Skip to main content

12 Days of Christmas.






Christmas is one of my favorite times of year. I love summer too, but that is a season and so much longer that it is hard to choose between the two.
Growing up, my family had traditions. We decorated the tree, baked cookies, played in the snow, sang songs before opening presents, went to church (as we did every Sunday), Christmas programs at school and church, etc.
Now that our kiddos are a bit older, Chris and I are trying to more firmly establish some traditions of our own. We've always made gingerbread houses, done the parties, made cookies, etc., but the newest tradition is our "12 Days of Christmas." I brainstormed 12 family activities of fun, writing them on slips of paper, putting them in a bag. Each day, Claire or Mya choose a slip and we do that activity. Here is a review of our previous 12 days:
Day 1: we all played wii
Day 2: We watched a Mickey Mouse Christmas while snuggled in our bed.
Day 3: Chris and I had his work Christmas party, so the girls played games with Ms. Kim (their babysitter whom they LOVE!)
Day 4: We ate a restaurant of Claire and Mya's choosing.
Day 5: Both Claire and Mya bought a toy of their choice to donate to a child in need.
Day 6: We did a few Christmas art projects--gingerbread house, bracelet, snowman and reindeer that my Mom brought with her.
Day 7: We read a Christmas story and drank hot chocolate. On aside--Mya clearly watches too much Dora. She calls chocolate by the Spanish name--Choco-latte. So. darn. funny.
Day 8: We made Christmas cookies.
Day 9: We went bowling--well actually, we went to the bowling alley and the kids opted to play instead of bowl. Go figure.
Day 10: We had planned on going to Seoul for ice skating and more, but those plans were halted by command. Needless to say, I was illprepared and had no day 10, 11 and 12 planned. I will do better next year ;)
Day 11: We are going to the movie, Alvin & the Chipmunks.
Day 12: failure

Overall, this was a huge hit in our house. We will definitely do it again next year with a little bit better planning. The highlight to our day is that all of our Christmas gifts for our kiddos arrived as well as one from an auntie. Yippee! It was really down to the wire, but we are officially ready for Christmas.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pink Family

Chris and I are creatures of habit. We like what we like. When we find something especially wonderful, we tend to go a bit overboard. Case in point--Chinese restaurant in Minot, ND. We frequented it often at least a couple of times per week. This was basically THE place we went out to eat. The host actually started to say things like, "nice to see you AGAIN." We were rather embarrassed and fearful that his line would eventually become, "your usual table?" Thankfully we moved. Since coming to Korea, we've tried every Brazilian Steakhouse (there are 4 or 5), I deemed Ceia my favorite. It has the most delicious white rice with which I put this onion mixture on top and it is oh. so. yummy. We became frequent visitors--typically one night per week. We joked between ourselves that we were going to be greeted as we were dreading in Minot. It never happened, thankfully, but who knows what the staff actually said as they primarily spoke Korean :) Another quirk Chris an...
5 comments
Read more

my workout playlist

I never dreamed I'd be listening/watching this when I worked out, but it is true. Here it is: photo courtesty of Laurieberkner.com I wouldn't have it any other way. My little healthy lifestyle journey is going well. I have exercised 7 days thus far which consists of treadmill activity and an ab workout every other day. I don't pressure myself to run everyday, but I have run 4 of the 7 days. I am quite proud of that. I have never been a runner or enjoyed running, but I have grown to like it. I used to say that I had exercise induced asthma! I think I did, but maybe I outgrew it? ha. Whatever the reason, I am finding it pretty easy to run and maintain a steady pace for no less than 20 minutes each time. Pretty impressive feat for a girl like me. Interestingly, I had planned to take today off, but didn't. I actually had the desire to run. Chris and I are both sticking to the eating plan as well. So far I am down about 4 pounds. Although 4 pounds is plenty, it ...
8 comments
Read more

9 Months

      Claire is nine months old. She is such an active kid, always on the go. She no longer lays nicely when we change her diaper. It is quite the challenge. She is getting rather quick at crawling, so we have to move just as quickly to keep her out of where she doesn't belong--the fridge, cupboards, etc. Developmentally, she is right on track or maybe a bit advanced in our biased eyes. She crawls, pulls herself up, is beginning to move from one piece of furniture to another, mostly eats table food, and imitates us (both in the noises we make or actions--knocking on a door). When we hold her hands, she is beginning to take steps without much guidance. On Saturday, she made her first attempt to climb a step. Sadly, it ended with her sliding down. She has three teeth--two on the bottom, one on top with another coming in on top. Ten things we love about her: 1. her smile 2. her curiosity 3. the way she holds our hands or her own hands when she sleeps 4. her easy-goingness 5....
11 comments
Read more