Day FIVE

Today was a really low key day of playing around the house, cleaning and a trip to the grocery store.  I asked Mason a few times today if he wanted to do his Advent activity and the answer was no.  I did not push but started to think OH NO we aren't going to do a special activity today!! But low and behold come 7:00 he was ready to paint!!! I went with it and made the activity of the day be SNOW PAINT! 

First we needed glue and shaving cream

Then you mix equal parts glue and shaving cream........

Stir it well

And you are ready to paint!!!! 

We made several pictures from rocketships to footprints to abstract ; ) I am excited for this snow paint to dry because it is suppose to puff up once dry .....we will just have to wait and see!!!

And incase you are wondering what we had for lunch.....well here is a picture for you!

Day FOUR

Today we ended up doing two activities again!  First off here is a picture of our lights all strung together!

Today 's activity had a back up just incase we missed it.  Our local library was having a decorating party this afternoon from 3 to 5pm. Now Mason still naps in the afternoon and this timeframe falls right into it......well today he went down early and actually woke up early so we were able to go.  We did miss the choir but still got to make lots of decorations and eat some cookies!

After we got home we ended up doing our back-up project as well : )  

Mason painting his own hand!

Putting the eyes on

adding the string

Our fleet of reindeer!

Day THREE

Today's activity was two fold.  First we started with painting a strip of lights.  I simply had cutout lightbulb shapes out of cardboard for Mason to paint and then later string them into a garland. 

After our nap and dinner we headed out to the second part of our activity.......

Zoo lights!!!!!  Just like last year we met up with our friends The Day Family and had a blast.  It was below freezing but we were happy that there was NO rain!

The boys had a great time running and then stopping to look at more lights.

I I got some great pictures but on my "real" camera so I will get them uploaded and share another day.  As for me I am going to bed.....the cold air really got to us all : )

Day TWO

Today we made "snow" gak.  Now I felt like this activity was a bit of  cheating because we tend to make it at least once a month.  To make it a bit different we left it white (like snow) and added some glitter to make it glisten. 

Supplies needed: glue, borax, glitter and water

In one bowl you add the glue

Glitter and water

In the other bowl you mix the water and borax together.  Once mixed you mix both bowls together and you end up with this.......

And as always Mason had a blast playing with it.  It is residing in the frige right now so we can have "cold" snow to play with : )

After we were done it started to SNOW outside!!! Guess we did some kind of "snow dance"!

While we cheered on the Seahawks we decided to make an ornament for our tree.  

Glueing on the nose

Making antlers from sticks

We ended up with toothpick legs and neck due to the cork being to hard to push the sticks in. Overall we had a great time watching the football game AND crafting together!!! After we were done Mason came up with his own activity......

Stay tuned tomorrow for even MORE fun.  **hint hint it involves an activity after dark so the blog will be updated late tomorrow night : )

Day ONE

This year I came across many things that inspired me to create our own advent calendar.   In years past we have bought one from the store and opened the door each day.  As easy as that would have been I wanted to create 25 activities that we could do to count our way to Christmas.  Now keep in mind that I tried to create/find things that were tailored to Mason's age and would only need guidance from us.  As you will see many of the activities fit that but there are a few that are more help needed activities.

To begin our advent journey I felt we needed a place to "display" our creations.  So today we started there. 

Supplies needed: tomato cage and chicken wire

Mommy's job was to attach chicken wire to the tomato cage (to look like a tree).  I only had a few fingers bleeding : )

What's a tree without garland right?

Thanks to an idea from a friend, I now needed a nail through a boad and some wire.....

And what kind of garland would you expect from us.......BUBBLE GUM!

Mason's "job" was to eat the bubble gum....oh I mean string the gum balls on to the wire! He did a great job with both of his jobs : )  

And now we are ready for DAY TWO!!!

Happy Happy Birthday Uncle Jonathan!

We wish you a very happy birthday Uncle Jonathan. Thanks for teaching me things like wet willies, photo bombing with my tongue out and much much more.

Love
Mason