Christmas Preparations

I was a little shocked as I prepared for Christmastime this year when I came to the realization that I haven't put up a Christmas tree since Christmas 2010!  Of course, the kids were beyond excited about getting all the Christmas stuff out!  

The Tuesday after Thanksgiving, we hauled up the boxes and with great ceremony we set up our nativity.  You'd think they were real, the way Serena and Bret each had to handle each character and look them over so carefully, noticing every detail!  Before we could put up the tree, I had to sort out the ornaments that were small enough for a little tree.  (We don't have any space for a Christmas tree, so we just got a 4' one to put on top of the table in our living room.)  Then, the kids got busy decorating it as fast as I could put hooks on the ornaments!

Bret was a very enthusiastic decorator!  The small ball ornaments I have come in three sizes, and he would get SO excited each time we got to a bigger size, haha!

Serena thinks she's a tree-decorating expert, since she already did Grammie's tree last week!  She did a pretty good job of spacing out the ornaments.  Her favorite thing was when we got out her "I'm the big sister" ornament that Julie gave her a couple years ago (just before Bret was born).

Bookworm

Another Christmas item that garnered great excitement, was the Little People Nativity.  It was pretty cute to watch all three of them try to share it and play together when we first got it out!  Baby Jesus is often carried around wrapped in a huge blanket, given toys, and fed.  ;)

Serena's little Caya-dog is such a lovey!

 Of course, with Christmas approaching, came the topic of presents!  It's kinda fun that at this age, the kids are not at all concerned about the presents they will receive; but they love to give presents!  They often play at giving each other presents, wrapping toys up in blankets and then presenting them to each other.  They each exclaim over each gift and then run off to get more!  Cody gets a lot!  ;)  When my Mom had her birthday back in August, Serena & Bret spent an entire day wrapping their toys in every blanket and bag they could get their hands on, and piled them all in the room off the garage where we keep all our shoes and coats, etc.  In the days that followed, Bret especially kept thinking of a toy or a particular ball, and when he couldn't find it in the toyroom would ask me where it was.  I would remind him of the presents in the other room, so he'd go in and find what he wanted and take it out.  Eventually, I was able to convince them that Grammie had enough toys at her house and we put all the "presents" away.  ;)  With Christmas coming, Serena kept saying how she was going to give this or that to so-n-so, and I realized that I'd better come up with presents for her to give away.  Last year, they made cinnamon ornaments, so this year I had them make birdfeeders.  It was a mixture of birdseed and corn syrup and I-don't-remember-what-else...some recipe I found on Pinterest.  They turned out a little crumbly, which was a bummer, but the kids really enjoyed making them!

Making Christmas presents - - bird feeders