Fun Days of Christmas

The Boys are out of School

for Most of December, 

due to how the Year-Round School thing works,

so to Keep them Entertained a wee bit,

I kept them busy

making Ornaments and Cookies, 

watching Christmas Movies, Christmas Shopping, and

Wearing Snazzy Christmas Socks.

Important Mailbox Business

Letters to Santa



Greeting Card Exodus



Christmas Service Advent

We have been Working on a Service Advent Calendar this Christmas Season,

to Hopefully Help Us Remember that One of the Best Parts of Christmas is Giving.

I Used an Old Advent Calendar We already had,

and found little Ornaments to Fit in the Pockets.

Each Ornament has a Service to be Done that Day Tagged to It.

When the Service is Done,

We get to Add that Ornament to the Tree.

And We will get to Read the Services that We did

as they Dangle from our Tree on Christmas.

 

We've had some Fun Times!

 

Our First Service was the Night of our

"Kick off to Christmas!!"

We bought a small gift, Wrapped it,

and then Handed the Gifts Out to

Random Kids We saw,

while Enjoying the Lights Down Town.

 

Other things We've Done:

Gathered Shopping Carts in the Parking Lot,

Donated Toys and Clothes,

Left a Treat for our Mailman,

Put Garbage cans Away for Neighbors on Garbage Day,

Wrote Thank You Notes,

Picked Ornaments off a Giving Tree

 and Shopped for Gifts

for Kids in Need,

 

Bought and Donated Goods to Our Food Bank,

Left Dollars Randomly on Toys at the Store,

Donated to the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army,

Cleaned our Church Building,

and Shoveled Driveways on Snowy Days.

Of Course,

the Month isn't over Yet,

so We still have Work to Do!

 

Note:

My Kids are out of School for the Whole Month,

so Finding time to do these things

is plentiful-

not that they take an awful lot of time. 

Of Course,

a "12 Days of Christmas" or Shorter Version

would be Awesome, too.

The Reason for the Season

One of the Things We are Doing this Year,

to Remember the Reason for the Season,

is an Advent Calendar that I Made

that has a Scripture for Us

to Read each Night,

about Jesus.

Then We are Writing

 what the Scripture Teaches us about Jesus

on a Piece of "Hay",

and Making a bed for the Baby Jesus.

I Thought it would be Good to Read all the Pieces on Christmas Morning

as a Reminder of Why We Celebrate Christmas.

 



Kick Off to Christmas

We have Made a Tradition of Calling the First Weekend in December

our "Kick off to Christmas!!" Weekend.

[and Yes, it Must be Pronounced with TWO Exclamation Points]

 

We stay at a Hotel not too Far from Home

and Spend Friday Evening

and Saturday Doing

"Kick off to Christmas!!"-y Type things.

{Like Taking Silly Pictures of Ourselves. Obviously.}

 

We Christmas Shop,

Drink Hot Chocolate,

Go to a Christmas Movie,

Eat Desserts in Bed,

Go Swimming,

Christmas Shop Some More,

Eat More Trash

and Generally Make Ourselves Jolly.

 

At the End of the day, Saturday,

We Got together with Friends

and Rode our Train to our Downtown Area

to See the Lights.

and Gobbled Down more Pie and Hot Chocolate,

afterwords.

This is Always a Fun Time for Our Family to Run on

Lots of Sugar, Little Sleep,

 and Merry Christmas Spirit!



Thanksgiving

We always head Back to My Ol' Homestead

for the Feast of Thanksgiving

with My Folks and Family.

My Mom always has Fun things planned

to Keep the Kids Entertained,

the Men-Folk do Men-Folk Things,

and the

Women-Folk do Women-Folk Things.

Since it's a Small Country Town,

there aren't too many stores that Open

at the Crack of Dawn for Black Friday Sales.

(Though lets not forget that this was the year

that G'pa wanted to get G'ma a new Laptop,

 and all the Fun that Entailed ;)

 

 

Other Things to Remember this Year:

Oreo Cookie Turkeys

Turkey Toes

Gingerbread House Decorating Galore

Watching "White Christmas"

Dipping Homemade Chocolates

Playing "Name that Tune" on our iPhones,

and

Staying up Way too Late Picking names for My Sister's Baby Hump.

 

The Armoire Make Over

 

This was a Hutch/Armoire that I Found in My Classifieds

 for Not Very Much $.

Truthfully,

there was nothing wrong with it,

but I Wanted a different Color

than the Yellow-y Whitish Color that was on it.

I Re-Painted My Room in a Gray

{"Metropolis" by Valspar in Semi Gloss},

and Wanted this to Match,

So I Chose a Gray Color that was One Step Down

on the Color Card I Picked Out.

{"Gravity" by Valspar in Satin}

 

This is How I Did It:

First I Sanded It.

Did not take all the Paint or Previous Finish Off,

just sanded it enough

 to give the next coat of paint something to grip onto.

Then I Wiped it Down with a Wet Paper Towel

to remove Sanding Dust.

 

 

These are the Paint Brushes/Rollers I used.

Both are Foam.

 

First I Primed it,

Then Painted it with My Color,

{"Gravity" by Valspar in Satin}

 

then Sanded with This:

See it Says

"Between Coats"?

It helps make a smooth finish.

After You Sand,

then wipe with the Wet Paper Towel again

to Remove the Sanding Dust.

 

The I Put the Second Coat of My Color On.

 

Then I Sanded with This:

It will also Help with a SMOOOOOTH Finish.

I Use it before I Put my Glaze On.

And of Course,

Wipe Everything Down Again,

To remove the Sanding Dust.

 

I Add My Details using This:

It's a Glaze that I have had Tinted to "Fired Earth" by Valspar.

I Work in Small Areas as I use it.

I put it on with a Foam Paint Brush,

then Wipe it off with a Wet Paper Towel,

Leaving some Glaze where I want it to stay darker,

or give it the Antique look that I Love.

For Some of the Areas where I Wanted to Create a "Wear Mark",

I took a Kid's Paint brush and just applied the Graze in the shape of the mark,

or along the Edge or in the Corner Like I wanted,

and just left it- not wiping it away.

 

Also,

I Kind of have a Thing for Crystal Knobs.

 

 

 

If You have any Questions about the Steps,

 Check out Some of My other Projects.

I use the same steps On Each One,

and I've Tried to have a Link Over There

(on the Side Bar)

to Each One.

 

For the Wreath,

I Hung it using the Same Technique I used to

Hang the Mini Wreaths on my Kitchen Cupboards HERE,

Except, I placed the Hook on the TOP of the Armoire.

11.03.2012

We had a little Family Get Together

 with My Sisters and Their Families

and Some of Our Folks.

 

We Got to Explore an Old Abandoned Silver Mine and Ghost Town,

Hike and Wander Around the Beautiful Area,

Eat at a Yummy Ma and Pa Grill,

Make Bottle Rockets,

See a Play of Beauty and the Beast,

Explore Dinosaur Tracks,

and Have a Good Ol' Time Relaxing,Visiting, and Stuffing our Guts. 

Halloween

10.31.2012