Christmastime Is For Kids, and Kids At Heart

Tomorrow starts the last minute countdown to Christmas, so I thought I would look for crafts that you can make with your little ones while waiting for the big day.  So every Monday I will post a weeks worth of fun to have with your family.  Because without family, Christmas is just another day.

December 1

Construction Paper Wreath

Who has NOT made one of these?  Quick and easy, and a must for every child.  I found a great tutorial on the blog Our Small-Town Idaho Life.

December 2

Candy Cane Mice

My Mom made these one year when my kids were little.  I still have them. <3

The tutorial can be found on Sewing Barefoot.

December 3

Santa and Reindeer Stick Puppets.

What a cute idea...great for bedtime story hour.  You'll find lots more great crafts at 

I Heart Crafty Things.

December 4

Now it's time to get baking...with salt dough.

I found 27 different salt dough ornament links on I Heart Arts N Crafts.

December 5

Paper Towel Roll Stars

Here's a great way to recycle and create something shiny and beautiful.

The tutorial on on Blog A La Cart.

December 6

And for this Sunday afternoon I chose this simple nativity scene.

The link to the original post was broken, but I'm sure that my creative friends can figure this out from the picture.

So there you have it, a weeks worth of fun.  If you make any of these, please post a picture in the comments.  I would love to see them.

And, as always,

Be blessed,

Debbi

Carrying On Another Family Tradition

As y'all probably know by now, I love tradition.

When my kids were growing up, it was our family tradition to get everyone together to bake our Christmas cookies.  We used an old family recipe, and all my sisters and their kids, rolled, and cut and frosted everything in site.  We would have up to 17 people crowed in someone's house, and chaos usually ensued.  But boy was it fun!

So this year, I guilted asked Amanda to bring over Owen so we could continue the fun.  While there was only us...it was fun.

First it was the boys turn.  While I made the dough, and took the pictures, Amanda was in charge of rolling.  She can be a perfectionist, but she did well letting the boys make a bit of a mess. lol

Ahhhh...two perfectionist sisters working side by side.  You know I stayed out of this one. lol.  And while the girls were working....

...the boys were playing.  Owen would hold Brandon down while PeeWee licked his ear.  Who needs video games when you can have fun like this? haha

Now it's time for the frosting.

No, we don't get fancy with the frosting, mostly because we spent most of the time telling the boys not to eat the frosting. :0)

Time together...that's what we need more of...family traditions.

Share with me some of your family traditions that you try to keep alive.

Be blessed,

Debbi

Wait! Come Back! I'm Still Here!

I cannot believe I've let so much time elapse since my last post!

How dare my real life interfere with my virtual life! hahaha

So, you want to see what I've been up to?

Gingerbread Houses.

Before Christmas Brandon got an urge to make a gingerbread house.  I don't know where that urge came from because we have never made one before, but hey, I'm game for anything, at least once.
So before I show you ours, let me show you others.

I found these on a Google search, and if there was a link to a working webpage, I added that to the picture.  Give credit where credit is due, and all that stuff.

And the piece de'resistance!

Now for ours...and when you see this, you'll understand why on last night's live The CraftStar show, why I commented that I don't read "mommy" blogs anymore.  I just can't measure up. lol

Here's a photo montage of the fun we still had creating this work of art.  The construction workers were me, Hannah, Brandon, and Owen.

Take note of Hannah's happy face in the first picture.

I showed Hannah how to pipe the first side, then let her go.  As you can see by this last picture, she was NOT happy.  The fun of having a perfectionist daughter. :0P

At least the boys had fun....
and yep, they started to pick it apart and eat it about an hour later.  I was lucky to even get pictures. lol

A new Christmas family tradition.

How was your Christmas?

Be blessed,
Debbi

Hannah's Homeschool Teen Christmas Party

This past Friday, our teen group got together for a Christmas Party. 

It was wonderful.

Hannah's new "do".  She wants to be a hairdresser, and will spend literally hours in the bathroom fixing her hair. lol

Here's a few pictures of the teens getting to know each other.  The wonderful man in the Santa hat was our game controller, and he did a great job. 

Next came a break for some more visiting, and eating. 

Then back to some games, very challenging.  Plus the kids were learning at the same time.  (shhh, don't tell them that) 

Next came the gift exchange.  And the silly Santa game.  No names were on the gifts, and stealing was encouraged. lol 

After all the gifts were distributed, it was time for one last game, the left/right game.  Santa read the nativity story and every time he said left or right, the gifts were passed.  So no one actually went home with the gifts they started with.  It was fast, and funny. 

Now the group shot.

A really great group of kids, no-one felt left out and everyone had a great time. 

And I want to give a special thank you to Charles and Judy Blow who handled all the food, and Michelle and Roger LaFlamme, the game masters. 

The kids (and us adults) are already looking forward to our Valentines Day party.

Be blessed,

Debbi

What Would Owen Like!

It's been a long time since I've done some Saturday Shopping here at

The Yankee Burrow Life

and my Owen's 6th birthday is next Wednesday so let's see what I can find that he might like (other than Lego's). :0)

With Owen turning 6, and hating school (he's a bit spoiled being an only child and all, lol) Mandy was talking about teaching him more responsibility, so what about this magnetic responsibility chart from Baby Age?  Mandy may like it, but not my Booboo.

Now I could encourage learning with this awesome My First Super Science Kit from Fat Brain Toys.  This has enough supplies for over 75 experiments.  Ok, Mandy may not be so cool with this one. lol

Now we're talking...a motorcycle!  This one from Gilt is under $300.  That's a pretty good price.  Of course, if we can't get Poppa a new bike right now, we probably shouldn't get Owen one either. lol

Who remembers these merry-go-rounds????  They were great to ride on in the playground.  There was a large one in our local park, and the object was to see how many kids we could get on it, then 2 of the "big" kids would spin it and the first kid to go flying off was the loser, and the last one to stay on without puking was the winner.  Ah the memories. hahaha

Now we can have one in our yard, from WayFair Supply.

So, what's your vote?

What should we get Owen for his 6th birthday?

Be blessed,

Debbi