The Christmas Express

I saw this idea on Pinterest and decided to do it this year.

While the kids were bathing, I put these tickets on their pillows.  Then I told them we didn't have time for stories and to just go on to their beds.  Logan started whining (remember, he's a creature of habit and dislikes changes to his routine), so I very quickly got him to see the ticket.

 

 

Sophie kept calling hers a "dollar" and was very excited about that.  Then we loaded them in the car, punched their tickets and told them we were going to go see Christmas lights.

We went to Prairie Lights and had to wait for a bit as they were very busy.  But I had brought some cookies and drinks so the kids were patient enough.

Unfortunately, I only got one picture.  About half way through, it started pouring down rain.  It only lasted about 10 minutes, but that was enough to cause some sort of damage.  They ended up detouring us, so we cut through and left a bit early.  Even though we didn't see it all, we had a great time and the kids don't know any different.

 

There were a couple of funny moments:

1.  Sophie now calls lightening "blinky" and she is scared by it.

2.  They had a section that depicted the song "the 12 Days of Christmas" and Paul started singing it.  Logan added this to the 6th verse..."eggs".  Take a moment to sing it through and you'll figure it out.

 

 

 

Children's Activities

In an effort to curb Sophie's television obsession and keep us all sane, I've been doing lots of activities with the kids.  Some came from the Productive Parenting emails I get, others from Pinterest.  Here's just a few:

• Paper Clip Necklace (or Cowboy Lasso)

As a rainy day activity, give your child a box of paper clips and show your child how they can be hooked together. Encourage your child to make necklaces, bracelets, and chains using the paper clips. Your child can keep the creations, or be responsible for taking them apart and returning the paper clips to the box.

Sophie couldn't clip these together but Logan figured it out.  For Sophie I would help her clip them and then she played with them.  Her favorite was to use it like a lasso.

• Painting Maracas

• Height Comparison

Cut a length of rope the length of your child's body. Let your child take the rope around the house and find things about the same height and compare. Then see if your child can find things that are shorter, and things that are taller, using the rope to check each time.

Counting Days

Understanding future events is an ongoing process. Let your child mark off days on a calendar until an anticipated event, (vacation, birthday, playdate, etc.). Show your child how to make a slash mark or X on each day that passes, then count the number of days left until the big event. You can reinforce the days of the week and the name of the month with each passing day as well.

 
I had some packing peanuts from one of the gifts I had shipped so I found this art project to do with some of them.  We also did an experiment to determine what would happen if you added water to a bowl full of them (they melt and turn to mush).




 
 
Then we played I Spy.  I put the remaining peanuts in a big tub and each child got to choose 3 small toys to put in.  I made a list with the toys pictures and then the kids went searching for them.  When they found a toy they put a sticker next to it on their list.
 




 
 
Fluffy Stuff made from cornstarch and shaving cream.  This was really cool especially when I sent them outside to have a "snowball fight".
 



















 
 
We had M&M's for dessert one night so the kids sorted them, made patterns, and even created pictures.
 













 
 

T-Tubes for Logan

Due to a build-up of fluid in Logan's ear drums. he's had some hearing loss.  His ENT doctor recommended long-acting tubes.  His first set last about 18 months.  I wasn't prepared to hear this, I was really hoping the hearing loss we saw in August was due to an ear infection he had at that time.  I also wasn't prepared to have this procedure wight in the middle of the holiday season.  Of course, within 2 days of the appointment, Logan again had an ear infection.  He ended up missing 4 days in 2 weeks, between doctor appointments, being sick and the procedure.

He played on his Leap Pad while we waited for the doctors.

 His surgery friend, Skippy Jon Jones.

 They put an oxygen monitor on his thumb.  It has a red light on it and it was one of these attached to his toe that caused him to completely lose it when he had surgery in 2011.  But we did fine today.

 He was being so sweet cuddled up to his friend, but every time I'd tried to take a picture he would give me a huge grin.

 The silly juice had definitely kicked in by now.  He kept wanting to get up but he was so woozy.

 

Awww...finally!

He did great and woke up with no problems.  He drank some juice and we were leaving the hospital about 3 hours after arrival.  On a side note...this day marks the 2 anniversary of when we met Logan.  Not much of a "Gotcha Day" celebration, huh?

Logan's Magical Birthday Party

We decided to do a family party and take the cousins to see a Magician for Logan's birthday.  Heather at the Arlington Improv was awesome.  She made the party invitations and had everything set up for us with his favorite colors.  The first magician had Logan help with one of the tricks, and both were very good.

Waiting to go.

The Amazing Logan and his assistant Sophie.

 

So Happy!!!

Logan's trick involved him making coins magically appear in a bucket until the magician finally made a quarter come out his nose (which he got to keep).  Logan has seen the show before and had an idea that he might be asked to come up.  He made me promise that I would go too.

 

 

Some of the other family got to participate too.

 

 

 Sophie was so in love with baby Gaven.  She wanted to hold him even though he's almost as big as her.

 

After the show we went into the dining area to have cake, open presents, and face painting.  I had 2 cakes.  One was just a plain cake but the other was an ice cream cake shaped like a bunny.  It was set up to look like it was coming out of a black hat.

 

Each child got a special wand and then we had goody bags that had a set of magic tricks (found these at the dollar store).

 

Since we chose to just have a family party, we took a special treat to school on his birthday for his classmates.  I used the same bags for both his friends and the party.  We put a paper cup, spoon, packet of hot cocoa and a baggie of ice cream cone shaped marshmallows in each bag.

 





 

Happy Birthday, Logan George!!