I've not been good this weekend with Advent Calendar stuff.
Day 11 was 'Make festive cookies and deliver them to neighbours.' Well, I only just made the gingerbread men! Plus, on Saturday, I was at work from 12-6pm, then had a night out planned for 7.30. So I barely saw the kids that day, let alone find time to bake cookies together.
Then today, Day 12, was 'Look through old photo albums and talk about the pictures.' Well, today I worked from 11.30am-5pm, and when I got home, the kids and Scott were still at Scott's parents house for their family dinner. I stayed in, cleaned up for my gift-wrapping party I had tonight, and when the kids got home, we put them in their jammies, gave them kisses and sent them to bed. So again, I barely even saw them today!
So I have failed miserably, but we will make it up. I still have to make that family e-card, but I'll get to that. Maybe on Christmas morning. :)
On a non-fail note, though, I had that aforementioned gift-wrapping party tonight and got almost ALL my wrapping done in one go. I still have a few more to wrap - but they mostly include things I haven't finished making yet, so there's my excuse.
Oh gosh, speaking of making things, I have SO MUCh left to do. And, um, Lolly's birthday party is this next weekend. So I need to get that all planned out. Not to mention two TinyTalk Christmas parties and a special TinyTalk toddler group Christmas class this week. Thank goodness NEXT week is mostly free to finish these Christmas presents! And thank goodness I only work three more shifts before Christmas. So take those three nights, as well as the two Mondays for Steel Magnolias rehearsals (oh, and Tuesday for One-Act rehearsals), the rest of the nights SHOULD be free for sewing.
I feel very tired all of a sudden.
That could be partially due to the fact it is past midnight. I need to get to bed.
So anyway, fingers crossed my children will get some motherly love this week.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
Day 10
I'm going to have trouble writing this post, because I'm watching the film 'Nativity', and it is cracking me up.
So quickly here we go.
I had to work tonight, so thankfully our activity was an easy one today. Have a picnic on the floor in our pajamas. So before I left for work, I helped the girls put down a blanket, change into their jammies and pretty much just pulled random things out of the fridge for them to eat on the floor.
They loved it.
Plus, we finally got around to making those gingerbread men. Though most of them are not men, but Christmas trees, stars, hearts, bells and birds. Once those kids saw me pull the cookie cutters out, I had a hard time whittling them down to just Christmas shapes at least.
One of the things I find more difficult than anything in the world is baking with kids. Baking is practically an art form to me, (yes, I realise how ridiculous that just sounded) and having the kids involved, and therefore, ruining what could be a beautiful piece of work, KILLS me. So I had to really control myself when they kept trying to cut shapes halfway off the side of the dough, or squish the freshly cut pieces, or shove a different cutter through an already cut piece. Or smoosh the silver balls right through the dough. Gah. Anyway, we managed to get through it (though with more frustration than I'd care to admit), and we now have some lovely cookies to hang on the tree!
"Yes, darling, I think THIS is The Tree."
So quickly here we go.
I had to work tonight, so thankfully our activity was an easy one today. Have a picnic on the floor in our pajamas. So before I left for work, I helped the girls put down a blanket, change into their jammies and pretty much just pulled random things out of the fridge for them to eat on the floor.
They loved it.
Plus, we finally got around to making those gingerbread men. Though most of them are not men, but Christmas trees, stars, hearts, bells and birds. Once those kids saw me pull the cookie cutters out, I had a hard time whittling them down to just Christmas shapes at least.
One of the things I find more difficult than anything in the world is baking with kids. Baking is practically an art form to me, (yes, I realise how ridiculous that just sounded) and having the kids involved, and therefore, ruining what could be a beautiful piece of work, KILLS me. So I had to really control myself when they kept trying to cut shapes halfway off the side of the dough, or squish the freshly cut pieces, or shove a different cutter through an already cut piece. Or smoosh the silver balls right through the dough. Gah. Anyway, we managed to get through it (though with more frustration than I'd care to admit), and we now have some lovely cookies to hang on the tree!
"Yes, darling, I think THIS is The Tree."
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Day 9 - Already?!
Good grief, December is whizzing past. Anyway.
