BEFORE
AFTER SANTA
AFTER The Lil Divas!! :)
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
A Quick Before & After Look at Christmas 2010!
The say pictures can speak a thousand words so I'll let these few shots tell you about the Lil Divas Christmas until I can write some more!
The Magic of Christmas!
I might be more excited about Christmas than the Lil Divas (if that's possible). I honestly can't wait to see their faces on Christmas morning as they run down the stairs and catch that first glimpse of THE TREE after Santa's visit! I can vividly recall how wonderful this moment was for me growing up! I could barely sleep the night before and I would always wake up very, very early on Christmas morning! It's funny to feel that way all over again for completely different reasons!
Back then it was obviously all about me and what I was getting. Now, it's all about the Lil Divas! Their excitement and pure joy is absolutely infectious and I've got it bad! This year they were both old enough to really get the idea of Christmas and it's been fun experiencing it through their eyes. They cut out pictures from various catalogues and made their lists - their very first! They enjoyed learning and singing Christmas songs, watching holiday movies, doing tons upon tons of crafts and buying and wrapping gifts for others. I have to say that I have enjoyed doing all these things with them so much that it has truly renewed my Christmas spirit! This has always been a favorite time of year of mine, but experiencing it in this whole new way (as a mom) has made it even more magical.
Back then it was obviously all about me and what I was getting. Now, it's all about the Lil Divas! Their excitement and pure joy is absolutely infectious and I've got it bad! This year they were both old enough to really get the idea of Christmas and it's been fun experiencing it through their eyes. They cut out pictures from various catalogues and made their lists - their very first! They enjoyed learning and singing Christmas songs, watching holiday movies, doing tons upon tons of crafts and buying and wrapping gifts for others. I have to say that I have enjoyed doing all these things with them so much that it has truly renewed my Christmas spirit! This has always been a favorite time of year of mine, but experiencing it in this whole new way (as a mom) has made it even more magical.
Send a Personalized Message from Santa via the Portable North Pole
For the 2nd year I made a message from Santa for the Lil Divas using The Portable North Pole. THey just loved it and I was very impressed with the additions they made this year, making it such a special personalized message with photos and special events from the year!
The girls were in awe at how much Santa knew and watched their messages over and over again!
Priceless! :)
The girls were in awe at how much Santa knew and watched their messages over and over again!
Priceless! :)
Track Santa on Christmas Eve with NORAD!!!
We did this last year and the girls absolutely loved it! :)
Track Santa as he travels around the world delivering his Christmas goodies via NORAD's satellite tracker!
You can even follow via your mobile phone - Isn't technology wonderful?!
Sowing the Seeds of Charity
It's the holidays - Tis the season of gifts, shopping and frenzy! Way too often we get caught up in the madness and forget to think about those who are less fortunate and will not have a tree full of gifts on Christmas morning. My lil divas are beyond spoiled between my husband, myself and the rest of the family! The amount of presents they receive is obscene. They may be young but it's never to early to teach them to think of others and to be charitable! So we had a long talk about how not all children are as lucky as they are to have everything they both need and want. I asked them if they would like to get a few things for a little girl their age who would be very happy to receive presents. They were quite enthusistic about it so off we went to Target to shop for someone else for a change!
They had no trouble picking things out (they are excellent shoppers, lol!) but putting it into the box was a different story. They had difficult time parting with the items and I kept having to remind them of how much this little girl who would receive this box needed these items and how happy she would be to get it. They kept asking me who she was, the concept of an unknown person in need is hard for a 3 & 4 yr. old to grasp! We managed to fill the boxes (while not going broke in the process) and headed home to prepare them.
Once we laid everything out to begin packing, the real difficulty began! The lil divas wanted to open the toys they had picked! I reminded them (again) these toys weren't for them, but instead we were giving them to someone else as a special Christmas surprise. I told them we were being Santa's special helpers and that both he & I were very proud of them for being so generous and thoughtful. In the end, they packed those boxes with such care and obvious good intentions that my heart was overflowing! In their own way, they got it!
I know this was a difficult task for my lil divas and I am proud of them for being able to move past their immediate wants and actually do something for someone else. Together we planted a seed that we can nurture and grow. I plan to do more of these types of things with them now that they can begin to understand what it means and why it should be done. I want them to grow up knowing how fortunate they are and not only appreciate what they have but to also be charitable towards others. We have taken our first steps in that direction and I am proud of their efforts! Little kids with big hearts can make a difference in our world and I want my lil divas to know that!
They had no trouble picking things out (they are excellent shoppers, lol!) but putting it into the box was a different story. They had difficult time parting with the items and I kept having to remind them of how much this little girl who would receive this box needed these items and how happy she would be to get it. They kept asking me who she was, the concept of an unknown person in need is hard for a 3 & 4 yr. old to grasp! We managed to fill the boxes (while not going broke in the process) and headed home to prepare them.
