General Christmas Prep like wrapping gifts for "The 12 Days of Christmas". We chose a family in our neighborhood to deliver gifts to for 12 days and the kids enjoyed it and I hope that they were well received. They had a Ring doorbell camera so half of the time we had to hide by the side of the house and just toss the gifts onto the porch. I think there is basically a 0% chance that they didn't figure out that it was us, but it was a great addition to our Christmas Celebration anyway. This year we also sat down and picked 3 families from our ward that we wanted to do some "Christmas Service" for. We invited their kids to come to our house while the parents went on a date/went to the temple/did Christmas prep of their own. We babysat them, fed them, and enjoyed offering the small bit of service that we could.
Also, Christmas Roll! Multiples were needed. One roll for us, Two for Peaden Home Christmas Eve, and an extra one for the Peaden's for New Years.
Peaden Family Christmas Party
We were in charge this year and kept it super simple: White Elephant, Christmas Message, and a Christmas Version of "Neanderthal" which is a game where you have to get people to guess a phrase (in this case, Christmas terms/songs) using only one syllable. If you mess up and say a word with more than one syllable then people get to throw a felt snowball at you. We had a lovely time with these family members who we love.
Reading Christmas Books after pulling out our Christmas Decorations
Donuts. (This was one of the kids requests when I asked what they wanted to do over Christmas Break) Plus wrapping presents for/with my good friend Stephanie Lewis, who dislikes wrapping presents and who I usually try to hang out with with presents as an excuse.
Christmas Spirit was delivered to our doorstep by our dear neighbor Robin. She occasionally mentions how sad she has been to never have children of her own and that she is grateful for the children in the neighborhood. She brought each child a gift: a handmade Christmas ornament and new socks. The kids were through the roof excited and it was such a tender and thoughtful gift to bring by.
Our Ward Christmas Party was probably the best one that I have ever been to! (And not just because I didn't have to do a single thing for it.) They had the primary kids sing and had the loveliest Living Nativity that changed scenes as the characters read about the Christmas story. Lydia was an Angel and Austin was Samuel the Lamanite. The only thing that ruined it was that they had Santa show up at the end, but I tried to be a good mom and let my kids go sit on his lap - even though they readily admitted that they just wanted the candy. Thankfully we got through the massive line without my kids telling the other kids that Santa wasn't real and I didn't make a big deal about it at all, which I think was very mature of myself (and clearly getting better). I won't apologize for not liking Santa as more than a general fictional character like Frosty the Snowman- but I do hope that my children will have magical Christmas memories anyway. And this Christmas Party was one of the best ever!
Visiting Grandma and Grandpa and letting Grandpa spoil the kids with ice cream, snacks, and especially FRUIT SNACKS. Caleb went outside and helped cal shovel snow while Lydia and Austin played in the snow, too.
Lydia and Austin Piano Concert. Aunt Amy came to support and they both performed beautifully!
Reading Christmas Books after pulling out our Christmas Decorations
Donuts. (This was one of the kids requests when I asked what they wanted to do over Christmas Break) Plus wrapping presents for/with my good friend Stephanie Lewis, who dislikes wrapping presents and who I usually try to hang out with with presents as an excuse.
Christmas Spirit was delivered to our doorstep by our dear neighbor Robin. She occasionally mentions how sad she has been to never have children of her own and that she is grateful for the children in the neighborhood. She brought each child a gift: a handmade Christmas ornament and new socks. The kids were through the roof excited and it was such a tender and thoughtful gift to bring by.
Our Ward Christmas Party was probably the best one that I have ever been to! (And not just because I didn't have to do a single thing for it.) They had the primary kids sing and had the loveliest Living Nativity that changed scenes as the characters read about the Christmas story. Lydia was an Angel and Austin was Samuel the Lamanite. The only thing that ruined it was that they had Santa show up at the end, but I tried to be a good mom and let my kids go sit on his lap - even though they readily admitted that they just wanted the candy. Thankfully we got through the massive line without my kids telling the other kids that Santa wasn't real and I didn't make a big deal about it at all, which I think was very mature of myself (and clearly getting better). I won't apologize for not liking Santa as more than a general fictional character like Frosty the Snowman- but I do hope that my children will have magical Christmas memories anyway. And this Christmas Party was one of the best ever!
Visiting Grandma and Grandpa and letting Grandpa spoil the kids with ice cream, snacks, and especially FRUIT SNACKS. Caleb went outside and helped cal shovel snow while Lydia and Austin played in the snow, too.
Lydia and Austin Piano Concert. Aunt Amy came to support and they both performed beautifully!
Brooklyn's Surprise Birthday Party
Hannah had the great idea to throw a surprise birthday party for Brooklyn when they came out for Christmas. I was able to help support that idea by renting our clubhouse and putting together a few things. We had a fun activity, perfect for an animator's birthday, where everyone was invited to wish Brooklyn a happy birthday by drawing a portrait of her. She was able to combine them all together and take them home at the end of the night. We had a dinner (taken care of by the Brand Family) and just had a generally great evening celebrating how much we all love Brooklyn.
Merry Christmas!
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