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Friday, December 23, 2016

Christmas Fun

We've been having lots of Christmas fun around here!

Earlier in the month we had our Evening with Santa event at the Primary School. The kids enjoyed crafts, hot chocolate and cookies, games, and we got our first picture taken with Santa! I really love that our school always has a fun event for the kids.


Traditions, traditions, traditions. We love them. Our Christmas card door is an ongoing favorite in our home. We love to see it fill up!

Our mitten Christmas advent calendar we added last year. Activities have included: listen to Christmas music all day, drink hot chocolate with dinner, have a snowball fight, make Christmas cards, make reindeer food, bake cookies, get a double serving of dessert, sleep out in the living room, watch a Christmas movie and eat popcorn, etc. etc. The kids are always so excited to see what the treat or activity is for the day! 

A new tradition I have been so thankful to have received from my mom is the wall hanging Christmas advent calendar I had as a kid! I remember taking turns with my siblings moving the mouse and how something so simple was so much fun. Now I get to watch my children do it and it makes my heart swell.

 
On the 10th we headed to the Glass Onion for dinner and to watch Goldendale's Christmas parade. This is our 4th year upholding this tradition and the kids really get a kick out of it. We get to enjoy a delicious dinner, and when the parade is rolling by, we run outside to watch it and collect the candy and other goodies they throw!

 

This month we have enjoyed lots and lots of outside play! Until the past few days when we got a bit of freezing rain, the snow has been fluffy and beautiful. Snow angels, snow men, sledding, snow forts, shoveling paths....the kids have had a blast.

 

Not only did the kids get to decorate our Christmas tree, we bought Grandma Cathy a tree and they got to decorate hers as well! Now that Grandma has her own place here in Goldendale, we will start the tradition of going over to her house on Christmas Eve for dinner, gifts, and hang time. We're excited!


Ohhh boy, Christmas cookies!! We didn't make all the different types of cookies and treats we wanted to, but that's just fine because we wound up getting a huge plate of cookies from my friend Tracie, so we have plenty of cookies to sustain us through Christmas! 

Anthony had a new friend over yesterday and I thought that was the perfect time to get our cookies baked. The kids helped me make peanut butter blossoms and they all took turns following the directions and then placing the Hershey kisses on top at the very end. They bailed on me to go play out in the snow, so I made the chocolate chip cookies by myself. Too bad for them, I got to lick the beaters! 

Sam and Molly helped me make peanut butter balls this morning. I love them, though had never made them before. So I am soooo excited they turned out well and are so delicious! We had some extra chocolate left over, so Sam cooked up some bacon to dip. YUM!! 

Cookies for Santa.....DONE!


Don't forget the Christmas Bingo! This was a fun activity we started last year. I don't mean to brag, but I won 5 times in one night. Hahaha! I think it's so great because the kids all like to take turns being the one to call out the Christmas picture.


We still have to write our note to Santa (we'll do that tomorrow on Christmas Eve), but we did get our Reindeer food done! This is another tradition we like to do in our home, and so far all the kids are still into it. Yay.


It just wouldn't be Christmas time without sleepovers in the living room! The kids do it every year; another fun Christmas tradition. So far they've done it every weekend! I LOVE turning off everything but the Christmas lights and seeing how lovely our home looks. It's magical!

 

Every year we like to carve out some time to get together with our good friend's the Johnson's. This year we went out to dinner at the Glass Onion and exchanged gifts. Tracie made us a huge plate of her awesomely delicious Christmas cookies! Yay!

I also received other amazing gifts from my sweet friend Molly. She gave me homemade soup, bread, crispie treats, popcorn treats, homegrown corn, socks, and a super awesome handmade candle! I love homemade, handmade, and home grown gifts! I love my friends!

 
I think we're just about ready for Christmas, which is a huge relief as it's just days away. I feel like it's come far too quickly this year, and we've been so busy and pressed for time.....trying to get our to-dos done while still squeezing in all our Christmas fun and make it magical for the kids.  But I can say that even though we've been go-go-go, I haven't felt too stressed. So that's a huge plus. 

Bring on Christmas!

With love,
Mama Hauck

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