Decking the Halls!!

Well...better late than never, right?! :)

This year took us forever to get our Christmas tree, but we had such a great night it was definitely worth the wait.

We went to a local family farm to pick out our tree. Their prices are the best and they make it a great experience for the whole family. They give you free hot chocolate and candy canes while you warm up by the bonfire after your tree is picked out and getting loaded onto the car.

The most exciting part of our night was the drive home. All of a sudden, a car pulled out behind us, and guess who was driving it?! Oh yeah...it was SANTA CLAUSE!! I kid you not, he had the hat, the beard, the red coat and everything. He waved and winked at the kids...you cannot believe the screams of excitement heard in our van! :)

This year I dropped all my OCD and perfectionist tendencies that flare up when decorating my Christmas Tree and let the kids do it all by themselves. Yep...I haven't even moved any of their decorations yet. I did add a few to the top where they couldn't reach with the chairs, but thats it. And you know...I absolutely love it.

We always watch "Elf", one of our favorite Christmas movies, while we decorate the tree. Once all our decorations were up we ate our YUMMY eggnog shakes from Arctic Circle (seriously, so good!!) and put the little ones to bed.

Such a wonderful night for our little family.

I say this every year...but I think this is my favorite Christmas season yet! :) The kids are so precious, and everything is so magical to them. I feel incredibly lucky to have them. I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season as well!

Candy Cane Cupcakes in a Jar!

This week we are doing some fun Candy Cane activities and crafts and I thought it would be fun to remake my Candy Corn Cupcakes in a Jar into something for the holiday season! You can click on the link to get a tutorial...but they really are super easy.

All I needed for these was a mixed white cake mix, some red food coloring, cool whip and crushed candy canes. I seperated the cake mix and used the red food coloring on one bowl. Then I just alternated different layers until the jars were filled halfway. Cook at 325 degrees for 45 minutes and then let cool. Once it was all done I scooped out the top, added a dollop of Cool Whip and topped with my crushed candy canes. A quick, yummy treat that would be perfect for neighbors this time of year...or just for yourself! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today, hope you are having a lovely holiday season!!

Christopher the Elf!

So is everyone else on the Elf on the Shelf bandwagon?! We certainly are! This is the first year we have done it and the kids are loving every second of it. I have to say...my husband and I are too! :) Its fun to wake up every morning and see the joy and wonder of where Christopher will be that day. And I personally am loving Pinterest...its where I found each of these ideas.

Christopher in the fridge, turning our milk green.

Making snow angels in the sugar he dumped out on the table.

This was our favorite so far. The kids woke to Christopher holding a red marker with a note that says Go look in the mirror. They couldn't believe what they found!! My 4 little Rudolphs :)

So please share...what are some places your little elf has shown up? I have big ideas for our little guy...but I can always use more. This morning Kendall said, " I will be so sad when Christopher has to go back home." I just love the magic of little children and Christmas!!

Handprint Christmas Tree Craft

We did a craft yesterday that the kids loved and provided quite a bit of entertainment for my little ones :) Since this week is all about Christmas Trees I thought we could make our own using our handprints. I've said it before and I'll say it again...I LOVE handprint crafts. It is so precious to look back on these little hands and remember when. It was also quite entertaining to see all the green handprints on the wall leading to the bathroom...thank goodness for washable paint!

These were as simple as they look, I helped the kids make the trees using their handprints and then they got to stamp the star using a foam stamp I had. Then I painted on the trunk and wrote their names and the year on each one.

Once the trees were dry the kids got to go crazy "decorating" their trees! Using their fingerprints they made ornaments and did some fun shapes with more stamps.

Here are our finished Masterpieces...the one in the middle is mine :) Britton was having a temper tantrum at this time so no picture for him ;) Besides that, we all had a wonderful time and I have these handprint treasures for years to come.

Happy December everyone!! :)

I'll be back with some EASY, fun Christmas Tree crafts to do with your kiddos. Have a great day! :)

Christmas Tree Snacks

I have been desperately trying to find some fun, healthy snacks for my kids this holiday season...and I'll tell you why :) Obviously, I want my kids to be as healthy as possible, but honestly...I just don't have the willpower to resist all these yummy unhealthy treats floating around! So, I'm hoping by dressing up this healthy food the kids will get more excited about vegetables and I will be able to stick to my eating plan.

First up I found some mini peppers at Costco the other day. I love red peppers so I grabbed a bag and munched away. All of the sudden I was looking at my pepper and it hit me...these totally looked like Christmas lights! Wierd that I think of things like that, right?! :)

I used the mini peppers, part of a snap pea, and black beans to make these fun treats. Best part? the first day I brought these peppers home the kids wouldn't even try them. Yesterday after school...they were FIGHTING over who got the lights :) SUCCESS!!

This next idea I found on a great blog called Little Nummies. It was so simple to make and a fun snack to eat while we did our Christmas Tree craft. Again...I am so grateful for creative people that share all their fun ideas!

For our Christmas Tree all we used were snap peas, cheese cut in the shape of a star, and pretzel sticks. afterwards I thought it would have been fun to use craisins and raisins as decorations too! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Please share if you have any fun, healthy holiday snacks you give your kids...I need all the ideas I can get! :) Check back tomorrow for a really fun, messy Christmas Tree craft. Have a great day!!

Christmas Tree Family Home Evening

We had a really simple, fun family home evening last night that was a good way to get my kids into the spirit of Christmas and especially the spirit of giving this holiday season. Also we are learning all about Christmas Trees this week so it worked out perfectly!

Our lesson was based on the book "Why Christmas Trees Aren't Perfect." I found a link online where you can view most of the story if you can't make it to the library.

I absolutely love this book. It talks about the evergreen trees in the Royal Forest, and how each hopes to be the most perfect tree so they will be picked by the queen. Small Pine is the most perfect of all, until she gives of herself so animals of the forest will have protection, shelter, and food. Even though she is no longer perfect the queen chooses Small Pine to come to the castle, because "living for the sake of others makes us most beautiful in the eyes of God."

The message this story shares was a great one for our family. This is a season for giving to others that have little, while we truly have so very much. I also love teaching my children that our Heavenly Father cares more about our hearts then what we look like on the outside. My husband made a great point as well: sometimes the best gifts we can give are not things. Sometimes what someone desperately needs is simply a friend to talk to, a way to not feel so alone, or to hear your testimony.

After we finished our lesson we did a fun activity that I saw years ago in a Family Fun magazine. All you need for this are some ornaments made out of paper ( I cut mine with my Silhouette and put double-sided tape on the back)

And some green and red crepe paper. We didn't end up using the red but it would be cute for next time.

Once you have your supplies ready to go you get to decorate your very own Christmas Trees :) We just wrapped the crepe paper around the kids and my husband (he really is such a great sport) and tried to have them hold their arms out a little to make a tree shape. Once the crepe paper was up we all took turns sticking on different ornaments.

I had originally just planned to make my husband be the tree, but the kids thought it was so much fun they all wanted to get in on it too!

Short and simple, just the way FHE needs to be with 4 kids 6 and under :)

Thank you so much for visiting today! I hope you found something you liked or that gave you some great ideas of your own. Please share if you have any favorite holiday family home evenings in your family, and stay tuned for a great service project we will be doing next week, fun Christmas Tree crafts and treats, and the Symbols of Christmas. Have a great day!!