The Final Countdown

December 15: We went to the family Christmas party. They have the kids dress up for a nativity scene while the Christmas story is read. Talon did not want to dress up as the shepherd but he eventually decided he could wear the headband to be like Kung Fu Panda.

December 16: We watched The Polar Express.

December 17: Talon wore the Christmas shirt he made. He's pretty proud of it .

December 18: We attempted to make jigglers. I don't thing I had the right amount of water because they didn't work at all. It didn't stop us from eating them though!

December 19: We made marshmallow snowmen!!! I learned that if you overheat chocolate it becomes a huge clump but if you put it in a cold bowl and mix in some cold pieces of chocolate and keep stirring, it becomes melted again. Pretty cool! Talon had fun putting the little snowmen together. My favorite is the one that has 4 or 5 arms with some coming out of its head. Don't you just love that chocolatey smile?

December 20: We wrote a letter to Santa and Talon drew a picture. He came up with what he wanted all on his own. :)

December 21: We had reindeer pancakes! Of course it needed "brows". :)

December 22: Flaming snowballs! What could be better than ice cream and fire! You just put a sugar cube soaked in lemon extract on top and light it up.

December 23: Ginger bread houses. The best part was how excited talon was when we built a house out of graham crackers. "Wow, that's cool!"

December 24:  Rice Krispie treats. Marshmallows + ANYTHING = happy boy :) 

It was so much fun to have something for this boy to look forward to every day. We would get home and Talon would always ask about his sock tree so we could see what it says. I can't wait until next year when he has a little brother to join in the excitement.

Christmas Week #2

December 8: We made sugar cookies! Talon loved cutting out cookies shaped like snowmen and "ginger men".

December 9: We read a Christmas book.

December 10: We made s'mores over the stove. We tried the fireplace but the wood was too wet. The boys still had fun lighting it though. I love this picture of the two of them.

December 11: We made popcorn. This is one of Talon's favorite things to do and asks to make it every time we go over to grandma and grandpa's. He had to shake his bowl just like grandpa does.

December 12: Talon went over to Grandma's Christmas party for the grand kids. They all come over and make treats and play games. Talon had so much fun! Thanks Grandma Peggy!

December 13: We went and saw the Christmas lights. There's a house that goes all out with Christmas lights every year. They have cut outs of hundreds of cartoon characters. The city also does lights. Talon  's eyes lit up with excitement when he first saw them. That's the best part. :)

December 14: Talon made a reindeer shirt with his handprint. He doesn't like to get his hands dirty but I think he liked it in the end.

Christmas Week #1

We had a fun first week of December! Talon loves to take the little sock off of the tree each day and unroll the paper to see what he gets to do. He'll say "Let's see what it says Mom."

So here's what we did this week.

December 1: We made Christmas candles out of toilet paper rolls and pipe cleaners.

December 2: We drank hot chocolate with marshmallows. Talon wanted cold chocolate. Anytime we eat something he says "Make it cold Mom."

December 3: We colored a Christmas picture. It's no surprise that he chose one with Mickey and Minnie.

December 4: We cut out paper snowflakes. Talon loved to unfold the paper and see a cool snowflake.

December 5: We made a Christmas star for our Christmas trees. Talon picked out the blue yarn for his star.

December 6: We bought a present for Dad and put it under the tree. Talon did a good job picking but I can't say what it is yet. It's not very easy to surprise this boy's dad.

December 7: We made play dough and made snowmen, stars and snakes. This was by far the funnest one for Talon. He sat there for at least an hour smashing the snowmen and rolling out snakes that were "too big" and "too little". That's an eternity for a 2 year old!

 

This was the smile he gave me right before saying "No more pictures Mom!"

 

Disclaimer: As the week went on, the dates really match the day we drew the paper from the sock, not necessarily the day we did the activity. I've learned that its more fun for Talon and less chance of procrastinating it if I have the things we need ready as soon as we draw the paper from the sock. We'll do better at that this week now that we're all caught up. :)