Christmas Books!

I saw an idea on Pinterest about wrapping seasonal books that you already own and having the children unwrap them one a night. I thought that was a fantastic idea and set out to do it, too! We, luckily, had 24 (actually more than that) books on hand, winter/Christmas/Religious, you name it! 

 

Isn't she cute?!

 

Landon is totally loving this, by the way! We read a book every night, but this adds a little mystery to it! We missed the first night, because only have the books were wrapped and I wanted to take the above pictures before I had them start unwrapping. So on night one (Dec 2) we did two books, to catch up!

 This was her first time unwrapping a present!

I just love them!

 I really love this idea, but let me tell you, I fastly wrapped all of these books, wrapping books=not so fun!

Advent Calendar

The holidays are well among us and we are excited around here! This is my favorite time of the year! I'm trying to make it extra special for Landon, this year. Hopefully starting a new tradition, as well. We have used our advent calendar for a couple of years now, and Landon loves moving the little candy cane over every day, but this year, I decided to make it extra special by adding activities to do every day! He's loving it!

I haven't filled in everyday with events, just in case something comes up and we we are unable to do a big event. This way, I can fill it in the night before! 

On Day 1 we had "Paint Ornaments!" We made these a week or so ago, so we just finished them, that night.  This was also Emmelyn's first time painting!

 

On Day 2, we had "String popcorn and cranberries!" Landon was excited, but quickly lost interest in this activity. First of all, it was hard to string the popcorn, it would just break... so we moved on to popcorn, what sticky mess! Then we went to cereal, which was great.  

 As you can tell, he didn't even finish the strand before giving up. Oh well, we won't be doing this one again. But, at least I can say that we tried!

Day 3 was "Movie Night" because I had a Girl's Night Out I was hosting. So, Michael and the kids watched a movie upstairs. It was a great night, we did an ornament exchange and game night. Great time, great food, great conversation... you get the idea.

I made my delicious Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes which were a hit and turned out so cute! First time trying to make the frosting stripped!

 And my awesome tortilla roll ups! Everyone brought food, but this is what I made! MmMmmMmm!

 What kind of holiday traditions do you have? We have a lot and I just love it!