Finished Advent calendar

 Well, Christmas has come and gone. Can you believe how quickly that came up this year? I know I sure can't. Now we get to come off of what I like to call, The Christmas let down. Where we just hang out at home, relax, eat bad foods, and play with our new stuff. It is also a time to reflect on the last month. I know in our house, we have all been super busy. I didn't get pictures of most of our Advent calendar things, but I did want to post the list of things that we tried to do. We didn't get it all done on the day we said, nor did we get all of it done in general, but I think we did a good job trying.

1- Read Christmas books
2-Watch a Christmas movie
3-Cupcakes and cocoa with friends
4-Put up the tree
5-Make coffee filter snowflakes
6-Make peppermint play dough
7- Set up Nativity set
8-Craft day
9-Watch another Christmas movie
10-Make ornaments for the tree
11-Dinner with friends (turned into movie, cookies, and cocoa with friends)
12-Make holiday cards
13-Make gingerbread men
14-Go shopping for each other
15- Bake cookies
16-Decorate a Gingerbread house
17-Go to Chicago
18-Do good deeds
19-Deliver gifts to teachers
20-Make reindeer food
21-Craft day
22-Wrap gifts
23- Drive to see lights
24- Set out cookies and milk for Santa
25- Christmas Day!

 Decorating our Gingerbread men

 Tree day! Frosting cones and putting candies on them!

 D showing me that she was eating more than decorating.

 L enjoying his lavish seat in the rented car we took to Chicago

 D was too busy coloring with her new crayons to notice much of anything.

 Watching the ice rink in Chicago

 Our nephew was baptized the week before Christmas and we were the Godparents!

We also got to see all the immediate family members for Christmas, help in L's school for the party, go to an indoor Water park with friends,  play in the little snow we got, and ring in the new year with some close friends. What a fantastic way to end the year. Hope you all have a happy, healthy 2012!

Christmas get to know your friends

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay, here's
what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just copy (not
forward) this entire blog and paste into your blog. Change
all the answers so that they apply to you. ......Tis the Season to
be NICE!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I love paper

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial this year, but I love the real ones

3. When do you put up the tree? depends, this year the day after Thanksgiving

4. When do you take the tree down? depends, after the new year

5. Do you like eggnog? not really, only if it has brandy in it

6. Favorite gift received as a child? HeMan and castle grayskull

7. Hardest person to buy for? the in-laws

8. Easiest person to buy for? the kids

9. Do you have a nativity scene? nope

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can't think of one

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? frosty, any Bass/Rankin

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I don't shop I make!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I think so

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? all my yummy cookies

16. Lights on the tree? multi colored

17. Favorite Christmas song? baby it's cold outside

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? unfortunately travel

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? not r eally

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star

21. Open presents Christmas Eve or in the morning? morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? people bashing the kids fun at christmas time

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? we get one everyear in Chicago at the German village

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? depends

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? anything as long as it's wrapped!

26. Who is most likely to respond to this? no one

Annual Chicago Christmas trip

If you have been reading this blog for a few years, then you know every year at Christmas time we try to head to Chicago for the day. This started as a variation of a tradition I enjoyed as a kid, I then introduced Adam to it, and now the kids beg to go every year.

I so enjoy driving to the big city. It takes around 2 hours to get there plus a time change for us, but it is well worth it!

 After parking in the underground parking garage, our first stop if always Grant Park to see Cloudgate/The Bean. As soon as it was in sight, the kids took off running. We knew exactly where they would be, always on the underneath, shoving themselves as far in as they can.

 A family reflection selfie?

 D had decided this year to bring along her sketch pad and journal our trip with quick drawings of the sights along the way. They have added so many fun and interesting art installations over the years, and these were new to us.

Just had to say hello to the festive lions in front of the Chicago Art Institute. While we love going to look at the art work, we didn't stop in this time.

Next up was a walk across the street to hop on the cow in front of the Cultural Center. I used to frequent this amazing building when I went to school a few blocks away. The kids always have fun sitting on top. This year, we decided to take the kids inside to check it out.

 Both kids were blown away at how beautiful the building was, and they both picked up on clues that the building was once used as a library.

