Make it, Bake it, Grow it, or Sew it Christmas...

The Palmer family once again did a Make it Bake it Grew it or sew it Christmas. I must say I have a very talented family! It is always so much fun to see what everyone will make. The only difference to this years rule was we took the price cap of $5 off. Everyone was allowed to spend what they wanted but you must make it, Bake it, grew it or sew it. We also started a new tradition of saving our Christmas events to Boxing day(the day after Christmas) We had always celebrated together on this day anyway but rather then a little time on Christmas and a little time on boxing day. We made it a lot of time together on one day. We also drew names as to which family got to hand out their presents and drew names to pick the order of which kid opened there gifts first with each family gift set.
here are the many beautiful fun things we got...
My sister in-law Jen made these cute animal pillows for each of the kids. My kids use them every night!

My sis Beth and her Fiance Steve gave us Sugar cookie dough and a cookie cutter. My sister in-law Molly made us salsa Verde. YUMMY stuff!

My sister in-law Jen made pillow case for the adults, each of us getting our own prints and colors. She made them out of super soft fleece perfect for the cold winter nights.

Mom made these bags for each girl. She also picked out different fabric for each girl. Also found out she had no pattern and designed it herself. Way to go MOM!

My sister in-law Molly made these cute chalk board activity boards for all the kids. Perfect for the car.

My sister Melissa who for claiming to not be crafty always comes up with some great gifts!

This year she made us family game night boxes. Included are all the things needed to play any of the 19 games she listed along with the rules in a handy book. We are sure to take this camping with us this summer.

Mom also made each of the kids PJ's. some of the girls wanted to put them on right away and have a picture taken. Sweet little Cousin A was busy playing and not up for a photo so I will have to find a way to sneak a picture of her sometime soon :). Little miss too was not wanting to put new Pj's on but she is always up for a picture.

I made Jewelry boxes for all the girls but forgot to take any pictures. So here is a picture of the one I made little Miss for her birthday.

Inside each box was some lip gloss, bracelets and some homemade "pretties". Thank you Miss Jess for some of the ideas on these!

Special thanks to my talented friend Kim who shared her pattern for these reversible headbands. They seemed to be a big hit with the girls. I made them four different ones giving them each 8 different options.

I also made these signs for the girls, you can't see it but they also have a sparkly glitter on the letters.

At the last minute I had to change all my plans so this year the adults got these family or Faith signs.

Each adult also got these pictures framed.

I had a few other fun things to show but I think they will have to wait as this post is way to long already. I would love to hear if you have any ideas that you made this year. I want to start working on next year soon :)

Christmas Eve 2009

Advent 23 was to make cookies for santa. I wish I could have got some good pictures but we were just to busy decorating. The 24 the kids listed three things they were thankful for to God. It was cute to hear there answers!
Our Holiday was packed full of traditions old and new. Christmas Eve we started our morning off at our yearly trip to Krispy Kreme.


The kids this year picked to each have a very large Chocolate donut. Little Mister had no problem keeping clean and enjoyed about half of his donut. Little Miss ate about 1/4 and smiled so big...

Not even dad could resist that cute little face.

We then headed off down town and we went to see santa at Norstrums but he is no longer at that store. We were very sad as that was one of our favorite places to see santa! We decided to go to Pioneer Square and see santa there. On the way we stopped off in the square and were able to find Brian's name on a brick. We joke about looking for it every year and this year we really did find it!

After a very long wait the kids got to see Santa and even have snow falling down through the mall. Little Mister asked for a coloring book and Little Miss asked for a Barbie. This was defiantly the high light of there day.

We then headed off for our annual picture at the square. So I forgot to get the picture from Grandpa so we will have to show you later. Last dinner at Rock Bottom with the whole group.

A new thing we did this year was head straight home after dinner watch a movie with the kids. We skipped all the church services but plan to do them as the kids get older. For now we read the Christmas story to the kids before bed and enjoyed a quiet evening at home. Another wonderful Christmas Eve.

advent19-22

Sorry so far behind but Christmas is just days away and I just finished the last of the gifts tonight. I started a project for our family christmas and it was not working so I had to start fresh with a whole new idea UGG! Well it is finished and now I will wrap presents tomorrow night. My new years resolution this year is have all the home made gifts done by September!
On to our advent activities. The 19th was Cornstarch clay snowman. I made two batches and both did not turn out so I added flour to it to thicken it up and let the kids add sequence to it. THey loved it and so will santa he is getting the projects as his present for christmas. Their idea not mine :)


Saturday we also had so much fun attending A Night in Bethlehem an amazing family event put on by Tualatin Hills Christian church. The kids had so much painting, making pottery, writing there names on a scroll and sealing it with wax, working in the leather shop, rolling dough, making a top in the wood shop, and visiting Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus in the Manger. This was a huge hit and the kids look forward to going again.



