December Dozen

This year, we wanted to do some fun family things. (A favorite parenting expert of ours, Ralphie Jacobs @simplyonpurpose, calls them "Gifts of Togetherness") We knew we couldn't do one for every day of the month, so we decided to brainstorm with the kids and came up with 12 ideas. We dubbed them our "December Dozen: 12 activities of togetherness". 

They were: 

-Service Project

-Book reading by the Christmas Tree

Nativity

Candy Cane Hunt

Hot Chocolate and Testimonies

Snowball Fight

Snowflake Day

Make Candy Canes

Love Note Stocking Day

Grandparent Gifts

Christmas Light Drive 

and our favorite Christmas Tradition, the annual Christmas Kickoff!

I don't have pictures of all of them because we were mostly just trying to enjoy spending time together, but here are a few that we captured: 

"Nativity" this was completed in two parts. The first was when the kids decided to make their own stable with blankets, forcing Lucy to act as Baby Jesus. I took advantage of it and read them the Nativity story while they were in their fort. Later in the month, we put together a little foam Nativity scene and set it next to the big Nativity that David gave to me this year and I called that complete for this activity! 

"Making Candy Canes" was so fun. Last year  our candy canes were too soft. This year we pulled them for too long (or added too much butter?) or something because they crystalized and didn't set up right. It didn't matter, they were still delicious and the kids loved them. (The first batch of sugar crystallized in the pan but we broke it up and they called it Strawberry Christmas Candy. Kids are the best.) 

"Service Project" We joined with our ward and made school kits for refugee families while watching the "Serve and Sing" production put on by the church this year. It was one of my favorite Christmas programs for the year. 

"Hot Chocolate and Tesimonies"

Our amazingly talented friend and neighbor, Amy Perkins, made us Hot Chocolate Bombs for Christmas this year. They are a great big ball of chocolate with hot chocolate mix and marshmallows on the inside. When you pour hot milk over them, they dissolve into deliciously rich, flavored hot chocolate. We each made our own hot cocoa bomb then traded and tasted them all. Then we each took a turn sharing our testimony about something. It was really sweet and tender. 

"Snowball Fight" 

There wasn't much snow to speak of this December, but one of the days David went outside with the kids to shovel the driveway. Austin came in for something and I convinced him to join my team. We snuck out the back door dressed in our snow clothes and tried to sneak-attack snowball fight them. It didn't work well because the snow was too dry and wouldn't pack. Caleb just told me "We aren't doing that right now." Ha. I was like "That's not how a snowball fight works!" But I was overruled. Later, after David had meticulously packed more than a dozen snowballs, he divvied them out and we had a snowball fight with lots of laughing. Lucy wasn't sure what to make of the snow but she ended up enjoying the process. (Although she wasn't pleased when David tackled me in the snow and we were laying there laughing.)