12 Days Before Christmas

One of my favorite Christmas movies is the pilot movie for Little House on the Prairie. My mom bought this VHS when we were kids, and I loved to watch it every Christmas. I love how the Ingalls girls are so happy and excited to receive their "own cup" and "red mittens." Ma was beside herself to receive sweet potatoes from Mr. Edwards. It was the best Christmas ever!

I like the idea of having a simple Christmas and since we are on a budget I wanted to create some low cost memories that we can have as a family (or at least for our child). So I thought we could do something on each of the 12 days before Christmas. I shared these activity ideas with Nathan, and he laughed and thought they were cheesy. "Of course! They're meant for a 16 month old." I told him. My hope is to create this tradition for Samuel to make the Christmas season more special. So here is what we're doing starting tomorrow.

12 days before Christmas

We'll play outside and go down the slide 12 times.

11 days before Christmas

Collect 11 leaves (our yard needs raking anyway) and glue them down to shape a Christmas tree.

10 days before Christmas

Use 10 ingredients to make cookies for a Christmas Cookie Swap Party.

9 days before Christmas

Use 9 pieces of crafts to make a nativity velcro toy for Samuel's friend James. I'll use these templates.

8 days before Christmas

Sing and dance to 8 Christmas songs.

7 days before Christmas

Use 7 different crayon colors to decorate a paper bag Christmas vest.

6 days before Christmas

Read the first 6 verses of Luke 2.

5 days before Christmas

Read the rest of Luke 2 (Okay, this really doesn't fit 5, but oh well.)

4 days before Christmas

Make handprint cotton ball sheep that came with the shepherds to see Jesus.

3 days before Christmas

Make 3 holiday cards for family members.

2 days before Christmas

Play with 2 Christmas Jingle Bells.

1 day before Christmas

Bake 1 birthday cake for Jesus.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Okay, so these are the pajamas that go on top of the previous set. These are much cuter!

A friend went out of town to a wedding for the weekend and we said that we would love to watch her little boy. She is the friend that watches Samuel Wednesday-Friday when I'm at work. It was so much fun to have two little boys running around the house. Ahhhh, maybe someday we can have even more.

Pajamas

One day Samuel will watch this video and just roll his eyes at the fact that his parents dressed him in such rediculous "old man" pajama bottoms. But right now, he doesn't seem to mind.

Actually, these are just the first layer of pajamas. I usually put at least 2 layers on him for these cold nights we've been having lately.

Sweet Little Cousins

This is our nephew Liam Padgett. He is 5 months younger than Samuel and is absolutely adorable. I couldn't resist posting this picture of him crawling because I love his determined grin.
Samuel and Liam met back in June but this time, I think, they were much more aware of one another. Liam was so cute to get excited when he saw Samuel. I think they will be great friends.

They both LOVE bananas. Aunt Emmalee showcased the banana and both boys' faces lit up.

"Mmmmmm, Potassium!"

This is my FAVORITE picture of the boys!

Cousins are great gifts of brotherhood!

Thanksgiving at the Braggs

We had a great Thanksgiving at Nathan's parents' house. Almost the whole family was able to make it. Annalisa and her family weren't able to come down from Minnesota. We can't wait until this summer when they make the trek for a long visit.

I think every family has pictures of cousins in the morning in their PJs. Those moments of getting together and spending the night at Grandma's house with my cousins are some of my favorite memories from childhood. I'm so glad that Samuel has a lot of cousins. We love these little ones!

I love these two photos. They make me laugh because everyone is not focused on the camera. It shows how crazy it is to get 13 people focused on one task.

I love Emmalee's stance here! So funny! And then look at Kevin's (upper left corner) dazed and confused look on his face. I think right after this shot, we noticed that little Liam had put the flower which Papa had given him in his mouth and then made a very sour and funny look on his face.

We are thankful for a wonderful family and cherish these moments together.

What we did during November

Samuel has found how to put his daddy's boots on and try to walk around in them. My mom says that she has a picture of me doing the same thing with my dad's boots. I'll have to find the picture and compare.

We celebrated my birthday. Samuel didn't like the chocolate cake that Nana made for me. Mmmmm, but chocolate cake is my favorite.

Little Boy has found a new hiding spot. He loves to play peek-a-boo, chase, and tag when he hides in the pantry.

My parents came down for a visit. It was so nice and refreshing to have them here for the weekend.

Hosting

We are hosting friends that used to live here in Savannah but recently moved to the Atlanta area. Both of their parents live in Savannah so they will be needing a place to stay during the Thanksgiving weekend. They have two kids and didn't want to be crammed in their parents house during the holiday weekend. We will be out of town visiting our families, so I told them, "Sure, you can stay at our place! Mi casa es su casa!"

I love these dear friends and will be excited to have them in our home - even though we won't be there. I dream of being a great hostess but don't always get a chance to actually be one. I found a really neat article on Simple Mom with great suggestions on making overnight guests feel welcome.

My Grandma Hoeme is a great hostess! I would love to "think for others" like she does. Even as an 80 year old woman, she hosts a Christmas luncheon for all of the widows that live in her building. She and Papa have always opened their home to people.

So if you are ever in the Savannah area, we would love to have you over. You can crash in the playroom. :)