Once we laid everything out to begin packing, the real difficulty began! The lil divas wanted to open the toys they had picked! I reminded them (again) these toys weren't for them, but instead we were giving them to someone else as a special Christmas surprise. I told them we were being Santa's special helpers and that both he & I were very proud of them for being so generous and thoughtful. In the end, they packed those boxes with such care and obvious good intentions that my heart was overflowing! In their own way, they got it!
I know this was a difficult task for my lil divas and I am proud of them for being able to move past their immediate wants and actually do something for someone else. Together we planted a seed that we can nurture and grow. I plan to do more of these types of things with them now that they can begin to understand what it means and why it should be done. I want them to grow up knowing how fortunate they are and not only appreciate what they have but to also be charitable towards others. We have taken our first steps in that direction and I am proud of their efforts! Little kids with big hearts can make a difference in our world and I want my lil divas to know that!
Snow in South Florida!
The girls enjoyed playing in the snow, South FL style courtesy of South Florida Parenting Magazine's Holiday Festival today. It was a fun event with lots of local businesses, inflatables, crafts, games, snow play area, and even some sledding. The girls had a great time & enjoyed playing with the snow in the sun & warmth :)
Rudolph Ornaments
Today we attended the
**FREE** Santa's Workshop
at Michael's & made the cutest Reindeer ornaments!
1. They used a clear shatter proof ornament and the girls sponge painted it dark brown with enamel paint.
2. We waited for it to dry a bit and applied a 2nd coat - the painting took awhile!
3. While we waited for paint to dry we cut ears out of foam and make antlers from pipe cleaners.
4. We painted a cream color face using a small paintbrush to one side of the ornament - more drying time.
5. Then I used a hot glue gun to attach the wiggly eyes, red pom pom nose, ears & antlers!
6. The girls used a permanent marker to make a mouth
7. I wrote their names & the year on the back so we could remember when they made them later!
What a cute keepsake &
an adorable addition to our Christmas tree!
Christmas Craft Fun
This afternoon the lil divas & I spent quite a bit of time on Christmas crafts. What fun we had! I was amazed at how Bri needed very little help from me and she wanted to write/spell what she made on each of her finished products! My big girl is growing up so fast! I can't believe that in exactly 2 months she will be 5!
Where does the time go?
Here are the crafts we made! They are all simple to do, no hard to find materials or elaborate preparation needed!
Try them out & enjoy!
*********
Handprint Santas
- Materials
- Red craft or construction paper
- Glue stick
- Plain notecard, card stock or other heavy paper - we used construction paper
- Paints - tempra would work best but we used hand washable finger paint & it worked well
- Paper plates
- Googly eyes
Instructions:
- Cut Santa-hat shapes (minus the pom-poms and white trim) from the red paper, then glue one onto large plain paper or card stock. Glue a pair of googly eyes a fingertip's width below each hat.
- Pour white tempera paint onto one paper plate, and a dollop each of red, black, and pink (mix some red and white) onto another. Stamp white handprint beards, then use thumb to stamp the trim on the hats. Use pointer finger to add a red nose and pink cheeks on the face. Finish by using the pinky finger to add a black mouth in the beard.
*****************
Handprint/Footprint Reindeer
Materials:
- Light brown or black construction paper
- Dark brown construction paper
- 2 googly eyes
- Red pom pom or finger paint
- Scissors
- Glue
- black marker
Instructions:
- Trace your child's foot onto the dark brown construction paper and cut it out. This will be the face
- Trace both of your child's hands onto the light brown or black construction paper and cut them out. These will be the antlers.
- Glue the two handprints (at the wrist portion) to the back of the footprint (up near the toes) to be the antlers.
- Glue two googly eyes onto the footprint.
- Glue the pom pom onto footprint as a nose or use your child's thumb and some red fingerpaint. We were out of pom poms and this worked great! I liked the added touch of a fingerprint to the hand and foot outline - this might be our way to do it from now on!
*****************
Shape Christmas Tree
(idea & template courtesy of allkidsnetwork)
Materials:
- Construction paper
- Scissors
- Glue stick
Instructions:
- Print the template provided in the materials link above and cut the pieces out. The triangles (tree parts) should be green, the star should be yellow, the rectangle should be brown and the circles should be all different colors. We used markers for the decorations & I let them do whatever they wanted to add their own little touches to the tree!
- Glue the triangles to a full sheet of construction paper. Start with the largest one and work your way up to the smallest triangle on the top of the tree. Great for size review of largest to smallest!
- Glue the rectangle (trunk) to the bottom of the tree.
- Glue or draw the circle ornaments onto the tree and then glue the star on top.
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