Picture Perfect ... Almost!

Today we did one of my favorite Christmas activities!  We made sugar cookies.  I "cheat" a bit by using a mix instead of making the batter from scratch.  But it's easier, quicker, and tastes just as good as the old-fashioned from scratch dough.  The kids love to roll out the dough and then use the cookie cutters to make different shapes.  This year they actually got more flour on the cookies than on the floor.  And they were able to roll and cut with little assistance.  I think their favorite part was tasting the cookies after they cooked.  Both kids gave their seal of approval.  So the cookies are ready for Santa!

Today for a fun art activity we made fingerprint lights.  It was an easy art project.  All we did was use paint and our fingers to make a string of lights.  When the paint dries we will draw a cord connecting the lines. Fun and easy art for the first day of winter break!

It's no secret D and S love to build ... LEGOS, Magnablox, wooden blocks, pattern blocks.  If you can put it together and make something they love it. That love makes gingerbread house day one of the best days in December for us.  Today was construction day.  Both kids were very careful as they planned and decorated their houses.

Tonight we visited the National Christmas Tree for our countdown activity.  First we met some friends at a local pizza place then headed into the city to see the tree.  We managed to find great on street (FREE) parking not far from the tree.  The kids were amazed by the size of the tree and all of the lights on it.  S loved the trains that run around the tree.  D was interested in the small trees, stopping to read the signs and ask questions about several states.  The weather even cooperated with no rain and not too cold temperatures.  We had a great time!

I'm a day behind posting about our countdown activities!  We actually didn't get to yesterday's activity because of swimming and homework.  We managed to do it before school this morning though.  The kids loved stretching out cotton balls to make the stripes on construction paper candy canes.   Today our activity was shopping for Daddy!

Today's activity was easy but made a big mess!  We colored paper plates green, put stickers on, cut out a quarter, then taped the plate to make trees.  I learned a couple of important lessons .... 1. Do not use oil pastels ... stickers won't stick to them! 2.  Every sticker must be put on the table in order to use them!   

Since there's no measurable snow in sight for us, I decided to create some with the kids for our countdown!  The kids used oil pastels to draw and color snowmen on a piece of construction paper.  D's has polka dot boots and a star tutu!  S's is more traditional with just a hat.  After coloring we made dots of glue and glitter snow.  The most amazing part was the fact the glitter did NOT end up all over the kitchen!