So I made up for my rubbish attempts at Adventing it the past few days with my treasure hunt today. While Fifi was at nursery, I created several clues and printed them off and stuck them all over the house. Now, I can't take credit for all the poems, because a few of them I stole from various websites, and the ones I did write myself were nearly all at least inspired by something stolen from a website. But regardless, I was quite proud of how well our treasure hunt went. It went something like this:
(Click to enlarge if you want to read the clues.)
Each clue led to a different clue until finally the kids were led to the room where the toys were hidden, and we played Hot/Cold to locate them. Their reactions?
It was a lot of fun. And it was made better by the fact Scott was home to do the treasure hunt with them. Since he hadn't seen the clues yet, it was fun for me to see him read them.
Oh, and I also changed my mind about their facelessness after revisiting the website that made it all possible, and photos like this in particular. Now, she does her faces with acrylic paints. I did not have time to mix up acrylic paint colours, so I used craft pens. Which means if I throw these girls in the wash, out the faces come. But for now, I'm pleased with the result.
I think they are pleased too. (The dolls, that is.)
So I made up for my rubbish attempts at Adventing it the past few days with my treasure hunt today. While Fifi was at nursery, I created several clues and printed them off and stuck them all over the house. Now, I can't take credit for all the poems, because a few of them I stole from various websites, and the ones I did write myself were nearly all at least inspired by something stolen from a website. But regardless, I was quite proud of how well our treasure hunt went. It went something like this:
(Click to enlarge if you want to read the clues.)
Each clue led to a different clue until finally the kids were led to the room where the toys were hidden, and we played Hot/Cold to locate them. Their reactions?
It was a lot of fun. And it was made better by the fact Scott was home to do the treasure hunt with them. Since he hadn't seen the clues yet, it was fun for me to see him read them.
Oh, and I also changed my mind about their facelessness after revisiting the website that made it all possible, and photos like this in particular. Now, she does her faces with acrylic paints. I did not have time to mix up acrylic paint colours, so I used craft pens. Which means if I throw these girls in the wash, out the faces come. But for now, I'm pleased with the result.
I think they are pleased too. (The dolls, that is.)
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
Day 8
It is five minutes to midnight, so technically I should get credit for posting on the 8th, but I suppose by the time I finish, it'll be tomorrow, so it'll come up as the 9th. Oh well.
We have yet to catch up on yesterday's activity. And we failed today too. Today we were supposed to make gingerbread men to hang on the Christmas tree. So we went to the grocery store to get the ingredients, but while there, got a text from Maria inviting us over after lunch. So the girls and I went over for a few hours to play. We left around 3.30, me thinking we'd have a couple of hours free to make our gingerbread men, until I remembered the dough has to chill for two hours first before rolling and cutting. To which I said 'Screw that'. So we came home, I put on the tree lights and a DVD and turned out the lights and took a nap while the kids quietly watched Charlie and Lola. I woke up 45 minutes later, prepared a quick dinner and got ready for work.
So, we didn't make our gingerbread men. I hope to do it tomorrow, though, as I love gingerbread men.
However, I did get prepared beforehand for tomorrow's activity. I had a feeling I knew what was next and checked, and I was correct. Tomorrow the kids are going to go on a treasure hunt to find a special present. A special present I hadn't made yet. So tonight after work, I made them their Christmas dolls.
I've had these pieces cut out since last Christmas. I never managed to finish them last year, so I was determined this year to make them.
Behold, the process (the abridged version):
Pattern pieces cut for over a year.
Stuffing the arms and legs - my least favourite part.
The finished product. No faces, yeah, I know, but I like it that way.
So now all I need to do is make up clues and hide them around the house. I'll do that tomorrow while Fifi is at nursery.
It is now 20 past 12. I'm off to bed.
We have yet to catch up on yesterday's activity. And we failed today too. Today we were supposed to make gingerbread men to hang on the Christmas tree. So we went to the grocery store to get the ingredients, but while there, got a text from Maria inviting us over after lunch. So the girls and I went over for a few hours to play. We left around 3.30, me thinking we'd have a couple of hours free to make our gingerbread men, until I remembered the dough has to chill for two hours first before rolling and cutting. To which I said 'Screw that'. So we came home, I put on the tree lights and a DVD and turned out the lights and took a nap while the kids quietly watched Charlie and Lola. I woke up 45 minutes later, prepared a quick dinner and got ready for work.
So, we didn't make our gingerbread men. I hope to do it tomorrow, though, as I love gingerbread men.
