Francis 2014

Here is last year's Francis Adventures. One of my favourite parts of the holiday season!

1. He's "home"

2. Francis sure loves the circus acts.

3. Book tower with our favourite books.

4. It's a hard job, but someone has to take our dinos for a walk.

5. Spare candy canes please

6. Franis must have been bad.

7. Taming a wild beast.

8. Gotta be careful with the vent snakes.

9. Ready for school.

10. Making some elf friends.

11. We have some interested creatures on the roam in the VDV house. 

12. Helping with decorations. 

13. Some park play with a power ranger.

14. Stocking up on groceries.

15. Some mechanic work.

16. A relaxing night by the fire.

17. Doing his part for the environment.

18. Getting some sun during the winter months.

19. Francis sure is talented. 

20. Going on an archaeological dig.

21. Tire swing action.

22. Hanging around.

23. Prepping his helpers to watch over behaviour while he's back at the North Pole.

24. Dropping a gift on his way out of town.

Oh ya, I love Francis. Posting this right before the beginning of the 2015 adventures. Can't wait!

Check out the previous years here:

Francis 2012

Francis 2013

Francis 2013

This is a belated post about what our Elf on the Shelf was up to during the holiday season of 2013. I posted his pictures daily with our advent activities; but here is one spot to find all of them for that season.

1. Special Delivery

2. What's a little race among friends?

3. Like Mike!

4. Oh no, he melted!

5. Finding some loot

6. Just lounging

7. Building a house of cards

8. A little circus act.

9. Oh oh...broken bones.

10. No big deal, just wrestling a croc!

11. Oh dear!

12. A little present under the tree.

13. Spider-man, Francis isn't a bad guy!

14. Lego house building.

15. A little bow climbing. 

16. Elves need baths too.

17. Giving Atlas a break.

18. Francis enjoying the snow.

19. Needing some shelter from the snow.

20. Shoe shoe train.

21. Skateboarding

22. Getting into some TP mischief.

23. Cleaning up reindeer poop.

24. Pulling a Jean Claude Van Damme and doing the splits riding two jets.

There you have it, 2013 Francis adventures. To view 2012 adventures, follow link below:

Francis 2012

VDV Four Advent 2014

It's been quite some time since I've last posted a blog; so what better new post than our collection of advent activities from Christmas 2014. This is always a big hit with the boys and I absolutely love putting it together. I'm working on the 2015 one currently, and can't wait until December 1st.

Here is our collection from last year:

1. Decorate the house and rooms. I love putting out the crafts and creations we made from previous years.

  

2. Food Bank Run and work adopt-a-family gift drop off. Every year, my department at work adopts a family and stacks them up for Christmas. I use this opportunity to get the boys involved in picking out gifts for the kids of these families.

 3. Write a letter to Santa and colour Christmas pictures.

4. Make Christmas bracelets. I found this cute little set at Dollarama. Super cheap but the boys loved it!

5. Pine cone elves. The boys loved their little buddies!

6. Pom pom reindeer...how cute!

7. Our first random act of kindness for the holiday season. This was our new act that was added this year. Every year we try to add a couple more. We gave Elf Kisses to the nurses I work with in the ER.

8. Christmas Breakfast for supper. The VDV Four absolutely love breakfast for dinner!

9. Glitter Christmas Tree on canvas: we used white glue and green yarn to outline a Christmas tree. We let that dry for a bit and then filled the whole inside with white glue and let the boys go to town with the glitter. These took a while to dry, so leave them on a flat surface for a few days after the craft is done.

10. Penguin foot print painting. This VDV mommy sure loves her penguins!

11. Pin the heart on the Grinch.

12. Paper plate Christmas tree garland. We painted the paper plates, then cut them into fourths. Then the boys glued pom poms on for decorations.

13. Pictures with Santa and another random act of kindness. This is an act we brought back from the previous year. We picked out some of our favourite books and bought new copies to give to kids we saw at the mall. This advent activity really makes me smile.

14. Tissue Paper Votive Candles.

15. You've Been Jingled! Another favourite random act of kindness advent activity that we have done every year so far.

16. Skating with the family!

17. Colour snow with food colouring. This day was actually supposed to be Water Gun Snow Painting; however, we had an unseasonably warm winter last year and not much snow. I found a pile outside and brought in a couple of cups, got out some eye droppers and dyed water, and let the boys colour the snow a different way. Still an enjoyable time for Bug and Bear. 

18. Ring 'n Run. We picked one neighbour to give a big gift bag to full of Christmas goodies, geared around what the VDV Four enjoy doing as a family. 

19. Christmas Bingo

20. Christmas Word Search for Bug; Christmas Item find for Bear.

21. You Deserve a Break. Our last random act of kindness for this Advent year. We gave a card and a kit kat bar to cashiers during our final Christmas shopping excursions.

22. Make hot chocolate mugs and have a Snowman hot chocolate bath.

23. Baking day and making homemade lollipops.

24. Christmas movie night and new pajamas!

25. Unwrap presents!

There you have it. 25 days of Advent fun with the VDV Four! Check out the links below to go to our Advent activities from years prior.

Advent 2012

Advent 2013