Every year Ty and I usually get those advent calendars that has the chocolate inside. Ty buys one for me, one for Iz and one for himself. I don't like the chocolate it come with and Izzy doesn't like the chocolate it comes with, so this year we decided to make our own advent chains instead. We gave it a $20 budget between the kids and made sure it was all stuff they liked and would be useful. We wrapped up things like mini cereal boxes, stickers, dental floss (my kids love to floss), a few candies, play doh, lip gloss, etc. So far the kids love it! HQ finally caught on that it was an everyday occurrence and will now wait next to her advent chain when she gets up. The only thing I would do differently next year is if we decide to do any sweets again that we have them open those on the same day. Like today, Izzy opened dental floss while HQ got a couple kisses, and a couple days ago Izzy got a fun size m&m's while HQ got toothpaste... It evens out, but for a kid I think that would kind of stink.
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| Crappy Pic of one advent gift chain. |
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| Determined to get her gift open with no help. |
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| "What is this?" |
Izzy has been in love with Japan after discovering that Hello Kitty, Pokemon, Miso soup, her favorite erasers, her favorite squid, and sushi are all Japanese. When she learned of the tsunami it caused her heart to grow even fonder of Japan. She also loves the language and is looking forward to learning it. However she decided she'd like to wait before taking a trip there now (with tsunamis being so scary and all).
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| Practicing eating with chop sticks. |
We decided to take the kids out for a little drive tonight. We brought some soup and sandwiches with us and went to check out Sleepy Hollow (a neighborhood in Redondo Beach that gets all decked out for Christmas). Almost every house is decorated to the max. They have bike rides and sell coco, cookies, and cupcakes. We made sure we played Christmas music (fortunately the song, Wonderful Christmastime by Paul McCartney never came on. Bleh! I love you Paul, but really?)The kids loved it. HQ yelled, "Aww CUTE!" at almost every house an was exceptionally happy when she saw penguins or Elmo. Locke fell asleep about two houses into our tour. He wasn't very impressed.
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| Waiting for Ty in the car, Locke attacks the air freshener. |
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| The surfboard toting ginger bread people were my favorite :D |
The kids are in bed and Ty and I are going to enjoy a movie. He's worked the last 9 days straight and has tomorrow off. I am SO excited he gets to sleep in and actually see his kids. We've all missed him :)
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