However, I did get prepared beforehand for tomorrow's activity. I had a feeling I knew what was next and checked, and I was correct. Tomorrow the kids are going to go on a treasure hunt to find a special present. A special present I hadn't made yet. So tonight after work, I made them their Christmas dolls.
I've had these pieces cut out since last Christmas. I never managed to finish them last year, so I was determined this year to make them.
Behold, the process (the abridged version):
Pattern pieces cut for over a year.
Stuffing the arms and legs - my least favourite part.
The finished product. No faces, yeah, I know, but I like it that way.
So now all I need to do is make up clues and hide them around the house. I'll do that tomorrow while Fifi is at nursery.
It is now 20 past 12. I'm off to bed.
DeBloAdMo Sidebar
For ease, I have added a DeBloAdMo Sidebar list to the --> right. Lots of good ideas for Advent activities there! If anyone else is doing Advent Activity Calendars, let me know! And if you are blogging it, even better! I'll add your link!
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Day 7
This Advent blogging thing has been great for my blogging momentum. I'm now blogging twice a day!
We failed miserably on Day 7 - Make a family video e-card and send it to family and friends. For one, I am totally PMSing today and have pretty much done very little besides rub my temples, take deep breaths (in between shouting at the kids) and sigh heavily. Scott has been non-stop World of Warcrafting it since the expansion came out last night. The kids have been tearing up the house while Dora the Explorer has been on constant repeat. So no family video e-card today. Maybe another day, perhaps when they are dressed nicely, like on a Sunday.
I suppose I should give myself SOME credit (though not much), in that we did drag ourselves out of the house this morning to run our church's toddler group. Fifi's nursery was off today because of snow, so I took the two of them for a walk to toddlers. Only five of us showed up, but it was well worth it to get out of the house and give the kids something to do. Fifi got to play with her friend Kiera who was also off nursery, and Lolly got to play with her little toddler friends. And I got to chat with MY friends, which was nice.
And then this afternoon, I took them around the shops while I ran some errands. I posted a present to my sis-in-law Charity, bought some twinkly Christmas tree lights, got Lolly her first pair of ballet shoes - which she LOVED - and even got sidetracked and took a wee wander through Smack Generator... er, I mean Cash Generator, and ended up buying a mini-fridge for £9.99 for the kids room. I mean, that is totally buying myself some mornings off. I'll just stick a couple of milk cartons and yogurts in it, next to some fruit and voila kids can eat in their rooms while watching a DVD on their own DVD player, while Scott and I sleep in a little longer. Merry Christmas, kids.
Tonight I was supposed to have a rehearsal and then go to my friend's Craft Night. But rehearsal was cancelled and weather is supposedly gonna get to -12C tonight, and she lives up the Port (which is up the hill and always gets three times the amount of snow we get down here), so I'm thinking it's safer just to hang out here and do some Christmas sewing. I have a LOT of sewing to do for Christmas presents and really need to get started. I was gonna get started at Heather's Craft Night, but it'll have to be done here, alone.
Tomorrow will hopefully be more of a pro-active day. I don't know if schools will be back on or not, but I imagine so. If roads are safe to drive - which I am not sure of considering the freezing temps tonight will freeze over all the slush and snow on the roads - I'll take her to nursery and maybe do something fun with Lolly. But chances are I'll stay in with the two of them and need to force myself out of this funk in order to enjoy our lovely time together.
Maybe we'll make a video e-card.
We failed miserably on Day 7 - Make a family video e-card and send it to family and friends. For one, I am totally PMSing today and have pretty much done very little besides rub my temples, take deep breaths (in between shouting at the kids) and sigh heavily. Scott has been non-stop World of Warcrafting it since the expansion came out last night. The kids have been tearing up the house while Dora the Explorer has been on constant repeat. So no family video e-card today. Maybe another day, perhaps when they are dressed nicely, like on a Sunday.
I suppose I should give myself SOME credit (though not much), in that we did drag ourselves out of the house this morning to run our church's toddler group. Fifi's nursery was off today because of snow, so I took the two of them for a walk to toddlers. Only five of us showed up, but it was well worth it to get out of the house and give the kids something to do. Fifi got to play with her friend Kiera who was also off nursery, and Lolly got to play with her little toddler friends. And I got to chat with MY friends, which was nice.