 D sat down in the middle of the room so that she could sketch the dome. I turned around and saw this fantastic shot.

 Then it was off to Marshall Fields/Macy's to look at the windows.

It wouldn't be a visit without waiting 2 hours to see the Big man in red himself!

Then it was time to bundle up again, although the weather was perfect, and head a few blocks west to Daley Plaza to check out the German Christmas Village.  We always get a few things to eat, and the hot spiced wine to drink out of the special mugs.

 Every year we also all go to a specific shop and pick out a glass ornament for the year. This shop has a glass ornament in just about any shape you can think of. While we wait in the line to get in, D has to get her photo with this same Nutcracker every year.

 It was then that we headed back to Grant park, stopping to watch the ice skaters and one last visit to Cloudgate on our way back to the car.

 We had to of course make a trip over to Trader Joe's to stock up, and then a kid requested dinner of Italian beef sandwiches at Al's before heading for home.

Christmas in Chicago

We take an annual trip up to Chicago for a special Christmas adventure.  Normally we drive in, but this year we decided to take the train in.  If you factor in all the costs of parking, gas, and tolls, it was almost the same price, and we didn't have to worry about driving in snow (we had gotten hit pretty bad the day before we were set to go).  Our first stop is always Marshall Fields on State Street.  We take a look at all the fun decorated windows.  This year the theme was Yes Virginia.  The kids loved it!  We then head in to see the big man in red.  The kids wrote their very own lists to Santa and made to sure bring them with.  There is a giant red mailbox that the kids can send their letters to Santa in.  We then had lunch in the Walnut room.  They always have a giant tree decorated fantastically.  Then it was time to bundle up again and head outside.  There is an amazing German Christmas Village set up in Daley Plaza every year.  The hubby and I try to not miss it, and have gone pretty much every year for almost the 10 years we have been together.  We make it a tradition to pick out our ornaments for the year there.  This year we had a underwater theme going.  D picked out a conch shell, L picked a ship, and Adam picked a deep sea diver!  We then took a walk to Grant park so the kids could see Cloud gate (THE BEAN!!!!), and watch the people ice skating.  We wrapped up the day with the trip home on the train.  A fantastic experience for all 4 of us, and something they are still talking about!

2012 Advent Calendar

Our December was crazy busy! On top of the normal holiday buzz, we saw Adam have his first week long buisness trip, and everyone get very sick. No fun on the sick part, let me tell you! I was the last one to get it, and it hit me worse than the rest. Luckily we were all pretty much back to normal just in time for Christmas.

Some of the fun things we did this year on our advent calendar were reading holiday stories, watching all our favorite holiday movies, crafts, doing good deeds, making snowflakes, seeing the Nutcracker, our annual trip to Chicago, seeing lights, making cookies, putting the tree up, and so much more!





The good deeds that we did were putting a ton of quarters in the carts at Aldi, buying lunch for the car behind us at McDonalds, reading to D's class and bringing in cookies, bringing in cookies to surprise L's class, handing out suckers to kids at the store (with parent permission first of course), and trying to hand out flowers to people coming in at the airport. The flowers at the airport did not work as we had hoped. People ignored the kids, said no, or just ran away from them. Shocking! So we saved them and gave them to Adam and his boos when they returned home from their trip.

 You can see these ladies running from poor D.

 Handing out suckers to kids

 How could you say no to this face?

Happy to have Daddy back!

 Where we got to see the Nutcracker ballet. It was the first time seeing it live for both kids, and they loved it!

 Making classic spritz cookies

 Seeing Cloudgate (The Bean) on our trip to Chicago

 D eating a banana and Nutella crepe at the German village in Chicago

 I had to have some potato pancakes!

 Christmas at the inlaws house. Always a great time!

The tree after Santa had visited

 L and Adam checking out the microscope L got.

 My mom had gotten us a Wii and a bunch of games. It has been a huge hit, here L is dancing away to Just Dance Disney!

D asked for a makeup kit from Santa and he brought her this great Barbie set.

And that silly Santa brought mustaches in stockings. They sure do make for some fun pictures!