Mmmm Nommy

For Christmas I got the kids candy canes filled with Runts. Because when you are a parent and you walk down the aisle filled with stocking stuffers you become spell bound by their cuteness.  All rational thought leaves your head.  No other time of the year would we look at a tube filled with candy and think, "Wow the kids will love getting sugar high off this...lets get it!"  So, we have these candy canes filled with candy.  I have to open them.  They need to come with directions.  First I tried pealing the paper off, which failed.  My 6 year old said, "Maybe its because you have sausage fingers."  I laughed, which embarrassed him.  Finally I did get the top off, which sent candy flying in every direction.  Yea, that was a great gift.

Gift #2 was not much better, and that works out to be a great pun as you keep reading.  I bought these Reindeer, Santa Clauses and Snow Men that poop out candy.  Not a typo, they poop out candy.  Apparently the reindeer poop tastes sour.  "Which poop do you like better?  The red or the green?"  And thats not the worst of it. They sing.  Loudly.  I think we were drugged.  Its the only explanation.

Book Review: December 2011

With all the holiday stuff I only got to read 1 book this month.  I might make up for it this week though, I started on Bill Cosby's book: I Didn't Ask to be Born, today and am already half way through.  Its hilarious.

The one book I did read this month was Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation. About the generation who produced the baby boomers, the men and women who fought during WW2 and created the America we know today.  It isn't overly syrupy in its reverence for that generation, but it is a good read and nicely broken up into segments.  I love those types of books because if I have to leave it for awhile I can come back and not have to remember what was going on.  It was a best seller when it was written.  I would love to read another book like it, but written now post 9/11.  I see my own grandparents in this book, part of the greatest generation.  I see where Brokaw got his revere from.  Those that see the hard work, the drive, the spirit of those who lived the Great Depression and survived the War, see the greatness.

More Christmas Crafts

We aren't having school this week, so no crafts.  But I figure all the wrapping and baking will suffice.  If you need something to keep the kids occupied this week, try these crafts:

Wreath

Nativity Scene 

Snowflake ornament

Monday Craft: Snowflakes

I hope everyone here knows how to do this.  The kids requested it so I figured why not.  They were already attending another crafting class in the evening they didn't need 2 involved crafts in one day.

And if you need a little something extra to go along with this craft check out: http://snowflakebentley.com/index.htm   For all sorts of beautiful pictures and great information about snowflakes.

Monday Craft - Wreaths

Today I wanted to do Japanese Woodblocking but I didn't prepare enough.  So I thought I would try something easy.  I should have gone with the Japanese craft.

I got my craft from All Kids Network again.  For this I suggest you start at least a day ahead of time.  It takes about an hour to cut everything out if you have a bunch of kids.  I needed like 16 pieces of green paper and a ton of glue...a TON.  You will need way more than you think you do.  You need to stick the leaves to the plate and then to each other because they overlap.  Or they will fall off.  I suggest something better than Elmers.  Also, have the kids write their names before they start work on it.  Esp if you are doing this with a homeschool group with lots of kids.  I also suggest putting down newspaper because of the amount of glue you need to use.

Advent/Count Down Craft

Sorry I didn't post Monday, but I had to wait to finish this craft till I got to the store for chocolate.

We made our own Count Down/ Advent calendar.  I looked around for different crafts.  I wanted to do one we could use every year but there is some problems with that.  For one I need enough space for 8+ kids inside each day.  Not a lot of crafts are built for large families.  Procrastination was the other problem.  I suggest starting crafts at least a week before you need them!

So this years I got from Design Sponge.  Of course I had to put my own spin on it.  I had my kids decorate the envelopes.  I have 8 kids who can color so they each got 3.  YMMV depending on how many kids you have. You can also do stickers, stencils, painting, etc.

Inside the envelopes I put Hershey Kisses.  One for each kid.  I do recommend doing the same thing and not a mix.  Because then you will have kids fighting.  Unless your kid is abnormal...I mean nice.

I used garland instead of string (cause thats what I had), and I used tacks to hang the garland .  I wrote the numbers on every day cause I didn't have stencils or stickers. But you can get really creative and do the pictures inside giant numbers.  Or you can have each kid create a number out of reindeer or hearts or whatever.  Like I said, get creative.

 Make sure you number your envelops so you have enough!

If your craft is heavy you may need more than  tacks.  Mine was pretty heavy with our choice of chocolate.