The 20th the kids colored wooden Ornaments they got from the craft store. Then on Monday the 21 they made some super cute wooden block picture ornaments. I will have to show you after Christmas as they are a gift for someone :)
Today the kids helped wrap presents and then we watched a movie together. I loved this picture, a bit out of focus but still I love it.

Just two more activities! Are you ready for the Holidays to be here?

Advent , Doctors, and School programs...

What a crazy week 3 Doctors appointments, advent activities, school program, school party, plus trying to finish up Christmas gifts. I am exhausted! For advent on the 16 the kids were going to paint some ornaments. Lucky for me our wonderful babysitters brought over some cute mask for the kids to make and they lost all interest in painting. Day 17 was shop and find a gift for Grandma and Grandpa and Nana plus make one too. Today we made some cute little houses out of foam kits. That was crazy!! Next time I think I will put the house together and then let the kids decorate rather then struggle to figure it out as they are asking lots of questions.
We also had an MRI for Cousin A this week on Tuesday and a follow up appointment on Wednesday. The scan came back clear, meaning no new cancer growth!!! However it looks like she has some excess fluid built up where her tumor was. It should be fine and they will check it again in 3m time. On Thursday it was Little Misters turn at the doctor. He had his first eye test and hearing test and passed both. For those of you who know his struggles with making it on a growth chart to staying in a descent range for any amount of time you will be happy to hear he is in the 25%. Little miss not wanting to be left out also took a vision screening test and wanted to have the doctor look at her too.
Today was Little Misters school party and what a blast. On the way home he was so sad because he was afraid his friends and teachers might forget him over break. As you can see a very busy week and now we are on to the weekend!

So proud of himself right before the big show...

He practiced His songs everyday at home for his program.

Advent13,14, and 15

I will try not to overload you with pictures like the last post. This week is crazy busy but we are still doing activities every day. Day 13 the kids made bracelets for friends with some foam beads and jingle bells. I would show you but I was so busy helping I didn't take any pictures. Day 14 also two of there Aunts birthdays we colored and did some different activity sheets we got on line and from the very sweet Mrs.Becky B. (thank you!)
Today we made wooden spool wish list ornaments. Little Mister wrote his own which was fun plus he had a whole new list of things that I think Santa will have up in his shop.

Please share what traditions or activities you and your family are up to. I can always use some motivation and new ideas :)

Advent day 11 and 12

Day 11 and 12 have been probably my two most favorite activities! Last night the kids and I made pizza for dinner. We covered the whole front room with "sitting blankets" and left some "snuggle blankets" out if we needed them, Little misters idea. We had a picnic on the floor all together when daddy got home and watch The Santa Clause Movie. We laughed so hard, enjoyed some popcorn, and even made it to bed by 8:30 :).
I didn't get a picture of the movie night but here is Little Miss playing Santa while we were setting up the blankets.

Today was so much fun and so simple! We danced to Christmas Music. The Cd of choice for dancing at our house is a CD I got from one of the music reps when I worked at the Christian book store many many years ago. When I got it I only liked a few songs but now we all have so much fun with it. Very upbeat punk, alternative and crazy fun. It's called Christmas In Heaven . Our Favorite song to dance to is "There's no Christmas on the moon" sung by Thee Spives.

We also enjoy "The Grinch" Sung by Sixpence None The Richer

The kids and daddy even played music instruments to our other favorite."Merry Christmas, I don't want to fight tonight" sung by The Huntingtons

Daddy even became a human drum. You really do rock!

A very merry fun filled night at the Germers!!

Advent day 10

Today the kids picked to make cookies and take them to the neighbors. I tried to convince them to pick something else from the jar but they were so excited they really couldn't wait. So yesterday we made Peppermint bark form a recipe I found on line. So yummy!! The kids loved helping cook. We then put it in cute little boxes along with some Cranberry bliss bars I made the day before.
Before we could leave Little Mister made us a map of where to go. The kids had so much fun leaving them on the neighbors door step wondering what they might say when they found them. We were thankful to get back home to our warm house after we were done.

December 9

Today we made cookie cutter ornaments. We used cookie cutters we already had and extra pictures we had at home. The kids traced the ornaments. I did the cutting and then they taped them on. Really simple but I think they turned out cute. I got the idea off of family fun or Better Homes and Garden I cant remember which one.

 

 

 

 

I would love to hear what activities you and your family are up to.

Gingerbread House! The kids were so funny to watch as they planned each piece of candy. Little Miss wanted to make sure we used every single piece of candy. Little Mister wanted to make sure mom used enough frosting, so the house would not fall apart. Yes that happened a few years in a row :)
Here a few pictures of the kids putting the house together.