Trimming the Tree

We always put our Christmas trees up the day after Thanksgiving.  This year, since we spent time shopping some of the Black Friday sales, it took us two days to finish.  Even though both Camden and Ciera were allowed to hang only certain ornaments, they loved helping me decorate the trees.

Ciera said her favorite ornaments are the Santa and the fisherman on the tree in the family room.  She loves to pull the red string to make their arms and legs move up and down.  The ornaments on that tree are my favorite as well, because many of them were bought while we were in Germany.

Camden said his favorite ornaments are the ones we have made (we try to make a new ornament every year).  Out of those, his favorite was when we stuck white feathers into clear bulbs.  He said he also really likes the glass santas, snowmen, icicles and candy as well.  All of those are on our tree in the living room.

Their favorite part about trimming the trees was finally setting up the train.  Camden kept asking to put the train up before we finished decorating the trees.

Turkey Tag

We had our carpet professionally cleaned today.  I kept the kids busy and out-of-the-way by helping them make turkey headbands and turkey clothespins.  Plus, we wanted to play turkey tag later (from FamilyFun magazine) while we waited for the carpet to dry.  Once the carpet cleaners left, we headed outside.  We clipped the turkey pins to the backs of our jackets then tried to steal each other's clothespins without losing our own. 

I'm glad they still like using their little playground.  Ciera can never get enough of it.

Mr. Bear's Hide-a-Bed

As I was looking for something else, this is what I found behind my dresser.  I am often finding hidden beds for Mr. Bear around the house.

The Mayflower

After reading about the Mayflower, the kids did a very simple painting.  Camden doesn't like getting paint on his hand, so he wasn't too keen on the handprint.  I think their favorite part was painting the ocean.  Camden said Ciera's Mayflower was in a storm, and his was in calm water.

 

We also made some pumpkin cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting.  They pulled chairs up to the counter and wouldn't leave until I finished making the frosting.  They wanted to make sure they were there to lick the beaters.  Later, when I asked Ciera what the Mayflower was, she replied, "It's a cupcake!"  I tried explaining again that it was the ship the Pilgrims came over on, but she was adamant, "No, it's a cupcake!"  I think we'll have to try reading her board book again sometime.

Apple Cider Caramels

I found a recipe for these and wanted to try them.  Reducing the apple cider down for about an hour to a dark syrup filled the house with the sweet aroma of apples.  Adding the other ingredients only enhanced the delightful scent.  Once the caramel had cooled, the kids helped me wrap them.  Camden had more fun than I expected and wanted to keep wrapping more.  Ciera started wrapping a few, but she just kept trying to eat them.  In fact, when she was wrapping one of them, she quickly popped it in her mouth instead, hopped out of her chair, then took off down the hall.  She thought she was being sneaky, getting away with eating another one.

Turkey Has a Terrible Temper

Camden and Ciera both really enjoy puppet shows.  We took them to this Thanksgiving one.  It was about a turkey who needed to learn how to control his temper.  While it wasn't as humorous as the Halloween one, it was a cute little story with a moral.  Both of them were enthralled throughout.

Arabic

In Camden's World Language class, he is introduced to three new languages.  They then choose one of them to study from 1st through 6th grade.  They are just finishing up their Arabic section and will start Chinese next.  Parents were invited to see some of what the children have learned to say in Arabic.  This is one of the cute songs they sang for us. 

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!

We went hunting up in the mountains (with a permit) for our Christmas tree.  It gets to hang out in our backyard until after Thanksgiving.  Camden has been looking forward to this for days.  It was a beautiful day for finding the perfect tree.

We showed Ciera a little tree and said, "There's our Christmas tree!"  Ciera looked at it with skepticism and asked, "This is a Christmas tree?"  We then asked if she would like a bigger one.  Looking up at us with relief in her eyes, she sighed, "Yes!"  Darren located it quickly, leaving us plenty of time to play before a picnic lunch.

Both Camden and Ciera had a blast playing in the snow and stomping through the woods.  The first thing Camden did when he got out of the car was pretend to be an imperial walker from Star Wars.

They had a little snowball fight, until Ciera decided she didn't care for it.  Camden was sweet and just started throwing snow at himself.   They also couldn't resist trying to pelt me with snow as I tried to take pictures.

While we explored some of the woods, Ciera played a little peek-a-boo with me.

They made lots of snow angels as we waited for Darren to drag the tree down the hill to the road.

I always love those moments when they play so sweetly together.

Camden's favorite was when he had a snowball fight with his dad.

It's a fun family tradition that Darren's side of the family does every year.  It was nice spending that time with them.

Just Like Camden

I found Ciera by the door to the garage this morning.  Here is part of our conversation:

Me:  What are you doing?

Ciera:  I'm going to school with Camden

Camden:  But that's my backpack.

Ciera:  No, it's Ciera's backpack.

Mom:  Would you like your own backpack?  One with fairies, monsters, or ponies?  (Some of her favorite things)

Ciera:  No, I want a Darth Vader one like Camden's.

Toothpicks and Marshmallows

We got this fun building idea from the FamilyFun magazine.  Camden made a rancor, an imperial probe droid, a fence, a car, a worm, a crop sprinkler, and a Christmas tree.  Ciera made windmill after windmill.  She loves windmills and always gets so excited when she sees one.  They both helped me a little with the towers, but they were certainly swift in its demolition.  They wanted to devour as many marshmallows as possible before I saved too many of them for another day.

Thankful Tree

This is our version of the thankful tree that so many people do.  After several branches broke from another version I did with Camden back when he was two, I decided this was easier for now.  They both love thinking of things they are thankful for and want to fill out more than one leaf a day.  We'll see how long that lasts, since we attempt to do it all month.