Playing Elves for Santa

One of our exciting and fun projects this year was creating a townhouse dollhouse for Louise out of a CD shelf and wood scraps. Chuck and I had a great time figuring out how to keep it simple and fun for her. I think she loved it!

This is the interesting furniture created from scrap hardwoods.

Painting on some finishing touches on Christmas Eve.

Logan Helps With the Creche

So maybe my regular creche figures are a little delicate for the kids....I really like to have a "hands-on" manger scene.... I decided to buy the Playmobil Manger Scene set, and Logan was to be my helper. Tonight was his night with 'Gwamma' and Poppa...so after picking him up at daycare, he came to our house for the evening. After supper we got out the set.

He was really excited to see all the "guys" in the box. He could identify the "mommy", the "daddy", and the "baby". He was also pretty intrigued by the "baaaaa"(lamb). Soon he was involved in his own drama productions with the "baaaa" in the bed, and the momma bashing him out. Baby on the roof...cow in the barn...Kings lost under the Christmas tree...a camel in the family room...and I think W-A-A-A-Y-Y-Y too many pieces for a two year old!! What were you thinking Gramma????
It sure was a fun evening with him, though! He loves the Christmas tree and all the Santas in the dining room corner. How much will he remember next year? It's been interesting to talk with Carl about what he remembers about Christmas. I hope they have pleasant memories of getting ready for Christmas with their Gramma!

Merry Christmas to my little grandbabies!!!!

Mini-Gingerbread Houses

Saturday morning.. the local ECFE (Early Child & Family Education) group had it's annual gingerbread house build day. Jenn and Krista invited me to join them for the event. The houses were built from pre-made kits of graham crackers, milk cartons, frosting and a mixed bag of candy.

Louise was far more interested in the plate of mixed goodies than any house!

Gus stayed interested long enough to plaster the frosting with goodies, and then dig into treats!

Carl created a much more elaborate structure complete with bushes and a path.

Logan was really rather patient as he and his Mommy put his house together.

Another fun event to share with my daughters and their little ones!!

Decorating- "BOY-STYLE"

I thought it would be a great idea to invite the grandkids in ones and twos to decorate and do Christmas stuff with Poppa and me. It was....but it also turned out to be so much fun to enjoy them at their unique ages and stages!

I picked up Carl and Gus in the late afternoon, took them along for a quick grocery trip, and then to our house to help decorate our tree and have supper with us. Well, there's nothing more exciting than helping Grams unpack her Christmas boxes....."Grams!! Check out the Santas in here-- (Crash!!) or overhearing.."This is action figure shepherd..he's the super hero of the manger!...why is the baby on the roof with the sheep??" It felt like I had 7 projects going at once!

Then came the time to bring in the tree.....well, the strings of lights were really the highlight! Who cares about ornaments??Grilled cheese sandwiches, letter shaped tater tots, and Santa ice cream were on the menu...then time to head home to bed. School tomorrow!! What a fun, exhausting evening!! Love you guys!! Crazy!

December Birthday SOUP

December is a big birthday month for our family. Erik, Grandma Hanson, and Jenn all celebrate at the beginning of the month, so we held SOUP here last night. The birthday cake was baked and decorated by Tonya! We had favorite soups: Chicken Tortilla and Roasted Squash Soup. We had Aunt Sue and cousins Sarah and Peter joining us as well!! It was a busy and crazy night. Logan was not feeling well... we all ate too much..and I think we're practicing for Christmas.

Carl and the Birthday Peoples!

Erik and Tonya talk about getting ready for Christmas with Carl and Gus!

Cookies and the Kitchen Tree

It's been awhile since we've been together, so we invited Natalie and Sammy to come have some 'Christmas time' with Grandma and Grandpa on a Saturday night. It was fun to talk to them about their Christmas wish lists, and get a better idea what their interests are this year. It's been a busy fall and early winter, so we feel like we've hardly seen them!

We had a wonderful time making spritz cookies. These were Great-Grandma Jacobson's favorite kind, and we used her cookie press. Both Natalie and Sammy got really good at figuring out the best way to make it work, and wanted to try out all the different designs!

Decorating spritz can be fun and gives you a chance to try all the different colors! Quick results!

I usually put up a Kitchen Tree every year, so the girls were excited to help us decorate it. They thought it was fun to see new tree decorations and to choose favorites. They've promised us that we will do this every year, and that we'll bake cookies and it will be their job to decorate the kitchen tree again.

"It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!!"

Louise and I started unpacking the Christmas decorations this morning. Gus was at pre-school, and I thought Jenn could use some alone time for shopping. I couldn't think of anyone better to help with my "first-out" Christmas decorations than Louise!!

She loved finding the button decorated mini-tree and was fascinated with the Hallmark musical penguins and snowman we have purchased over the last few years. I love having decorations the grandkids can touch, play with, and carry around. This one plays "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"...and it didn't take Louise long to figure out how to turn it on! She loved dancing with the penguins!! The other one was a blast, too....and she was happy that I have them displayed down at her level!

The wooden ornaments were also a hit as she tried to say each word when we made a game of picking them up and putting them in the basket. "Star", "Snowman", "Santa", "Deer", "Tree", and "Snowflake" each have their very own Louise word! And she love playing put and take from the floor to the basket.

It was fun to decorate for Christmas with her...it won't be long until Gramma and Louise will spend afternoons baking Christmas cookies together...I can just tell!!