And then this afternoon, I took them around the shops while I ran some errands. I posted a present to my sis-in-law Charity, bought some twinkly Christmas tree lights, got Lolly her first pair of ballet shoes - which she LOVED - and even got sidetracked and took a wee wander through Smack Generator... er, I mean Cash Generator, and ended up buying a mini-fridge for £9.99 for the kids room. I mean, that is totally buying myself some mornings off. I'll just stick a couple of milk cartons and yogurts in it, next to some fruit and voila kids can eat in their rooms while watching a DVD on their own DVD player, while Scott and I sleep in a little longer. Merry Christmas, kids.
Tonight I was supposed to have a rehearsal and then go to my friend's Craft Night. But rehearsal was cancelled and weather is supposedly gonna get to -12C tonight, and she lives up the Port (which is up the hill and always gets three times the amount of snow we get down here), so I'm thinking it's safer just to hang out here and do some Christmas sewing. I have a LOT of sewing to do for Christmas presents and really need to get started. I was gonna get started at Heather's Craft Night, but it'll have to be done here, alone.
Tomorrow will hopefully be more of a pro-active day. I don't know if schools will be back on or not, but I imagine so. If roads are safe to drive - which I am not sure of considering the freezing temps tonight will freeze over all the slush and snow on the roads - I'll take her to nursery and maybe do something fun with Lolly. But chances are I'll stay in with the two of them and need to force myself out of this funk in order to enjoy our lovely time together.
Maybe we'll make a video e-card.
Steel Magnolias - Tickets On Sale!
This a quick break in my Advent Blogging to say tickets are on sale for Steel Magnolias!! I know it's months away, but we are hoping to put the show on for one extra night, and before doing so, we need to know we've sold most of the tickets for the original three.
So, buy your tickets now and then you won't have to worry about them later on! Make it a Christmas present for you and your mum or sister or girlfriends. Tickets are £8.50 each and shows will be 10-12 March. I mean, really, it's only a few months away (eek!).
So buy some tickets, so we can put on an extra night!
(Click image to enlarge.)
So, buy your tickets now and then you won't have to worry about them later on! Make it a Christmas present for you and your mum or sister or girlfriends. Tickets are £8.50 each and shows will be 10-12 March. I mean, really, it's only a few months away (eek!).
So buy some tickets, so we can put on an extra night!
(Click image to enlarge.)
Monday, December 06, 2010
Day 6
"Cut colourful snowflakes and hang them in the window."
Well, what an appropriate activity for a day like today. We woke up around 8 (don't know what possessed my children to sleep so late but long may it go on!), and it was fine outside. We got in the car at 8.45 to take Scott to work, and big, heavy snowflakes were falling. We dropped Scott off at work at 8.55 and the roads were white and slushy. I tried to drive Fifi to nursery but couldn't get there because the roads were impassable. I got home at 9.30. It took me thirty-five minutes to drive five miles in that snow.
So we made snowflakes. Fifi desperately wanted out in the garden to build snowmen, but I'm a terrible mother and didn't want to deal with two cold, wet, wild children. Or a cold, wet me, for that matter. So I entertained them with making our paper lanterns from yesterday and our snowflakes for today.
Fifi had a ball using the 'grown-up' scissors, and Lolly enjoyed scribbling all over the paper. And when we made our snowflakes, Fifi enjoyed cutting, while Lolly enjoyed... ripping up Fifi's snowflakes. Oops. There is a LOT of cello-tape on these snowflakes, I can assure you.
Then they both enjoyed going into the close and hanging up their creations.
(As you can see, the snowflakes didn't make the window. I put them in the window last year, and thought they were a bit of an eyesore for the passers-by. Should've changed it on the calendar but eh.)
Other activities today included running a TinyTalk class for one family (hope you enjoyed it, Joanne!) and baking a German chocolate cake. Mmmm. Needed something to entice the children away from the snow outside. And needed something warmer than Fifi's suggestions of smoothies and ice cream.
Yeah, if I were a good mum, I'd have had them out sledging and building snowmen all day. But I'm rubbish and will probably ruin them somehow by not giving them happy childhood memories of playing in the snow. Eh, I'm not too worried. African and South American children don't get snow, and they turn out perfectly fine without those memories.
