VDV Four Advent Day 15: Ring and Run

This advent day was another one of our giving days. I got Bug to choose a house in our neighbourhood, where we would leave a Christmas gift hamper at their doorstep. The house he chose was a neighbour of ours that had this huge Frankenstein in their yard for Halloween. He loved it and it's so amazing to witness the growing memory of my 4 year old.

In our Christmas surprise, we gave a handful of items to bring this family some holiday cheer. This family had children, so we gave them some fun holiday crafts (only seemed fitting since we are a crafty family). We purchased a Christmas movie (gave them a gift receipt, just in case) and some boxed popcorn, so they could have an indoor family night (another one of our favourite cuddling activities...and the VDV Four LOVES popcorn). Some hot chocolate mix with Christmas swirly straws (that's how we drink our hot chocolate during the holidays) was also in the bag. We gave them a gift card to Safeway to help with their Christmas dinner. We also provided some wrapping paper and tape, because you always seem to run out of those right at the end. And the last item was a jar full of Hershey kisses (in Christmas colours). We made it a bit cheesy by adding a little label on the jar that said Merry "Kiss"mas (it's truly the small things that make me giggle). Once we had everything in the bag, Bug made a cute little Christmas tree card. We provided a letter, just explaining what it was for and the traditions of our family that we wanted to share with them. Then we went to their house, and Bug rang the doorbell...and we ran away! Haha...Bug's favourite part.

Another giving activity that I really enjoyed. Bug loves giving gifts, and the "Ring and Run" concept was so silly for him. Then a few days later, to make this even more meaningful and completely worth it, I saw this sign on their yard on my way to work.

It says: "thanks to the secret Christmas Elves. May God's light shine on your lives". It brought tears to my eyes...and still makes me a bit misty typing this. I love how they went out of their way to show their appreciation and Bug got to see the joy from our giving. I'd say learning mission accomplished.

Francis was found this morning decorating our window with Christmas bows.

VDV Four Advent Day 14: Baking Christmas Cookies

We cracked out Bug's helping baking apron for this advent activity day, and made some delicious peppermint meltaway cookies. You can find the recipe here. I love how my little man absolutely enjoys helping me bake. I think he's more into eating the cookie dough but he shows lots of enthusiasm with the measuring of the ingredients. It's always a fun activity for us to participate it in.

Once again, Bear enjoys the eating...this kid can pack away the food. His metabolism is very much like Daddy VDV's.

Bug left out some Lego overnight, so Francis was found this morning crammed into a Lego house.

VDV Four Advent Day 13: See Santa and Give 3 Gifts

This day was a special day. It was one of our giving days and I was looking forward to it since the start of our Advent fun. I really want to teach the boys about the joy in giving. So, sometime in November, I got Bug to pick out 3 of his favourite books. Then we purchased brand new ones and wrapped them for 3 special kids we would pick at the mall when we went to see Santa. In the morning when he opened his advent bag, we started talking about what we were going to do when we got to the mall. I told him that he got to pick 3 kids to give a gift to, so he had to be on the watch for the children once we were inside. The very first kid we saw, Bug loudly said "Mom! Look, it's a kid!" He was so excited to give a present...I was so very proud of him. The meaning of our day was quickly realized by Bug, and thoroughly enjoyed! The last little girl we gave a present to, came up to us shortly after with her Grampa to give Bug a hug. It was the sweetest thing ever. This Mommy VDV may have had a few tears in her eyes.

In each book, I wrote a letter explaining what the present was for. It said:

• Our family does an Advent activity every day from December 1st until December 24th to celebrate the holidays. Bug and Bear are 4.5 and 1.5 years old, and this year we have added more giving activities to help teach the boys that the holidays are much more than about receiving and that there is so much joy in giving. This year, one of our activities is what Bug has chosen you for. I gave him 3 presents he got to bring to the mall with him, and he chose you to give one of these gifts to. Bug loves getting read to, so this year we picked out three of his favourite books and bought a brand new one to give to you. We hope you enjoy them just as much as he does. Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

I also got Bug to write a quick little note just to get some more practice with his writing.

In between our gift giving, the boys got to go sit with the jolly red man himself. I was worried about how Bear would do, as some days he plays strange. He may not have smiled, but at least he wasn't screaming!

Francis, this morning was found in an altercation with Spiderman.

VDV Four Advent Day 12: Skating

This Advent day is pretty self-explanatory from the title. We collaborated Bug's skating day with his class with his advent activity of the day. We invited the boys' Oma and Opa to join our fun and Bug used big boy skates for the very first time.

Bear is too young to skate, so we all switched off in getting some Bear cuddles!

But mostly, Bear was there for the food! haha.

After Bug was done with his skates, he wanted his boots back on so he could run around the ice with a hockey stick and puck. He enjoyed this part more, as he's pretty unsteady on his feet with his single blade skates (not the bobsled ones from last year). We had a lot of fun though...a great family outing.

This morning, Francis was found wrapped underneath our Christmas tree!

VDV Four Advent Day 11: Christmas Tree Waffles for Supper

Our household loves, loves, loves breakfast for supper. It is something that occurs most likely once a week, especially on one of the days that I work a night shift. This advent day was on my second night shift of my set, so when planning our list, I figured this would be a good day to incorporate our activity with supper. I have a waffle press, so we made green waffles, and I cut them into triangles to make Christmas tree waffles. Bug helped me prepare the waffle batter. I used a banana slice to cut a star, and raspberries for our ornaments. The boys loved this...and we all got to be like Bear and be there for the food. Poor Bear, most of our days were a bit too much for his activity level, but this one was perfect!

Francis found himself in a precarious situation in the morning...we still don't know who taped him to the wall.

VDV Four Advent Day 10: Water Gun Snow Painting

This was an activity that we brought back from last year's advent list as Bug just loved it!! I filled water guns with water and about 10 drops of food colouring, giving them a shake before we headed outside. Then I let Bug run wild down our sidewalk, spraying our banks of snow. This day was pretty cold, so I didn't put him into the snow banks as I knew we wouldn't be outside for long. But Bug made sure every drop of coloured water was out of the water guns before we were allowed back inside. He truly does love this one. Bear, unfortunately was a bit too young for this one so he was inside having a nice warm nap.

This morning, Francis was found wrestling our bathroom sink crocodile.

VDV Four Advent Day 9: Decorate Craft Tree by Rolling Dice

I found these cute little foam trees from Michael's and thought it would be cute for the boys to decorate them with little gems. I pulled out a single die, and got Bug to identify the number he rolled. Then Bug counted out the corresponding number of gems and he placed them on the foam tree (the gems came with adhesive stickers). Bear was interested in rolling the die, but obviously isn't quite there in his fine motor skills to work with the small gems. Bug helped Bear finish his foam tree. We will hang them in the house every Christmas now!

Francis was found resting with a cast after his trapeze act from the night before. Santa and some of his elf friends signed his cast too!