content that Santa exists, period. I wish he could stay a little kid forever.