Well, what an appropriate activity for a day like today. We woke up around 8 (don't know what possessed my children to sleep so late but long may it go on!), and it was fine outside. We got in the car at 8.45 to take Scott to work, and big, heavy snowflakes were falling. We dropped Scott off at work at 8.55 and the roads were white and slushy. I tried to drive Fifi to nursery but couldn't get there because the roads were impassable. I got home at 9.30. It took me thirty-five minutes to drive five miles in that snow.
So we made snowflakes. Fifi desperately wanted out in the garden to build snowmen, but I'm a terrible mother and didn't want to deal with two cold, wet, wild children. Or a cold, wet me, for that matter. So I entertained them with making our paper lanterns from yesterday and our snowflakes for today.
Fifi had a ball using the 'grown-up' scissors, and Lolly enjoyed scribbling all over the paper. And when we made our snowflakes, Fifi enjoyed cutting, while Lolly enjoyed... ripping up Fifi's snowflakes. Oops. There is a LOT of cello-tape on these snowflakes, I can assure you.
Then they both enjoyed going into the close and hanging up their creations.
(As you can see, the snowflakes didn't make the window. I put them in the window last year, and thought they were a bit of an eyesore for the passers-by. Should've changed it on the calendar but eh.)
Other activities today included running a TinyTalk class for one family (hope you enjoyed it, Joanne!) and baking a German chocolate cake. Mmmm. Needed something to entice the children away from the snow outside. And needed something warmer than Fifi's suggestions of smoothies and ice cream.
Yeah, if I were a good mum, I'd have had them out sledging and building snowmen all day. But I'm rubbish and will probably ruin them somehow by not giving them happy childhood memories of playing in the snow. Eh, I'm not too worried. African and South American children don't get snow, and they turn out perfectly fine without those memories.
Sunday, December 05, 2010
Day 4-5
Technically, it's actually 48 minutes into Day 6 so oops, haven't done so well. But here's my excuses: Day 4, Saturday, I was barely two feet in the house all day. I was out by 9am to get my photo shoot done for Steel Magnolias (photo to be uploaded later this week when made public!). Then, I was back around 11 for a couple of hours until Scott, Fifi and I were headed back out for the panto matinee. (And, off topic, we nearly smashed into a pole due to the ice. But Scott was driving, and he managed to save our car and my life, but that's another story. Yay for Scott!) I was then at the panto the rest of the day, as I stayed there during the time between the matinee and the evening show. I got home that night after 11pm. So that's why no posting.
Day 4 was 'Fifi goes to panto with Daddy, while Lolly goes to Granny's!' so at least our Advent Activity got taken care of.
Day 5, today, my excuse is similar but not as good. We left the house this morning around 11.45 for church. Then Scott went to work, and me and the kids went to the grandparents' house for dinner and a coal fire. Scott came home from work at 5, drove us by the house, and he took the kids while I headed straight back out to MY work. I got home after 10pm. Too late to work on our Activity for the day ('Make paper lanterns to decorate for Christmas'), so I watched a DVD instead.
Tomorrow (technically today) is Day 6, so we'll have some catching up to do. Paper lantern making plus whatever the project is supposed to be for today. I just hope we'll have time. I forgot it is the day the photographer comes to TinyTalk, so class will run longer than usual. I hope tomorrow's Activity is easy enough.
Well, to end this, I'll just link you to two other people doing the DeBloAdMo challenge, Cheryl and Rebekkah. Have a glance at their blogs to see what they are up to this December!
Day 4 was 'Fifi goes to panto with Daddy, while Lolly goes to Granny's!' so at least our Advent Activity got taken care of.
Day 5, today, my excuse is similar but not as good. We left the house this morning around 11.45 for church. Then Scott went to work, and me and the kids went to the grandparents' house for dinner and a coal fire. Scott came home from work at 5, drove us by the house, and he took the kids while I headed straight back out to MY work. I got home after 10pm. Too late to work on our Activity for the day ('Make paper lanterns to decorate for Christmas'), so I watched a DVD instead.
Tomorrow (technically today) is Day 6, so we'll have some catching up to do. Paper lantern making plus whatever the project is supposed to be for today. I just hope we'll have time. I forgot it is the day the photographer comes to TinyTalk, so class will run longer than usual. I hope tomorrow's Activity is easy enough.
Well, to end this, I'll just link you to two other people doing the DeBloAdMo challenge, Cheryl and Rebekkah. Have a glance at their blogs to see what they are up to this December!
Friday, December 03, 2010
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