December 2 -- Make a Santa

Millie had the idea to paint a Santa and Mrs. Claus when she heard what the activity was for today.  So, that's what we did :).  Millie also had the idea to base our paintings on the characters from the claymation Rudolph movie (which they watched this week with my parents).  We also did a simpler Santa project so that Merrill could participate too.

'Tis the Season

It is officially December now which means it is officially Christmas season! (The season did NOT start November first, despite what the retailers wanted us to think...).  The count-down-to-Christmas-chain went up on Thursday full of fun holiday themed activities for us to do over the next 25 days.  We started out easy on Thursday with singing Christmas carols to get us in the spirit.  It's amazing, even though it's only December 3rd, I've already had the feeling that I'm "behind" on Christmas.  As of the first we had our tree, but it wasn't decorated and no other decorations were up, the chain was done, but JUST, I had very little Christmas shopping done ... nothing was ready!  I don't know why that surprised or  bothered me because I don't like to start any of that until December first anyway!  I think the early signs of Christmas everyone plus the fact that my mom and sister got things done early in anticipation of the new family arrival next week (which, yeah, if I had a baby/grand baby coming next week I would have gotten an early start on things too!) combined to give me a moment of panic.  But, I've come to my senses, remembered this is NOT a competition, it's a time to celebrate family and have fun -- there is no such thing as being "behind" -- and also remembered I'm not having a baby in 5 days :).  So, now that it's the third not a whole lot has changed, but I did get a day to do some Christmas shopping on Thursday thanks to my parents, the girls and I have started our projects and the tree has lights and decorations on it.  Decorating the rest of the house is our Monday activity.  Yep, it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Grandparents

Millie's school hosted their first Grandparents day the Saturday before Thanksgiving.  Both Millie and my parents really enjoyed it.  Millie got to show off a couple of her current favorite "works" and then the kids put on an outdoor concert.  We are all hoping this is an activity the school continues to do!

 showing Lainie the moveable alphabet

 painting

food prep

 ready to sing

and of course, they ended their morning with a trip to First Watch for lunch :)

Baby Got Bach

We took advantage of this free program this past Saturday: Baby Got Bach.  We all had a great time exploring wind instruments, learning what we can do with our own air, jamming with the musicians and listening to some wonderful classical music played by the pros.  We even saw one of the musicians play a "carrotnet!" (a clarinet made out of a carrot!!  Seriously!!  You can learn how here.)  We'll definitely be making our reservations early for the February concert (we were on "stand-by" this time and were happy that our early arriving tendencies allowed us to get in!).  If you are in or around St. Louis (or New York City) and have a child between the ages of 3 and 6 we encourage you to check it out!  Did I mention it's FREE?!

getting their "passports" ready

 conducting the oboe and bassoon

 Merrill enjoyed this activity so much, she decided to continue working on it on her own

playing the castinets

Thanksgiving

We talked about how much we are lucky for and how much we have to be Thankful for at dinner tonight.  Our family was one of the things the girls agreed we are lucky to have.  It's no wonder family was at the forefront of their minds, we had a great Thanksgiving weekend with Grandma and Papa.  It was filled with tea parties, crafts, butterflies, carousels, Christmas trees and lots of love and laughs.  Thanks for spending the long weekend with us Grandma and Papa!  Enjoy the warm weather in Arizona!  We love you!