Christmas

Christmas day is only an hour away, and I haven't posted any pictures from the season. We've been too busy having Christmas fun! Here's a sampling of what we've been up to.

Picking out a Christmas tree


Decorating the tree


Visiting a live nativity


Visiting Santa


Riding the train at the mall


Baking cookies


Dressing up for Christmas Eve service


Falling asleep during church


Setting out cookies, milk, and carrots for Santa and the reindeer


Merry Christmas!

Operation Christmas Child

It's National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Samaritan's Purse! This is one of my favorite seasonal projects to get involved in. Landon helped us pick out the items to fill our boxes, and he had a great time placing the items in the boxes. It's not too late to fill your own box with small toys, toiletry items, and school supplies that will be distributed to a child in need. These boxes show children just how much God loves them. See the Operation Christmas Child website for info on how to pack a box and where to drop it off. Also, this year, if you make your $7 donation online (covers distribution costs), you'll be able to find out what country your shoebox ended up in!

Free Thanksgiving Crafts eBook

Favecrafts.com is offering a free book of Thanksgiving craft ideas. Scroll down to the end of the book to see several craft ideas for kids.

Leaves!

It's been so rainy here that we thought we'd missed our opportunity to play in the leaves this year. When our backyard was full of them, they were too soggy to play in. However, we discovered today that the front yard now has a nice supply, perfect for jumping in and tossing around.

Halloween

We've had a busy week of Halloween activities, and I've been meaning to post them as the week went along, but time got away from me. Here's some of what we've done:

Attended a Halloween-themed birthday party:

The kids wore costumes and ate Funfetti Halloween cupcakes with frosting pumpkins on top.

Went to a Trunk or Treat at Grandma and Grandpa's church:


This Trunk or Treat was held the weekend before Halloween and was a daytime activity. The kids could trick or treat from car to car, and there were a few games to play and snacks to eat, too.

Decorated pumpkins:


The top pumpkin was made with a Mr. Potato Head-type kit. Landon was able to be much more involved with decorating that one than he was with the jack-o-lantern. He named it Ham. As for the carved pumpkin, he told us what shapes to use for the face, but wasn't interested in hands-on involvement, such as scooping out the innards.

Made a pumpkin-shaped pizza for Halloween lunch:



Dressed in costumes:



Landon was a pirate, and since every pirate needs a parrot, Simon was his parrot.

And participated in our own church's Trunk or Treat:

Ours was held on Halloween during Trick or Treating hours in the evening. There were plenty of trunks to trick or treat at and hot dogs and hot chocolate to snack on. Landon is sitting in Daddy's Illini stadium-themed trunk.

Happy Halloween!

Autumn at the Apple Orchard

We made our annual trip to the apple orchard today. We picked a bag full of apples. Landon's job was to put them in our bag. We tried to get him to pick them off the tree, but he claimed, "The leaves will get me." His favorite thing about the orchard was playing on their play equipment, and he was a big fan of the kettle corn, too. He picked out a small pumpkin to decorate; we'll get more pumpkins at a pumpkin patch next week. Simon had fun, too, but of course, he's not yet old enough to enjoy the best part: apple donuts!

Library Storytime

Does your library offer a story time for young children? Ours takes summers off, so this week was the first story time of the new school year. If you're not currently attending such a program, this is a great time of year to get involved. Ours offers stories, snacks, and sometimes little activities too. Attending story time introduces us to new books and gives Landon a chance to interact with other children his age. Contact your local library for information on story time or other preschool activities they might offer.