The first 5 days of Christmas

It's finally December!! Finally time for Christmas songs and decorations and all the fun, happy family memories that go along with the season! Our schedules have been really busy this year, with hubby starting his new job and L starting her new school, Baby Elf starting to walk and my pair of 3 year olds. So we decided to try and do at least one fun, Christmasy activity each day in December until Christmas Eve.

Today is December 5, so I wanted to fill you in on what we have been doing this week so far. I'll try to write up a post each day, but like I said, we are super busy!!

December 1st we didn't do much of anything. My final paper was due for one of my classes, so I spent most of the day doing that. And we spent a total of 4 and a half hours in the car. We were listening to Christmas music...if that counts. 

December 2nd was another busy day. Dance class in the morning, parent observation day no less, head start visits and more commuting. We took the afternoon to just hang out together and watch the Christmas episodes for their favorite shows (Bubble Guppies, Doc McStuffins and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse). These kids are SO EXCITED to see Santa on TV again!! They spent most of the afternoon jumping up and down either screaming or singing 3 year old versions of Santa Claus is Coming to Town...obviously a fantastic time.

December 3rd felt like a crafty kind of day, so we made a felt Christmas tree. Last year at Target's after-Christmas clearance I scored some great activity kits, and this was one of them. It would be super easy to do on your own- without the kit. 

Materials needed:

1-1.5 yd green felt

1 yd white felt

.25 yd of each red, yellow, orange, blue and pink felt (or whatever colors you want!)

2 yd red ribbon of any kind (optional)

Adhesive of some kind (glue gun, glue dots, velcro....whatever you like)

Instructions:

• Cut the green felt into the shape of a Christmas tree. Include the star on top, you'll need the base felt so your star will stick. Make the bottom flat, we will stick it to a tree skirt. Our tree was about 40" tall and 34" across. 
• Cut the white felt into a semi-circle the length of the base of the tree. This will be the tree skirt. Ours was about 36" across and 18" tall. If you want to weave the ribbon around the edge of the skirt, cut slits in the felt 3" apart around the curve. Then weave the ribbon through the slits. 
• Attach the base of the tree to the flat side of the skirt using whichever type of adhesive you chose. 
• Hang your tree up! Use either push pins or tape to attach the tree to the wall. 
• Cut ornaments, lights, candy canes, presents, etc out of your felt. You can check out our tree for ideas. I would do this part ahead of time, away from the children, unless you have an older child who is skilled with scissors and would like to help. 
• After the shapes are all cut out, it's time to decorate! Let the kids go to town. The felt will stick to other felt, so they can hang up their ornaments and take them down as many times as they want! 

The dog promptly pulled the tree off the wall the second she was unsupervised, so keep that in mind when choosing a spot to hang it. The kids were so proud and excited. Bug asked me to send this picture to her Aunt Kaitlyn right away. When their cousin came to visit L told her she was going to show her how cute their flat tree was. Have fun!!

December 4th we got our Christmas tree!! Hubby wanted to cut our tree down again, but with his new schedule the tree farms were all closed by the time we were able to go. The family decided to head to the fairgrounds and get a pre-cut tree. It took a lot less time and we missed the experience of the tree farm...the hay ride and the horses, getting stuck in some serious mud and wandering in the cold for hours trying to find that perfect tree...but it was much easier, and cheaper! While daddy put the tree up and the lights on, we watched a couple Christmas movies- The Year Without a Santa Claus and Ernest Saves Christmas, a couple of family favorites!! When it was time to hang the ornaments we watched part of Peter Pan Live! (which I absolutely loved!!! Mary Martin's Peter Pan was one of my favorites as a kid, and this was just the PERFECT reboot! Also, Chistopher Walken...)