Christmas art work. Okay, so it is not a tradition yet. This is our first year, but I plan to make it a tradition.
Ian isn’t as much into painting, coloring or drawing as some kids I know. He is too busy to sit down for that long. So when he does I like to make sure I capture it on film.
While at the craft store one day he found this wooden snowflake and ceramic snowman he wanted. My mom bought them for him and she let him paint them at her house.
Ian really likes to mix all his colors together in the painters tray before using them. Such lovely artwork.
Every year my mom hosts Gingerbread House Day. This day to decorate gingerbread houses has morphed into a friendly family competition with the building and decorating more than a dozen houses.
The competitive portion came about through my cousins. My aunt has a set of shelves that she would place the houses on each level with her favorite on the top shelf. The honor of “Top Shelf” is now coveted by all (even though she doesn’t take home all the houses).
This was Baby Sid’s first time, although he didn’t participate. Ian really got into the decorating this year.
Ian would have help with applying the frosting but the candy placement was all him. He was there when I put the houses together a couple of days before the event. He helped put together some houses so we were able to talk about decorating them, which helped to build the suspense.
It will be nice to see how his decorating skill progress over the years.
How many gingerbread houses do you build each year?
Happy Building & Decorating
The scrapbook pages were made using kits from JustSoScrappy
For their first Christmas my mom bought my nieces an advent calendar that is refillable. So every year she buys stuff to put behind the little doors.
Last year she found one for Ian, he didn’t fully understand the concept of it, but this year has been great, although he still doesn’t completely understand.
Each day he opens a door, they are numbered but I let him open whatever door he wants. I just tell him when all the doors are empty it will be Christmas.
This year my sister bought him a Lego advent calendar, so he actually gets to open two.
Every morning he asks to open a door, and then asks about twenty times more each day.
We got our tree last weekend and decorated it this week.
Ian got into all the decorations while I was feeding the baby, I guess he was excited!
How is your Christmas tree decorated, or will be decorated?
Is there a theme or designated color? My sister does her living room tree in red and white like a candy cane.
Store bought ornaments, Hallmark, handmade, or glass bulbs?
On my tree consists of mostly Hallmark ornaments. It was what I grew up with, my mom would buy a new one every year. Each ornament had a story behind it and when we decorated the tree she knew every one of them.
It got to the point where she couldn’t fit them all on her tree anymore so she handed down a portion to us kids. She gave us ones that were bought in honor of us, or ones that were our favorites.
I loved this one of a bear on a tricycle, the pedals and front wheel moved. I would put it on the bottom of the tree and play with it. Now it is on my tree and my son gets to play with it.
We have continued to purchase ornaments in honor of our family members, I will buy them for my mom or my sister when I see one they need.
But the best thing is that now I can buy them for my sons. This year my mom got Ian a Darth Vader ornament that has a motion sensor and guards the gifts. It says things like “You will peek again, it is your destiny” or “I find you lack of patience disturbing” Ian loves it!
Baby Sid got his first ornament this year. It is a Winnie the Pooh one that says “Baby’s first Christmas”. We have Ian’s and my first ornaments up on the tree too.
I love the fact that the Hallmark Keepsake ornaments are dated, so we always know when we got them. Ian helped to put a few on the tree but then he found his favorites.
The two seal ornaments never made it on the tree. In fact he has them in bed (he has a small obsession with seals lately). Baby Sid didn’t help decorate the tree, but he is pleased at how it turned out. I think his favorite thing is the lights.
For me the best way to decorate the tree with ornaments that come with memories. I can’t wait to pass them on to my children.
I Tri and Craft 